Maicer Izturis placed on disabled list for third time this season

The Angels placed Maicer Izturis (inflamed right shoulder) on the 15-day disabled list for the third time this season Sunday, fueling more concerns about the utility infielder’s durability and reliability.

Izturis, who was injured diving for a hit Thursday night, had a career year in 2009, batting .300 with eight home runs, 65 runs batted in and 74 runs in 114 games. The Angels deemed him so valuable they gave him a three-year, $10-million contract.

The switch-hitter avoided the DL in 2009 after being sidelined with six different injuries from 2005 to 2008, but now the “Fragile: Handle With Care” label is back.

– Mike DiGiovanna, Los Angeles Times

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Muslim Hostess Calls Disney’s Replacement Hijab ‘Offensive’

Left, Imane Boudlal with hijab, right Disney's replacement hijab with hat (Photos courtesy Imane Boudlal)

From KTLA

ANAHEIM — A Muslim woman who is fighting for the right to wear her hijab to work says Disney’s replacement hat is “offensive.”

Imane Boudlal, 26, who is a hostess at the Storyteller’s Restaurant in Disneyland’s Grand Californian Hotel, says she is not allowed to wear the head scarf while at work and has been sent home seven times times — without pay.

Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said Disney has a policy not to discriminate and is trying to work out a compromise.

…Continue reading Muslim Hostess Calls Disney’s Replacement Hijab ‘Offensive’

Indie rock star Jennifer Herrema pairs with Volcom on jeans collection

Denim and rock ‘n’ roll go hand in hand, so it makes sense that indie rock goddess Jennifer Herrema would eventually come out with her own jeans collection, a series of patched-up, skinny-fit, shred-to-hell designs that blend two unlikely extremes: high-fashion and “hesher” culture (hesher being a slang term for music fans of the raggedy-haired, headbanger variety). Think Brigitte Bardot meets cult film “Heavy Metal Parking Lot,” and you get the picture.

Six feet tall, with heavy blond bangs, Mick Jagger pout and more often than not a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, Herrema is a Nico for our times, an underground rock icon blessed with supermodel stats. Her look is consistent with her lifestyle — 24/7 rock ‘n’ roll, on and off the stage. On the Los Angeles music scene she’s known for her distinctive style: custom deconstructed denim, which she stitches with strips of leather and fabric and whatever else catches her eye, worn with over-sized Ralph Lauren plaid shirts, cowboy boots and dip-dyed foxtails that trail behind her, attached to her belt loops.

– Caroline Ryder, Special to the Los Angeles Times

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Marine Cpl. Claudio Patino IV, 22, Yorba Linda; shot in Afghanistan

Marine Cpl. Claudio Patino IV was a warrior, seemingly for his whole life, his family and friends said.

As a child, he would brandish a toy gun and pretend to be a soldier. He staged play fights with his siblings, sometimes making believe that coyotes were their foes. He organized a fight club to do battle with his friends.

On June 22, Patino died while fighting.

– Ann M. Simmons, Los Angeles Times

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Huntington Beach Home Overrun by Rats from Nearby Landfill

A rat at Dominic Menaldi's castle-style home (KTLA-TV)

From KTLA

A man who lives across the street from a toxic landfill undergoing cleanup says his house has been overrun by droves of rats.

Dominic Menaldi, who is well-known in his neighborhood for his medieval castle-style home on Bermuda Drive, said he thinks that the landfill renovation has caused “hundreds” of dislocated rats to run onto his property, scaring him and his family.

Cleanup of about 100,000 tons of toxic material from the 70-year inactive Ascon Landfill in Huntington Beach began last month.

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Father convicted of torturing, killing daughter

Clarence Eugene Butterfield, 57, was convicted today of murdering his daughter and keeping her body in a freezer in his recreational vehicle, according to a news release from the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Butterfield, formerly of San Clemente, was found guilty of one felony count of special circumstances murder during the commission of torture and mayhem and one felony count of assault with a firearm.

Butterfield faces life in prison without the possibility of parole at his sentencing Oct. 8.

In December 2006, Butterfield tortured his 21-year-old daughter, Rebekah Butterfield, by repeatedly shooting her in body parts that would not cause fatal injuries, according to the release. Clarence Butterfield tied his naked daughter’s ankles together and her hands behind her back and stuffed her in the RV’s freezer while she was alive. Rebekah Butterfield suffocated to death in the air-tight freezer.

In September 2008, Clarence Butterfield was arrested on an unrelated case in Orange County, and was sent to Nevada on an unrelated criminal warrant. His RV, which was left in the alley of an acquaintance’s business, was towed.

While cleaning the RV on Oct. 28, 2008, employees from AC Towing Inc. in San Clemente, discovered the woman’s body in the freezer. The towing company contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The body was badly decomposed and wrapped in several layers of plastic.

The investigation revealed that Clarence Butterfield also tortured his daughter in the months leading up to the murder, including stabbing her in the thigh in 2004 and shooting her in the foot several months earlier. These crimes went unreported.

Clarence Butterfield, who was still in custody in Las Vegas when his daughter’s body was discovered, was charged Oct. 30, 2008, with the murder of Rebekah Butterfield. The defendant was brought back to Orange County on April 14, 2009, to face charges. He was indicted on the charges Dec. 8, 2009.

During the trial, evidence was presented that Butterfield had a history of violence against his ex-wife and had repeatedly tortured her including beating, binding and keeping her in closets. The defendant’s son testified that he had witnessed some of the torture of his mother. Butterfield testified that he did not murder his daughter, but instead found her dead in the trailer and kept her body in the freezer because he thought no one would believe him.

Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Ebrahim Baytieh of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.

Mitrice Richardson’s Father Wants Deputies to Take Lie Detector Test

Michael Richardson flanked by family friend Jasmine Cannick arrive for a press conference with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca where Baca declared that the remains found in Malibu Canyon belong to Mitrice Richardson. (Mark Boster | Los Angeles Times)

LOS ANGELES — Mitrice Richardson’s father is accusing Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials of allegedly mishandling his daughter’s case from beginning to end. He’s calling for changes to the department’s procedures for releasing people at night.

Authorities confirmed Thursday that skeletal remains found in Malibu Creek State Park were those of the Cal State Fullerton graduate, who had been missing since being released from custody last September.

– KTLA

…Continue reading Mitrice Richardson’s Father Wants Deputies to Take Lie Detector Test

Man Accused of Tying Up Ex-girlfriend With Duct Tape

STANTON – A 24-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly kidnapping his ex-girlfriend, tying her with duct tape and threatening her with a knife.

Investigators say Danny Le confronted his former girlfriend Friday at her job in Westminster, Amormino said.

After a brief argument over another man, Le allegedly grabbed the woman’s purse and told her to come with him. The woman followed Le to an unknown location in Stanton.

– KTLA

…Continue reading Man Accused of Tying Up Ex-girlfriend With Duct Tape

Great White Sharks Spotted off San Onofre State Beach

SAN ONOFRE — A Dana Point surfer spotted two great white sharks off San Onofre State Beach.

Chuck Patterson, a professional “stand-up paddler” for Hobie stuck a camera to a pole and shot some incredible video earlier this week.

One of the sharks was estimated to be about nine feet long.

– KTLA

…Continue reading Great White Sharks Spotted off San Onofre State Beach and watch a video

Body found floating in Laguna’s Three Arch Bay

Dispatchers received a frantic 911 call from a security guard reporting a swimmer in distress off of Three Arch Bay beach on Wednesday, according to police.

The caller told them he had tried to rescue the swimmer, but the man, identified as Taylor Patrick Blanco, 22, of San Juan Capistrano, had gone underwater and was no longer visible as of 5:40 p.m.

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