YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — People either don't like sand in their shoes or they have something better to do and are staying away from the Imperial Sand Dunes west of Yuma. A lack of jobs and saving money may be part of it. Last year, 172,000 people visited over the four-day Thanksgiving holiday, compared with 166,000 in 2007 and 198,000 in 2006. So far this year, BLM said 163,500 visitors have come to the dunes.
SOUTH EL MONTE, Calif. (AP) — Fire has destroyed a furniture manufacturing business in South El Monte. About 100 Los Angeles County firefighters battled the blaze for two hours early Friday before knocking down the flames at Master Design Sofa Inc. Fire Inspector Frederic Stowers says the fire began when a power line failed and fell on a chain link fence. Damage is estimated at $3 million.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is visiting the 2009 Guadalajara International Book Fair in Mexico. Los Angeles has been declared the guest of honor at the event. Villaraigosa will lead a delegation of authors, artists, filmmakers and musicians to the cultural event and also plans a few business meetings.
ANGELUS OAKS, Calif. (AP) — The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department says a man charged with killing a housekeeper at a Seventh Day-Adventist forest camp had planned to shoot all 15 campers. Leith Hamilton has pleaded not guilty to killing 60-year-old Celebrada Lomito-Sexton on Nov. 2 at Camp Cedar Falls in Angelus Oaks. A sheriff's report, obtained Wednesday by the San Bernardino Sun, says Hamilton had extra ammunition for his handgun but, instead, surrendered at a sheriff's station.
