WELLS FARGO-WACHOVIA
Wells Fargo shutting down 122 California branches, most old Wachovia offices
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco-based Wells Fargo is shutting down 122 California branches, most of them Wachovia offices they purchased last year.
Most of the closures will be Wachovia branches near existing Wells Fargo locations. They will be closed in April.
The bank will still have more than 1,000 branches in California.
Wachovia was teetering near collapse when Wells Fargo bought the bank in a deal brokered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Wells Fargo currently has 187 Wachovia offices in California. Of those, 101 will be closed.
Bank spokeswoman Jennifer Langan says 21 Wells Fargo locations will also be closed.
CRASH KILLS FOUR-BURGLARY
2 arrested in burglary of home of California family killed in Thanksgiving weekend car crash
SONOMA, Calif. (AP) — Investigators say two people are in jail for ransacking the Sonoma home of a family of four killed in a Thanksgiving weekend highway crash.
Sonoma police Chief Bret Sackett says 29-year-old Amber True and 26-year-old boyfriend Michael Guiterrez have been booked for investigation of burglary and vehicle theft.
True was arrested in San Mateo County when a deputy found her with a credit card belonging to Susan Maloney during a traffic stop. Detectives later found Guiterrez driving the dead woman's car.
Maloney, her husband Johnathan and their two young children were killed on impact when a speeding car went through a red light and slammed into their minivan. They had just returned from Thanksgiving in Hawaii.
The driver of the car died a day later.
SWINE FLU
LA County health officials say swine flu cases may have peaked; 97 deaths H1N1 related
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Public health officials say swine flu cases have probably peaked in Los Angeles County, where there have been 97 H1N1-related deaths since April.
But it's feared the influx of holiday visitors could lead to a third outbreak of swine flu cases.
Pasadena's public health director Dr. Takashi Wada says he's concerned about the crush of Tournament of Roses and Rose Bowl visitors. He's urging local residents and visitors to get the H1N1 vaccine as soon as possible.
Pasadena officials ordered 150,000 doses of vaccine but so far had received only 20,000. Wada says he's turned to other cities and counties in a bid to get additional vaccine.
Los Angeles County has so far received 1.4 million doses of the vaccine, far less than needed.
VALLEJO MAYOR-GAY REMARKS
Protesters chastise Vallejo mayor over gay remarks
VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) — Evangelical Vallejo Mayor Osby Davis has apologized for remarks that homosexuals will not go to heaven.
Davis told the New York Times last month that gays are "committing sin and that sin will keep them out of heaven." He says the remarks were taken out of context.
But protesters gathering on the steps of City Hall yesterday weren't appeased. They want Davis to resign.
Inside City Hall, pastors from several churches offered prayers and chastised opponents of the mayor.
CELEBRITIES BURGLARIZED
4 plead not guilty in LA to burglarizing homes of Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and others
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Four people accused of burglarizing celebrities' homes have pleaded not guilty during a Los Angeles court appearance.
Nineteen-year-olds Nicholas Prugo, Diana Tamayo and Courtney Leigh Ames and 27-year-old Roy Lopez Jr. are charged with felony burglary counts.
Prugo faces seven counts of first-degree burglary for break-ins at the homes of stars including Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom and Rachel Bilson.
Prugo's lawyer Sean Erenstoft asked that his client's case be separated from the others, but the court commissioner today denied the request, saying it was premature.
MARINES-HADITHA
Marines to hold hearing for officer on Iraq deaths
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) — A Marine Corps officer whose criminal charges of failing to investigate the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians were dismissed must clear one final hurdle before retirement.
An administrative military panel this morning began an inquiry to determine if Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani should be demoted in retirement.
The lieutenant colonel's lawyer says that could cost Chessani $500,000 in lost pension, health and retirement benefits.
Chessani was originally charged with dereliction of duty for failing to investigate the 2005 killings of men, women and children by Marines in Haditha, Iraq, but a Camp Pendleton judge dismissed the charges because of improper contact between a general overseeing the case and an investigator.
The Marines announced in April they would not pursue further criminal charges.
The three-member panel convening today is hearing opening statements, then they review a number of documents before taking witness testimony beginning Dec. 7.
CHRISTMAS THEFT
Garden Grove police say thieves stole $100,000 in toys, food donated to poor
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) — Thieves in Orange County may have ruined Christmas for the poor by stealing $100,000 in donated toys and food.
Garden Grove police Sgt. James Colgrove says crooks broke into an underground storage facility and took an estimated 20,000 pounds of food and about $25,000 worth of toys that were donated to the United Labor Agency of Orange County.
The goods were being collected for homeless families and those whose breadwinners recently lost jobs.
An employee discovered the theft Monday morning.
WHEELCHAIR HIT-AND-RUN
78-year-old SoCal man in wheelchair struck and killed by hit-and-run driver
ALHAMBRA, Calif. (AP) — A 78-year-old man driving his motorized wheelchair down a Southern California street was struck from behind by a hit-and-run driver.
Alhambra police say the wheelchair was hit yesterday afternoon in a dark tunnel below a freeway.
Sgt. Brandon Black says Shih-saing Ho was in a traffic lane when he was hit from behind and dragged about 20 feet.
The driver fled.
ROMAN POLANSKI
Switzerland to place director Roman Polanski under house arrest Friday
BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Los Angeles fugitive Roman Polanski gets out of a Swiss jail on Friday.
The 76-year-old movie director, who has spent more than two months in a Swiss jail, will be under house arrest at his Gstaad chalet and must wear an electronic bracelet while it's decided whether he will be extradited to the U.S. for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
Swiss Justice Ministry spokesman Folco Galli said today that Polanski will be transferred on Friday.
The director of such film classics as "Rosemary's Baby," ''Chinatown" and "The Pianist" won a decision last week granting him bail.
But he was being held by authorities until he paid the full $4.5 million demanded by court.
Polanski has been in Swiss custody since being arrested Sept. 26 on a U.S. warrant as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival.
Authorities in Los Angeles want him returned to be sentenced after 31 years as a fugitive.
UC APPLICATION DEADLINE
UC extends application deadline after glitch
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Tonight is the deadline for University of California admissions applications.
Monday's deadline was extended because of a computer slowdown. The deadline is now 11:59 tonight.
A university admissions official says the glitch prevented some filers from submitting their applications by Monday night's deadline.
UC director of undergraduate admissions Susan Wilbur says it isn't known how many students were blocked by the slowdown.
Wilbur says through Tuesday evening about 129,000 applications for freshman and transfer students had been received.
That's up from last year's 126,700 applications.
To add a comment, please register or login.