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After serving 26 years for his mother's killing, Bruce Lisker was freed last year after his conviction was overturned. The state sought this week to have him returned to prison on procedural grounds.

A spokesman for California Atty. General Jerry Brown said Thursday that his office was reconsidering a move to have a man whose murder conviction was overturned last year sent back to prison on procedural grounds.

Prosecutors describe Kelly Soo Park as a fraud artist capable of 'taking care of business.' The defense describes her as a law-abiding mortgage broker and churchgoer who cares for an ailing mother.

Prosecutors have characterized the woman accused of killing an aspiring model in 2008 as a globetrotting fraud artist, flush with cash and capable of "taking care of business."

Old family photo memorializes a time of vibrant connection

Not long ago, my wife put up a black-and-white photograph in our living room. It shows her grandparents, very young — supposedly on a street in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Papers in a wrongful-death suit name Charles Glen Reep and Michael Alvarado as the policemen who fatally shot Leroy Barnes Jr. in 2009 during a traffic stop. A union had fought release of the names.

Two Pasadena police officers, whose names were kept secret after they shot and killed a parolee last year, were identified this week in federal court papers filed by an attorney representing the dead man's family.

Authorities believe the people were recruited and paid for Vicodin prescriptions that were turned over to drug dealers who sold them by the pill at a huge mark-up. Dr. Zhiwei Lin is to be arraigned Friday.

A Los Angeles physician was arrested Thursday for allegedly prescribing pain medication to homeless people who didn't need the drugs, according to records and authorities.

Unusually large numbers of the gigantic creatures off the Southern California coast are a boon for charter boat operators. A biologist believes the cetaceans are following vast clouds of krill.

Unusually large numbers of blue whales dining off the Southern California coast are providing marine mammal enthusiasts a rare opportunity to see Earth's largest creatures lolling in the waves and spouting misty plumes.

Property owners overpaid $621,737 in levies that were raised in 2007, California controller says. The finding comes several weeks after auditors found taxpayers were overcharged $2.9 million for a 'retirement tax.'

The city of Bell assessed property owners for sewer fees without getting required voter approval, according to the state controller's office, marking the second time auditors have found that taxpayers in the working-class city were overcharged.

At campaign stops in Oakland and City of Commerce, the Democrat says he wants to bridge Sacramento's partisan divide, deplores rival Whitman's 'negativity' and announces he will launch ads next week.

A fired-up Jerry Brown previewed his general election themes in two gubernatorial campaign stops Thursday, framing the state's present straits as a chance to bring Californians together for a common purpose.

Through a federal grant, California will join 43 other states in replacing oft-maligned standardized exams.

With a federal award of $330 million, California and 43 other states joined Thursday to replace the much-maligned year-end English and math standardized tests with new nationwide tests that could better measure student learning and teacher performance.

L.A. police say Janet Mann Barrie, a nurse, owned the trunk in which the remains of two babies were found in MacArthur Park. The next step, officials say, is determining to whom the children belonged.

She poses for the camera in front of a boxy Dodge roadster, wearing a flapper-style hat, a fur stole and an uneasy smile.

State lawyers have asked a judge to reverse her decision to overturn the murder conviction of a man who was set free last year after serving 26 years in prison.

The 'safety employee' formula could boost a former city attorney's benefit by 11%, a pension expert says. The formula is usually reserved for public safety workers whose jobs put them in harm's way.

Vernon's top city attorneys, already among the highest-paid public employees in the state, have received an unusual pension deal under which they would get the same enhanced benefits as police officers and firefighters.

Californians are paying the price as the Legislature dickers over a final budget agreement.

California badly needs someone, some party, to just make a decision about a state budget and be held accountable for the consequences.

Weston Scott Kruger was shoplifting a pornographic magazine when the liquor store owner confronted him. Kruger shoved him hard to the concrete floor, cracking his head.

A former Orange County high school football star was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison this week for killing a Newport Beach liquor store owner while shoplifting an adult magazine.

Inglewood police fired the shots that killed a young man in 2008. But a suspected gang member is accused of provoking the killing.

There's no dispute over who fired the shots that instantly killed 19-year-old Michael Byoune.

The group, including the presidents of the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce and United Way of Greater L.A., urges the use of student test score data and more access to information about instructors for families.

A group of business and civic leaders is urging the Los Angeles school district and teachers union to quickly develop a new evaluation system that incorporates student test score data and gives families more access to information about instructors.

Commission votes to end contract of at least 35 years and have city workers handle rentals. Board president says that will give the agency more flexibility; critics say the city is in over its head.

The board that oversees the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks voted Wednesday to cancel its search for a company to handle its golf cart rental concession, ending a seven-year bidding process that was derided as both heavily politicized and painfully slow.

Legislation spurred by Bell salary scandal is headed to the governor's desk. The bills include restrictions on automatic pay raises, an end to pension spiking and refunds for high property taxes.

A day after California lawmakers passed wide-ranging public compensation reforms inspired by the Bell salary scandal, Hilda Villalpando felt hopeful for the first time in months.

Candidates discuss hot topics from the economy to climate change to abortion. Boxer gives scathing critiques of Fiorina's record as Hewlett-Packard CEO and Fiorina calls Boxer 'bitterly partisan.'

Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and her Republican opponent Carly Fiorina met in a contentious first debate Wednesday that seethed with disputes over their records and covered a broad range of issues from the economy to climate change to abortion rights.

The industry has been 'hijacked by underground' drug dealers, Lee Baca says as a suspect is charged in last week's triple murder in West Hollywood, which allegedly has ties to medical marijuana.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca on Wednesday took aim at the medical marijuana industry, citing last week's triple murder in West Hollywood as an example of how enterprising criminals have infiltrated some of the dispensaries.

Activists expected big gains, but a ban on plastic grocery bags, another on a chemical used in baby bottles and a bid to boost alternative energy fell short in the face of heavy industry opposition.

Environmentalists were counting on big gains in Sacramento this summer, with a governor eager to burnish his green credentials in his final months in office. But by the time the legislative session ended at midnight Tuesday, those hopes had fizzled.

After years of rapid growth, illegal immigration is slowing down in California and across the country, with the state's share of the nation's estimated 11.1 million undocumented immigrants dropping.

After years of rapid growth, illegal immigration is slowing down in California and across the country, with the state's share of the nation's estimated 11.1 million undocumented immigrants dropping.

But lawmakers defeat a proposed ban on plastic grocery bags in the waning moments of the 2010 session.

California lawmakers passed wide-ranging public compensation reforms inspired by the Bell municipal salary scandal in the waning hours of the 2010 legislative session, but a closely watched, first-in-the-nation ban on plastic grocery bags was defeated Tuesday night.

The man's club struck a rock, sparking the 12-acre blaze over the weekend, officials say. No charges are filed.

A 12-acre brush fire in Irvine over the weekend was caused by a golfer who accidentally chipped a rock at Shady Canyon Golf Club, officials said.

A 30-second spot criticizes Brown's record as mayor of Oakland. It's an unusual strategy for a Republican in a Democratic stronghold but reflects her financial power.

Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman has begun airing a fifth attack ad against Democratic rival Jerry Brown, this one a Bay Area-focused effort that criticizes his tenure while mayor of Oakland.

The pace is slow, but admission is free and the cast includes enough lawyers to field a baseball team.

It occurred to me Tuesday, as I watched Boston transplants Frank and Jamie McCourt slog it out in court, that maybe being rich is not worth the hassle.

On the eve of her first debate with Carly Fiorina, the three-term Democrat reminds a San Francisco audience of her antiwar stance and liberal positions on the environment and economy.

On the eve of her first debate with Republican Carly Fiorina, Sen. Barbara Boxer outlined her rationale for reelection Tuesday, vowing to hold President Obama accountable for bringing troops home from Afghanistan, defending California's efforts to regulate emissions and reiterating her five-point plan to boost the nation's economic recovery.

Officials think Richard Forsberg beat Marcia Forsberg to death in February at their Rancho Santa Margarita home, then took her body to Ventura County. He is arrested after an apparent suicide attempt.

Marcia and Richard Forsberg had the appearance of the perfect couple — holding hands, stealing kisses and still joking around after 39 years of marriage.

The hospital's ER was rated 'dangerous' eight hours a day in July, a new report says, double the previous month's rate.

Overcrowding grew worse this summer at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, hospital officials acknowledged Tuesday.

Most members say the current way of evaluating teachers needs to be reworked; some add parents deserve more information about instructors. Some criticize The Times' publication of database.

Los Angeles school board members made their first public statements Tuesday about evaluating teachers partially by analyzing student test scores, with most saying that the current system needs to be reworked and some adding that parents deserve more information about their children's teachers.