SWITCH: Mobile | ePaper | Subscribe

Homes Rentals Jobs Autos Contests

Lee Romney

Isaac Jackson, center seated, senior organizer of the San Francisco Drug Users Union, speaks at a meeting in June 2011, in San Francisco, California. (David Elliott Lewis/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

Drug users form union for political clout

Last updated Monday, March 19, 2012 - 10:21am

SAN FRANCISCO -- Heroin shooters, speed users, pot smokers and even some men and women who now are drug-free convene regularly in this city's gritty Tenderloin district -- not for treatment, but to discuss public health policy and share their experiences free from shame or blame.

Drugs, Politics, Unions, National Read more Comments

In this Dec. 13, 2006 photo provided by Mel Fechter is a lobby display case of gold nuggets at the Siskiyou County Courthouse in Yreka, Calif. Thieves broke into the courthouse early Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012and stole gold pieces from the display whose total value is estimated at $3 million. County officials and historical experts say the theft of the collection represents an "irreplaceable" loss to the county's cultural identity and past. (AP Photo/Mel Fechter).

$3 million in gold nuggets stolen from historic mining display

Lee Romney Los Angeles Times

Last updated Thursday, February 2, 2012 - 2:44pm

YREKA, Calif. -- Thieves in Yreka, Calif., made off with $3 million in gold nuggets Wednesday after breaking into the Siskiyou County Courthouse and smashing a glass case that contained a display on the area's mining history, officials said.

Crime, Gold, Mining, Mining history, Theft, History, National Read more Comments

Hospital patient in custody after allegedly assaulting rehabilitation therapist

Lee Romney, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, December 13, 2010 - 10:50am

SAN FRANCISCO -- A patient at California's Napa State Hospital was in custody Sunday after allegedly beating a rehabilitation therapist unconscious in a secluded corner of the psychiatric hospital's grounds, staff members said.

The Saturday morning assault left the longtime staff member, a 60-year-old man, hospitalized with four skull fractures, according to a co-worker. The assault comes less than two months after Napa State Hospital psychiatric technician Donna Gross was strangled. A patient is facing murder charges in connection with her death.

Since 2006, the state's mental hospitals have been under a federal court order to improve conditions for patients. Yet safety for both patients and staff has deteriorated markedly at Napa State Hospital over the last year, data show. The other state hospitals subject to the federal consent judgment have also experienced a rise in violence since the state began implementing changes in care, data show.

Assault, Crime Read more Comments

Stricter regulations proposed in wake of Calif. pipeline explosion

Lee Romney, Los Angeles Times, McClatchy Newspapers

Last updated Monday, September 27, 2010 - 2:45pm

SAN BRUNO, Calif. -- Standing at the crater that marks ground zero of the gas pipeline explosion that devastated the community of San Bruno earlier this month, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., on Monday announced legislation that would mandate stricter regulations of gas pipelines nationwide.

Fire Read more Comments