Los Angeles and San Diego will no longer enforce limits on how much money corporations and unions can directly give in city elections, bowing to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that found such caps unconstitutional.

In Los Angeles, the city Ethics Commission passed a resolution saying it would no longer bar corporations and unions from using money from their own treasuries to expressly advocate for or against a candidate. The resolution, adopted last week, was made public Wednesday.

In San Diego, city officials were pushed by a federal lawsuit brought by the local Republican Party, a construction industry group and several individuals. A federal judge Thursday ordered the city to immediately lift its law limiting how much money corporations and labor groups can pump into municipal elections.

The plaintiffs praised the injunctions imposed by Judge Irma E. Gonzalez on several provisions of the city’s finance law. Ron Nehring, chairman of the state Republican Party, said the ruling would not favor one party over another but would make it easier for a challenger to defeat an incumbent.

UC San Diego leaders and civil rights activists have condemned a student party held Monday that mocked Black History Month with a ghetto-themed "Compton Cookout."

Campus administrators said Wednesday that they were investigating whether the off-campus party and its Facebook invitation violated the university’s code of conduct and whether its sponsors should be disciplined. Members of Pi Kappa Alpha were identified as among the organizers, but the fraternity president has criticized the event and said his club did not sponsor it.

In an e-mail to students and staff, UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said the party showed "blatant disregard of our campus values." She said the university would hold a teach-in next Wednesday "to discuss the importance of mutual respect and civility."

Penny Rue, vice chancellor for student affairs, said the probe would examine whether the fraternity was involved and whether it should face sanctions. She said that it was premature to discuss discipline for individual students but that she wanted partygoers to understand how much pain they had caused, especially to African American students.

Rue said she did not know how many people attended the event.

Promising a taste of "life in the ghetto," the Facebook invitation contained many racist stereotypes. For example, it urged women to dress as "ghetto chicks" who "usually have gold teeth, start fights and drama, and wear cheap clothes." It said the menu would include chicken and watermelon.

In an e-mail Wednesday, Garron Engstrom, president of Pi Kappa Alpha, emphasized that the party was not planned or endorsed by the club. "The fraternity regrets the display of ignorance and error-of-judgment made by any individual members who may have attended or were associated via social media with the racially offensive party," he wrote. "These actions are in direct violation of Pike’s code of conduct, and appropriate disciplinary actions will be taken."

History professor Danny Widener, who directs the African American studies program at the campus, said he was outraged but not surprised by the party. He said African American students make up less than 2% of undergraduates at UC San Diego, which he described as inhospitable to them. "The campus climate is one in which you are constantly regarded as a statistical anomaly at best," he said.

The professor also criticized Fox’s response as "tepid" and urged strong action against the party organizers, including expulsion if they are found to have used UC computers or facilities to send the invitation.

Chris Strudwick-Turner, vice president of the Los Angeles Urban League, also urged a tough response. "If campus climate is important, a message needs to be sent that this is not acceptable," she said.

In Sacramento, Assemblyman Isadore Hall III (D-Compton) said leaders of the Legislature’s black, Latino, Asian-Pacific Islander, gay and women's caucuses would gather outside the Capitol on Thursday to condemn the party.

-- Larry Gordon

Border Patrol agents seized $766,000 worth of crystal methamphetamine and marijuana during three separate stops on the 5 Freeway near San Clemente, authorities said Wednesday.

The first seizure was on Saturday, when two Mexican citizens in a Chrysler sedan were stopped at the San Clemente vehicle checkpoint. Agents found 36 pounds of crystal meth hidden in a false compartments in the car, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The drugs and two suspects, ages 26 and 38, were turned over the Drug Enforcement Agency.

In the second seizure, also on Saturday, agents found 126 pounds of marijuana hidden in a Jeep Cherokee. The drugs and the driver, a 26-year-old man who is a  U.S. citizen, were turned over to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, the Homeland Security Department said.

On Monday, a 46-year-old woman was found with 16.5 ounces of crystal meth in her Toyota Corolla. The woman, a U.S. citizen, was turned over with the drugs to the DEA, the Homeland Security Department said.

--Robert J. Lopez

Photo: Crystal methamphetamine hidden in a Chrysler sedan. Credit: Department of Homeland Security.

An Irvine woman who was ice-skating at Orange County Great Park has died after suffering a head injury during a fall at the rink, authorities said Wednesday.

Cherlynn Tang, 49, died Tuesday night at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, according to the Orange County coroner's office.

Tang had been skating with her teenage children Sunday afternoon and was leaving the Great Skate rink at the end of a 45-minute session, according to Irvine city officials. She slipped and fell backward.

Park staff members called 911, and Orange County Fire Authority paramedics responded. Rescuers treated Tang at the rink and took her to the hospital.

Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang said in a statement that the city Department of Public Safety was investigating the accident.

"In a community where we place such high value on family, a loss of this nature brings on a special kind of heartache and sadness," Kang said.

-- Robert J. Lopez

Here are some of the stories we're following on PolitiCal, our California politics blog: Backers of Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman tried to shove Steve Poizner out of the governor's race Wednesday, while one former Poizner backer switched his support to Whitman. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom inched closer to a run for lieutenant governor. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass made her run for Congress official -- and got an endorsement from Diane Watson. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) promised no more late-night budget sessions. Get the latest from California politics as it happens. Follow PolitiCal on Twitter. --Anthony York

Four Newhall teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of carrying out hundreds of incidents of graffiti vandalism in Santa Clarita over the course of a year, with damages totaling about $160,000, authorities said Wednesday.

One of the youths -- whose ages range from 13 to 15 years old -- was arrested 10 days ago, and the others were arrested Tuesday, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said.

The eldest boy is believed to be responsible for 240 vandalism incidents, with damages estimated at more than $100,000, according to law enforcement officials. The other three youngsters are suspected in 137 incidents, with damages of more than $58,000.

The four teenagers, who have no prior criminal records, now face charges of felony vandalism and misdemeanor possession of graffiti tools. They were booked at the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station and later released to their parents.

If convicted and ordered to pay restitution, the teenagers and their parents could be made to foot the bill for the damage caused by the vandalism, deputies said.

One of the nation’s top financial credit services Wednesday issued a negative outlook for Los Angeles, which is struggling with a $212-million budget gap. The move could lead to a lower credit rating for the city and ultimately increase Los Angeles' cost of borrowing money.

Moody’s Investors Service took the action because of delays by the city in addressing the budget shortfall, which is expected to grow to $485 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year. The service also expressed doubts that proposed layoffs and service cutbacks under consideration by the City Council would deliver the promised savings.
 
“The erosion in the city’s historically better-than-average willingness and ability to quickly re-balance its budget mid-year also contributes to this revised outlook," the ratings firm said in a statement.

In November, L.A.’s credit was downgraded by Fitch Ratings, which determined that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the council had failed to take adequate action to address the city’s fiscal crisis. Villaraigosa has since ordered department heads to eliminate 1,000 jobs, but employee unions are lobbying to avoid layoffs.

The nation’s other major credit rating agency, Standard & Poor's, has not made any public announcement regarding Los Angeles.

Because the city collects tax revenue intermittently throughout the year, it depends on short-term loans to make payroll and pay bills.

-- Phil Willon at Los Angeles City Hall

Barstow authorities were trying Wednesday to determine the identity of the person whose severed head was found by a man collecting cans on a lonely desert road.

The gruesome discovery was made Feb. 10 when a man searching for cans on the shoulder of Lenwood Road near Interstate 15 and Highway 58 found a black backpack lying on the ground, said Sgt. Andy Espinoza of the Barstow Police Department.

Inside was the head of a possibly white or Latino woman with brown hair that had been wrapped in two plastic shopping bags. Its condition made determining race or gender difficult, Espinoza said.

An autopsy was scheduled Wednesday at the San Bernardino County coroner’s office to determine how the head was severed. Authorities said it may have been dumped on the side of the road within 24 hours or less of its discovery.

-- Amina Khan

More breaking news in L.A. Now:

Woman showing Corvette to would-be buyer dies in Laguna Hills crash

Ghetto-themed 'Compton Cookout' party raises ire at UC San Diego

3 Tesla Motors employees die in East Palo Alto plane crash

Crews working to repair broken main in Studio City that left 30 customers without water

Newport Beach estate goes on the market for $30 million

L.A. County ranks 26th of 56 in new health study; Orange County in top 10

Coast Guard boat that killed 8-year-old boy was going too fast, lawsuit says

A woman was killed and her passenger injured Wednesday morning when her sports car crashed in Laguna Hills while she was driving it for a prospective buyer, officials said.

The Laguna Hills woman was driving her 2003 Chevrolet Corvette at high speed when she apparently lost control of the car while turning off Lake Forest Drive onto Mill Creek Drive, said Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.

The car hit a curb, careened off a tree and broadsided another tree before coming to a stop, Amormino said.

“We don’t have an estimate of how fast [she was driving], but speed is definitely factor,” he said.

The driver, who was in her 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her identity was being withheld until her family was notified of her death. [Updated at 3:04 p.m.: Amormino identified her as Amy Thomas, 29, a mother of four from Laguna Hills.]

The prospective buyer, a woman in her late 20s, was taken to a nearby hospital with moderate injuries, Amormino said.

-- Alexandra Zavis

Just a few hours before crashing his city-owned vehicle last week, former Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach had been drinking at a strip club in Colton, according to a lawyer for the club and surveillance video.

Leach went into the topless Club 215 in Colton at 10:24 p.m. Feb. 7 and drank four Chivas Regal Scotch whiskeys, ate chicken wings and left at 1:48 a.m., said club attorney Roger Jon Diamond.

"He was very dignified and behaved himself," Diamond said. "He was eating and drinking by himself, but he did interact with other people."

Diamond said that Leach spent some time with one of the dancers and that investigators interviewed the woman, along with the bartender and manager.

"When he drove off, he did not appear to be driving erratically," he said.

A party thrown by UC San Diego fraternity students mocking Black History Month has school administrators up in arms.

UC San Diego officials are condemning the off-campus weekend ghetto-themed party, but they aren't likely to discipline anyone, according to Fox 5 News in San Diego.

The so-called Compton Cookout event urged all participants to wear chains, don cheap clothes and speak very loudly, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Female participants were encouraged to be "ghetto chicks.''

Read the full story here.

Three employees of Tesla Motors Inc. were killed Wednesday morning in the crash of a small plane in East Palo Alto, the electric car maker's chief executive said in a statement.

"We are withholding their identities as we work with the relevant authorities to notify the families," Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, said in a statement.

The plane crashed into a residential neighborhood shortly before 8 a.m., sparking house fires, downing  power lines and damaging several cars, but authorities said no one other than the plane’s three occupants were killed.

"We are working on recovery of the deceased," said Menlo Park Fire Protection Chief Harold Schapelhouman, addressing reporters down the block from where the plane crashed. "We have three dead. They were in the fuselage. There are miraculously no reports of anyone else injured."

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said Wednesday that cuts to the department's overtime would force him to move 350 officers from specialized units to patrol duty around the city

About 170 officers have already been moved from the Metro, Gang and Narcotics units, Beck said at his monthly press availability at Parker Center. An additional 180 will be moved in the coming months as part of a second wave of transfers to fill the ranks.

Beck said the cuts to the specialized units were necessary because for every hour that an officer draws overtime the department must give that same officer 1.5 hours off. That amounts to nearly 8% cut in the workforce.

"We are robbing Peter to pay Paul," Beck said.  

Just hours before crashing his city-owned vehicle into a light pole and fire hydrant last week, former Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach had been drinking at a strip club in Colton, according to a lawyer for the club and surveillance video.

Leach went into the topless Club 215 in Colton at 10:24 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday and drank four Scotches, ate some chicken wings and left at 1:48 a.m., said attorney Roger Jon Diamond, who represents the club.

“He was very dignified and behaved himself,” Diamond said. “He was eating and drinking by himself, but he did interact with other people.”

Diamond would not say whether the other people included any strippers.

“When he drove off, he did not appear to be driving erratically,” he said.

Orange County park rangers, conservationists and volunteers will join forces Saturday to dismantle an illegal mountain bike course built in an off-limits forest area.

The elaborate network of wooden bridges, jumps, illegal trails and sandbag-reinforced switchbacks was built on about an acre of land in Limestone Canyon and Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, apparently by avid mountain bikers, officials said.

Mountain bikers have built illegal trails in many Orange County parks, said Senior Park Ranger Vicky Malton, who added she had never seen such structures built in this particular park before.

The course was discovered last fall when interns with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy were working to reintroduce prickly pear cacti to the forest after the 2007 Santiago fire and stumbled upon it.

In response to an increase in fatal shootings by L.A. County sheriff's deputies, Sheriff Lee Baca today will announce a revised policy aimed at reducing violent confrontations between deputies and suspects.

Under the new policy, deputies will be encouraged to contain suspects and wait for back up rather than immediately confronting and attempting to arrest them.

"When dealing with a perceived armed suspect, sworn members shall be cautiously persistent in performing their duties,” the policy states. “Consistent with this philosophy, while every situation is not absolute, in many cases, it may be safer to chase to contain rather than chase to apprehend.”

The policy change is important because it is a key factor in how the department decides whether a deputy acted appropriately during a shooting.

Deputies fatally shot 16 people in 2009 compared to nine in 2008.

The new containment approach stems from an expert panel Baca convened in September to address what deputies should do if a person they believe is armed runs from them.

That panel of veteran training officers was convened after a series of much-publicized deputy-involved shootings during chases. One of those killings involved a deputy shooting a 36-year unarmed man through a gate during a foot pursuit.

A small twin-engine plane headed to Southern California crashed Wednesday into an East Palo Alto neighborhood, killing all three people on board, tearing into electrical transmission lines and sparking several fires on the ground.

A fire official told reporters at the scene that the Cessna 310 struck a home day-care center in the residential neighborhood then ricocheted off multiple vehicles when it hit the ground.

It was unclear if anyone on the ground was injured.

KTVU in San Francisco quoted a man named Daniel Morales, who said he had flown with the pilot before and identified him as a high-ranking official at Tesla Motors. [Updated at 10:37 a.m.: Khobi Brooklyn, a spokeswoman for Tesla, which is based in the Silicon Valley and has a design studio in Hawthorne, said the company had not yet received confirmation about who was on the flight.

Crews worked Wednesday to repair a broken water main that left 30 customers without water in Studio City, officials said.

Flooding was reported at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday after an eight-inch pipe broke near 7809 Torreyson Drive.

“We worked all night, fingers to the bone, and now they are back-filling the pipe,” said Terry Schneider, a spokeswoman for the L.A. Department of Water and Power.

The homes should have water service fully restored within the next couple of hours, Schneider said.

-- Amina Khan

A small plane crashed Wednesday morning in East Palo Alto, causing a widespread power outage, officials said.

[Updated at 9:11 a.m.: A fire official told reporters at the scene that there were three fatalities, all people inside the Cessna 310. He said the plane's wing struck a home day-care center in the residential neighborhood then ricocheted off multiple vehicles when it hit the ground.] 

It was unclear if anyone was injured, but witnesses reported that the crash caused several fires and that an electrical line was hit. KNX News reported that the plane was heading to Hawthorne. [Updated at 9:13 a.m.: An FAA official confirmed the plane was headed to Hawthorne Municipal Airport.]

The crash occurred near Beech Street and Pulgas Avenue, police said. They could not say whether there had been any damage or injuries. [Updated at 9:14 a.m.: An FAA official said the plane crashed about one mile northeast of Palo Alto Airport.]

A resident told Bay City News that part of the plane landed on a day-care center and that other parts hit two homes.

"It hit some power lines next to my house," said Art Jonas, who was evacuating his home in the 1200 block of Beech Street at about 8:20 a.m. "It's pretty dismal."

The airport in San Jose is reporting that Southwest Airlines grounded 16 flights because of fog, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

-- Alexandra Zavis

RELATED:

3 Tesla Motors employees die in East Palo Alto plane crash

3 killed aboard small plane that crashed into East Palo Alto neighborhood

To hear listing agent Jason Morrison tell it, the view from 3729 Ocean Blvd. alone is worth nearly $30 million.

The 7,000-square-foot mansion, called Crown of the Sea, is on the market for $29,995,000. Built into a seaside cliff in Corona del Mar, the home has panoramic views of Catalina Island, Newport Harbor and Little Corona Beach.

Noted Newport Beach architect Brion Jeannette designed the home near the corner of Poppy Avenue and Ocean Boulevard. Construction began in 1997 and was completed in 2000.

The architect also designed the 30,000-square-foot Corona del Mar mansion known as the Portabello Estate, which has been valued as high as $75 million. The Portabello features an automobile museum, movie theater and bowling alley, among other amenities.

Read the full story here.

-- Brianna Bailey, from the Daily Pilot

Photo credit: Daily Pilot

New county health rankings for every state in the country were released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute.

Los Angeles County ranked 26th for health outcomes and 44th for health factors of the 56 California counties surveyed (Alpine and Sierra counties were not surveyed). By contrast, Orange County ranked seventh for health outcomes and ninth for health factors. Health outcomes measure how healthy a county is based on mortality and morbidity, and health factors measure influences on the health of the county such as residents’ education, smoking and the environment.

According to the rankings, California’s 10 healthiest counties are, from first to 10th, Marin, San Benito, Colusa, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Placer, Orange, Santa Cruz, Sonoma and El Dorado. The 10 counties in the poorest health are Del Norte, Siskiyou, Lake, Trinity, Yuba, Kern, Inyo, Tulare, Madera and Modoc.

“This report shows us that there are big differences in overall health across California’s counties, due to many factors, ranging from individual behavior to quality of healthcare, to education and jobs, to access to healthy foods, and to quality of the air,” said Dr. Patrick Remington, associate dean for public health at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

A lawsuit filed in San Diego alleges a Coast Guard vessel that slammed into a boat last year during a Christmas boat parade, killing an 8-year-old boy, was traveling at a dangerous rate of speed.

The suit was filed Tuesday on behalf of those inside the pleasure boat and comes as federal officials are trying to determine what caused the crash, which injured several people on the boat.

The accident cast a grim shadow over San Diego's annual Christmas tradition, which features fireworks and scores of boats with holiday lights and decorations.

The boy, Anthony Cole DeWeese of San Diego, was pronounced dead shortly after the crash, and five people, including two children, were injured.

A swarm of small earthquakes struck near Redlands in San Bernardino County on Tuesday, but there have been no reports of damage, officials said.

The most recent quake, a 1.7-magnitude temblor, was recorded about 10 p.m. three miles south southwest of Redlands, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

In all, more than 20 quakes have been recorded in the area since shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday, the survey agency said. The most powerful was a 3.2-magnitude temblor recorded at 9:04 p.m.

The Redlands Police Department said there were no reports of damage.

-- Robert J. Lopez

A Redlands man has been charged in the slaying of a Westminster woman and the injury of her boyfriend, authorities said Tuesday.

Pasqual Raul Loera, 32, was charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder and one felony count of attempted murder, the Orange County district attorney's office said. The special circumstances are a result of an alleged murder committed during a robbery and burglary.

Julie Palasko, 48, was fatally shot Sunday and her boyfriend, Dennis Koire, 49, was seriously wounded by the gunfire after an intruder came to their home to inquire about buying their vehicle, which was advertised for sale, according to the district attorney.

Loera allegedly stole the vehicle and left for Las Vegas, where he attracted the attention of security personnel at a casino Sunday, the district attorney said. Fleeing security personnel, Loera left the scene and crashed the car in a ditch.

Las Vegas police responded and discovered that the vehicle was registered to the Westminster address where the couple lived, authorities said. Westminster police were alerted and responded to the home, where they discovered the victims.

Koire was in critical condition Tuesday, the district attorney said.

Loera is being held in Las Vegas pending his extradition to Orange County.

-- Robert J. Lopez

Crews were working Tuesday night in Studio City to repair a broken water main that has left about 30 homes without water, officials said.

The problem began after an 8-inch line broke near 7809 Torreyson Drive about 4:30 p.m., the Department of Water and Power said.

Crews from the DWP shut down the water main and are expected to be working all night to fix the break, DWP spokeswoman Terry Schneider said.

-- Robert J. Lopez