MONTEREY PARK -- A man shot and killed another man late Friday during an argument inside an employment agency, authorities said.
The dead man's name was not released Saturday afternoon pending notification of his family, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Lt. Brian Elias said. Sheriff's officials said he was an Asian man in his 30s and believed to be a Monterey Park-area resident.
Monterey Park police officers responded to a report of a shooting in the 200 block of East Garvey Avenue just after 9 p.m., where they found a man suffering from a gunshot wound to the "upper torso" Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Byron Ward said in a written statement.
"It appeared it was some kind of argument between a couple of individuals who frequented the business," Lt. Dan Rosenberg of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau said. Neither the suspect nor the victim worked at the employment agency.
The apparent victim was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:31 p.m., Elias said.
The shooter was described only as an Asian man, Rosenberg said, and it was unclear Saturday what the men may have been arguing about.
The lieutenant declined to discuss whether a getaway car was believed to be involved and said detectives were following leads late Saturday.
No further details were available.

WEST COVINA -- Two men and two teenagers were behind bars Saturday after allegedly stabbing two men during a fight outside a party, police said.
Alejandro Rodriguez, 18, of West Covina and Lawrence Corlew, 20, of Covina were booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, along with a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy, West Covina police Lt. David Rozeboom said.
The wounded men were found shortly after midnight Saturday in the 3700 block of Garvey Avenue South as police were responding to a complaint about a party nearby in the 100 block of Buckboard Circle, Rozeboom said.
"There was some issue with someone blocking the roadway," Rozeboom said, and several people began fighting.
Officers pulled over a car that was leaving the area and found the wounded men inside, he said.
The apparent victims, who are 20 and 21 years old, were stabbed in the leg and lower back and hospitalized with injuries not believed to be life-threatening, he said.
Rozeboom added the stabbing did not appear to be gang-related.
No one answered the door Saturday evening at the home where the party was held.
Initial news reports indicated the party was attended by teens wearing high school band and cheerleader uniforms, but police could not confirm that Saturday evening.
Neighbors in the area said they didn't seen anyone dressed in a uniform.
According to sheriff's booking records, Rodriguez and Corlew are due for arraignment Tuesday in West Covina Superior Court and are each being held in lieu of $30,000 bail.
The teenage suspects were taken to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, Rozeboom said.
Saturday's stabbing was the third incident of violence at a West Covina house party reported in just over a week.
In the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 27-year-old Ramiro Limon Jr. of East Los Angeles was fatally shot outside a house party at Shadydale Avenue and Roxbury Street, police said. His brother, 40, was wounded in the attack.
On the night of Oct. 31, a 16-year-old Baldwin Park boy was shot in the shoulder when a fight broke out in front of a house party in the 1900 of E. Nanette Avenue.

PICO RIVERA -- A man is expected to survive after he was shot early Saturday, officials said.
The shooting was reported about 5:30 a.m. in the 4300 block of San Gabriel River Parkway, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Margarito Robles said.
"Deputies found him lying on the ground, suffering from two gunshot wounds to his torso," the lieutenant said.
The wounded man, a 24-year-old Pico Rivera resident, was listed at the hospital in stable condition, he added.
A description of the attackers was not available Saturday, Robles said, however it initially appeared they fled south on San Gabriel River Parkway in a white car, possibly a Nissan Maxima.
A motive in the shooting was not available Saturday.

This from reporter Bethania Palma:

The District Attorney's Office charged the son of a city councilman with petty theft Thursday for allegedly offering to pay three others to steal campaign signs belonging to his father's political opponent.

James Beilke, 18, and Paul Puente, 20, of Pico Rivera, were charged with one count each of petty theft, officials from the District Attorney's Office said. James Beilke is the son of City Councilman Ron Beilke.

If convicted, Puente and James Beilke each could face up to six months in county jail or a fine of up $1,000, said D.A. spokeswoman Jane Robisoncq. Ron Beilke was not implicated. He did not return a phone call seeking comment Thursday but previously said his son is innocent.

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES -- An audit says Los Angeles police have significantly reduced a backlog of DNA evidence from thousands of rape and sexual assault cases.
Controller Wendy Greuel said Thursday that the number of untested evidence kits has
dropped by 64 percent, from about 7,000 to around 2,500.
However, her audit says more precautions should be taken to prevent future backlogs.
The kits contain evidence such as body fluids or fingernail scrapings that could provide DNA
evidence of a suspect.
A proposed state bill would require police to notify the state of their progress in testing
rape evidence.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department also has decades of untested rape evidence from
cases submitted to its labs by smaller police agencies.

This comes from the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES -- A Los Angeles County grand jury has charged a convicted serial killer with three more murders.
Authorities Thursday said Michael Hughes was indicted last week on charges that he raped,
sodomized and strangled a 15-year-old girl, whose body was found in an Iglewood park in 1986. He has also been charged with killing two women in Los Angeles in 1986 and 1993.
One body was found in a school stairwell.
Authorities say Hughes, 53, was linked to the crimes by DNA evidence.
He pleaded not guilty to the new charges on Tuesday and could face the death penalty if
convicted.
Hughes already is serving a life term without chance of parole for killing four women in 1992
and 1993.

COVINA -- Two robbers stole a man's cell phone and iPod at knifepoint Wednesday afternoon in an unincorporated county area near Covina, authorities said.
The robbery was reported just before 1 p.m. at a Via Verde off-ramp of the 10 Freeway, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Richard Ramirez said.
The victim was approached by two men described as Latino men between 20 and 25 years old, the sergeant said.
One of them was about 5 feet 8 inches tall, about 140 pounds, wore a black shirt and jeans and carried a switchblade-style knife, Ramirez said. The other robber was about 6 feet 1 inch tall, about 150 pounds, wearing a blue t-shirt.
A gray vehicle may have been used as a getaway car, he added.

WHITTIER -- A fire destroyed a garage in an unincorporated county area near Whittier Wednesday, authorities said.
The blaze was reported shortly before 2 p.m. in a garage to the rear of a home in the 7100 block of Norwalk Boulevard, Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Steve Zermeno said.
Firefighters found the garage "well-involved" with fire, but doused the flames in a matter of minutes, the inspector said.
The fire remained contained to the garage, which appeared to be a total loss, Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Rob Cendejas said. No injuries were reported.
The residents were not displaced from their house, he added.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.

LOS ANGELES -- James Mussenden, the former El Monte city manager caught up in a Pomona prostitution sting, will face misdemeanor solicitation charges, officials said Tuesday.

Mussenden, 59, of Glendora, was one of 18 men caught in the Holt Ave. hooker sting on Oct. 15. He likely faces a fine in the case. No court date has been set.

"It's one count of soliciting," DA spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said Tuesday. "All the men arrested in the case have been charged with the same count."

Mussendin, who had been city manager since 2006, resigned his job two days after the arrest. He additionally resigned his post as a commissioner for the Trails of the Valley Boy Scouts council.

Several fires broke out Tuesday in a densely populated area of Diamond Bar along the 60 freeway.

Super Scoopers have already attacked the blazes. it is uncertain how many homes are threatened. Fire seems to be rapidly moving through brush along hte 60 freeway. A smoke plume is visible from our office here in West Covina.

Here's a Google Map of the area:



View Diamond Ranch Fire in a larger map

This stuff sells for $45 a pound. Wow!

SAN DIEGO - Customs officials say they seized 343 pounds of sea cucumbers at the San Ysidro port of entry as smugglers tried to bring the Asian culinary delicacy into the U.S. from Mexico.

Inspectors found undeclared sea cucumbers in a minivan in San Diego Sunday afternoon.

Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Jackie Dizdul says the oblong marine animals were hidden in the luggage of two Chinese citizens, a 51-year-old man and his 24-year-old son.

The two were fined $15,264 and their U.S. visas were canceled.

Dizdul says all imported food must be declared, especially large quantities intended for commercial use.

Sea cucumbers are eaten in soups in Asia, where they are harvested from the ocean bottom and dried. They go for about $45 per pound in the U.S.