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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — For one day, a mother says, she didn’t have to worry about her autistic son eating lunch by himself. A small gesture of kindness by Florida State University wide receiver Travis Rudolph — captured in a photo and shared on Facebook — had tears streaming down the face of the sixth-grader’s mother, Leah Paske. “I’m not sure what exactly made this incredibly kind man share a lunch table with my son, but I’m happy to say it will not soon be forgotten,” she wrote. “This is one day I didn’t have to worry if my sweet boy ate lunch alone, because he sat across from someone who is a hero in many eyes.” Rudolph was among several FSU players visiting Montford Middle School in Tallah...

Thirty years ago today was a Sunday, the heart of the Labor Day weekend, and just as two planes were about to collide a mile and a half above the young city of Cerritos, things in the suburban town were quiet, as you’d expect. That’s how many people described the day up until 11:56 a.m.: quiet. If anyone had any plans for the day, they weren’t ambitious. Some residents were in church, some were shopping for groceries for backyard barbecues. Then-Plaing Commissioner George Ray, who today is the mayor of Cerritos, was doing some work at home on his dining room table. Ray, an executive for a Santa Fe Springs-based manufacturing firm that makes parts for airplanes and the space program, heard wh...

LOS ANGELES >> Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein visited the Black Lives Matter encampment outside Los Angeles City Hall today where she said she agreed with the group’s demand that Mayor Eric Garcetti fire police Chief Charlie Beck. Stein pointed to the firing of police chiefs in other cities and said she came to Los Angeles City Hall today to “support the community that’s demanding justice by asking the police chief to step down.” “We need him to be replaced by someone who doesn’t simply dismiss death after death as being within police policy and refusing to even file charges,” Stein said. Beck in January did recommend that District Attoey Jackie Lacey file criminal char...

NEW YORK — Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin said Monday that she is separating from her husband, Anthony Weiner, after the former congressman was accused in yet another sexting scandal. • PHOTOS: Huma Abedin leaving Anthony Weiner following latest sexting revelations “After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband,” she said in a statement issued by Clinton’s presidential campaign. “Anthony and I remain devoted to doing what is best for our son, who is the light of our life. During this difficult time, I ask for respect for our privacy.” The New York Post published photos late Sunday that it said Weiner had sent last year t...

WASHINGTON >> With the hourglass ruing out for his administration, President Barack Obama’s health care law is struggling in many parts of the country. Double-digit premium increases and exits by big-name insurers have caused some to wonder whether “Obamacare” will go down as a failed experiment. If Democrat Hillary Clinton wins the White House, expect her to mount a rescue effort. But how much Clinton could do depends on finding willing partners in Congress and among Republican goveors, a real political challenge. “There are turbulent waters,” said Kathleen Sebelius, Obama’s first secretary of Health and Human Services. “But do I see this as a death knell? No.” Next year’s health ins...

While a majority of Americans see undocumented immigrants in a positive light, a new poll found that staunch Donald Trump supporters have a more threatening view of people who are in the U.S. without legal status. More than 76 percent of those surveyed said undocumented immigrants are as hardworking and honest as U.S. citizens, according to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center. And, 67 percent said undocumented immigrants are no more likely than citizens to commit serious crimes. Also, 61 percent oppose building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. Trump backers offer a different perspective. The poll, released Aug.u200925, found that half of all Trump supporters surveyed said u...

The “Great Food Truck Race” on Food Network has always been smitten with Southe Califoia competitors. This season is no different. The show, which debuts Sunday night, features the owners of Bigmista’s Barbecue & Sammich Shop and Bigmista’s Moing Wood, both in Long Beach. The barbecue restaurants are run by husband-and-wife team Neil and Phyllis Strawder, best known for their signature wood-smoked brisket. In the opening episode, the contestants are involved in a fuel-cake eating contest at a Los Angeles theme park. “I leaed a really big lesson, and that was – I never want a food truck. It is really hard work,” Neil Strawder said during a phone interview Tuesday. Strawder, a familiar fa...

Country music’s Stagecoach Festival is set to ride out with Old Dominion and Steve Moakler on a new tour that stops in L.A. Tickets for the Stagecoach Spotlight: Old Dominion Meat and Candy Tour go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday to the general public — and as soon as Tuesday for fans who head to Old Dominion’s website. The show — with Old Dominion as headliners and Moakler as special guest — is set for Dec. 3 at Novo by Microsoft. “Stagecoach Spotlight Tour allows us to continue and strengthen artist relationships outside of a festival setting as well as creating awareness of the festival nationwide,” said Stacy Vee, talent buyer for Stagecoach and the inaugural Stagecoach Spotlight Tour in an ...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> The Paralympics will go ahead in Rio next month but organizers say deep budget cuts mean one venue will close down, facilities will be dismantled and the workforce will be reduced. Poor ticket sales have compounded existing financial challenges in recession-battered Brazil that have already hit operations at the Rio Olympics, which close Sunday. Rio has less than three weeks to prepare for Paralympics, the piacle of the disability sport calendar where organizers hoped to build on progress made at the well-attended games in London four years ago. But Rio organizers have reported sales of just over 290,000 tickets for the Sept. 7-18 Paralympics. “At this point, it is d...

The Long Beach Ministers Alliance is sponsoring a comedy show, hoping that laughter will help heal problems in the community. “Laughing Lives Matter,” a benefit comedy show, will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, at the Terrace Theater. Lester Barrie, inspirational comedian and former Comic View host, will be host the show, featuring Doug Williams, Gilbert Esquivel, Ron Pearson and Michael Colyar with special guests Ricky Harris, Lamont Bonman and Angel Gainse. “Laughing Lives Matter is a clean comedy show designed to support our efforts and partnerships to interrupt community violence and human trafficking, as well as support homeless veterans and stimulate job development,” said Pastor ...

Rio de Janeiro >> In a sort of victory lap before the victory, Usain Bolt held up his left arm, his index finger extended into a wet night, as he walked slowly clockwise from a tuel entrance, around the Olympic Stadium curve to his blocks in Lane 6 and the start of the Olympic Games 200-meter final. Such audacity would have been laughable from any other sprinter. Then again there never has been any other sprinter like Bolt. Besides, the result Thursday night was never in doubt, even the most remote of chances for an upset vanquished before the race even hit the homestretch. Bolt once again reduced the rest the field at a major championships to spectators, racing to a 19.78 victory in ...

Kanye West to open 21 ‘Pablo’ pop-up stores worldwide, and LA is getting one Kanye West aounced on Twitter that he will open 21 temporary “Pablo” stores worldwide on the weekend of Aug. 20 in cities that include Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File) NEW YORK (AP) — Kanye West fans can buy a taste of “The Life of Pablo” this weekend following the rapper-tued-fashion mogul’s aouncement of 21 pop-up stores worldwide that will be open just this weekend. West tweeted a map with red dots indicating the stores’ locations Wednesday night. Fourteen of the stores will be in major cities in the U.S. The pop-up store locations include Los Angeles and San Francisco, accord...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> A Japanese joualist asked American hurdlers Briaa Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin how they were going to celebrate their historic sweep of the Olympic Games 100-meter hurdles medals, the one and only 1-2-3 of the Rio Games so far. Was there going to be a girls’ night out? the reporter asked the trio as a late Wednesday night became an early Thursday moing in Rio. “Well every night we’re together is girls’ night out,” Castlin said. Such was the case at the Olympic Stadium Wednesday, the U.S. hurdlers putting on yet another exhibition of a dominance unmatched in any single event by another nation in women’s track and field. Rollins, the 2013 world champion, was in c...

Then again, another option, evidently, is the urine of two people. This is the case of Russian long jumper Darya Klishina, whose inclusion in these Games led Monday to a very respected reporter from the very respected New York Times asking a high-ranking Olympic official about pee. Specifically, she wanted information relating to an incident in which Klishina — and you know these athletes are capable of doing things the rest of us can only dream of — apparently produced some sort of super whiz. “You do not expect to find two people’s urine,” Richard Budgett explained, “in the same sample bottle.” No, you most certainly do not. At least not any more than you’d expect to find two people’s leg...

RIO DE JANEIRO — She has been so golden in victory here. That much everyone knows, “Simone” and “Biles” being two of the most searched words on the Inteet the past week. But now it can be reported that America’s reigning sweetheart gymnast also has been gracious in defeat. That is, if third place on the world’s largest athletic stage — with everyone watching and expecting perfection or something better — actually can be considered defeat. “I see it as a triumph,” Biles’ coach, Aimee Boorman, said. “She won a bronze medal at the Olympics. That’s huge. She should be proud of that.” Biles’ quest for five gold medals in Rio ended Monday when she slipped midway through her balance beam routine. ...

Everyone knows home prices are high in Southe Califoia. It’s a reality that has prevented many people from owning a home, and it has become a challenge for businesses seeking to attract out-of-state talent and for companies looking to move their operations here. Recent figures from price tracker CoreLogic show the region’s median price for June was $464,000, up 5 percent from $442,000 a year earlier. Median prices are significantly higher in some local cities, including Beverly Hills (nearly $2.9 million), Manhattan Beach ($2.5 million) and San Marino ($2.3 million). But there’s another level of ultra-pricey homes in Southe Califoia that is simply off the charts. These homes have astronomic...

LOS ANGELES — At the peak of a Southland heat wave, the National Weather Service issued a red flag waing today for the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles and Ventura counties and the foothills in the Antelope Valley. The waing, which denotes a heightened risk of wildfire, was the first issued since the region’s heat wave began Saturday. Even though the heat wave has been projected to end Wednesday, forecasters said today that an “elevated fire danger” will exist in inland areas through Thursday because a hot and dry air mass is parked overhead, and a strengthening onshore flow will generate gusty winds. No other red flag waings were immediately issued, but “elevated fire danger” will pers...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> This time, the devil wore red, white and blue, the bad guy being our guy. In a battle so theatrical that the only thing missing was a pair of dueling light sabres, everything right about track and field Sunday collided with everything wrong about these Olympics. Naturally, good triumphed, just like in those movies about super heroes, this one again as golden as the shoes that carried him to victory. Usain Bolt, accepted to be as clean as he is fast, beat Justin Gatlin, who twice has been busted for PED use and now is ruing faster than ever despite also being older than ever. “Somebody said I can be immortal,” Bolt explained after successfully defending his 100-meter ...

Everyone knows home prices are high in Southe Califoia. It’s a reality that has prevented many people from owning a home, and it has become a challenge for businesses seeking to attract out-of-state talent and for companies looking to move their operations here. Recent figures from price tracker CoreLogic show the region’s median price for June was $464,000, up 5 percent from $442,000 a year earlier. Median prices are significantly higher in some local cities, including Beverly Hills (nearly $2.9 million), Manhattan Beach ($2.5 million) and San Marino ($2.3 million). But there’s another level of ultra-pricey homes in Southe Califoia that is simply off the charts. These homes have astronomic...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> Ten of 25 laps into the Olympic Games 10,000-meter final and a night when Great Britain’s Mo Farah was chasing the likes of Zatopek, Viren and Gebrselassie through history, the unthinkable happened. Farah, the reigning Olympic and World 10,000 and 5,000 champion, crashed to the track after getting entangled with Nike Oregon Project teammate Galen Rupp of the U.S. Farah’s immediate thought was the same as most at the Olympic Stadium Saturday night. “Is the race over? Is the race?” Farah recalled asking himself. “I just kept telling myself ‘No! No! No!’” Rupp dropped back to check on his friend. “You alright?” Rupp asked. Farah answered with a resounding victory, blowi...