The kidnapping of a 2-year-old boy resulted Saturday in the arrest of two people, including the victim's mother, according the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The boy was first reported missing about 9 a.m. from a hotel in the 11000 block of South Western Avenue, according to Capt. Mike Parker. Deputies searched the area and reviewed hotel security camera footage and determined that he had been walking back and forth in front of the hotel in the pouring rain when a man approached, led him into the hotel, then took him away. Deputies also discovered that the boy's mother, Tajuana Johnson, had taken him from his legal guardians the night before.

Sheriff's deputies traced the suspected kidnapper, later identified as James Brown, to Long Beach and spoke to him over the phone, persuading him to return the child to a Long Beach police station.

Brown was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and marijuana possession, and Johnson was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment, according to sheriff's deputies.

The boy appeared unharmed, authorities said.

-- Andrew Blankstein and Jason Song

Forecasters lifted a flash-flood warning for the San Gabriel Valley after rainfall tapered off over the San Gabriel Mountains as dusk fell.

At 6:30 p.m., officials lifted all mandatory evacuations for La Canada Flintridge and La Crescenta.

"Showers have diminished considerably over Los Angeles County late this afternoon," the National Weather Service said. "Even so, a few more showers and possibly a thunderstorm may occur through early this evening, with brief moderate to heavy rain."

Forecasters cautioned residents to remain alert to fast-moving mudflows, as dirt may still be sliding off mountainsides this evening. No major damage has been reported.

Waves from the tsunami triggered by the massive earthquake in Chile have not been very high in Southern California, with waves of about 2 feet detected in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara and about 1 foot in San Diego.

Still, dangerous currents and surges were possible in harbors and bays. Shortly after noon, several buoys near Ventura were pulled out to sea, and about 10 docks were damaged in Ventura Harbor.

As of 4 p.m., rainfall remained under 2-1/2 inches for most of the Los Angeles area Saturday. Downtown Los Angeles received 0.78 inches of rain; Long Beach, 1.09; Santa Monica, 1.24; Santa Ana, 1.35; Burbank, 1.6; Eaton Dam in Pasadena, 2; and Claremont, 2.15 inches. L.A. County mountains received less than 3 inches of rain.

The weather service had issued a flash-flood warning at 3 p.m. Saturday for communities near the Morris fire burn area, which burned north of Azusa and Glendora last fall.

--- Rong-Gong Lin II

In a dramatic escalation of the war against illegal supergraphics in Los Angeles, authorities have jailed a businessman accused of posting an eight-story movie advertisement on an office building at one of Hollywood’s busiest intersections.

Kayvan Setareh, 49, of Pacific Palisades was arrested at his home Friday night and ordered held in lieu of $1-million bail. An arrest warrant obtained by Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich accuses Setareh of three misdemeanor city code violations, two of them related to this city's sign law, according to William Carter, Trutanich’s chief deputy.

The arrest was an unusually aggressive move by Trutanich and comes less than a week after the city attorney filed a separate lawsuit involving more than a dozen other supergraphics scattered across the city. Just days after that lawsuit was filed, workers used bolts and wire to wrap the new ad around the face of a 1928 corner office building on the northeast corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue – a major tourist destination along Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

“The days of lax and inconsistent enforcement of billboard and outdoor advertising laws in this city are over,” Trutanich said in a prepared statement.

Law enforcement officers and volunteers searched Saturday for a 17-year-old Poway High School senior who has been missing since Thursday.

Chelsea King's parents reported her disappearance after she failed to return from a run near Lake Hodges. Her BMW was found in the Rancho Bernardo Community Park, an area where she regularly went on long runs, according to a message from the principal.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Department  at (858) 565-5200. 

-- Jason Song

Photo courtesy of the San Diego Sheriff's Department

A flash-flood warning has been issued for the northern San Gabriel Valley after radar showed heavy rainfall approaching the Morris fire burn area, which is north of Azusa and Glendora.

Forecasters said the storm was expected to move directly above the area with rainfall rates greater than an inch an hour.

"Rainfall at these intensities will likely cause flash flooding and debris flow in and around the Morris burn area," the weather service said.

A flash-flood warning means that flooding and mud flow is imminent or is occurring. The warning was issued about 3 p.m. and is expected to last until 6 p.m.

"Residents living in or immediately downstream of the Morris burn area should take immediate precautions to protect life and property," the weather service said. "Quickly move away from the burn area only if it is safe to do so. Otherwise, shelter in place."

The weather service advised moving to a second story of a home or the highest location in it to stay out of the path of swift-moving water.

-- Rong-Gong Lin II

How mudslides form after a fire

A flash-flood warning was issued for Southern California burn areas this afternoon as a band of intense rain cells moved into the region, capable of producing more than an inch of rain an hour.

According to the National Weather Service, the cells will "likely cause flash flooding and debris flows" in the foothill areas that were burned during last year's massive Station fire. Those areas -- which stretch from Tujunga to La Canada Flintridge -- saw a mudslides early this month that damaged several homes.

The warning is scheduled to last until at least 5:45 p.m. Another warning was issued for Azusa and Glendora.

[Updated at 6:14 p.m. The flash-flood warnings expired, and officials reported no major mudslides in burn areas.]

[Updated at 3:55 p.m.: The rains caused traffic problems and localized street flooding Saturday. According to the California Highway Patrol, some lanes on the 10 Freeway east of Covina were briefly shut down by a mudslide.]

This morning, steady rains hit the area, but there were no reports of mudslides or damage.

Officials said they hoped the brief respite during the mid-morning allowed water levels in two large catch basins to diminish.

Bob Spencer, chief of public affairs for L.A. County Public Works, said the basins -- the Mullaly and Pickens -- have less capacity after the storm front that poured steady rain beginning in the early morning.

Michael Blosil, the 18-year-old son of entertainer Marie Osmond, has died, authorities confirmed Saturday.

Blosil died Friday night, and his death was being investigated by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, said coroner's Lt. Brian Elias.

Officials could not comment on a report posted on ETOnline.com saying Blosil had jumped from his downtown Los Angeles apartment at 9 p.m. Friday and had left a suicide note.

“My family and I are devastated and in deep shock by the tragic loss of our dear Michael and ask that everyone respect our privacy during this difficult time,” Osmond, 50, said in a statement.

Tammy Nguyen, a student at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in downtown L.A., said Blosil attended the same school, majoring in apparel manufacturing.

Nguyen said she gathered with other students at the lobby of the Met, an apartment building at Flower and Ninth streets Friday night, and said she saw Blosil’s body covered with a white sheet on the sidewalk.

“Everyone was in shock,” Nguyen said. Blosil lived on the eighth floor.

Osmond is best known for the ABC variety show “Donny and Marie” in the late 1970s, in which she starred with her brother. Both she and her brother have performed on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” and now have a variety show at the Flamingo Showroom in Las Vegas.

Saturday evening's show has been canceled.

-- Rong-Gong Lin II

Photo: Marie Osmond in 2001. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

Waves generated from a tsunami hit the Southern California coast Saturday afternoon -- with little damage or drama.

While hundreds of people went to local beaches to watch the surge, the waves were difficult to detect for many.

The National Weather Service said there was a 2.2-foot surge in Santa Monica and a 3-foot surge in Ventura. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department reported minor damage at Ventura Harbor from several buoys washing away.

No other damage of any significance in Southern California has been reported.

Los Angeles County fire officials said they were not warning people to stay off beaches because they did not expect waves to rise more than 3 feet. The surges occurred during low tide, lessening the chances of problems.

The advisory was issued after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck about 200 miles southwest of Santiago, Chile, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Some witnesses on the Southern California coast said they noticed the tide receding -- which usually marks the beginning of a tsunami event. But they did not detect a major waves coming ashore after that.

--Rong-Gong Lin II and Shelby Grad

Map: This image shows the projected maximum heights in centimeters of tsunami waves as they spread from Chile across the Pacific Ocean. Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Syliva Drew Ivie has seen schools and a medical college named after her late father Charles Drew, a black surgeon whose pioneering work in the science of blood preservation was key to the development of large-scale blood banks.

But the U.S. Navy’s christening and launching of the massive, 689-feet long dry cargo/ammunition ship Charles Drew from a San Diego shipyard early Saturday may have been the most unusual “edifice” named after him. But it was no less touching, the 66-year-old Drew Ivie said.
 
The Los Angeles resident acknowledged that some people would find it unusual for a warship to be named after her father, who also serves as the namesake of Willowbrook’s Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.  Then again, her father’s research on the storage and shipment of plasma is credited with saving hundreds of lives during World War II.
 
“Even though he was not in the miltary, his name is connected to saving lives in the military,” Drew Ivie said. “Whatever my politics are about the wars the U.S. is engaged in, taking care of people fighting in wars and among our allies was a very integral part of his story.”
 
The ship will deliver dry cargo, including food, fuel, repair parts, ship store items, and ammunition to U.S. and Allied aircraft carriers and destroyers. It is about 85% complete, and is expected to be delivered to the Navy in July, said Karl Johnson, a spokesman for General Dynamics NASSCO, the ship’s builder.

“It will provide them with all the supplies they need, from corn flakes to missles, from gasoline to ice cream,” he said . “It will be crewed by civilian mariners, like a merchant marine fleet.”
 

President Obama on Saturday warned West Coast residents to be prepared for "dangerous waves and currents," as government officials prepared for a tsunami to hit Hawaii, Guam and American Samoa.

"Once again, we've been reminded of the awful devastation that can come at a moment's notice," Obama said. "We can't control nature, but we can and must be prepared for disaster when it strikes."

Jennifer Rhodes, tsunami programming manager with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a CNN interview that in addition to the tsunami warning issued for Hawaii, the government had issued a lower-grade tsunami advisory for California, Alaska and the rest of the West Coast.

“We are expecting to see very significant currents in the area, very turbulent waters in bays and harbors,’’ she said. She warned people to be aware that a tsunami is not a single large wave, but a series of waves -- often arriving an hour or more apart -- and that the first wave is not always the largest.

“So it is important to move to higher ground, get off the beach and to remain in a safe location,’’ she said, urging people to move location by foot to leave highways free for emergency vehicles.

Los Angeles County fire officials said they were not warning people to stay off beaches because they did not expect waves to rise more than 3 feet.

The advisory was issued after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck about 200 miles southwest of Santiago, Chile, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

-- Janet Hook reporting from Washington 

Graphic: The map shows estimated arrival times Saturday of the minor tsunami, according to predictions issued by the National Weather Service. Credit: Rong-Gong Lin II / Los Angeles Times

More breaking news from L.A. NOW

L.A. County fire officials expect waves from Chile quake to top at 3 feet; no warning to be issued

 
Despite the tsunami advisory issued for the California coast as a result of the 8.8 earthquake in Chile, Los Angeles County fire officials said they were not warning people to stay off beaches because they did not expect waves to rise more than 3 feet.

But National Weather Service meteorologists said harbors could see a little bit more turbulence.
 
“There’s just a heightened awareness right now,” said Ron Corpus, an ocean lifeguard specialist in Hermosa Beach. “We’re making sure engine bays are open, and staging equipment if we need to evacuate people if we have to.”
 
Corpus said the largest wave fluctuations are expected on south-facing beaches such as Malibu, but that even those weren’t expected to reach dangerous levels. He said the rise in tides is supposed to reach La Jolla just before noon and that authorities there will warn L.A. County fire officials if there is reason to take drastic action. Corpus said that as of about 9:30 a.m., surf conditions were not good, at least in Hermosa Beach, because of the winter storm.
 
“They’re very stormy, very choppy, like a washing machine,” he said.
 
Mark Jackson, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard, said that people sitting on beaches would probably notice only that the water would lap farther onto dry sand, according to the latest forecasts. But he said that harbors could see more movement because of the way the change in water levels could interact with piers and boats.
 
“With harbors, you could see more deflection of waves in more confined spaces. A lot of times that will speed up the water flow,” Jackson said at 10 a.m. He said that after the initial waves hit Southern California between noon and 12:25 p.m., a second, larger water-level increase should arrive about two hours later, peaking at about 3 feet, he said.
 
However, he said that the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, was examining data from buoys in the Pacific and that models could soon yield a more updated forecast.

-- Hector Becerra

Graphic: The map shows estimated arrival times Saturday of the minor tsunami, according to predictions issued by the National Weather Service. Credit: Rong-Gong Lin II / Los Angeles Times

After an hourlong break, rain has begun falling heavily in the slide-prone areas of La Canada Flintridge and La Crescenta on Saturday. Officials said they hoped the brief respite had allowed water levels in two large catch basins to decrease.

Bob Spencer, chief of public affairs for L.A. County public works, said the basins -- the Mullaly and Pickens -- have less capacity following the storm front that poured steady rain beginning early in the morning.

He said the Mullaly catch basin is over 50% full. He did not know about the Pickens basin, but said there was potential for them to reach capacity, which could lead to mud and debris overflowing into neighborhood streets, mainly in the Paradise Valley area.

"It's pretty serious," Spencer said. "The hills are extremely saturated."

Fire Capt. Mark Savage of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said 224 homes have been evacuated from La Cañada Flintridge and La Crescenta.

At least 64 homes were from the Paradise Valley area, but despite the mandatory evacuations, some residents refused to leave. Still, Savage said residents should rethink their decisions and leave their homes while they can.

"Our spotters saw signs of mud and debris flow issues," Savage said. "But we got a break right when things were picking up."

-- Ruben Vives

Photo: Checking flood control channels below Mullally catch basin in La Cañada Flintridge. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

How mudslides form after a fire

The tsunami advisory issued for the California coast predicts wave fluctuations of up to 2 feet, but officials said most people won't notice the difference.

According to a bulletin from the National Weather Service, the fluctuation will last about 30 minutes beginning after 12 p.m. in San Diego and La Jolla, then moving north. The warning covers San Pedro at about 12:15 p.m., Santa Monica at 12:25 p.m. and Santa Barbara at 12:31 p.m.

The massive earthquake that struck near the coast of central Chile has prompted the advisory. Forecasters said widespread inundation is not expected, and officials don't believe there is a major threat of damage.

The NWS urged residents to stay away from the ocean through the early afternoon as a precaution, though forecasters stressed they don't expect damage. "Wave fluctuation" of 2 feet or less is possible at Santa Monica Pier around 12:25 p.m.

"The Coast Guard strongly encourages waterfront users to take extra precautions in preparation for the possibility of a surge, to include securing vessel mooring arrangements and possible sources of pollution," according to a U.S. Geological Survey statement.

Another tsunami warning was issued last year after a large quake in the South Pacific prompted some lifeguards to clear local beaches. But there was no damage, and most people at the beach could not detect any changes.

The advisory was issued after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck about 200 miles southwest of Santiago, Chile, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. 

-- Ruben Vives and Shelby Grad

The National Weather Service said about .8 of an inch of rain had fallen in downtown Los Angeles as of 4 a.m., but officials expected 1-2 inches of rain before the storm moves out Saturday night.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood advisory for foothill areas burned during the Station Fire, which are prone to mudslides and flooding. The NWS also issued a high-surf advisory beginning at 1 p.m.

Steady rain is falling over the La Cañada Flintridge area, where a heavy storm earlier this month caused massive mudslides that damaged dozens of homes.

The debris basins, which collect muck before they can hit residential streets, appeared to be holding.

[Updated at 7:20 a.m.: Standing outside of her home with an umbrella and flashlight, Michele Barkin watched as firefighters drove into her cul de sac on her street to check on the basin that lies only a house away from hers.

"It's been raining hard all night and I'm worried," she said.

Barkin said she was concerned that the bottom portion of the basin near her home would clog up and cause another overflow of mud. She said she has been keeping in touch with other neighbors through walkie talkies and e-mail.

Flooding closed a portion of the 710 Freeway at Florence Avenue.]

The massive earthquake that struck near the coast of central Chile has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a tsunami advisory for Southern and Central California. People are urged to avoid local beaches.

Forecasters said widespread inundation is not expected, and officials don't believe there is a major threat of damage.

The NWS urged residents to stay away from the ocean through the early afternoon as a precaution, though forecasters stressed they don't expect damage. "Wave fluctuation" of 2 feet or less is possible at Santa Monica Pier around 12:25 p.m.

"The Coast Guard strongly encourages waterfront users to take extra precautions in preparation for the possibility of a surge, to include securing vessel mooring arrangements and possible sources of pollution," according to a U.S. Geological Survey statement.

The advisory was issued after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck about 200 miles southwest of Santiago, Chile, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Two drivers who struck a 13-year-old girl who was crossing Sunset Boulevard on her way to catch her school bus have not been charged in her death, Los Angeles police announced late Friday.

The preliminary investigation into the Friday morning incident raises the possibility that it was a tragic accident rather than a hit-and-run crime, as was initially believed, said Los Angeles police Capt. Nancy Lauer.

"At this point, we have not arrested nor have we booked either of the drivers," she said. "It appears to be a horrible accident."

Julia Siegler, an eighth-grader at Harvard-Westlake School, was struck about 7:20 a.m. and rushed to UCLA Medical Center, where she died.

Early reports indicated that Siegler was struck by two hit-and-run drivers, but police indicated at the late-night news conference that this was not the case. Instead, Lauer said, witnesses said the girl was crossing the street on a red signal and was grazed by the side-view mirror of one car, which knocked her off balance. A second vehicle, driven by a juvenile, then ran her over.

John Wylie Needham, an Orange County man who was a decorated Iraq combat veteran and was later charged with the murder of his girlfriend, was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital near his mother’s home in Sahuarita, Ariz., authorities said Friday.

Police responded to the home just after 10 a.m. on Feb. 19 and found Needham unresponsive, said Sgt. Alex Droban of the Sahuarita Police Department. "There was nothing unusual or suspicious surrounding the death,” he said. Needham was taken in an ambulance to a local hospital.

According to Salon.com, Needham died about 10 days after back surgery at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Tucson, Ariz.

Needham, 26, was free on $1-million bail posted by his family while awaiting trial. He was charged in the September 2008 slaying of 19-year-old Jacqwelyn Joann Villagomez. She was found severely beaten at Needham’s San Clemente condo. 

Needham served in the Army's 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry regiment. They nicknamed themselves "the Lethal Warriors" and during two tours in Iraq, confronted some of the war's cruelest fighting. Since August 2007, at least six of the veterans have been implicated in four shooting incidents and five slayings.

-- Paloma Esquivel in Orange County

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas wants the county’s chief executive, auditor-controller and probation chief to provide a detailed, confidential accounting of how the county's Probation Department investigates staff misconduct and abuse.

The directive follows a Times article about probation officers who were convicted of crimes or disciplined for inappropriate conduct involving current or former probationers, including several cases of officers molesting or beating youths in their care.

On Friday, Ridley-Thomas submitted a motion for consideration at next week’s Board of Supervisors meeting that calls for the three county offices to review the operations of probation’s Child Abuse Special Investigations Unit and issue a confidential report within two months.

The report would address, among other things, investigators’ experience and training, caseloads, the length of their investigations, how many resulted in disciplinary actions and prosecutions, the possibility of creating an Office of Independent Review with oversight over the department, circumstances that gave rise to opportunities for inappropriate relationships between probation personnel and minors, and recommendations about how such misconduct and abuse can be prevented.

A Santa Barbara man has pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and other charges after killing a 66-year-old marathon runner in August 2008, authorities said.

Gregory Doan, 58, was drunk and high on heroin when his van swerved onto a shoulder, scattering a group of 20 runners who were training as part of a Lymphoma and Leukemia Society team.

Caroline Samuels, who was looking forward to a marathon in San Francisco the next month, was trying to escape up an embankment when she was struck, police said.

Samuels was a longtime resident of the Bay Area before moving to Santa Barbara about two years before the accident. She had become a docent at the Santa Barbara courthouse and had signed on to teach reading skills as an Americorps volunteer.

Doan’s plea was entered Thursday. He could be sentenced to 35 years in prison. He had four drunk-driving convictions in the 1990s, police said.

--Steve Chawkins in Ventura County

More than half of  the faculty at Fremont High School have pledged to leave the school rather than participate in a mandated improvement plan.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is requiring all school employees to reapply for their jobs. It’s an aggressive attempt to alter what district officials describe as a school culture grown complacent with poor student achievement.

Most teachers have signed a petition saying they won’t go along, staff organizers said.

The ongoing rebellion was underscored at a Friday morning news conference near the school, which is located south of downtown in Florence. A small group of teachers, students and parents took part.

“If new teachers come in, they won’t know anything of the past history of the community,” said Mirna Rico, the parent of a ninth-grader. “There’s a certain stability that students need and, as it is, the school has been very unstable. But it’s getting better.”

Veteran administrator George McKenna countered that progress has been too slow and inconsistent.

Is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger the model in California?

The state's information guru seems to think so, according to The Times' Michael Rothfeld. Writing on PolitiCal, The Times' California politics blog, Rothfeld says the state's new  "Social Media Standard"  is designed to make sure employees don't run amok.

"As with most technologies, there is a measure of risk that must be addressed and mitigated," the state's chief Information officer, Teri Takai, wrote. Those risks are significant, according to Statewide Information Management Manual Section 66B: tweeting and facebooking can hamper employee productivity, strain Internet connections, cause "reputational risk to personnel, the agency, and the State," result in the leak of sensitive materials, introduce viruses into the "IT environment," and more.

As a shining example of how to do it right, Takai pointed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who she said had "used these communications channels with great success." Among the governor's dynamic use of social media: a video mocking state lawmakers for debating about cow tails, a picture of a smiley face he made in his oatmeal with fruit, a photo of his Popeye-like biceps, and a video in which he brandished a big knife while proposing to cut the state budget.

The new standard doesn't seem to leave room for such creativity by most state workers, who must follow an "acceptable use policy" and only use social media sites "to fulfill the business requirements." Only authorized users can participate, and some sites should be disabled to prevent "unnecessary functionality" such as instant messaging.

Read more about the new social media rules here.

Tell us what you think about it? Is the governor a Twitter god? Should the state regulate the way employees use social media?

CALIFORNIA POLITICS: Keep on top of all the latest California political news, from Sacramento deal-making to the Senate and governor's races on PolitiCal, The Times' California politics blog.

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich took aim Friday at another over-sized supergraphic, saying his office has opened an investigation into an unpermitted, multistory advertising image on a building at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue.

Investigators with Trutanich’s office went early Friday to a billboard where an oversized ad for the movie “How to Train Your Dragon” is stretched across two sides of the 1927 First National Bank building. That building’s owners do not have permission to erect such a sign, according to a Trutanich spokesman.

The sign went up days after Trutanich filed a 97-page lawsuit against World Wide Rush and 26 other defendants alleging that supergraphics in a dozen locations pose a nuisance to the public. Trutanich spokesman John Franklin said he did not know the name of the company responsible for the new supergraphic on Hollywood Boulevard. But an activist with the Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight said he suspects that the company responsible for the image is iMedia Outdoor.

UC San Diego police said Friday that a student admitted hanging a noose from a library bookcase in an incident that set off a new round of protests and a sit-in at the chancellor's office.

In statements released by campus police, the student’s identity was not released and no further information was provided about a possible motive. All officials would say was that the student contacted campus police and admitted hanging the noose on a lamp fixture on top of a seventh-floor bookcase in Geisel Library.

Police originally said they were investigating the noose incident as a crime with “intent to terrorize.” Student protesters, angry about the noose and other recent racially charged incidents, occupied the office of UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox.

In sympathy, black students at UCLA organized a brief sit-in at that school's administrative headquarters, Murphy Hall, in the hallway outside the office of Chancellor Gene Block. A campus spokesman said about 100 protesters were involved, no one was arrested and there was no damage. It ended after Block went out and talked with the students and expressed concern about the situation at UC San Diego.

Temporary offices in La Crescenta and Long Beach set up to help residents affected by mudslides and flooding will close Saturday, L.A. County officials said.

The offices, called local assistance centers, usually are opened after emergencies to provide residents with access to government and nonprofit agencies, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles or the Salvation Army.

Most people who needed help after last month's flooding and mudslides have resolved the problems the centers could help them with, said Anne Maria Tafoya, a spokeswoman for the county’s Office of Emergency Management.

The centers scheduled to be closed are at Central Christian Church in La Crescenta and at the department of gas and oil in Long Beach.

Tafoya said the U.S. Small Business Administration would remain at the La Crescenta office and the neighborhood resource center in Long Beach until March 11 to deal with loan applicants.

-- Sam Quinones

Both sides of Interstate 5 were closed this afternoon after officials discovered what appears to be a grenade on the roadway. [Updated at 2:15 p.m.: The grenade has been removed, and at least part of the freeway has reopened.]

The traffic backup was building on both sides of the freeway due to the closure, which occurred at Avenida Pico.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department's bomb squad was called in to assess the scene, and officials from the U.S. Marines at Camp Pendleton were also being brought in to assist.

Traffic was being diverted onto surface streets.

CHP officer Eric Barnard said the call about the grenade came in around 11:15 p.m. The device, which has wires coming out of it, was found on the southbound side of the freeway.

"We don't know its origin at this time," he said.

The bomb squad was preparing to detonate the device on the shoulder.

-- Andrew Blankstein

More breaking news in L.A. Now:

Couple arrested after woman throws her boyfriend's puppy into traffic

Audit finds L.A. County supervisors' behind-the-scenes effort to control policy

Forecasters warn of mudslides, flooding from approaching storm

Police search for 2 cars after 13-year-old girl fatally hit in Brentwood