CARSON, Calif. — Classes are proceeding normally amid heightened security at a Los Angeles-area high school where eight students were injured in a courtyard brawl.

Los Angeles Unified School District spokeswoman Monica Carazo says that 10 extra patrol cars from the district’s police department are at the campus of Carson High School on Thursday, but there have been no further incidents.

A melee involving about 30 students erupted Wednesday during the school’s midmorning snack break. The cause of the fight is still under investigation by the school police.

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Carazo says that first period attendance Thursday was 83 percent, lower than normal 90-plus percent.

A brawl involving dozens of students that left eight students injured at a Los Angeles-area high school was an unusual incident for the normally peaceful campus and was not racially motivated, contrary to initial reports from authorities, school district officials and police said.

“Descriptions of these fights as racially motivated have not been substantiated,” LA schools police Chief Steven Zimmerman said in a statement on the melee at Carson High School Wednesday. “This campus has no current racial issues.”

Principal Windy Warren said student leaders at the ethnically diverse campus of more than 3,000 students assured her of the same thing.

“This is a very unusual incident for the Carson campus, which has been very peaceful this entire school year,” she said.

At least 30 students traded punches and kicks in a series of fights that erupted in a campus courtyard during a 10 a.m. snack break, said Monica Carazo, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

School police, with assistance from sheriff’s deputies, quelled the disturbance.

The brawl left eight students injured, Warren said. Four were taken to hospitals and four were treated by the school nurse. The extent of the injuries of the hospitalized students was not clear.

Seven students were arrested or suspended, the principal said.

The district said in a statement that despite earlier reports, investigators couldn’t substantiate that the Wednesday melee at Carson High School was brought on by racial conflict.

Schools police Chief Steven Zimmerman says the ethnically diverse campus of more than 3,000 students “has no current racial issues.”

The school was placed on modified lockdown with students confined to their classrooms, but they were allowed to go to lunch and were dismissed at the usual time.

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The father, who also has given his daughter plastic surgery on her nose and botox injections, works in Orange County at Cosmeticare Plastic Surgery Center in Newport Beach.

The New York Daily News reports:

In an earlier interview with The Orange County Register, Niccole said the day she got her breasts done was “one of the best days of my life so far.”

“I’m not changing their looks in any means,” he said. “They want maintenance. They don’t want to get old. They want to stay young.”

Read More At The New York Daily News

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A department statement said Mark Berndt, 61, was arrested at his Torrance home on Monday and remained jailed Tuesday on $2.3 million bail.

The district attorney’s office said Berndt has been charged with committing lewd acts with 23 boys and girls ages 7 to 10.

Berndt worked for more than 30 years at Miramonte Elementary School in an unincorporated area of south Los Angeles before being fired.

The investigation began when a film processor gave authorities some 40 photographs depicting blindfolded children in a classroom with their mouths taped shut.

Some of the photos showed Berndt with his arm around the children or with his hand over their mouths.

“In addition, the photographs depicted girls with what appeared to be a blue plastic spoon, filled with an unknown clear/white liquid substance, up to their mouths as if they were going to ingest the substance. There are also photos of children with large live Madagascar-type cockroaches on their faces and mouths,” the statement said.

A blue plastic spoon and container found in trash in his classroom tested positive for semen, the statement said.

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At first, police officers tased the individual, which resulted in the unidentified man approaching a police officer with his crowbar. Then another police officer shot the man five times. When the man fell down, another officer shot him five more times. The man was rushed to the hospital where he died.

KTLA reports:

One officer shot the man five times, and a second officer shot the man five more times after he fell to the pavement.

Paramedics rushed him to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Read More At KTLA

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On Thursday, more than 100 police officers, some on horseback, were searching a Hollywood wilderness park along a winding hiking trail to see if they can find more body parts.

Authorities said the head came from a man believed to be 40 to 60 years old. Police think all the body parts are from the same man but are trying to confirm that.

Dog walkers found a severed human head inside a plastic bag Tuesday after two of the dogs they were walking began toying with an object. When they shook the plastic bag, a human head fell out onto the ground, according to police Cmdr. Andrew Smith.

The first hand was found as dozens of officers and homicide investigators combed the brush, and a coroner’s cadaver dog came upon it about 50 yards from where the head was discovered on Tuesday afternoon, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The second hand and both feet were found nearby later Wednesday afternoon. No details were immediately available on the condition of the body parts.

The man might have been killed elsewhere in recent days and his body dumped in the park, Smith said. Wild animals in the park may have other body parts, he said.

Police were looking at reports of missing persons, and coroner’s investigators were to check dental records to try and determine his identity.

Smith noted that the area is well traveled by both cars and hikers. A paved road winds around picnic areas and a children’s playground before connecting with a trail that eventually winds up near the Hollywood sign.

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In a near unanimous vote of 9-1, the City Council approved the measure at a meeting today, according to a report in the LA Weekly.

The ruling, which the City Council approved 11-1 in a preliminary vote last week, only applies to porn scenes shot on-location and exempts adult films shot at studios. Still, the majority of porn films made in Los Angeles are shot on-location.

The ordinance now just needs the mayor’s signature.

The ordinance has it’s fair share of advocates who say the measure is needed to prevent the spread of HIV in the multibillion-dollar adult film industry, much of which is centered in Los Angeles, according to the New York Daily News.

But there are other groups such as the porn industry’s trade association, the Free Speech Coalition, who’ve opposed the city mandating the use of condoms. The group argues that regular testing of actors for sexually transmitted diseases has worked, claiming that there have been no confirmed cases of HIV in the porn industry in five years.

However, the adult industry shut down last August after reports surfaced that a unnamed adult performer tested positive HIV.

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No decision had been made about whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty against former Marine Itzcoatl (its-KWAH-tel) Ocampo, authorities said.

Each victim was stabbed dozens of times, including one who had more than 60 wounds, said Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas at a news conference announcing the charges.

The last victim was targeted because his photograph appeared in a Los Angeles Times article about police warning homeless people to be careful, Rackauckas said.

The charges include special allegations of multiple murders and lying in wait and use of a deadly weapon. The minimum sentence if convicted is life in prison without parole.

Ocampo’s family said he was a troubled man when he returned from Iraq. Ocampo’s own father is also homeless.

The killing spree began in December, raising concerns that a serial killer was preying on the homeless. Police and advocates then went on nightly patrols to urge them to sleep in groups or seek shelter.

Police arrested Ocampo when bystanders chased him down after a 64-year-old man was stabbed to death outside a fast-food restaurant in Anaheim, about 26 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Julia Smit-Lozano, the daughter of one of the victims, told the Orange County Register that prosecutors said her father, Paulus Smit, 57, was stabbed more than 50 times outside a library in Yorba Linda on Dec. 30.

Authorities have provided no information on the evidence against Ocampo, or a possible motive. But Anaheim Police Chief John Welter has said investigators are confident they have the man responsible for the murders.

Ocampo is being held in isolation in an Orange County jail, is wearing a protective gown and is being monitored 24 hours a day, said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

“Obviously he has some psychological problems just by the nature of the crimes, so they don’t want him to hurt himself,” Amormino said.

Ocampo’s father, Refugio Ocampo, said his son was deployed to Iraq in 2008 and came back a changed man. He said his son expressed disillusionment and became ever darker as he struggled to find his way as a civilian.

After he was discharged in 2010 and returned home, his parents separated. The same month, one of his friends, a corporal, was killed during combat in Afghanistan. His brother said Ocampo visited his friend’s grave twice a week.

Like the men Ocampo is accused of preying on, his father is homeless. His father lost his job and ended up living under a bridge before finding shelter in the cab of a broken-down big-rig he is helping repair.

Just days before his arrest, Itzcoatl Ocampo visited his father, warning him of the danger of being on the streets and showing him a picture of one of the victims.

“He was very worried about me,” the father said. “I told him, ‘Don’t worry. I’m a survivor. Nothing will happen to me.’”

Itzcoatl Ocampo lives with his mother, uncle, younger brother and sister in a rented house on a horse ranch surrounded by the sprawling suburbs of Yorba Linda.

At the home, his mother, who speaks little English, tearfully brought her son’s Marine Corps dress uniform out of a closet and showed unit photos, citations and medals from his military service.

The son followed a friend into the Marine Corps right out of high school in 2006 instead of going to college as his father had hoped.

His family described a physical condition Itzcoatl Ocampo suffered in which his hands shook and he suffered headaches. Medical treatments helped until he started drinking heavily, they said.

A neighbor who is a Vietnam veteran and the father both tried to push Ocampo to get treatment at a Veterans Affairs hospital, but he refused. Refugio Ocampo said he wanted his son to get psychological treatment as well.

In addition to the latest victim, John Berry, and Smit, James Patrick McGillivray, 53, was killed near a shopping center in Placentia on Dec. 20 and Lloyd Middaugh, 42, was found near a riverbed trail in Anaheim on Dec. 28.

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Of course, you can attend a local parade today.

However, there are also concerts, special movie screenings, prayer services and many other volunteer efforts to join so you can add an educational, service and even spiritual element to however you’re planning to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy.

If you’re looking for ways to make today more than just a day off work, we’ve compiled a list of some of what’s happening in 13 major markets.

1. ATLANTA

If you’re in the Peachtree city, you can attend the King Holiday March and Rally. The march is held on Auburn Avenue from Peachtree Street to Jackson Street while the rally is held on Auburn Avenue in the King National Park Area. The areas of concern are education, technology, medical, investment, transportation, housing environmental justice, job creation, conflict resolution, interfaith, cultural exchange, peace, justice and voter registration. 1:15 p.m. Jan. 16. Sweet Auburn District, Auburn Ave N.E., Atlanta. 404-614-3233. In addition, poet Nikki Giovanni will speak and do a free book signing at 2 p.m., as part of Kennesaw State University’s annual MLK Day event at the Bailey Performance Center, 1000 Chastain Road N.W, Kennesaw. 770-423-6650. Visit the official King Week at Emory website for a full list of the school’s King Week activities.

2. BIRMINGHAM

In the Birmingham area, locals can attend the Wreath Laying Ceremony at Dr. King’s Statue at Kelly Ingram Park at 10 a.m. There’s a Martin Luther King Day Parade in Montevallo that starts at 11 a.m. at Montevallo City Hall and will end at Shiloh Baptist Church. Homeless and senior citizens can visit Boutwell Auditorium for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Love Feast at 2:30 p.m. Plus, folks in the area can participate in Hands on Birmingham’s 12th annual MLK Day of Service.Over 35 projects take place around the city from clean-ups, socializing with the elderly, and more. Various locations and times. And there’s free admission all day from 9 to 5 p.m. at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute located at 520 16th Street North.

3. BOSTON

Since King was a former Boston University student, the school will hold its annual remembrance ceremony commemorating his birthday. The event, titled “Manifest Our Destiny,” routinely draws more than 1,000 people from the area. This year’s ceremony will explore “how one person’s passion can transform the world” and will include a lineup of speakers and a jazz performance from BU students. The celebration, which will be broadcast live using BU’s channel on UStream, is open to the public, and will take place at 1 p.m. on Jan. 16 in the George Sherman Union Metcalf Ballroom.

4. CHICAGO

If you’re in the Windy City, Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet is offering an African dance class in commemoration of the holiday and the Bronzeville Children’s Museum in Chicago will have a program featuring crafts. Plus, Chicagoans can get up to speed on the “Rev. Martin Luther King’s pacifist principles” by taking a free daylong course (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) taught by certified Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies members. For more information, visit evanstonhistorycenter.org. Evanston History Center, Charles Gates Dawes House, 225 Greenwood St (847-475-3410).

5. DETROIT

Over in Detroit, there’s the 2012 Detroit MLK Day  Rally and March: Jobs, Peace & Justice. The event is a tribute to the women of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) that starts at noon at Central United Methodist Church. A march through downtown Detroit follows, with a celebration culminating in the church’s second floor at 23 E. Adams and Woodward. The University of Michigan-Detroit Center (3663 Woodward Ave., Suite 150) is hosting “It’s Going On in the Hood,” a panel discussion from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m focusing on efforts to aid Detroit’s neighborhoods. For more information, visit detroitcenter.umich.edu or call the Detroit Center at (313) 593-3584.

6. HOUSTON

The 18th Annual MLK Grande Parade starts in Mid-Town at San Jacinto St and Elgin Street. For more information about the parade and pre event activities visit www.mlkgrandeparade.org. After the parade, enjoy a day of service with the Harlem Globetrotters at Root Memorial Square Park (1400 Clay Street, Houston. ) from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

7. LOS ANGELES

Instead of watching the Lakers or Clippers on TV, locals can attend this year’s Kingdom Day Parade. The parade’s theme is ”The Dream Continues to Live and Grow.” Plus, City Year Los Angeles also sponsors a day of service at Los Angeles Academy Middle School where Angelenos can build benches and paint murals. Find more volunteer opportunities at MLKDay.gov.

8. MIAMI

South Florida Urban Ministries celebrates and honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a day of community service. SFLUM staff and a team of AmeriCorps members and other volunteers spend the day beautifying Florida City through several painting and tree planting projects. Additionally, volunteers will help beautify and revitalize four homes in Florida City. Also includes open and closing ceremonies and lunch; 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Branches Florida City, 145 SW Fifth Ave., Florida City. Free. 305-442-8306.

9. NEW ORLEANS

In the Big Easy, locals can attend the 25th annual program of the Martin Luther King Jr. Task Force Inc. of Jefferson Parish which includes a 6:45 p.m. banquet at The Four Columns, 3711 West Bank Expressway, Harvey. The theme is “Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On … Not a Day Off!” Tickets are $40 per person, and organizers suggest you call soon to reserve seats. Call Clara T. Byes at 504.376.2130 or 504.368.5332.

10. NEW YORK

New Yorkers have lots of options too. Locals can visit “Picture the Dream,” a free exhibit that showcases collages that echo the message of Martin Luther King, Jr., created by children living in Brooklyn public housing. BAMcafé, 30 Lafayette Ave., btwn Ashland Pl. and St. Felix St., Brooklyn. For more info, 718-636-4111. Film buffs can watch a screening of Nothing But a Man, which is playing at the Museum of the Moving Image at 3 p.m. It’s free with $12 museum admission. The film honors the push for civil rights by Martin Luther King, Jr., as it focuses on a 1960s African American railroad worker and his family’s struggle against racism. 36-01 35 Ave., at 37th St., Astoria. For more info, 718-777-6888. And Harlemites can take the Civil Rights Multimedia Walking Tour sponsored by the Harlem Heritage & Cultural Center, 1 p.m. For $25, you can watch a video presentation of Dr. King, visit the hub of Manhattan’s African American community and explore sights related to Martin Luther King, Jr. and other important civil rights figures. 104 Malcolm X Blvd., btwn 115th and 116th sts.

11. OAKLAND

The Allen Temple Leadership Institute with Mayor Jean Quan and City Council President Larry Reid lead the “Green Clean Up Day,” a service event which will target 20 blocks in East Oakland for cleaning, graffiti removal and trash pick up. More than 200 volunteers are expected to participate in the cleanup, which is set to take place between 8:30 a.m. and noon, primarily along International Boulevard between 81st and 98th avenues.

12. SAN FRANCISCO

It’s all about service in San Francisco too. Volunteers plan to meet at the African American Art and Culture Complex today to clean up the Bernal Heights neighborhood. The Department of Public Works is providing transportation, and volunteers will be weeding, landscaping, and cleaning up the area. Volunteers also plan to build two picnic tables, construct and install four bulletin boards, improve the landscaping of a school garden and paint  school railings and lunch tables at John O’Connell High School on San Francisco’s Folsom Street.

13. WASHINGTON, DC

In the nation’s capitol, the must-see event is a performance by Grammy Award winner Bobby McFerrin and the Let Freedom Ring Choir who’ll sing “Let Freedom Ring,” a musical tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Plus, Clarence Jones, former King attorney and speechwriter will receive the 10th annual John Thompson Legacy of a Dream Award at the Kennedy Center, Concert Hall, 2700 F St. NW. Tickets are free to the 6 p.m. ceremony and are distributed, two per person, to those in line in the Hall of Nations starting a 5 p.m. Monday. 202-467-4600.

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Henry Marin later returned to the academy and became a deputy. But during his first attempt in 2007, he was quickly tagged as the class slacker on the show “The Academy” after supervisors caught him sleeping during orientation, the Los Angeles Times said.

“If he doesn’t have the discipline to come here on Day 1 and show some respect, he’s certainly not gonna have the discipline to work in the field of law enforcement,” a drill sergeant said on the show.

“What is wrong with you recruit?” another drill sergeant said when Marin showed up with a backward tie.

Marin’s arrest on Wednesday was the latest of many misconduct allegations against the Los Angeles County department, including brutality against inmates and contraband smuggling. The department, the FBI and others are investigating.

During a training exercise filmed by Fox, Marin failed to call for help and forgot the radio code for an emergency after a suicidal woman pulled a gun. A similar mishap led to his dismissal.

“You seem to have no knowledge or understanding of the laws that guide you and allow you to do certain things,” a sergeant on the show told Marin after his ouster.

He was later allowed to enroll again and graduated, sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

“He certainly wasn’t one of our best,” Whitmore told the Times.

Marin, 27, pleaded not guilty to charges of bringing drugs into jail and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Prosecutors said a woman came to the South Los Angeles courthouse where Marin was assigned to provide security and delivered a heroin-stuffed bean and cheese burrito that he agreed to take into the jail in February of last year.

Marin was released from custody after posting $25,000 bail and has been relieved of deputy duty without pay. He’s due back in court Feb. 12. His attorney declined comment when reached by the Times.

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A program at the community center, “Sessions LA” use hip-hop and deejay culture to teach them how to make beats using digital technology.

CNN reports:

Huang eventually moved to Los Angeles, where he began to volunteer with Sessions LA, which uses hip-hop to draw kids in and keep them from trouble. Huang helped to develop the program’s curriculum, and helped it grow. It currently serves about 15 kids, most of them Latino, black and Asian. They’re often the children of immigrants, and many have experienced trauma or abuse.

These are the kind of at-risk students, Huang said, who don’t usually have much to keep them busy.

Read More At CNN

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In a sobering counterpoint to the typical revelry of the night, fire trucks were stationed in neighborhoods, police patrolled the city, switchboards took hotline calls and thousands in rewards were offered.

Firefighters quickly put out a car fire at about 6 p.m. Saturday in Hollywood that “fits the profile of concern” authorities have been following for the arsons, fire department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.

A crew of 10 put out the fire in minutes. The flames did not spread beyond the car and no one was injured. Humphrey could not immediately say how the fire started.

Later at the Hollywood and Highland complex, a popular destination for holiday revelers, firefighters responded to a small car fire in a parking structure that was out by the time they arrived, Humphrey said.

He said only that the fire was under investigation, and could not say whether it was thought to be arson or tied to the others.

Shortly before 9 p.m., firefighters made quick work of two car fires in a carport in West Hollywood.

Fire dispatch supervisor Robert Diaz says the fires were put out before they could spread.

There was no word if they were linked to the arson fires.

But the fires resembled more than a dozen set before dawn Saturday, mostly in North Hollywood, and nearly two dozen fires set in and around Hollywood a day earlier.

Though some of the fires spread and damaged homes and apartments, none have brought injuries.

Still, some residents were on edge as authorities ramped up efforts to catch the culprit or culprits on a night when police and fire resources are always stretched thin as drunken New Year’s revelers hit the town.

“We’re pulling out all the stops,” Humphrey said. “We’re hoping that the person or people responsible will be brought to swift and complete justice.”

Firefighters were to be stationed around the city to respond to emergencies, while authorities set up a hotline and pored through tips. Authorities also were interviewing witnesses, looking at video footage for clues and have announced at least $35,000 in rewards for information leading to a conviction.

Among the most pressing questions: Were the fires set by a serial arsonist, multiple people or copycats? And why target cars, apparently at random?

“It’s really unnerving,” said Gary Joseph, one of several neighbors who stood looking at the frames of four badly charred vehicles in a carport in North Hollywood. Joseph said there was no way to stow his own car and keep it safe.

“It’s partly exposed, but there’s nothing I can do about it,” he said.

Sheila Kirk, who lives in the building next to the Hollywood freeway where the four cars were torched, said she quickly realized when she was awakened before dawn that the arson spree had spread to her neighborhood, though it’s several miles northeast of where the fires were set the previous night.

“We’d heard all about the fires in Hollywood and West Hollywood, then we heard what sounded like a giant hose and ran downstairs and found everything burning,” said Kirk, whose own car had a partly melted bumper despite being some 30 feet away from the cars that were set on fire. “It looks like they chose the spot where the cars were bunched together so they could do the most damage. Thank God no one got hurt.”

Neighbors and gawkers gathered to take cellphone pictures of the wreckage, and the smell of burnt plastic still hung in the air hours after the fire.

Kirk said she felt no safer because her building had already been struck.

“You don’t know, you just don’t know,” she said. “When you’re dealing with crazy people, who knows what they’re going to do?”

While few clues have emerged publicly, officials have speculated that it’s plausible that one person in a car, on a motorcycle or on a bike could have set all the fires, considering the limited area the blazes broke out in, but know they could be looking for multiple suspects.

Police said they were looking for a man who was driving a mid-1990s Lexus sedan, but offered no further description or details.

Fire officials also have yet to set a damage figure for the blazes. In West Hollywood alone, they said flames destroyed about $350,000 worth of property.

Also early Saturday some 25 miles to the south in an unincorporated section of Los Angeles, arson detectives from the Sheriff’s Department investigated a fire that destroyed eight vehicles, damaged six more, destroyed a carport and damaged an apartment building.

No evidence has been found linking that fire to those in the Hollywood area, Sheriff’s Sgt. Joe Acevedo said in a statement.

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Investigators identified the shooter as Andre Turner of Norco in Riverside County and ruled that his death was a suicide, Los Angeles County coroner’s Lt. Larry Dietz told The Associated Press.

The two other men killed were Henry Serrano, 56, of Walnut and Robert Scott Lindsay, 53, of Chino Hills, coroner and company officials said.

Both men were managers in the information technology department and longtime Southern California Edison employees, the company said in a statement Saturday. Lindsay had worked for the company for 29 years, Serrano for 26.

Two other shooting victims were taken to hospitals in critical condition, the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

The injured were Angela Alvarez, 46, of Glendale, an Edison employee, and Abhay Pimpale, 38, of Montebello, an independent contractor, Edison said in a statement.

There was no new word on their conditions Saturday.

All five people worked in the same area of the same building at the office park in Irwindale, a small industrial city east of Los Angeles, authorities said.

Authorities have released no information on a possible motive for what the Edison statement called “one of the most horrific events the company has experienced in its 125-year history.”

A woman who picked up the phone at a number listed in Turner’s name declined to give her name or offer comment.

Several cars were parked in the driveway of Turner’s home in an upscale neighborhood near a golf club in in Norco, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported. A woman standing on a balcony on the home’s second floor would not comment for the newspaper.

Turner’s real estate agent Shane Tucker said the home was up for a short sale and he and his wife were moving into a smaller place, but he still couldn’t see a motive for something so drastic.

“He seemed like a real stand-up guy,” Tucker told KABC-TV as he sat in a car outside the home where Turner had lived for six years as the original owner.

“I know he did put a lot of the money into the house, it’s really nice. I don’t see why short-selling the house would trigger anything negative, so it has to be something else.”

Horrified employees barricaded themselves behind locked doors and hid under desks Friday afternoon as Turner walked through the office firing a semi-automatic handgun, authorities said.

The office complex and nearby schools were locked down as the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s SWAT team responded to several 911 calls.

Some workers trapped inside the facility thought while the rampage was going on that it had left more people wounded.

Ron Orona of El Monte said his daughter, a 23-year-old employee who works in one of the adjacent buildings, said Turner had been in her building and talked to her boss about five minutes before the gunfire broke out. She heard the shots, and reached for her phone in a panic.

Turner and Lindsay were found dead at the scene, and Serrano died at a hospital, authorities said.

No gunfire was exchanged after officers arrived, and police believed Turner acted alone

In the hours after the shooting, police cars, ambulances and fire trucks surrounded the building, and dozens of workers emerged with their hands over their heads.

The complex is surrounded by a fence and patrolled by a security guard. Employees need a security card to get into the building, said Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Southern California Edison. About 230 employees work in the building where the shooting took place, and about 1,100 employees work in the complex.

Two nearby schools were locked for about two hours after the shooting and no one on the campuses was hurt.

The company said Saturday it was offering grief counseling for employees and is establishing a fund to support the victims’ families. Edison will donate $100,000 and seek employee contributions.

Irwindale is a city of about 1,400 residents in the San Gabriel Valley, 22 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. It is home to the Irwindale Speedway auto racetrack and large rock and gravel quarries.

Southern California Edison, a huge utility that provides power for most of the region, is one of its largest companies, employing 2,100 people.

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Atterberry had worked as a vice president for Death Row records and worked with artists Jessica Simpson, Brandy and the Spice Girls, producer Rodney Jerkins and comedian, Chris Tucker.

The Hollywood Reporter reports:

He most recently was senior partner and chief financial officer at the GridLock Group, an event promotions company. According to his bio on the firm’s Facebook page, the Los Angeles native got his start in A&R at Tabu Records. He then did a stint in fashion, working for Cross Colours and Karl Kani as head of marketing and promotions, before returning to the music business as vp at Death Row Records, home to such acts as Tupac Shukar, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

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Los Angeles police received a call about shots fired around 10:30 a.m. and responded to the scene at Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street. The suspect was killed and the area has been cordoned off by police.

It was unclear how many people were injured in the shooting. At least two people were being treated at the scene and at least one person has been transported to a hospital.

Witness Oscar Herrera told KABC the suspect fired at least nine shots, hitting a man driving a Mercedes and a woman driving a Toyota Camry, who fled her car on foot. Herrera said the the suspect ran out of bullets and pulled a knife before he was shot by police.

The suspect was reportedly shouting, “Kill me” and “I want to be killed.” He has not been identified.

The secret passage linking warehouses in San Diego and Tijuana – equipped with a hydraulic lift, electric rail carts and a wooden staircase – highlights an emerging seasonal trend. For three years, authorities have found sophisticated tunnels on the U.S.-Mexico border shortly before the winter holidays in what officials speculate is an attempt by drug smugglers to take advantage of Mexico’s fall marijuana harvest.

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Two weeks ago, authorities seized 17 tons of marijuana in connection with a tunnel linking warehouses in San Diego and Tijuana. Authorities began investigating that passage in June, according to court filings.

Tuesday’s find netted more than 32 tons of marijuana – nearly 17 tons at a warehouse in San Diego’s Otay Mesa area, about 11 tons inside a truck in the Los Angeles area and 4 tons in Mexico. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, it ranks as the second-largest pot bust in U.S. history if the drugs found on the Mexican side of the tunnel are counted and the third-largest without the Mexican stash.

As U.S. authorities heighten enforcement on land, tunnels have become an increasingly common way to smuggle enormous loads of marijuana. More than 70 passages have been found on the border since October 2008, surpassing the number of discoveries in the previous six years

Raids last November on two tunnels linking San Diego and Tijuana netted a combined 52 tons of marijuana on both sides of the border. In early December 2009, authorities found an incomplete tunnel that stretched nearly 900 feet into San Diego from Tijuana, equipped with an elevator at the Mexican entrance.

Authorities say central Mexico’s marijuana harvest in early October presents drug cartels with a familiar challenge for any farmer: how to quickly get products to consumers.

“It’s a significant amount of inventory that the cartels need to move and they need to move it in the most expeditious and efficient way,” said Derek Benner, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s special agent in charge of investigations in San Diego. “It’s like any other business. You’ve got a pile of inventory that you need to get moving and generate profits.”

William Sherman, the DEA’s acting special agent in charge in San Diego, said drug traffickers also may go on a pre-Christmas smuggling push to give themselves a “little bit of hiatus” over the holidays to visit family in Mexico. DEA wiretaps tend to go quiet during the holidays, he said.

It’s unclear whether cartels are building the tunnels in time for the winter holidays or if that’s when authorities just happen to find them.

Some U.S. authorities are inclined to think the cartels are timing construction for the fall harvest, based on their belief that this year’s two major finds in San Diego and one last year in San Diego were discovered shortly after they were completed. Heightened activity around building and operating the tunnels drew suspicion and exposed smugglers to getting caught.

It takes roughly six months to a year to build a tunnel, authorities say. Workers use shovels and pickaxes to slowly dig through the soil, sleeping in the warehouse until the job is done. Sometimes they use pneumatic tools.

The tunnel discovered Tuesday was about 40 feet deep, 4 feet wide and 4 feet high. It featured a wooden staircase at the U.S. entrance, located inside a large, white building with a long line of trucking docks.

The Mexican warehouse was on the same block as a federal police office and sits next to a runway at Tijuana’s main airport. It featured a hydraulic lift at the tunnel entrance that dropped about 30 feet. Its carpeted floors were found littered with garbage and dirty linen. The kitchen was stocked with tortillas and oranges, with a window painted black.

Six men were charged in federal courts in Southern California with conspiracy to distribute marijuana. No arrests were made in Mexico.

U.S. authorities linked last November’s find to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, that country’s most-wanted drug lord. U.S. and Mexican authorities declined to link Tuesday’s discovery to a specific cartel.

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Protesters chanted “we won, we won” as riot gear-clad Los Angeles police left, though there were four arrests.

In Philadelphia, the camp was mostly quiet amid a heavy police presence, and on Monday morning a handful of people marching down one of the city’s main business corridors banging drums.

When the camps would be cleared after officials in both cities ordered their removal was unclear.

“There is no concrete deadline,” LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said after hundreds of officers withdrew without moving in on the camp. He said he wanted to make sure the removal would be safe for protesters and officers.

“With as little drama as possible,” he told reporters.

Police and protesters have clashed in recent weeks, most notably in Oakland, Calif., as officers sometimes used pepper spray and tear gas to shutter camps that officials say have grown more dangerous for public health and safety.

Some of those encampments had been in use almost since the movement against economic disparity and perceived corporate greed began with Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan two months ago.

In Los Angeles, about half of the 485 tents had been taken down as of Sunday night, leaving patches of the 1.7-acre park around City Hall barren of grass and strewn with garbage.

Police turned back after hundreds of Occupy LA supporters showed up at the camp Sunday night as the midnight deadline for evacuation neared. As the night drew on, many demonstrators left.

Protester Julie Levine said she was surprised that police did not move in as the numbers dwindled. “We were fearful,” she said. “But we held our numbers and police were on their best behavior.”

Officers reopened the streets around 6:30 a.m.

“Let’s go get breakfast,” said Commander Andrew Smith as he removed his helmet.

The protest was largely peaceful but there were some skirmishes. Four people were arrested for failure to disperse and a few protesters tossed bamboo sticks and water bottles at officers, Smith said. No injuries were reported.

A hearing in federal is scheduled for Monday on a petition for an injunction to prevent the camp closure.

“We want to make sure that everybody knows the park is closed and there are services available, that there are alternative ways to protest,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in an interview with MSNBC.

In Philadelphia, a deadline set by the city for protesters to leave the site where it has camped for nearly two months passed Sunday without any arrests.

Dozens of tents remained at the encampment outside Philadelphia’s City Hall on Monday, 12 hours after a city-imposed deadline passed for the protesters to move to make way for a construction project.

Along the steps leading into a Philadelphia plaza, about 50 people sat in lines Sunday with the promise that they would not leave unless they were carried out by authorities. For a time, they linked arms.

But as it seemed that a forceful ouster was not imminent, they relaxed a bit. A police presence was heavier than usual but no orders to leave had been issued.

A few dozen tents remained scattered on the plaza, along with trash, piles of dirty blankets and numerous signs reading, “You can’t evict an idea.”

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter was out of town Sunday, but his spokesman reiterated that “people are under orders to move.”

The mayor had an exchange on Twitter with hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons, who asked Nutter “to remember this is a non-violent movement – please show restraint tonight.” Nutter’s response: “I agree.”

Elsewhere, nine people were arrested in Maine after protesters in the Occupy Augusta encampment in Capitol Park took down their tents and packed their camping gear after being told to get a permit or move their shelters.

See also: Millions Spent To Evict Camps, While Cutting Shelter Funds

See also: Half Of The People Who Founded Los Angeles Were Of African Descent.

With hours left before the Monday at 12:01 a.m. deadline the mayor and the police chief gave for Occupy LA, very few of the occupiers were packing, and many were instead were making plans for what to do when they stay.

Some handed out signs Saturday mocked up to look like the city’s notices to vacate, advertising a Monday morning “eviction block party.”

Dozens attended a teach-in on resistance tactics, including how stay safe in the face of rubber bullets, tear gas canisters and pepper spray.

Police gave few specifics about what tactics they would use if protesters ignored the deadline.

Chief Charlie Beck said at Friday’s news conference that officers would definitely not be sweeping through the camp and arresting everyone just after midnight.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times published Sunday, Beck said that despite the lack of confrontations in the camp’s two-month run, he’s realistic about what might happen.

“I have no illusions that everybody is going to leave,” Beck said. “We anticipate that we will have to make arrests.”

But he added, “We certainly will not be the first ones to apply force.”

Villaraigosa announced Friday that despite his sympathy for the protesters’ cause, it was time for the camp of nearly 500 tents to leave for the sake of public health and safety.

The mayor said the movement is at a “crossroads,” and it must “move from holding a particular patch of park to spreading the message of economic justice.”

But occupiers showed no signs of giving up the patch of park too easily.

Will Picard, who sat Saturday in a tent amid his artwork with a “notice of eviction” sign posted outside, said the main organizers and most occupiers he knows intend to stay.

“Their plan is to resist the closure of this encampment and if that means getting arrested so be it,” Picard said. “I think they just want to make the police tear it down rather than tear it down themselves.”

But some agreed with the mayor that the protest had run its course.

“I’m going,” said Luke Hagerman, who sat looking sad and resigned in the tent he’s stayed in for a month. “I wish we could have got more done.”

Villaraigosa expressed pride that Los Angeles has lacked the tension, confrontation and violence seen at similar protests in other cities. But that peace was likely to get its biggest test on Monday.

Ue Daniels, 21, said as an artist he’s “as nonviolent as they come” but he planned on resisting removal any way he could.

“I think we’ll comply as far as putting our tents on the sidewalk maybe, that’s something that’s been going around.”

But as far as leaving altogether?

“They would probably have to drag me away,” he said.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa lauded the Occupy movement for “awakening the country’s conscience,” but he said that after 56 days, the encampments that flank the two grassy areas adjacent to City Hall must be removed by 12:01 a.m. Monday for public health and safety reasons.

At an afternoon news conference with police Chief Charlie Beck, Villaraigosa said the movement that has spread in two months from New York to numerous other U.S. cities has “awakened the country’s conscience” — but also trampled grass at City Hall that must be restored.

“The movement is at a crossroads,” the mayor said. “It is time for Occupy LA to move from holding a particular patch of park land to spreading the message of economic justice and signing more people up for the push to restore the balance to American society.”

The camp of about 485 tents was unsustainable because public health and safety could not be maintained, and the park had to be cleared, cleaned and restored for the public’s access, he said.

Later Friday, protesters demonstrated in the streets near San Francisco’s tony and touristy Union Square during the annual Macy’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony, disrupting traffic but otherwise causing few other problems.

Lines of police officers in riot gear faced off with dozens of demonstrators who were trying to discourage shoppers from shopping at Macy’s and other stores in the popular tourist area.

Demonstrators used signs to spread an anti-consumerism message. One, 9-year-old Jacob Hamilton, held a sign that read, “What is in your bag that’s more important than my education?”

Earlier, some of the protesters from the Occupy movements in San Francisco and Oakland clashed with police when they briefly blocked the city’s iconic cable cars until officers pushed them out of the street.

Some of the participants in what protesters called “Don’t Buy Anything Day” sat down in the middle of Market Street, San Francisco’s main thoroughfare, and blocked traffic while chanting, “Stop shopping and join us!”

“I wanted us both to be here for the children,” said protester Steve Hamilton, a screenwriter who traveled to the city from Winters, Calif., with his son Jacob. “I see how the education deficit directly affects the schools; how the teachers struggle with so many kids in the classrooms and a lack of books. It’s not fair to this generation.”

A group of about 20 Occupy protesters in Sacramento marched from a park to a small outdoor mall where many of the storefronts are empty. A police officer on a bicycle trailed the crowd.

A few puzzled shoppers, many toting large shopping bags, stopped to stare at the crowd as they read a manifesto asking people to support local merchants.

At a Macy’s store, the group stayed for several minutes chanting slogans such as, “They call it profit; we call it robbery.” Several shoppers crowded around taking photos with their cellphones.

In Emeryville, a small city on San Francisco Bay, more than 60 people attended a Native American community’s 10th annual Black Friday protest of the Bay Street Mall.

Corrina Gould, a lead organizer for Indian People Organizing for Change, said the goal is to educate shoppers that the mall was built in 2002 on a sacred Ohlone burial site.

About one-third of the people came from neighboring Oakland’s Occupy movement, and Gould said having the new voices was invigorating.

In his comments, Villaraigosa told campers to start packing up their tents and said he believed the move would be peaceful, unlike some of the tumult other cities have seen.

“I’m proud of the fact that this has been a peaceful, non-violent protest,” he said. “I trust that we can manage the closure of City Hall Park in the same spirit of cooperation.”

Outside City Hall, Occupy LA protester Opamago Casciani, 20, said he found the Mayor’s priorities insulting, and he intends to continue demonstrating peacefully through the deadline.

In response to the Mayor’s comments, Casciani said “What I got from it is ‘I value grass more than the people.’”

Beck said police will be patient with laggards who were working to leave at the time of the deadline — but said the city’s law enforcement will no longer look the other way.

“After 56 days of not enforcing three city laws that prohibit the use of that park, the time is now,” said Beck.

Sasha Grey, a 23-year-old ex-porn actress who has appeared in mainstream shows like HBO’s “Entourage,” was a guest earlier this month at Compton’s Emerson Elementary School for Read Across America Day.

Grey tweeted Nov. 2 that she spent the day reading to students in the first and third grades.

KTLA-TV quoted parents questioning whether it was appropriate to have Grey at the school. Parent Dudley Wheaton wondered why the school couldn’t find a fireman or a police officer to read to students.

Grey has not appeared in porn films in over two years. She has been a regular on “Entourage” and appeared in the 2009 film “The Girlfriend Experience.”

Obama discussed his trip to the legendary “Roscoes Chicken and Waffles,” saying that “I’m eating the wings and you’ve got the hot sauce on there, the fancy presidential limousine smelling like chicken.”

Obama Eats at Historic Black Chili Spot

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Labarbera has 1,400 followers on Twitter under the name LAMurderCop.

21 Machine Guns Stolen From LAPD SWAT Team

Naked, Unarmed Man Who Refused To Pay Cab Fare Killed By LAPD

L.A. Weekly Reports:

According to City News Service, 32-year-old Oscar Arevalo was shot dead that day on the sidewalk, in the 10600 block of Wilmington Avenue, around 9 a.m. Police have since announced that they believe two gang-affiliated suspects walked up to him, delivered the fatal bullets and ran away. They’re still on the loose.

Read More At L.A. Weekly

Police are not sure if the theft was an inside job and are currently investigating the matter.

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The Los Angeles Times reports:

Members of the SWAT unit, which specializes in hostage rescues and other high-risk situations, were scheduled to train at the facility Thursday, Downing said. A police officer arriving at the building around 9 a.m. Thursday discovered the weapons were missing, according to Downing. The officer also found electrical equipment stacked near a back door, indicating the burglars may still have been working and fled when the officer arrived.

Downing said the building, although not a guarded LAPD facility, was considered secure. To get to the weapons, the thieves cut through bolt locks on an outside door and two internal doors and forced their way through a metal roll gate, he said.

Read More At The Los Angeles Times

5. Watts Riot, 1965

In 1965, three members of a black family in Los Angeles were locked up by police for protesting the arrest of their brother. Fueled by unemployment, poor schools and housing discrimination, discontent in the Watts neighborhood erupted and people began to loot, vandalize, and clash with police and white motorists. The riot lasted for six days. Thirty-four people were killed, 1,032 injured, and 3,952 arrested. Police commissioner, William Parker, fueled the fires by saying that the rioters acted “like monkeys in a zoo”

A California gubernatorial commission found the causes of the riot to be high unemployment, poor schools, and other inferior living conditions.

4. Detroit Riots, 1967

In 1967, police raided a after hours party in Detroit and tried to arrest 82 people who were celebrating the homecoming of two soldiers from Vietnam. This resulted in a neighborhood protest that lead to looting, vandalism and arson. Once again the National Guard was called in after five days of rioting. At the end of the chaos, 43 people were dead, 1189 injured, and over 7000 were arrested.

The Detroit Free Press cited the causes of the riot as racism, economic inequality, and poor housing.

3. Notting Hill Riots England, 1976

Riots with roots in racism and police brutality are not unique to the U.S. In 1976, during the West Indian carnival in Notting Hill, London, West Indian youths revolted against arbitrary mass arrests and began clashing with the police, throwing bottles and other objects at police and their vehicles. The causes for the riot are often cited as an occupational police presence and unemployment among the West Indian youths.

2. Los Angeles Riots, 1992

One of the most prominent riots of the 20th Century was the 1992 civil insurrection sparked by the acquittal of four officers in the videotaped beating of Black motorist Rodney King. After the officers were acquitted, African Americans began to protest at the Los Angeles County courthouse and LAPD headquarters. A large group of Black citizens convened at the corner of Florence and Normandie confronted a group of officers, who then retreated because they were outnumbered. By the evening the crowd on Florence and Normandie began looting and attacking white motorists, including truck driver Reginald Denny.

Looting, arson and violence continued and eventually the National Guard was called in. The riots wound up killing 53 people and causing more the one billion dollars worth of damage.

The Christopher Commission sited the causes of the L.A. Riots as high unemployment, racial profiling and police brutality.

1. French Riots, 2005

In October of 2005, two teenagers in a Paris suburb were chased by police into a power station where the boys were electrocuted. Protests and unrest subsequently ensued. Civil unrest spread to poor housing projects in other parts of France including violence, arson and clashes with police.

Almost 9,000 cars were burned and 3,000 people were arrested and 126 policemen and firefighters were injured. The BBC listed the causes of the riot as unemployment and discrimination against immigrants.

The district, the nation’s second-largest, agreed to remedy the disparities through a variety of measures, including a complete overhaul of its English-learning program and improving resources such as computers and library books to schools with predominantly black student bodies.

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U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who unveiled the agreement at a news conference at LAUSD headquarters, said it would help ensure that every student in the nation’s second largest school district would receive the same academic opportunities “regardless of race or national origin.”

Noting that these issues are “incredibly complex and politically charged,” Duncan said he was encouraged by the district’s sense of urgency and willingness to voluntarily remedy the disparities without an order.

“Though we still have a long way to go before we see that English learner students and African-American students are consistently getting what they need to perform up to their fullest potential, I’m confident today’s agreement will help address the causes of concern that prompted our review,” he said.

Duncan stopped short of saying that students’ civil rights were violated and did not reveal detailed results of the investigation, just the terms of the agreement. But the Education Department said in a statement that it will monitor the district’s compliance with the agreement until educational codes are met.

The agreement was the result of a “compliance review” by the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, which was concerned about wide achievement gaps between the district’s lowest performing student groups and other students.

Only 5 percent of high school English language learners ranked as proficient in either English or math; for black students, 32 percent ranked as proficient in English and 9 percent in math, according to the district’s 2009-10 report card.

The overall district average was 37 percent proficient in English and 17 percent in math.

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy said the district did not dispute that disparities exist and worked to hammer out a solution with federal officials. The district will be studying how to fund the measures as plans for specific areas are developed.

The district’s English-language learning program has long been criticized for allowing non-native speakers to remain in English-learning programs for years, sometimes throughout their school careers, never meeting the criteria to move into mainstream classes. Students often fall behind grade level and end up dropping out.

For the 2009-2010 school year, only 14.4 percent of English learners were reclassified as fluent.

Under the agreement, the district agreed to completely revamp its nearly 200,000-student English-learning program by next school year, with special emphasis on high school students who have not been deemed proficient in English in order to take courses needed for graduation. The district has the highest number of English-learning students in the nation.

English-learners will receive grade-level courses, teachers will be trained to handle multiple English-proficiency levels and special-education teachers will receive English-instructional materials.

The program will also include a component aimed at black students aimed at boosting their “academic language proficiency” starting in elementary grades.

The investigation also found black students are underrepresented in gifted and talented programs but overrepresented in suspensions and disciplinary actions. Schools with predominantly black populations also lack technology and library resources.

The district agreed to remedy those disparities with fairer evaluation of gifted and talented programs and disciplinary actions, and allocating more computers and increasing library book collections.

A school-based community pilot program will be launched in an African-American neighborhood to provide health and social services, he said. No details were revealed.

Warren Fletcher, president of teachers union United Teachers Los Angeles, praised the Education Department for shining a light on longstanding disparities, but noted that the district has laid off more than 1,200 teachers and closed libraries in many schools.

“It’s very general,” he said of the agreement. “We have to see how those services are going to be provided.”

Parent Irma Munoz, who has had three children go through the district’s English learner program, said the program needed to be overhauled. Her children were put in classes with English speaking teachers who they could not understand, she said.

“It’s a bad program,” she said.

The Festival will screen 51 films, including 9 feature films, 11 documentaries and 27 short films.

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The feature films include, “Rocksteady” a movie about the son of a Jamaican immigrant who becomes a race car driver, “Threading Needles” a story of an African immigrant who falls in love with a white girl and “Chicken And Beef Presents “Monkey Gang” The Mockumentary” a mock documentary comedy parodying negativity in hip-hop.

Other features include, “Billy” a story about an African American photographer who encounters racism and opposition when he moves to Canada in 1906, “A Mother’s Love,” a family drama, “Mystery Of Birds,” the story of the struggles of a Nigerian female who immigrates to the U.S., “Fish Above Sea Level” a Jordanian film and “Changing The Game” the story of a Black man from the streets who infiltrates Wall Street only to find out the Wall Street is as crooked as the streets.

Documentaries include, two Jamaican films, “Bad Friday, Rastafari After Coral Gardens,” a movie about Jamaican oppression of Rastafarians during the 1960s, and “Bob Marley: The Making Of A Legend” which covers Bob Marley’s early years. Other docs include, “Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise And Fall Of The Spook That Sat By The Door,” a movie about Sam Greenlee’s epic movie, “The Spook That Sat By The Door” and “Phunny Business” a film about the legendary Chicago comedy club, “All Jokes Aside”

For more information on The Hollywood Black Film Festival go to www.hbff.org.

Obie Anthony, 37, collapsed into the arms of family members, who screamed and cried as he walked out of a downtown Los Angeles jail.

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Anthony, who spent his incarceration reading self-help books, said he always believed he would be released and struggled to express his emotions about his newfound freedom.

“It’s really overwhelming at this point,” said Anthony. “It’s going to take a couple of days before everything really sets all the way in.”

Anthony was convicted of fatally shooting a man outside a South Los Angeles brothel in a 1995 trial and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. But last Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kelvin D. Filer overturned Anthony’s conviction after determining that the prosecution’s star witness, a pimp, lied to the jury.

The 1994 shooting death was featured prominently in “The Killing Season,” a book about two Los Angeles Police Department homicide detectives by former Los Angeles Times reporter Miles Corwin.

Anthony said he wasn’t at the scene and has maintained his innocence. His case drew the attention of students with the Project for the Innocent at Loyola Law School who worked with the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara University School of Law.

After 3 1/2 years of research that included visiting the crime scene and re-interviewing witnesses, an evidentiary hearing was held in September.

Laurie Levenson, director of the Project for the Innocent, said the pimp has since retracted his testimony and said he never saw the shooter.

Anthony thanked his legal team for “coming to my rescue” and vowed by pay it forward by helping others who are wrongfully convicted.

Levenson called Anthony’s release her “greatest moment ever.”

“I’m so happy for Obie,” she said, then turning to him. “Obie, have a wonderful life.”

Despite being locked up for most of his adult life, Anthony said he didn’t harbor any anger and believed the justice system worked.

“I knew from the very beginning that justice will come,” he said. “I never once wavered in my faith.”

Anthony admitted he had a lot to learn about the world including learning about technology that didn’t exist when he went to jail. On his to-do list as a free man: Attend a Los Angeles Lakers game, eat a real meal and start a life with his fiancee Denise Merchant.

Merchant and Anthony have known each other since they were teenagers, but didn’t start dating until 3 1/2 years ago. They became engaged 1 1/2 years ago during a jailhouse visit in which Anthony got down on one knee to propose with a ring that she bought.

“It was nice and sweet,” said Merchant, who wore a T-shirt bearing Anthony’s face.

After posing for a few pictures with his legal team, Anthony and his family walked to the parking garage across the street trailed by television crews and news photographers.

Angela Gettis, a 16-year-old sophomore at the school, was rallying the crowd Friday night in the fourth quarter of a tie game at Fremont High School when she suffered an apparent cardiac arrest, Los Angeles Unified School District spokesman Tom Waldman said.

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The game stopped as coaches and trainers ran to help. Bystanders performed CPR while waiting for paramedics to arrive. Gettis died about three hours later at a hospital, becoming the second teenage girl from Los Angeles district schools to die over the weekend after a dramatic campus incident.

School officials planned to discuss Gettis at a Monday morning news conference.

School district Superintendent John Deasy said the girl was “a wonderful young lady. It is a catastrophic loss for the school and for the community. My heart goes out to her family.”

Gettis was a good student, said officials at the inner-city school in a rough area of Los Angeles. She planned to attend college and wanted to major in forensic science, school principal Todd Ullah told KABC-TV.

At least two tribute pages memorializing the teen popped up on Facebook as news of her death spread.

Grief counselors and a makeshift memorial also await students at South East High School in South Gate, where a 17-year-old student was stabbed during a lunch break in front of many student witnesses.

The student, Cindi Santana, died at a hospital late Friday night, Deasy said.

Another student and an administrator who tried to help Santana had minor injuries.

Santana’s former boyfriend, 18-year-old Abraham Lopez, was being held on suspicion of murder, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. Deputies reached by phone did not know whether he had retained an attorney.

Residents of the the neighborhood claim the rapper illegally entered the property and has since disturbed the community with his loud music and rampant marijuana smoking, which neighbors say they can smell from their properties.

Read more at myfoxla.com.

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A court commissioner granted the Lakers forward’s request to officially change his name to Metta World Peace on Friday, three weeks after the bid was blocked because Artest had unpaid traffic tickets.

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Artest, 31, did not attend a brief hearing Friday.

Superior court spokeswoman Patricia Kelly said that Artest’s new last name will be World Peace.

His publicist, Courtney Barnes, said the player chose Metta because it is a traditional Buddhist word that means loving and kindness toward all.

“Changing my name was meant to inspire and bring youth together all around the world,” World Peace said in a statement released after the hearing. “After this short delay, my tickets have been paid and I’m glad that it is now official.”

He requested the change in June, citing only personal reasons. He is scheduled to appear on the next season of “Dancing With the Stars.”

Barnes wrote in an email that World Peace will now have to get a new driver’s license to reflect his new name, but the switch won’t affect his contracts with the Lakers or any endorsement deals.

Artest helped the Lakers win an NBA title in 2010 and in April he received an award for outstanding service and dedication to the community.

He has testified before Congress to support mental health legislation.

Artest isn’t the first athlete to adopt an unusual name.

Lloyd Bernard Free, a professional basketball player who played in the league from 1975-88, had his first name legally changed to World in 1981. A friend had given him the nickname because of his 44-inch vertical leaps and 360-degree dunks.

In the NFL, wide receiver Chad Johnson legally changed his last name to Ochocinco in August 2008 to reflect his jersey number. The name means “eight five” in Spanish. Ochocinco is now with the New England Patriots.

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LOS ANGELES — According to the DEA, James “Jimmy Henchmen” Rosemond used the Los Angeles office of Interscope Records to import cocaine to Los Angeles.

Rosemond managed “The Game” who is an artist on Interscope, and “The Game’s” road manager is also implicated in the incident.

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The Smoking Gun reports:

Members of a narcotics ring that sent large amounts of cocaine and cash back and forth across the U.S. in music “road cases” arranged pickups and deliveries at the offices of Interscope Records, a music industry power whose roster includes artists like U2, Eminem, and Lady Gaga, according to federal investigators.

Since Rosemond headed a music and talent management firm, investigators allege, he was able to “disguise these shipments as legitimate freight that was ostensibly needed by the performance artists he managed,” according to a U.S. District Court filing. The coke- and cash-filled cases were shipped under accounts belonging to Rosemond’s Czar Entertainment and the “road manager for one of the performing-artists Rosemond managed,” prosecutors added.

Read More At The Smoking Gun

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