Los Angeles County

The missing Mercedes-Benz driven by slain swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore was found Wednesday in the parking lot of a West Hollywood Trader Joe's, law enforcement sources said. Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said the department was notified by an individual who noticed a Mercedes appearing to match the description of Fiore's car about 12:42 p.m. in the parking lot of the grocery store in the 8600 block of Santa Monica Boulevard. "They noticed the car was dusty, dirty, had no license plates and looked out of place," said Whitmore, adding that he could not confirm whether it was Fiore's car. But the sources, who asked not to be identified because of the ongoing investigation, said the vehicle's identification number matched that of Fiore's white 2007 Mercedes CL S550.

Crediting aggressive crime-fighting strategies and partnerships with local cities, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca announced Wednesday that Lancaster and Palmdale and surrounding desert communities had seen a 10% reduction in overall crime last year. That makes for the lowest crime rate in the Antelope Valley since 2001, Baca said. Gang-related violent crimes dropped by 33% last year throughout the 1,370-square-mile region.

Los Angeles County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to launch an investigation into potential flaws in the child welfare system that might have played a role in the deaths of three children over the last month. Child welfare authorities had at one point investigated the care of the three children who died. Statistics show that in the last three years, a dozen children or more have died annually as a result of abuse or neglect despite the fact that their cases had come to the attention of social workers.

Two men were killed and a third was wounded in a shooting Wednesday that briefly closed the Long Beach Freeway as sheriff's deputies searched for suspects, authorities said. Responding to a call about 5 p.m., deputies found three men with gunshot wounds in the dry riverbed near the Rosecrans Avenue exit, a Sheriff's Department spokesman said. One died at the scene and another at a local hospital. The condition of the third, who was being treated for his injuries, was unknown, the spokesman said.

Sheriff's deputies rescued a 35-year-old woman and her two young children from a burning house, authorities said Saturday. The woman, her children and one of the rescuers were treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation. The fire occurred about 2 p.m. Friday in a home in the 12800 block of Priscilla Street, said Sgt. Harry Van of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

A New Year's burst of violence left at least five people dead Thursday in Los Angeles County, including a man shot outside a "Winter Wonderland" holiday party in the Coldwater Canyon section of Los Angeles. "It's a really tragic way to start the new year," said Sgt. Duane Leonard of the Pomona Police Department, which reported that a 46-year-old woman had confessed to fatally shooting her husband near the Phillips Ranch neighborhood.

Christine Arce had been eyeing a loft in downtown Los Angeles for six months, but the $1,550 monthly listed rent was just out of reach. The fashion sales representative called back recently on a whim and found the property managers were offering just enough to bring her in -- a $100 monthly reduction and the first month free. "I was totally surprised," said Arce, 32. She may have been pleased, but for landlords her good fortune represents a grim new reality.

Santa Ana winds left Southern California skies sunny and blue Saturday but kept firefighting strike teams on the lookout for any hint of fire as brush-covered hillsides quickly dried out in rising temperatures. No major brush fires were reported in the region by Saturday night. A red-flag warning issued by the National Weather Service for Los Angeles and Ventura counties is expected to persist until about 4 p.m. today, when temperatures are expected to reach the low 80s in some places.

Los Angeles County supervisors urgently scrimmaged for federal stimulus money Tuesday, proposing $2.7 billion in projects they say would help jump-start the local economy. The push by the county to get a share of the more than $800-billion stimulus package that President-elect Barack Obama has asked Congress to approve came as concern mounts about potentially massive losses in state funding.

I've covered a few natural disasters in my time, and the evacuation scenes looked something like this: rooms abandoned in a hurry, filled only with ghosts. Mail piled up, unopened. Phones that kept ringing, with nobody left to answer. The latest civic emergency comes not with a rush of flames or jolt of earth. It has crept up slowly in an unexpected place: the Los Angeles County Hall of Administration press room.