Dorothy Gambrell illustrates everything you wanted to know about California’s prison labor program, but were afraid to ask. They can only sell inmate-made goods to the state, and if the state cuts back, those prisoners lose their jobs. Jeez, in jail AND laid off? Can this prison sentence get any worse????
Prison labor, once best known for making license plates, has grown to 57 factories doing such work as modular building construction, toner cartridge recycling, shoemaking and juice packaging. Read more at Bloomberg Businessweek
test reblogged from pacificstand
Intelligence report identified vulnerability at the finish line days prior to the Boston Marathon bombings
Intelligence officials read excerpts to a Times reporter from a document circulated five days before the tragic terrorist attack in Boston. Warning that the finish line was a particular “area of increased vulnerability,”
But that’s not to say that the FBI was aware of a specific threat to the city:
The “joint special event assessment” is dated April 10. It notes that at the time there was “no credible, specific information indicating an imminent threat” to the race.
“The FBI has not identified any specific lone offender or extremist group who pose a threat to the Boston marathon,” the report reads.
The document comes as the FBI and other agencies are under inspection from the House Homeland Security Committee today.
For the full details on the document, head over to Politics Now.
Photo: Charles Krupa / Associated Press
Women rescued in Cleveland after missing for years
Three women, who were reported missing at separate points in time ranging up to 11 years ago, were rescued from an unassuming Cleveland home yesterday.
Celebrations errupted in the surrounding streets, and the trio is in good health and have left the hospital, but the scope of the abductions is nonetheless harrowing.
Amanda Berry was 16 when she disappeared on April 21, 2003, after calling her sister to say she was getting a ride home from her job at a Burger King. Gina DeJesus was 14 when she disappeared a year later. Michelle Knight vanished on Aug. 23, 2002, when she was 21
Three men, reportedly all brothers and ages 50, 52 and 54, have been arrested. A girl, age 6, was also taken from the scene, and is reportedly Berry’s daughter.
From the dramatic 911 recording:
“Help me, I’m Amanda Berry.… I need police.… I’ve been kidnapped. I’ve been missing for 10 years; I’m here, I’m free now.”
Keep tabs on the latest developments over at Nation Now.
Photos: FBI / AFP/Getty Images, Scott Shaw / The Plain Dealer / Associated Press
FBI releases photos, video of suspected Boston Marathon bombers
Authorities for the first time have unveiled the suspected perpetrators of Monday’s terrorist attack in Boston - two men, whose identities are unknown, seen in the video above.
The FBI considers the two armed and dangerous, and urged citizens not to pursue any action beyond alerting authorities.
The duo is seen walking together, and in additional images below:
Beyond those images, and additional photos released on the FBI’s site, authorities cautioned that “other photos should not be deemed credible.”
For those with any information relevant to the case, the FBI can be contacted at 1-800-225-5324.
Photo, video: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Could you imagine staying in the woods alone for a month?
How about six months? A few years? Now try to imagine living alone in the wilderness for 27 years. Christopher Knight, pictured above, did just that, calling the Maine wilderness his home since 1986, surviving largely off of stolen goods from nearby camps.
Knight, 47, was arrested last week for stealing countless amounts of food and supplies over the years, had amazingly never been caught until then.
From Doug Rafferty, spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, on Knight’s sole contact with another individual during the 90’s:
“The only words that he’d spoken to another person in 27 years was when he said ‘Hi, how are you’ to a guy on another trail that he was walking.”
Read more about Knight’s solitary life on Nation Now.
Photo: Maine Department of Public Safety
How many people do you know who have been shot?
Portraits by Matt Girard for The Washington Post
Simply jaw-dropping.
test reblogged from washingtonpoststyle
How much force is too much? Law enforcement officials, in a nationally-broadcast effort to drove suspected murder and ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner out of a Bear Lake-area cabin, unleashed hundreds of rounds, tore down walls and may have sparked the fire that ultimately engulfed the residence.
With the state on full-alert for the entire manhunt, going to far as to employ the use of drones, did the ends, should the body found in the cabin’s wreckage be identified as Dorner’s, justify the means?
(Photo via Joe Klamar / AFP/Getty Images)
Update on the manhunt for Christopher Dorner: Questions remain after the standoff that left a cabin, with Dorner believed to be inside, in flames earlier today.
Several sources told The Times and many other news organizations that a body was located in the rubble. But LAPD officials said that the cabin was still too hot to search and no body has been found.
As authorities moved into the cabin earlier Tuesday, they heard a single gunshot.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Bachman also said that officials have not confirmed what is inside the cabin, though they believe a suspect was inside at the time of the fire.
Two San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies were shot in an exchange of gunfire with a suspect believed to be Dorner this afternoon. One has died as a result of his injuries; the second is expected to survive but will reportedly require several surgeries.
Photo: A highway patrol officer guards a roadblock on Highway 38 near Angeles Oaks following the standoff with the suspect believed to be Dorner on Feb. 12. Credit: Joe Klamar / AFP/Getty Images
Body found in Dorner cabin: Following a shoot-out, a stand-off and a fire which engulfed a cabin that ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner had allegedly broken into to evade authorities, a body has been found amid the wreckage.
For more on the story as it develops, stay tuned to our homepage.
NOTE: The LAPD has yet to confirm that the body is indeed Dorner’s, just that a body has been found.
Updated at 11:35 p.m.: There have been conflicting reports over whether a body has been found in the cabin; LAPD officials and a spokesperson for the San Bernardino sheriff’s department said tonight that the burned-out cabin was still too hot to search.
Photo via KTLA
Shootout between federal authorities, Christopher Dorner:
UPDATE 2: One of the deputies shot in the battle between law enforcement and Dorner has died, with the other still receiving treatment. Law enforcement sources have also told the Times that Dorner is without Internet, phone or television in the cabin currently surrounded by authorities. Continue following the story here.
UPDATE: Dorner has been surrounded by law enforcement in a cabin following an intense shoot-out that left two San Bernardino Sheriff’s deputies injured. More details here.
A law enforcement source has told the Times that that fugitive ex-LAPD cop Dorner has been involved in a shootout while on the run in the Big Bear area.
Dorner, wanted for several murder charges, reportedly burglarized a home, tied up a couple and stole their car prior to being discovered by authorities.
For more details as the culmination of the five-day search seems to draw closer, check back here.
(Photo via Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times)
Charges filed against Christopher Dorner:His trail may have gone cold, but officials are wasting no time in continuing their prosecution of accused murderer and ex-LAPD officer Dorner.
Dist. Atty. Paul Zellerbach said Dorner was charged with one count of murder, with special circumstance allegations in the killing of a peace officer and the discharge of a firearm from a vehicle, in the death of Riverside police Officer Michael Crain.
Zellerbach also added that Dorner will be eligible for the death penalty, and that there has been a no-bail warrant issued for his arrest, making him subject to arrest “anywhere.”
Read more on the filing against Dorner, or take a look at our timeline and retrace the story so far.
(Photos via Irvine Police Department, Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
The search for Dorner continues: Despite launching a state-wide manhunt yesterday, California authorities have yet to apprehend suspected gunman Christopher Dorner, an ex-LAPD officer wanted to multiple shootings.
Already, police have ordered an emergency shutdown of Big Bear, and yesterday shot newspaper carriers, citing the similarity of their car to the one suspected to be driven by Dorner. One of the women shot, 71-years-old, remains in the ICU.
Follow the latest developments on L.A. Now, keep track of the search via our timeline or look at photos of the pursuit.
Photo: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times
Manhunt timeline: With law enforcement across the state searching for accused killer and ex-LAPD officer Christoper Jordan Dorner, military bases on alert and innocent civilians accidentally shot by police officers, the ongoing pursuit of Dorner has been a frantic, confusing affair.
So follow along with our interactive timeline here, updated live as the story develops, to get a sense of how what reportedly began Sunday with a double homicide turned into a frenzied hunt for a suspected killer.
Photo: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
Manhunt expanded: Ex-LAPD police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, in an attempt to escape law enforcement, reportedly attempted to steal a 47-foot boat from an elderly man late Wednesday night. Dorner, who reportedly told the man he intended to leave for Mexico, was stopped only when a rope became tangled in the boat’s propeller.
Authorities have now extended their alert across the entire state, as well as altering officials in Las Vegas.
Additional details have also been released on the two women shot by police during the search for Dorner, who were fired upon by police while delivering newspapers. Both have been taken to hospitals for treatment.
Read more on the search, and follow the latest updates on LA Now.
Photos: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times; Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times; Cindy Yamanaka / Associated Press
15 years after Notorious B.I.G.’s murder, the L.A. County Coroner has released his autopsy report.
Photo: Notorious B.I.G. in 1997. Credit: Los Angeles Times
