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2 children dead in West Point, older brother missing

Diana Marcum

Runaway bull lassoed by motorcycle cop

Last updated Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 7:40am

FRESNO, Calif. -- A Fresno motorcycle cop lassoed a runaway bull that was on the loose Friday in residential neighborhoods and forced the lockdown of two elementary schools.

Cattle, Motorcycle cop, Motorcycles, National Read more Comments

Ryan Turner, 33, a geophysics and seismology student at UC Berkeley, examines fragments along Highway 49 in Coloma, California, to see if they are fragments from a meteorite called CM chondrite in Coloma, California, Saturday, April 28, 2012. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

Meteor hunters strike pay dirt in California's Gold Country

Diana Marcum Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, April 30, 2012 - 2:17pm

COLOMA-LOTUS VALLEY, Calif. -- In the week since a fireball shot across the sky and exploded, scattering a rare type of meteorite over California's Gold Country, these hills have drawn a new rush of treasure seekers.

Once again there are lively saloons, fortune hunters jockeying for prime spots and astounding tales of luck -- including that of Brenda Salveson, a local who found a valuable space rock while walking her dog Sheldon, named after the theoretical physicist on the TV show "The Big Bang Theory."

Fireball, Meteorites, National Read more Comments

After sunset, the streets of downtown Stockton, California, are empty as seen February 28, 2012. The city has among the highest crime rates in the state. As cash-strapped cities up and down the state demand concessions from employees, the police union in nearly bankrupt Stockton is fighting hard to keep the fiscal crisis from breaking its contract. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

Stockton, Calif. could become largest city to file bankruptcy

Diana Marcum Los Angeles Times

Last updated Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - 10:22am

STOCKTON, Calif. -- The name painted in the plate-glass window, "Bradley's," has a martini glass standing in for the "y."

The late-afternoon sun has turned the other windows into mirrors. Deep inside, in bar-appropriate shadow, patrons rest their drinks on 100-year-old mahogany and, as in many a neighborhood pub, consider hopes gone astray.

Across the way are a marina without boats and parking garages without cars. There are few people outside on downtown sidewalks.

This is what it looks like when a city is close to going under.

Business, Bankruptcy, City Government, Economy, Jobs Read more Comments

Veteran Carl Ashmore listens to harpist Linda Dunn, right, in a waiting room where musicians often play for patients at the Fresno VA hospital, January 4, 2012, in Fresno, California. The building, built in the sixties has dreary waiting rooms with lots of triggers for PTSD symptoms. But they found a solution: live music. A classical guitarist or harpist plays and doctors say their patients arrive for treatment in much better shape. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

Live music at VA hospital helps those suffering from PTSD

Diana Marcum Los Angeles Times

Last updated Wednesday, January 18, 2012 - 3:57pm

FRESNO, Calif. -- The hospital was built in the years after World War II. Its ceilings are low, corridors long and corners sharp -- all possible stress triggers for those who have been in combat.

Not to mention that a hospital waiting room can make anyone edgy.

But the Veterans Affairs hospital in Fresno has found a way to make the experience easier: live music.

Features, Combat, Hospital, Mental Health, PTSD, Veterans Read more Comments