LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A California policeman accused of murdering a schizophrenic homeless man during a July altercation was freed from jail on Thursday after fellow officers helped him make bail, his lawyer said.

Fullerton police officer Manuel Ramos, who had been held on $1 million bail since his arrest last week on charges of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, was released from the Orange County Jail early on Thursday, attorney John Barnett said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Los Angeles Lakers star formerly known as Ron Artest officially became Metta World Peace on Friday when a Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner approved the name change.

World Peace, who will spend his off-season competing on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” was granted the change just in time for the show’s season premiere on Monday night after clearing up lingering traffic ticket warrants.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Cooler weather gave firefighters a chance to begin knocking down flames of three major wildfires burning on Tuesday in Central California, and evacuation orders were lifted for most residents in the fires’ path.

The three fires combined have blackened more than 70,000 acres across Kern County, injuring three firefighters and threatening more than 2,000 structures since they were started over the weekend by lightning strikes.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A Southern California high school was evacuated on Wednesday after writings found in the belongings of a missing U.S. Navy corpsman suggested he had placed explosives on the campus, authorities said.

Some 3,200 students were pulled out of their first day of classes at San Clemente High School at around 9 a.m. after officials at nearby Camp Pendleton Marine base found the note, Orange County Sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A Southern California high school was evacuated on Wednesday after a note was found in the belongings of a U.S. Navy corpsman claiming he had placed explosives there, authorities said.

Police were searching for the corpsman, identified as 22-year-old Daniel Morgan, saying he had gone AWOL earlier in the day from the nearby Camp Pendleton Marine base, Orange County Sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said.

LOS ANGELES, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Hundreds of firefighters
battled to protect a community in the path of a wildfire raging
out of control on Friday in a mountain pass outside Los Angeles
that has already forced the evacuation of 1,500 homes.

The fire, which broke out on a median of Interstate 15 in
the Cajon Pass, was moving quickly toward homes in Oak Hills,
where thousands of residents were under a mandatory evacuation
order, authorities said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A brush fire burning in a mountain pass outside Los Angeles on Friday forced authorities to evacuate residents from two communities and shut down a major interstate linking Southern California and Las Vegas.

The blaze broke out in a median strip of Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass and quickly spread to scrub brush on both sides of the highway, threatening homes in the community of Oak Hills, authorities said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Arraignment was postponed for a second time on Monday for a California mom accused of dropping her 7-month-old baby to his death from a hospital parking structure.

An Orange County Superior Court judge postponed the arraignment for Sonia Hermosillo, 31, until September 30 at the request her court-appointed public defender, Charles Hasse.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A California mom accused of dropping her 7-month-old baby to his death from a hospital parking structure was due in court on Monday for her arraignment on murder charges.

The arraignment for Sonia Hermosillo, 31, was postponed last Thursday by an Orange County Superior Court judge after a doctor who evaluated her in jail found her mentally unfit to go to court.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A 95-year-old California man who was stung more than 400 times by a massive swarm of bees was recovering at a local hospital on Thursday, police said.

The attack came as the man was walking past an apartment building in the Los Angeles suburb of Redondo Beach on Wednesday where an exterminator was pumping poison into a giant hive of bees, Redondo Beach Police Sgt. Phil Keenan said.