Los Angeles, Ca
Overnight closures planned to repair 5 Freeway damaged by mudslide near Castaic
Caltrans will begin closing the southbound side of the 5 Freeway near Castaic for overnight repairs beginning Monday night.
The roadway was damaged in late March during a series of heavy storms, in which the hillside gave way leading to several lanes having to be closed. The freeway has been reduced to two lanes ever since the mudslide.
Beginning at 10 p.m. Monday, Caltrans will close the entire southbound side of the freeway overnight for emergency repairs.
The repairs are expected to take place each night through Thursday and again on Saturday, although Caltrans hopes to have some lanes reopened overnight before the weekend.
During the week, construction will stop and the road will reopen to traffic each morning at 5 a.m. On Saturday, the road will close at midnight and remain closed until 8 a.m. Sunday.
A detour will be in place utilizing Highway 138 and Highway 14.
“The Quail Lake Road, Smokey Bear Road, Vista Del Lago Road on-ramps and westbound State Route 138 connector to Southbound 1-5 also will be closed,” Caltrans said in a news release.
The construction schedule is subject to change and dependent on the latest weather conditions.
The northbound side of the 5 Freeway is unaffected by these repairs and motorists are urged to plan ahead and take extra precaution while construction crews are working.
The latest highway closures can be found online or by calling 1-800-427-7623.
Los Angeles, Ca
Canoga Park structure fire kills two dogs
A structure fire in Canoga Park killed two dogs early Tuesday morning, while another was rescued, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Fire crews arrived to smoke billowing from the home on West Napa Street, just west of Owensmouth Avenue.
The fire broke out at approximately 8:15 a.m.
Firefighters rushed into the single-story residence and rescued one of the three dogs.
The homeowners were not at the property when the fire started, and no injuries other than those to the dogs have been reported.
LAFD said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Los Angeles, Ca
Daredevil walks between downtown Los Angeles skyscrapers, high above skyline
Shocking video captured a daredevil walking a rope between two downtown Los Angeles skyscrapers.
Oceanwide Plaza, a $1 billion mixed-use retail and luxury apartment building, has been vacant for years and has become infamously known as the graffiti towers, attracting artists and those looking to perform death-defying stunts.
YouTuber Ben Schneider was the latest to attempt a stunt at the location when he walked across a slackline between the buildings, looming high above the L.A. skyline.
Schneider, a self-proclaimed performance artist and daredevil, posts videos under the YouTube handle “Reckless Ben” and has amassed over 350,000 subscribers.
Despite a police perimeter surrounding the buildings, Schenider said he was able to slip past any watchful eyes on May 12.
“We pretended we were a religious cult and we got 20 people to all hold signs saying ‘Jesus Saves’ and the signs were blocking the police’s point of view so we just hopped the fence,” he said.
Inside the building, he and his team members climbed 500 feet up the tower multiple times to string together and tighten two one-inch nylon straps between the towers.
While holding a camera attached to a selfie stick, Schneider carefully mounts the line and begins walking across the rope, his camera capturing the soaring viewpoint and moving traffic down below.
“I call it moral graffiti,” Schneider said of his stunt. “I’m a moral graffiti artist. I vandalize buildings without causing any building damage.”
Schneider, who is an experienced slackliner, spent over two minutes walking the line while attached to a safety harness.
“I was pretty confident that Ben could pull it off,” said Lydia Ren, Schneider’s team member who served as a lookout during the stunt. “I just do this for fun. This is not a job. I actually work at a VR startup so this is like my weekend thing.”
Once police realized there were trespassers inside the towers, authorities began searching the premises. Schneider was seen hiding in a bathtub and covering himself with plywood. He stayed there for several hours before finally exiting the building and evading arrest.
Despite the name of his YouTube handle, Schneider said he’s well aware of the dangers of such stunts.
“Everything’s dangerous,” he said. “Driving a car is dangerous, but we still drive. The stunt I did was dangerous but I think the reward outweighed the risk because I think we inspired a lot of people. I got to push myself out of my comfort zone. We got to do something scary and inspire the world to go live their best life.”
Oceanwide Plaza is a $1 billion mixed-use retail and luxury apartment project with three unfinished structures. Construction had stalled in January 2019 after the developer lacked the funds to complete it.
The complex, which is located in the heart of downtown L.A.’s entertainment district, has attracted many artists which have since covered over 27 stories of its exterior with graffiti.
The building has been an ongoing problem for police and city leaders due to constant trespassing for those eager to tag the building, perform death-defying stunts, and or even BASE jump.
In March 2024, city council members agreed to allot $3.8 million to clean up and secure the site, which has seen numerous arrests in the weeks since the tagging began.
Footage of Schneider’s stunt can be seen in the video player above.
Los Angeles, Ca
Southern California man convicted for murder after fleeing to Mexico, turning himself in
The Santa Ana Police Department announced a man has been convicted of second-degree murder for the 2020 slaying of a 57-year-old woman.
Officers made a grisly discovery on Oct. 26, 2020 when they responded to a call about an unconscious woman in a vehicle located in the 600 block of West Russell Street.
When they arrived, they found the body of Natalia Gamino Jaimes. She had been reported missing four days earlier from the city of Lake Forest.
After Jaimes’ death was ruled a homicide, investigators identified Jose Valdez Jimenez as the suspect. Detectives served several search warrants and tried to contact Jimenez several times, before determining that he had fled the country.
Although Jimenez had escaped to Mexico, authorities were able to get in contact with him by phone. In January of 2021, Jimenez called a detective and confessed that he had strangled Jaimes to death and drove her body to Santa Ana, leaving the woman inside a vehicle.
Authorities began the extradition process between the U.S. and Mexico and began to zone in on capturing Jimenez.
Deputies caught a break a short time later. On May 26, 2021, Jimenez contacted the same detective and told him that he was at the Mexican border and was ready to turn himself in to authorities.
Jimenez was arrested without incident and charged with murder.
On Friday, a jury convicted Jimenez of second-degree murder. He will be sentenced at a later hearing.
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