Guanajuato Mexico

A longtime elevator mechanic at Los Angeles International Airport was sentenced this week to three years in federal prison for smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States. Roberto Amaya Canchola, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of bringing in an illegal immigrant for financial gain. The North Hills resident admitted smuggling in five foreign nationals Aug. 9 after they had arrived from Mexico. He admitted receiving $1,800 for each passenger.

Health and financial problems may have pushed a man to shoot his wife's pregnant sister, her husband and two young daughters before turning the gun on himself, Inglewood police said Wednesday. Silvano Tringali, 41, used a spare key to enter his sister-in-law's home in the 3600 block of West 110th Street sometime after 2 a.m. Monday as the family slept, said Lt. Mike McBride.

A longtime elevator mechanic at Los Angeles International Airport has been charged with smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States by leading them out of the terminal before they were inspected by federal authorities. Roberto Amaya Canchola, 53, was arrested at the airport Aug. 23 after a sting operation involving federal immigration agents. Authorities believe the North Hills resident smuggled in at least 15 illegal immigrants, including two with criminal records who had previously been deported.

Two years after starring in its premiere in Los Angeles, Placido Domingo brought “Il Postino,” the opera about the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, to Neruda's homeland. The opera by the late Daniel Catan just concluded a run at the Municipal Theater of Santiago starring Domingo, who is L.A. Opera's general director. The performances featured other leading cast members from the L.A. production. Conducting is Grant Gershon, the resident conductor of Los Angeles Opera, who also led the orchestra for the L.A. premiere.

A 68-year-old man out for a walk with his grandchildren was killed and a tamale vendor wounded when they were caught in the cross-fire of a gang shootout in a South Los Angeles neighborhood Friday morning. Police arrested two men within half an hour of the 8:40 a.m. killing, and extra platoons of specially trained officers were sent into the area because of the potential for retaliation.

The Mexican peso has dropped 35% in value against the dollar since Dec. 19, when that nation's government began devaluing its currency in response to falling foreign reserves and a mounting trade deficit. Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo has announced a new economic plan calling for deep sacrifices that will likely affect many in Southern California.

Juan Hernandez didn't make it. For several hours Wednesday night, as the amnesty applicants swirled around him, the 32-year-old native of Mexico paced the sidewalk in front of the downtown Los Angeles office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, desperately selling large envelopes at 50 cents each to those needing them to deposit their applications. But business was not brisk enough.

Two takes on N. Korea article I couldn't help but be shocked that the Travel section would run a piece on tourism in North Korea ["A Rare Glimpse Offers Plenty of Curious Sights," Nov. 15]. The North Korean government is possibly the most oppressive of any industrialized country in the world. A huge number of its people live in poverty, there is not enough food available, and the lack of proper medical care has reached crisis levels. The Kim Jong Il regime puts a great effort into keeping this harsh reality at a distance from any foreign visitors, including the author of the article.

Three Oxnard boys abducted nearly two years ago were returned to their mother Friday when California prosecutors for the first time employed provisions of The Hague Convention to return children wrongfully taken to Mexico. Mexican officials are not expected to extradite the boys' father to the United States so he can be prosecuted on child-abduction charges, but Ventura County prosecutors said they met their primary goal. "Our chief concern was getting the kids," Chief Deputy Dist. Atty.