Downey Ca

An investigation initiated by the Medical Board of California has resulted in the arrest of a man accused of practicing medicine without a license, authorities said Friday. The board alleges that Martin Yanez was illegally soliciting California residents for tummy tucks, liposuction and breast augmentations.

The Johnie's Broiler site, which for decades greeted Southern California cruisers with a huge, cherubic boy bearing a burger, may lose its neon beacons. The Downey Planning Commission voted 4 to 1 Wednesday to revoke an exemption to the city's zoning rules that permitted the diner's signs, in part because Johnie's closed in 2001 and has been replaced by a used car dealership.

The Downey warehouses where an army of scientists created America's space shuttle fleet will soon be gone. But the shuttle Columbia and its crew of seven will not be forgotten. An interactive learning center will be built to honor Downey's contributions to both the Apollo and the space shuttle programs. "We were going to have a Challenger memorial" at the learning center, said Mayor Pro Tem Kirk Cartozian. "Now we'll have one for Columbia too."

On a once-vacant Downey lot, steel beams crisscross to form an unremarkable skeleton. But painted on the exterior of the film studio next door is a starry, twinkling universe, hinting at the striking, Space Age building to come -- Downey's new landmark science center.

A 20-year-old Downey man was indicted on 17 federal charges Thursday that he used malicious software to seize control of thousands of computers and then sold command of his drone army to spammers and hackers. The indictment of Jeanson James Ancheta marked the first time someone in the U.S. had been charged with the dealing of infected computers that spread spyware and other online scourges, said Assistant U.S. Atty. James Aquilina.

An elderly man with one arm ablaze and a pistol in his other hand tried to set two neighbors' homes on fire and incinerated his own Downey home, killing himself early Sunday morning, police said. Authorities found incendiary devices smoldering in front of two neighboring houses. The homemade firebombs were allegedly placed there by the man, whom police did not identify, before authorities arrived, Downey police said in a statement. Those bombs did not fully ignite.

Downey Regional Medical Center has told Los Angeles County officials it might close its emergency room, threatening to become the 10th hospital to cut those services since 2003 as they struggle with the cost of treating the uninsured. If the medical center follows through, it would be the largest emergency room to close in recent years, further straining the county's already overstretched emergency medical system.

Sociologists may argue over what drives people to crime. But Rancho Dominguez warehouse worker Ruben Gonzalez can actually show you. A smuggler from a Downey-based drug ring drove the sweet black-and-white 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner convertible parked in the center of the storage room. The light-blue 1958 Chevrolet Impala convertible sitting near the wall was the pride and joy of one of the ring's money launderers.

A Downey veterans memorial fountain that has been inoperable for three years is scheduled for renovation this fall. The city has allocated more than $6,000 to repair the fountain's water pump and colored lights. The pool's blue and green mosaic floor will be re-tiled as part of the project, which is expected to be completed by October, officials said. The fountain, located in front of the Downey Theater at 8435 Firestone Blvd.

Downey is hoping that for electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc., the third time is a charm. Mayor Mario Guerra said Tuesday that the city was close to cementing a deal that would have Tesla build a factory on the site of the former space shuttle plant, potentially bringing auto manufacturing back to Southern California for the first time in nearly two decades. The plant would employ 1,200 to 1,500 workers, he said, and be on an 80-acre site currently used by Downey Studios for film and television production.