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The Eagle fire, which has burned 14,100 acres in northeast San Diego County, is now 80% contained, and full containment is expected Saturday, Cal-Fire said Thursday night.

The fire, which broke out a week ago on the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation, has been determined to be arson. No arrests have been made.

Seventeen firefighters have been injured fighting the blaze, which spread through rough terrain thick with brush.

Some 1,700 firefighters are on the fire lines. No public roads are closed.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego 

A jury has begun deliberating in the case of a Los Angeles County Superior Court commissioner accused of offering to pay his only opponent to switch races so he could run unopposed.

Family court Judge Harvey Silberman, who was ultimately elected to Superior Court Seat 69 in the 2008 race, faces an allegation of violating the elections code by signing off on a proposal to pay the $1,787 it would have cost his opponent to run for a different seat. The code makes it a felony to pay or solicit money to dissuade someone from running for public office.

In closing arguments Thursday, a prosecutor told jurors that phone records and testimony showed Silberman had authorized his campaign consultant to make the offer to his opponent, Deputy Dist. Atty. Serena Murillo. Silberman was worried about running against Murillo because she is Latina, Deputy Atty. Gen. Zee Rodriguez argued.

An attorney for the judge, who has been off the bench since he was indicted in 2009, said whatever offer was made was the work of rogue, overzealous campaign consultants acting of their own accord.

Silberman’s two consultants, who were also indicted, have since pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and testified against their former client. The judge’s attorney, Shepard Kopp, contended that the consultants, Evelyn Alexander and Alan Steinberg, took the stand out of self interest and told jurors their testimony should not be believed.

If convicted, Silberman faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison.

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Tow truck crashes into Yoshinoya restaurant in Koreatown

Local day laborers: Older, undocumented, undereducated

Silver Star revoked for former Clinton defense official now in prison

-- Victoria Kim

The  legal battle over Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that reinstated a ban on same-sex marriage, will go before the California Supreme Court on Sept. 6, when the justices will hear arguments on whether initiative proponents are entitled to defend measures they sponsored.

The state high court scheduled the hearing for 10 a.m. at its San Francisco courtroom. The justices will then have 90 days to decide whether state law gives proponents of ballot measures like Proposition 8 legal standing to defend them in court when state officials refuse to do so.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has postponed a decision on the marriage ban's constitutionality pending clarification of state law by the California court. If the federal appeals court determines the opponents of gay marriage lack the right to appeal last August's ruling against Proposition 8, that ruling would likely become law.

California's top court has traditionally given wide latitude to initiative sponsors but has never before ruled on whether they can take the place of state officials in appealing court decisions. State officials have refused to defend Proposition 8.

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Former LAX policewoman awarded nearly $1 million for gender discrimination

Homeless man killed in Fullerton police brawl; witnesses sought

DJ's 'marvelous stunt' went 'terribly wrong’

Lady Gaga fans line up early for Hollywood concert

-- Maura Dolan

A horse died Thursday afternoon and its owner was stung several times after swarms of bees attacked them, Riverside County authorities said.

The horse owner, who was not identified, was treated for numerous bee stings at an emergency room and asked hospital officials to send someone to check on his horse. Riverside County Animal Services officers went to the Arlanza neighborhood in Riverside, where they found that the horse had died from the bee stings, according to a department report.

It was unclear how many times the horse and owner had been stung.

Officers believe the attack may have been triggered when the horse owner began spraying his horse with fly repellent. The enraged bees swarmed out of two hives in the neighborhood.

Exterminators were on the scene late Thursday disposing of the hives, according to the report.

ALSO:

Tow truck crashes into Yoshinoya restaurant in Koreatown

Local day laborers: Older, undocumented, undereducated

Silver Star revoked for former Clinton defense official now in prison

-- Sam Quinones

This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details.

The jury in the murder trial for the driver of a runaway big rig that killed a 12-year-old girl and her father two years ago in La Cañada Flintridge reported Thursday that it had reached verdicts on the two counts of second-degree murder, but was deadlocked on the lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sent the jury back to deliberate on the involuntary manslaughter charges against the driver, 46-year-old Marcos Costa, the Glendale News-Press reports.

The courtroom in Pasadena was packed with supporters of Costa, and family and friends of the victims, Palmdale resident Angel Posca, 58, and his 12-year-old daughter, Angelina.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carolina Lugo had argued that Costa acted with willful disregard for human life as he proceeded down Angeles Crest Highway and the truck's brakes went out, sending it barreling through Foothill Boulevard, striking several cars and crashing into a bookstore.

Costa's defense had portrayed the horrific crash an accident, one that he tried to steer out of despite losing control of the big rig.

The verdict marked the beginning of the end of a long chapter in which Costa was forced to accept professional legal help after a failed attempt to represent himself in trial. Testimony in the weeks-long proceedings included the scientific and the emotional as witnesses recalled the violent events of the crash.

One of them, Melissa Watkins, the bookstore's inventory manager at the time, testified that she and Costa locked eyes for a brief moment while the 25-ton truck barreled toward the store.

"I saw the horror on his face," she said. "His eyes were bulging out of his head."

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Stolen loot discovered in Kern County lake

Former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu found dead in Rancho Palos Verdes

Rep. Howard Berman proposes helicopter noise bill for L.A.

-- Jason Wells and Daniel Siegal, Times Community News

Photo: Marcos Costa. Credit: Times Community News

For the record, 6:02 p.m., July 28: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated in the text and the headline that the jury was hung on the second-degree murder charges. The jury is deadlocked on involuntary manslaughter charges.

Hundreds of people lined up early Thursday along Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the hopes of getting a glimpse and maybe an autograph from Lady Gaga.

The pop diva is scheduled to perform a concert at 7:30 p.m. and tape an appearance on the late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live" -- which is filmed at the El Capitan Theater across the street from Grauman’s Chinese Theater, where a DJ's would-be block party got out of hand Wednesday night.

Dozens of police officers -- including 20 authorized to work overtime -- were on patrol in advance of Lady Gaga's appearance. The area was still recovering from disturbances the previous evening between police and thousands of people who showed up for a promised block party outside the premiere of a film about the Electric Daisy Carnival music festival.

Some Lady Gaga fans said they’d been in line since 4 a.m. Damien Hamlin drove from Bakersfield, arriving at 10 a.m.

“I love Lady Gaga for her message,” said Hamlin, 17. “Her shows are life-changing.”

Concert organizers had blocked off Hawthorn Avenue, parallel to Hollywood Boulevard, next to a parking lot where the concert is to take place. Promoters were expecting 2,000 people -- up from an original estimate of 1,000, most of whom had been given free tickets through radio and online promotions.

ALSO:

Stolen loot discovered in Kern County lake

Dog shot with arrow in Riverside is euthanized

Former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu found dead in Rancho Palos Verdes

-- Sam Quinones

Photo: Michael Adame, left, and Edgar Sandoval came from Orange County to attend Lady Gaga's Thursday night concert. Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times

Park life: Sahra Sulaiman photographs a boy, a wild pigeon and a bouncing baby girl on a late afternoon in Macarthur Park.

Every day of 2011, we're featuring reader-submitted photos of Southern California Moments. For the first week of August, we challenge you to go mobile. Follow us on Twitter and visit the Southern California Moments homepage for more on this series.

Officials with the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority awarded a $486-million contract to add light-rail from Pasadena to Azusa.

The contract, given Wednesday to a joint venture of Kiewit Corp. and Parsons Corp., includes building an 11.5-mile extension of the line, six stations and scores of crossings, among other construction.

The project is being funded by Measure R, the half-cent sales tax for transportation projects approved by voters in 2008.

Habib F. Balian, chief executive officer of the construction authority, said the total budget for the line exceeds $730 million.

In addition to the 11.5 miles of added rail, the project includes a large, "iconic" footbridge over the 210 Freeway and parking facilities.

Officials said the project should be completed in 2015.

ALSO:

Stolen loot discovered in Kern County lake

Near-riot in Hollywood: DJ's 'marvelous stunt' went 'terribly wrong’

Former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu found dead in Rancho Palos Verdes

-- Ari Bloomekatz

Photo:  A Metro Gold Line test train rolls across a fresh pavement coating at Clarence Street and First Street in Boyle Heights east of downtown Los Angeles. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times