Fullerton

It's back. Megabus , which offered low-cost bus service to Las Vegas from L.A. in 2007 and then withdrew from the market, will begin service between the two cities on Dec. 12, it announced Wednesday. Like Greyhound , which also has recently introduced low-cost service to Las Vegas from L.A., Megabus hopes to lure Vegas-bound Angelenos out of their cars and onto modern coaches with one-way fares starting at just $1. “We've seen impressive growth throughout North America and are confident that our 21st century double-decker buses with Wi-Fi and power outlets combined with our outstanding prices will be a success among California and Nevada residents,” said Mike Alvich, Megabus.com's vice president of marketing and public relations.

A motive remains unclear in the slaying of 36-year-old Army veteran and soon-to-be college graduate Maribel Ramos, whose body was found in a remote Orange County canyon. Authorities on Friday announced that they had arrested her roommate in connection with the slaying. Police said Kwang Chol "KC" Joy, 54, voluntarily submitted to an interview with detectives after he was contacted Friday morning, and was later arrested on suspicion of killing Ramos. Police declined to release additional information, saying that the case was being submitted to the Orange County district attorney's office.

Gary Carter, a Hall of Fame catcher from Fullerton who helped lift the New York Mets to a dramatic victory over the Boston Red Sox in the 1986 World Series, died Thursday in Florida. He was 57 and had brain cancer. Nicknamed "Kid" for his grit and youthful exuberance, Carter was an 11-time All-Star who hit .262 with 324 home runs and 1,225 runs batted in during 19 seasons playing for the Montreal Expos, Mets, San Francisco Giants and Dodgers. His goal to become a major league manager unfulfilled, Carter was coaching at Palm Beach Atlantic University near his Florida home last May when he experienced headaches and forgetfulness and was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Early this year, Orange County Register executives approached officials at three local universities with an offer they couldn't resist - weekly, six-page sections packed with positive news about their schools. For $275,000 apiece, UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton and Chapman University were promised a half-page ad in each of 45 sections over the next year, along with feature stories, events coverage, personality profiles and other light fare produced by Register staffers. The schools jumped at what one UCI marketing official called "an exciting new partnership.

The Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Services will host its third benefit garage sale from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at 2108 Camino Centroloma. All proceeds will benefit the nonprofit organization's programs. The Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Services offers food and necessities for people in need. They also offer a temporary shelter for homeless families. For more information, call Fran Carey at (714) 738-6486.

Jar hosts guest chefs: Israeli chefs Assaf Granit and Uri Navon of Machneyuda in Jerusalem will be paying chef Suzanne Tracht's restaurant Jar a visit April 13 for a one-night-only dinner collaboration. In honor of Israel's 65th Independence Day, Granit, Navon and Tracht will prepare a four-course dinner comprised of dishes such as sea fish tartare; shikshukit , cooked minced beef and lamb in a Mediterranean spice mixture with tahini and yogurt; calamari with dates, honey, pomegranate concentrate, porcini mushrooms, harissa, cherry tomatoes, confit of onion and garlic with tahigort and burnt aubergine paste; and basbousa , a wet semolina cake with tahini ice cream and fresh fruit.

At around 1 p.m. Tuesday, Sean Bohrman of Burger Records picked up the phone in his label's office and pleaded for mercy. “Can you call me back in a couple hours?” he asked a reporter. “We just drove 20 hours straight from Texas after South by Southwest. We got home like an hour ago and haven't eaten anything, and honestly we're kind of delirious.” Clemency granted. At the annual Texas record industry bacchanal this month, the Fullerton-based garage punk label threw two days of official showcases and nine days of satellite parties before heading back to California in time for this weekend's Burgerama.

Seven air-traffic control towers in Southern California will close next month as a result of forced federal budget cuts, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday. The FAA had considered closing as many as 189 towers at smaller airports across the nation, including 14 in Southern California. The agency must cut $637 million from its budget by Sept. 30 as part of $85 billion in so-called sequestration cuts across the federal government. Southern California will lose towers in Fullerton, Oxnard, Riverside, San Diego, Victorville, Pacoima and Lancaster.

A 29-year-old paroled gang member who was acquitted two weeks ago on charges of attempted murder and carjacking is now accused of shooting a Fullerton police officer multiple times at close range. After being pulled over in a routine traffic stop early Sunday, Marcos Allen Bush pulled out a gun and shot the officer at point-blank range in the chest, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. Bush is accused of firing at the officer several more times, hitting him twice in the arm and again in the leg, before speeding from the scene with an unidentified passenger.

Cal State Fullerton's longshot bid to win the Big West Conference women's basketball tournament came up three points short. Erica McKenzie's three-point basket with seven seconds left Friday gave top-seeded Pacific a dramatic 54-51 victory over No. 8 Fullerton at the Honda Center. Pacific (25-6) will play in Saturday's 1 p.m. championship game against No. 2 Cal Poly, a 62-43 winner over UC Santa Barbara. Fullerton, which finished the season 11-22, made it to the semifinals after upset wins over No. 5 Long Beach State and No. 3 Hawaii.

Top-seeded Long Beach State versus injury-ravaged Cal State Fullerton went just as you might expect a game with that billing would go. Fullerton's Titans were tenacious enough in Thursday night's opening round of the Big West Conference tournament. They just weren't deep enough. Long Beach withstood Fullerton's pluckiness and slow-it-down pace to emerge with a 75-66 victory at the Honda Center. "It was grind for us all game," Long Beach Coach Dan Monson said. The 49ers advance to Friday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal game against UC Irvine.

An appeals court Thursday denied a last-ditch attempt by one of two former Fullerton police officers accused in the death of Kelly Thomas to prevent the case going to trial. Former Officer Manuel Ramos is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, and former Cpl. Jay Cicinelli is charged with involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force in the July 2011 beating death of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man with a history of schizophrenia. A third officer, Joseph Wolfe, was indicted in September, a year after the others, on charges of involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force.

Re "Two justices likely at odds on gay rights," Dec. 9 My wife and I have disagreed for years about gays and their right to marry. An oversimplification of our debate went along the lines of "I don't care" who marries whom versus "it's just not right" - until recently. After years of working, interacting and seeing openly gay people around us, both of us now hold the same view: who marries whom doesn't really matter. Because he will never reach his "just don't care" moment, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will continue to be remembered as the GOP partisan he is. A legacy of judicial mediocrity awaits him. Eugene Sison San Dimas Heterosexuals marry not to establish legal status, to allow joint filing of taxes or to protect each other in medical decision-making.