California Suits

Federal thrift regulators first notified the Securities and Exchange Commission in late 1986 that they thought something was fishy with the financial statements of American Continental Corp., the parent of Lincoln Savings & Loan. The regulators told the SEC they uncovered evidence during an audit of the Irvine-based thrift that American Continental was selling securities based on "false and misleading" financial information.

The parents of six suspected graffiti vandals and a friend killed in a freeway accident near the City of Commerce last year have filed an $80-million suit against the state, saying there was a structural flaw in the highway. State attorneys were sardonic about the suit, which also seeks damages from the suspected drunk driver who struck the pickup truck, from the owner of the truck, from its driver and from the manufacturer.

A Los Angeles businessman who attempted to rescue California Life Insurance Co. from insolvency filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court alleging that state officials drove the company into ruin and liquidated its assets long before it became insolvent. Backed by a coalition of minority rights organizations, including the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, entrepreneur Donald J.

California's grape-switching scandal broadened Monday when the state Attorney General's Office announced that it has filed five more lawsuits against San Joaquin Valley agricultural companies alleging that cheap wine grapes were substituted for expensive grapes.

When real estate developer Charles Tarrats began paving a twisting, 2 1/2-mile road in Malibu's pristine upper Ramirez Canyon without a permit last May, the state Coastal Commission ordered him to stop. He did--for two days. Then the Coastal Commission turned down his request for an emergency permit. Regardless, Tarrats' workmen returned to finish the road that area environmentalists scorned as an "abomination" on the Santa Monica Mountains landscape.

The state Supreme Court, in a test of public access to governmental records, agreed Thursday to decide whether Gov. George Deukmejian must turn over his daily appointment schedule to news reporters. The justices set aside a ruling by a state Court of Appeal last January that the records must be provided to the Los Angeles Times after a judge has examined them in private and removed any material that could endanger the governor's security.

Citing long-awaited improvements in Compton schools, attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union are expected to announce today the settlement of a lawsuit accusing the state of failing to fix deteriorating campuses and improve student learning. Settlement of the suit is seen as a step toward returning control of the troubled district to the Compton school board.

The state has sued a Salt Lake City trucking company to pay for damage done by a company driver who slammed his big rig into the state Capitol in January. The suit seeks $13.5 million in actual damages and $100 million in punitive damages from Dick Simon Trucking Inc. Truck driver Mike Bowers, who had a history of legal and mental problems, rammed his vehicle into the Capitol's south portico.

Bowing to pressure from fellow Republicans, Gov. George Deukmejian on Wednesday allowed a $20-million family planning bill to become law without his signature, thus avoiding a veto override attempt and dousing a smoldering political issue.

Insurance Commissioner Roxani Gillespie has filed a lawsuit accusing California's insurance industry of "engaging in a conspiracy . . . seeking to block, hinder or delay the implementation of Proposition 103" and asking a Los Angeles judge to issue an injunction halting such tactics.