Father And Son

Behind an unassuming storefront in Orange County's Little Saigon, prosecutors say, was the driving force behind an illicit international trade in rhinoceros horns. Vinh Chuong "Jimmy" Kha and Felix Kha may never have journeyed to the savannas of Africa, but by trafficking in hundreds of pounds of the prized horns that some Vietnamese and Chinese believe can cure cancer, the father and son were responsible for the hundreds of rhinos targeted by poachers, prosecutors said. "Their fingers might as well have been on the triggers of poachers' guns," Assistant U.S. Atty.

Meyer Lansky is one of the gravitational centers of Zachary Lazar's new novel, "I Pity the Poor Immigrant" (Little, Brown and Company: 256 pp., $25). Not so much the dapper, "Boardwalk Empire"-era gangster as Lansky in 1972 in Israel, seeking to retire there under the country's Law of Return. It's hardly the most celebrated era in Lansky's life, but Lazar was going for something other than the obvious. "The initial idea of this book was to put Meyer Lansky in the same room as King David from the Bible," Lazar said via Skype from his home office in New Orleans.

The masterminds of an international rhinoceros horn smuggling ring pleaded guilty in a Los Angeles federal court to illegal wildlife trafficking, money laundering and tax evasion. The pleas Friday wrapped up the first phase of a nationwide crackdown on the lucrative horn trade to Asia. Vinh Chuong "Jimmy" Kha and Felix Kha, who have been jailed since their homes and import-export business in Garden Grove and Westminster were raided in February, probably face about five more years in prison under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

Thirty years ago today, Grammy-winning singer Marvin Gaye was fatally shot in a case that shocked the music world. The gunman was his father, Marvin P. Gaye Sr. Gaye was killed April 1, 1984, a day before his 45 th birthday, at the family home in the Crenshaw district after an argument wi th his father. Gaye Sr., a retired minister of the House of God Church, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to five years of probation. Police said the argument between the father and son began when Gaye was unable to find an insurance company letter that had nothing to do with the singer.

They'd been a father and son estranged -- going long periods barely speaking -- but who in recent months had begun the path to reconciliation on late-night walks to a nearby Fullerton train yard. Late Wednesday, however, Virgil Lamphier, 56, and his son, David, 23, were struck and killed by a Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train as the pair walked the tracks about 11:15 p.m. What the two were doing on the tracks is still unclear. Authorities initially speculated that they had been train-spotting.

Martin Sheen was a struggling 21-year-old stage actor when his first son Emilio was born. Sheen, seventh of 10 children in a family that knew him as Ramon Antonio Gerardo Estevez instead of his stage name, was more accustomed to having siblings than being a father. He felt more like a brother to Emilio, and that dynamic has defined their relationship to this day. In their new memoir, "Along the Way: The Journey of a Father and Son," the two examine the nature of their relationship and the ways it formed and has informed both of their lives.

NEW ORLEANS — Everyone knows that Super Bowl XLVII pits coaching brothers John and Jim Harbaugh. But few people are aware the game is also father versus son. Jay Harbaugh, 23, whose father coaches the San Francisco 49ers, is a coaching intern for Baltimore. He works for his uncle, John, head coach of the Ravens, and he agreed to an extensive interview with The Times, provided the story run after the teams' last media availability of the week. That media window closed Friday morning with a joint press conference featuring the Harbaugh brothers.

Police have arrested three people, including a father and his teenage son, suspected of robbing several liquor stores and markets during a three-week crime rampage, San Fernando Police Chief Dominick Rivetti said Friday. Louis Reyes Murillo, 44, of San Fernando and his 15-year-old son also are expected to be charged with shooting a customer who tried to stop one of the robberies, Rivetti said.

When my father ran, he looked like he was in bad need of the Tin Man's oil can. He scrunched up his shoulders tightly, pinching the blades together just below the base of his neck and forcing his chin up at a slightly unnatural angle. From behind, this brought much more of his bald spot into view. His upper arms — from shoulders to elbows — stayed glued to his torso. At the bottom of his rib cage, each forearm stiffly jutted up and away from his body at a 45-degree angle. Whenever I picture him running, it's always from behind.

Like many sons of illustrious men, the Rev. Michael M. Bruner wishes people would stop comparing him to his father, theologian F. Dale Bruner. "Being your twin," Pastor Michael likes to tell Professor Dale, "isn't exactly my aspiration, with all due respect." But comparisons seem unavoidable with these two wiry, bespectacled graduates of Princeton Theological Seminary. Both are admired Bible expositors who love teaching and believe passionately the power of God's redeeming grace.

ARLINGTON, Wash. - Danger and uncertainty hang like a pall over the small towns along the Stillaguamish River. The mudslide that tore across State Route 530 - leaving nearly a square mile of debris and slicing a scar in the hillside taller than the Washington Monument - threatened to continue moving Monday. Search-and-rescue teams equipped with sonar, hovercraft and dogs were pulled back from the hardest-hit area for two hours out of fear that they too might become casualties of Saturday's deadly slide.

Since 1946, the San Diego Museum of Art has owned an appealing vision of happy prosperity: Frans Hals' 1630s painting of a plump, rosy-cheeked Dutch merchant whose expression and body language exude confidence, security and bonhomie. In the early 1990s, on one of his infrequent visits to Los Angeles from Europe, Bernard Goodman asked his son, Simon, to take him to see it. Standing in front of the portrait of Isaac Abrahamsz Massa, Bernard for the first time permitted a crack in what his son calls "the brick wall of silence" that had confronted him and his older brother, Nick, all their lives.

John S.D. Eisenhower Historian son of president John S.D. Eisenhower, 91, the son of a five-star general turned president who forged his own career in the U.S. Army and then chronicled the history of the American military in numerous books, died Saturday, his family said in a statement. No cause of death was given John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower was born in Denver on Aug. 3, 1922, the second son of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mamie Doud Eisenhower. Both father and son graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the son on June 6, 1944 - the day his father oversaw the Allied invasion of Europe.

Doc Rivers likes to give a pep talk to his son Austin before their teams play each other. "Well, I tell him to turn it over, to foul," the elder Rivers joked Wednesday evening. There's also a preferred moment for the Clippers coach to deliver his message to the second-year guard for the New Orleans Pelicans. "I tried to time my call right when I thought he was sleeping to wake him up," Doc said. All kidding aside, the matchup produces more cringe-worthy moments for the father than the son. "It's kind of weird for him to scout me," Austin said before the Pelicans played the Clippers at Staples Center, "because he has to tell people what I don't do well and I do well.

C'mon, we all knew that was coming, didn't we?   In a twist about as surprising as the news that Andy Kaufman is, in fact, still dead, it turns out that Mama Pope is still alive, if not exactly well. In the closing seconds of Thursday's “Scandal,” Rowan pays a visit to his spouse-prisoner, who's living in some kind of dank underground cell -- just one of the many bunkers in this most paranoid of shows.   It's predictably unpredictable in that way that “Scandal” is, a development that caps off an episode in which Olivia's unfolding back story takes a backseat to Mellie.

A man and his son have been arrested after allegedly kidnapping his ex-wife and forcing her to undergo an exorcism in Stockton. Jose Magana-Farias, 42 and his son, Victor Farias, 20, arranged to meet with his ex-wife and mother of the son at a Wal-Mart in north Stockton on Saturday under the pretense of trying to make the marriage work, San Joaquin sheriff's Lt. Mike Jones told KCRA-TV. But after getting into the car, the men allegedly picked up two priests before forcing the woman to undergo an exorcism, Jones said.

"Papa," Aurelio told me, "I want to touch the moon!" This was more than the fanciful thinking of a 5-year-old. On a father-son trip last month to watch the launch of the space shuttle, Aurelio did touch the moon — a small piece displayed at the Kennedy Space Center. On our seven-day trip to Florida, the goal was to watch the second-to-the-last shuttle launch. Aurelio is crazy about airplanes. In August, when I took him to the air show in Point Mugu, he watched the jet-powered stunts with pure amazement.

Robert L. Holton is happiest in the paint-spattered studio behind his One Day Signs shop in Anaheim, making the paint-dribbled pop art that is his true passion. If he could, Holton says, he'd devote all his time to Drizzle Studios, his fledgling side venture. But Holton feels a duty to stick with the sign business until his son, Trevor, decides whether he wants to take over the family operation. Trevor, 27, runs the office and owns a 5% share.

A father and son from  Orange County  have both died after their hunting trip to New Mexico went tragically awry last month. The son, Steve Lockhart, 43, of Costa Mesa was separated from the hunting party in Gila National Forest about midnight Oct. 20, according to New Mexico law enforcement officials. Lockhart died Sunday, shortly after he was found alive a week after he disappeared, according to the Daily Pilot . Officials had suspended rescue efforts for Lockhart days earlier, calling off the air and ground searches, which involved dozens of personnel, according to New Mexico State Police.

A shooting in Venice's Oakwood neighborhood started as a road rage incident involving possible gang members, police said. The shooting occurred about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday in the 800 block of Indiana Avenue, but Los Angeles police said Wednesday the confrontation that preceded the incident actually started much earlier. A man in his 50s was riding his motorcycle when he was cut off by up to five suspected gang members, who exchanged words with the man, NBC4 reported. The group followed the man home where the confrontation continued, said LAPD Sgt. Gregory Probst.