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Ricardo Lopez

Cash mobs converge on small businesses to give support

Last updated Wednesday, April 18, 2012 - 3:54pm

LOS ANGELES -- The crowd stood at the corner of San Pedro and Boyd streets, a bustling shopping area near L.A.'s Skid Row, waiting for stragglers to arrive before descending on the store.

But this mob wasn't an angry one. It had gathered on a recent Saturday afternoon to spend money at a small cafe and boutique.

Dubbed a "cash mob," members of the group, many of them young professionals, had arranged the event through social media. Over the course of an hour, the shoppers plucked soy candles, pillows, purses and ornate jewelry from the shelves.

Business, Cash mobs, Facebook, Internet, Small business, Social media Read more Comments

'USA' chants directed at Latino high school basketball team

Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Ricardo Lopez Los Angeles Times

Last updated Friday, March 9, 2012 - 6:18pm

HOUSTON -- It only lasted a few seconds, but that's all it took for a three-syllable chant to mar a high school basketball playoff game in San Antonio this month, forcing school officials to apologize for the apparent racist taunts by students.

Latinos, Sports, National Read more Comments

Limbaugh apologizes to student for controversial remarks

Ricardo Lopez Los Angeles Times

Last updated Sunday, March 4, 2012 - 10:09am

In a rare move for the conservative radio host, Rush Limbaugh apologized Saturday to the Georgetown University law school student he called a "slut" and "prostitute" last week.

Apology, Congress, Politics, Rush Limbaugh, Talk radio, National Read more Comments

LDS Church posthumously baptized slain Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl

Ricardo Lopez Los Angeles Times

Last updated Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - 4:31pm

In yet another public relations embarrassment for the LDS Church, a Utah researcher has discovered that slain Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl was posthumously baptized last year in a serious breach of church protocol.

Baptism of the dead, Jews, Mormon baptisms, Mormons, Religion, Utah, LDS Church Read more Comments

35 pounds of cocaine found in U.N. mailroom

Ricardo Lopez Los Angeles Times

Last updated Saturday, January 28, 2012 - 10:48am

There was something odd about two sacks that showed up this month in the United Nations mailroom, even if they did have what appeared to be the distinctive U.N. seal, with its globe framed by olive branches. It was blue, but a shade lighter than usual, and the sacks did not include the words "United Nations."

Cocaine, Drug smuggling, United Nations, International Read more Comments

This photo of Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 show the remnants of a barn fire that killed 22 show horses in Lafayette, N.J. Investigators say the fast-moving barn fire does not appear to have been deliberately set. (AP Photo/New Jersey Herald, Tracy Klimek)

Barn fire kills 22 show horses

Ricardo Lopez Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, January 23, 2012 - 10:47am

With snow on the ground and the temperature hovering around 20 degrees, Art Hahn made sure every door in the New Jersey barn where he kept 22 trophy show horses was closed securely before he headed home Friday afternoon.

"Everything was locked up so the horses would stay a little warmer," Hahn said.

But shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday, Hahn awoke to a neighbor pounding on his door. He looked across the street at the barn: It was engulfed in flames.

Barn fire, Horses, Fire, National Read more Comments

Beginning Sunday, the price of first-class postage will increase from 44 cents to 45. (Unless it is a first-class forever stamp).

Price of first-class postage stamp goes up a penny Sunday

Ricardo Lopez Los Angeles Times

Last updated Friday, January 20, 2012 - 5:59pm

Stock up on one-cent stamp; you might need them. Beginning Sunday, the price of first-class postage will increase from 44 cents to 45.

The price change, the first postage markup since 2009, was announced in October. It follows last summer's announcement that the United States Postal Service was considering shuttering thousands of post offices nationwide.

The price increase is intended to raise revenue for the struggling public enterprise, which faces a projected $238 billion deficit in the next decade, postal service officials have said.

Business, Mail, United States Postal Service Read more Comments

Noel Buller, 21, from Los Angeles, stands in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles holding up a peace sign while facing a line of Los Angeles Police Wednesday July 27, 2011. Police say a crowd became unruly outside the premiere of a documentary about the Electric Daisy Carnival rave.

L.A. riot police respond to rowdy film crowd

Andrew Blankstein, Ricardo Lopez Los Angeles Times

Last updated Thursday, July 28, 2011 - 10:01am

LOS ANGELES -- The premiere for a movie about a music festival with a controversial past got out of hand itself Wednesday when hundreds of people attempted to crash the Hollywood event, police said.

Crowds spilled into the street around Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard, with some people throwing bottles at police. Witnesses said others were dancing on a police car, taunting officers and "planking" -- lying down in the street. There were also sporadic fights among people in the crowd.

Police in riot gear shut down streets around the theater, and dozens of other officers in police cruisers responded to the disturbance.

Police, Riot, National, Movies Read more Comments