Paul Gebhart

The Los Angeles City Council agreed Wednesday to hire an outside attorney to represent the city in a claim filed by a police officer who witnessed the Rodney G. King beating. Los Angeles Police Officer Paul Gebhart, who is listed as a defendant in King's civil lawsuit against the city, filed a workers' compensation claim, allegedly for stress. He has been off duty since January.

Paul Gebhardt, one of two dozen law-enforcement officers who were bystanders during the Rodney G. King beating, was found guilty Friday by a Los Angeles Police Department administrative panel that recommended he be suspended without pay for 10 days. The 18-year police veteran was found guilty of failing to report the incident to his supervisors. But he was found not guilty of failing to stop the beating, which was caught on videotape and led to fundamental reforms in the department.

Paul Gebhardt, one of two dozen law-enforcement officers who were bystanders during the Rodney G. King beating, was found guilty Friday by a Los Angeles Police Department administrative panel that recommended he be suspended without pay for 10 days. The 18-year police veteran was found guilty of failing to report the incident to his supervisors. But he was found not guilty of failing to stop the beating, which was caught on videotape and led to fundamental reforms in the department.

The Los Angeles City Council agreed Wednesday to hire an outside attorney to represent the city in a claim filed by a police officer who witnessed the Rodney G. King beating. Los Angeles Police Officer Paul Gebhart, who is listed as a defendant in King's civil lawsuit against the city, filed a workers' compensation claim, allegedly for stress. He has been off duty since January.

For a week, Bob Branham, the water pump station operator in this tiny farming community, slept in a life jacket, anticipating the moment when the Illinois River would burst its levee. As it turned out, he was standing on the levee itself Sunday when the river smashed through a large section of the barrier, defeating efforts of hundreds of residents, volunteers, National Guardsmen and inmates.