Peter Chen, new to America, found Winnie Liu on Skype as he searched for kindred souls living nearby in Los Angeles.

So far, only this awful truth is clear: Jenni Rivera , one of the most celebrated artists in the Latin world, died when her private jet effectively stopped in midair. The plane plummeted nose-first, 28,000 feet in 30 seconds, leaving its wreckage — and the remains of Rivera and six others &md...

SACRAMENTO — State employees misused $613,000 in taxpayer funds through bribery schemes, mail fraud, waste, and improper billings for travel and pay, officials said Tuesday.

When it opened during the 1990s, Orange County's $2.4-billion tollway system was touted as an innovative way to build public highways without taxpayer money.

NEW YORK — Brandon Woodard checked out of his midtown Manhattan hotel room Monday afternoon and emerged onto 58th Street a block from Columbus Circle.

Step inside the Rose Market near the corner of Rose and 5th avenues in Venice, and make your way to the refrigerator in the back. Small orange price stickers say that $3.50 will get you 40 ounces of Bud Light.

University of California officials said they were trying to project a "forward-looking spirit" when they replaced the university system's ornate, tradition-clad logo with a sleek, modern one.

WASHINGTON — After riding out the tough economy in their parents' basements, more young American adults are starting to break out on their own, pushing up the nation's mobility rate and giving an important boost to the housing market and the broader recovery.

Melissa Marr's alarm pierces the silence in her room at the homeless shelter. 5:40 a.m.

The Delta Energy Center, a power plant about an hour outside San Francisco, was roaring at nearly full bore one day last month, its four gas and steam turbines churning out 880 megawatts of electricity to the California grid.

It was a magnificent beast when it washed ashore under the bluffs in Malibu: A 40-foot fin whale, a male, dark gray on top, a rich cream below that glistened in the surf and sun.

Life was upended briefly in affluent San Marino last year when a hundred or so Occupy-style protesters staged a demonstration on the lawn of a resident Wells Fargo executive.

As the pastor of the oldest black church in Los Angeles, the Rev. John J. Hunter earned a generous salary, lived in a $2-million home and drove a Mercedes-Benz paid for by the church. His wife earned $147,000 a year running nonprofit organizations connected to the 19,000-member congregation.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Brian Cummings turned the tables on City Council members Tuesday, blaming increased 911 response times on budget cuts approved by lawmakers.

In a city that is often derided for its lack for public transportation, downtown L.A. is the one exception.

Carlos Santana . Johnnie Cochran. Al Gore . The parents of City Councilman Tony Cardenas . It's a diverse group with at least one thing in common: Los Angeles public schools bear their names.

Santa Monica's much-debated Nativity scenes will be staged after all — on private property. The decision was hailed by advocates for the separation of church and state, but there was little indication the acrimony would subside on the other side, where an attorney pledged to continue to fight ...

Two years ago, Los Angeles County probation officer Michelle Guymon was asked to help child abuse experts study human trafficking.

The small Coast Guard inflatable vessel was 20 yards from the panga, an open fishing boat that law enforcement officers say has become the craft of choice to ferry untold numbers of marijuana bales and undocumented immigrants from Mexico to Southern California.

Brian Cummings became the man of the moment two years ago when Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa needed more than $50 million slashed from the Fire Department.

Jeffrey Cote was driving home from work one evening this spring when he noticed a light on inside Unit 312 of the Little Tokyo Lofts.

The corner of 4th and Gless streets in East Los Angeles, once a center of prostitution and drugs, now houses a place of soaring dreams.

Jordan and Stephanie Martinez planned to celebrate their one-month wedding anniversary with a night out at their favorite Thai restaurant. But what's a date without fishing? So first, they drove in from Alhambra for a little pole time at Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier in Long Beach.

At San Francisco City Hall, officials are awaiting their moment in history, but they just don't know when it will come.

Los Angeles school officials failed to promptly report nearly 150 cases of suspected teacher misconduct — including allegations of sexual contact with students — to state authorities as required by law, an audit released Thursday concluded.

Two hundred school districts across California have borrowed billions of dollars using a costly and risky form of financing that has saddled them with staggering debt, according to a Times analysis.

You know what they say: Angelenos don't know how to drive in the rain.

The salesmen at the Spring Street Arcade spend their day gazing out at a city that's passing them by.

I've got two reasons to watch my weight over the next several weeks. First, it's the holiday season, when the national sport is overeating. Second, I've got another knee replacement coming up soon, and the lighter I am going in, the easier the recovery will be.

Women have been formally barred from serving in most combat roles since 1994, but a federal lawsuit seeks to overturn the policy. Should women be allowed to serve in combat?

Public employee unions scored a major victory Monday as former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan abandoned his campaign to take a pension overhaul plan to voters next year.

With her chiseled features, 1940s-style black dress, retro sunglasses and lacy black parasol, tour guide Karie Bible strolls the 60 acres of Hollywood Forever Cemetery looking as if she might be a wayward mourner from the funeral of Tyrone Power or another Tinseltown luminary.

When he was a kid, Kent Taylor bounced from school to school in South Los Angeles until his family landed in Inglewood. In sixth grade, he started classes at an elementary school under the LAX flight path.

When it comes to attracting business to California's eastern deserts, Inyo County is none too choosy.