BUSINESS
November 8, 2009 | Ralph Vartabedian and Ken Bensinger
More than 1,000 Toyota and Lexus owners have reported since 2001 that their vehicles suddenly accelerated on their own, in many cases slamming into trees, parked cars and brick walls, among other obstacles, a Times review of federal records has found. The crashes resulted in at least 19 deaths and scores of injuries over the last decade, records show. Federal regulators say that is far more than any other automaker has experienced. Owner complaints helped trigger at least eight investigations into sudden acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the last seven years.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
March 10, 2006 | Lance Pugmire and Amanda Covarrubias, Times Staff Writers
More than 750 law enforcement officials conducted sweeps in five counties Thursday, aimed at breaking the back of the Vagos Motorcycle Club, an organization founded in the 1960s that authorities say is tied to dealing drugs and weapons. Twenty-two people were arrested in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and Ventura counties, culminating a three-year investigation aimed at curtailing the operations of the Vagos organization.
BUSINESS
December 29, 1995 | From Times Staff, Wire Reports
Medco Containment Services Inc. lost a $266-million contract with Maryland after drugstores refused to work with the managed-care company, prompting a state investigation of some of the largest retail pharmacy chains. The state revoked the contract after about 60% of the state's drugstore chains--including Rite Aid Corp., Giant Food Inc. and CVS Pharmacy Inc.--refused to fill prescriptions covered by Medco's reimbursement plan.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
December 27, 2009 | By Charles Ornstein, Tracy Weber and Maloy Moore
The frantic knocking of home health nurse Orphia Wilson startled the boy's parents awake just after dawn. Their 3-year-old son, who suffered from chronic respiratory failure and muscular dystrophy, had stopped breathing. The boy's mother raced to his side and began performing CPR as Wilson stood by. It was too late. Jexier Otero-Cardona died at a Hartford, Conn., hospital the next day. In the months that followed Jexier's May 2005 death, Connecticut health officials discovered that Wilson had fallen asleep, then ignored -- or possibly turned off -- ventilator alarms that signaled the boy was not getting enough oxygen, state records show.
BUSINESS
November 18, 2004 | Jonathan Peterson and Denise Gellene, Times Staff Writers
A Food and Drug Administration report made public Wednesday shows that bacterial contamination at Chiron Corp.'s flu vaccine plant in Britain is more widespread than previously thought, raising doubts about the company's ability to deliver flu shots in 2005.
NATIONAL
January 9, 2010 | By Nicholas Riccardi
A federal grand jury is investigating Joe Arpaio, the Arizona sheriff known for his aggressive stance on illegal immigration, for possible abuses of power in launching investigations of local officials who disagree with him, authorities said Friday. Two Maricopa County officials have been subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury to testify about Arpaio's actions against county officials since they moved to cut his budget in late 2008. Since then Arpaio and County Atty. Andrew Thomas, an ally, have filed criminal charges against two county supervisors, have said dozens of other county workers are under investigation and have filed a federal racketeering lawsuit accusing the entire county political structure of conspiring against them.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
July 14, 2009 | Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger replaced most members of the state Board of Registered Nursing on Monday, citing the unacceptable time it takes to discipline nurses accused of egregious misconduct. He fired three of six sitting board members -- including President Susanne Phillips -- in two-paragraph letters curtly thanking them for their service. Another member resigned Sunday. Late Monday, the governor's administration released a list of replacements.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
January 20, 2004 | Mark Arax, Times Staff Writer
Among the ranks of prison guards, only the most trusted are chosen to open a new penitentiary and lay down the law to the first busloads of inmates. Three times in a 15-year career, D.J. Vodicka got the call. He helped inaugurate Corcoran, Calipatria and Salinas Valley -- not a country club lockup among them, he liked to say. At 6 feet 6 and 280 pounds, with a head shaved clean, he was a guard's guard.
BUSINESS
January 28, 2010 | By Stuart Pfeifer
With former Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton on board, Virginia-based Altegrity Inc. is launching a global investigations company with ties to the city. Bratton is chairman of the new firm, Altegrity Risk International. He's tapped former L.A. City Councilman Jack Weiss to run the company's Los Angeles office and former Deputy Police Chief Michael Berkow as president of its security consulting unit. Bratton retired from the Los Angeles Police Department in August after eight years to work for Altegrity Inc., which had more than $900 million in revenue last year and is headed by Mike Cherkasky, former chief executive of the Kroll Group.
NATIONAL
April 22, 2009 | T. Christian Miller
A senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform wants his panel to investigate whether insurance giant American International Group Inc. and other providers have unnecessarily denied and delayed costly medical treatment for civilian contractors injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) also called for an investigation into the Labor Department's role in overseeing the federally financed insurance system for civilians working overseas.