Authorities are investigating a bag found in a park north of San Diego in connection with the disappearance of a girl last year in the same area where Poway High School senior Chelsea King went missing last week.

Law enforcement officials said there is a strong likelihood that a body discovered Tuesday in a shallow grave on a tributary of Lake Hodges is that of King, but no official identification has been made.

Escondido police Lt. Craig Carter said the bag was originally discovered by three young boys in Kit Carson Park last May. The boys told their parents that the bag contained what looked like human hair. After the King investigation revived reports of 14-year-old Amber Dubois' disappearance in February 2009, one of the boys’ mother recalled the conversation with the children and alerted police to the bag, Carter said.

Authorities have been searching the pond area since 8 a.m. Friday. They found a shredded bag with no hair in it, Carter said. It is unclear whether the bag is the same one that the children found last year, he said.

A full search of the area will be conducted Friday night and Saturday, including draining a pond in the search for clues, Carter said.

--Amina Khan

Workers on Friday began removing a supergraphic from a building on Hollywood Boulevard that was at the center of the latest criminal sign case filed by City Atty. Carmen Trutanich.

A judge issued arrest warrants Tuesday for four people accused by Trutanich of putting up five unpermitted signs at 6800 Hollywood Blvd. and 6810-6820 Hollywood Blvd. The city's sign law bans the installation of new supergraphics.

Deputy City Atty. Spencer Hart said a lawyer for two of the defendants, Alexander Kouba and France Luanghy, notified the city that the signs would come down while the criminal case is pending. Hart said the signs posed a “continuing threat to public safety" because they were installed without a city inspection.

Kouba and Luanghy each posted $100,000 bail Thursday. A third defendant, Thomas Curtin, posted $100,000 bail Friday.

Steve Madison, an attorney for Kouba and Luanghy, said the signs were “perfectly legal and safe."

“Given that the city attorney has taken the position that not only are they unlawful but criminal, we thought the prudent thing to do in the meantime would be to take them down," Madison said.

Santa Ana High School held a “re-dedication ceremony” Friday to mark the replacement of a collection of bronze plaques that were stolen from the school’s entrance more than a year ago, officials said.

The plaques commemorate the school’s veterans and their service in various wars, along with the school’s dedication and centennial, according to a news release.

The replacements were paid for through fund-raising efforts by alumni, veterans groups and private donors.

“We are thrilled to be able to restore such an important part of the school’s history,” said Principal Julie Infante.

--Scott Glover

A Los Angeles Muslim civil rights organization has filed a misconduct complaint and requested an internal investigation of police in Henderson, Nev., after seven Southern California Muslim men were detained and questioned for praying in a parking lot.

The men were driving through Henderson on Dec. 20 when they stopped for food and gas at a shopping center, according to the Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

While stopped, the men prayed next to their vehicle. Two patrol officers soon arrived – followed by a police sergeant, according to a Henderson police spokesman.

“We got a call from a citizen saying that seven suspicious males [were] in a parking lot engaging in suspicious behavior," said Officer Todd Rasmussen, a department spokesman.

A woman who vanished 14 years ago with her 7-year-old daughter was arrested Tuesday in Monrovia and her daughter was located unharmed, authorities said Friday.

Wendy Hill, 52, was spotted at a local Claim Jumper restaurant and arrested on suspicion of abducting her own daughter.

Jessica Click-Hill, now 22, was contacted by authorities after the arrest. She is believed to be living out of state.

“I’m just so excited that Jessica is found and well and that, physically, she’s fine,” said the girl’s father, Dean Click. “She’s got family who haven’t gotten to be with her, to spend Christmas or Thanksgiving together, so we’re looking forward to reconnecting with each other.”

Click said that since his daughter is an adult, authorities will not release her contact information. "At this point, she will have to come to me,” he said.

Security guards and a customer restrained a gunman after a shootout at a Long Beach bank this morning.

Authorities released few details, but KTLA News quoted sources as saying that three people were shot and that the gunman was in custody. Long Beach Police Department officials confirmed a bank robbery had occurred and that a suspect was wounded, but they declined to give further details.

The wounded, including the suspected robber, were taken to a local hospital where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, said Lisa Massacani, a spokeswoman for the Long Beach Police Department.  

Police responded to a report of a robbery at the Farmers & Merchants bank on Bellflower Boulevard near the 405 Freeway about 10:30 a.m., Massacani said. The bank is near the Los Altos shopping center, a bustling marketplace that has a Sears, Trader Joe's and Target.

Witnesses described a dramatic scene.

Southern California Edison meter reader Alice Ramirez told The Times that she was making her rounds at 10:30 a.m. and was about to open the door of the bank to read its meter when she heard four gunshots. At first it sounded like heavy hammering and I thought it was construction work. Then I looked through the glass and saw at least three people lying on the floor. I ran out to the parking lot and saw two people in cars and yelled, ‘I just heard gunshots,’ called 911.”

An off-duty Orange County sheriff’s deputy, who allegedly was intoxicated when he crashed his Mercedes-Benz into another vehicle and injured a passenger, had crashed 30 minutes earlier and was allowed to drive from that accident scene by fellow deputies, authorities said Friday.

Sheriff’s deputies were called Monday afternoon to a crash involving Deputy Allan James Waters, 36, and another vehicle outside City Hall in Dana Point. Deputies took a report and permitted Waters keep driving, said Assistant Sheriff Mike James.

About 30 minutes later, at 5:20 p.m., Waters crashed his Mercedes-Benz into a Toyota in Laguna Niguel, causing it to cross the center median and slam into a tree, according to the California Highway Patrol. Dolores Molina, a 78-year-old passenger in the Toyota, suffered minor injuries.

CHP officers said Waters showed signs of being intoxicated and was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence. He was released Wednesday, according to jail records.

The parents of John Patrick Bedell, who was shot to death after pulling a gun on Pentagon police guards, said Friday they are “devastated” by the incident, adding that “his actions were caused by an illness and not a defective character.”

“To the outside world, this tragedy is the first and only thing they will know of Patrick,” his parents said in a statement. “To us, he was a beloved son, brother, grandson, nephew, and cousin. We may never know why he made this terrible decision.”

Bedell, 36, of Hollister, Calif., had mental health problems and had used marijuana, according to authorities, friends and court records.

San Benito County Supervisor Reb Monaco said he had been a close friend of the Bedell family for 35 years.

Upon hearing of the shooting, and at the request of one of Bedell’s brothers, Monaco said he went to the family home late Thursday, spending almost three hours.

“They’re an excellent family, very loving, very close. They have three boys, all of them very intelligent. They grew up with my own children,” he said. “My wife and I were there to support this family. It’s such a tragedy and shock to this family. I can’t believe this tragedy.”

Patrick, he said, had suffered from mental illness for at least 15 years.

The Los Angeles City Council on Friday voted to cut business taxes for Internet-based firms that had been socked with a mammoth increase last year after the city changed their tax rate from the lowest to the highest.

The council unanimously approved the measure despite concerns by some members that the tax break would be applied retroactively to Jan. 1 and cost the city $3.4 million in revenue. They argued that L.A. could not afford to lose that money at a time when the city faces a $212-million budget shortfall.

But some of the 1,400 businesses affected by the measure had threatened to move out of the city if the tax rate was not reduced, and proponents said the city would lose even more tax revenue if those firms relocated.

“We will lose more than $3.4 million if we don’t do it this year," said Council President Eric Garcetti. “It’s the right thing to do on dollars and cents.”

During the debate, Councilman Tony Cardenas said he supported the idea of the tax-rate reduction, but argued that to make it retroactive would send the wrong message at a time when the city is poised to slash services and layoff thousands of workers. Instead, the councilman wanted the reduction to take effect in 2011.

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Friday to require that all pet dogs and cats redeemed from city shelters by their owners be microchipped before their release.

The tiny microchip, injected by a needle under the skin, contains an identification number that correlates to a listing in a database that includes information about the animal’s guardian, alternative contact and veterinarian. Whenever an animal is turned into a shelter, it is scanned for a microchip.

The city already requires that dogs and cats up for adoption at city shelters be microchipped before they are adopted. Their new owners pay a $15 fee for the service. And the shelters allow all pet owners to schedule appointments to bring in cats and dogs to have them microchipped at a fee of $25 per animal.

Microchipping is considered one way to help reunite owners with their animals and reduce the euthanasia of those lost pets languishing in shelters whose owners can’t be located.

Extending the microchip ordinance to pets in shelters reunited with their owners not only raises the chances of future reunifications but also increases revenues for the city. 

In a 2007 letter to the City Council on this issue, former L.A. Department of Animal Services General Manager Ed Boks said that if the 4,030 dogs reunited with their owners in 2006 had been subject to mandatory microchipping at $15 an animal, the city would have made $60,450.

-- Carla Hall

Los Angeles County prosecutors Friday charged a North Hills man with stalking and making criminal threats against Dr. Drew Pinsky, star of the VH1 TV show “Celebrity Rehab” and the radio show “Loveline.”

Charles William Pearson, 33, was set appear in Superior Court in Pasadena on Friday afternoon after his arrest earlier this week  at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, authorities said.

Pearson is accused of stalking Pinsky since November and making a series of threats last month against the doctor, his wife and children.

The suspect allegedly sent threatening messages to Pinsky, who he believed was tracking him with an implanted device. In a bizarre court claim last month, Pearson sought $2,500 from the doctor for "implant tampering."

Pinsky told KNBC on Thursday, "I hope this guy gets treatment because he clearly needs it."

--Richard Winton

Fifty-five years after two U.S. Air Force pilots mysteriously disappeared after taking off from Los Angeles, the pair were memorialized Friday by family members who gathered at Dockweiler State Beach beneath the flight path at Los Angeles International Airport.

The wreckage of the Lockheed T33A jet the pair were flying on Oct. 15, 1955, was discovered last year a mile offshore.

Search crews at the time were conducting a hunt for a missing WWII-era female pilot.

About 40 family members of Lt. Richard M. Theiler and Lt. Paul D. Smith were among those who gathered on the beach to hear the pair eulogized.

After the beach ceremony, the participants boarded two boats to travel to the crash site, where the plane’s wreckage sits about 100 feet below the surface, and scattered flowers in the area.

“America was in her prime, leading the world” when the pair disappeared, said Air Force Chaplain Lt. David Sarmiento. “These were the early days of the U.S. Air Force that were filled with promise.”

 --Bob Pool

A day of passionate protest against education funding cuts attracted thousands of demonstrators Thursday to generally peaceful rallies, walkouts and teach-ins at universities and high schools throughout California and the nation.

From Los Angeles to New York and from San Diego to Humboldt County, students, faculty and parents at many schools decried higher student fees, reduced class offerings and teacher layoffs in what organizers describe as a "Day of Action for Public Education."

L.A. Now had comments from students, parents and concerned taxpayers with a range of opinions. Here are some of the highlights:

Debbie said: "At least these kids are seeking an education vs the gang banger sitting in prison that we are paying $50,000 per prisoner per year for! … Maybe the kids trying to get an education should just drop out, commit a crime and have the taxpayer pay for them forever!"

Tornadoes28 said: "Rallies against education cuts = rallies for cuts in other programs such as aid to families with children, etc. Think about it. What do these protester's suggest?"

CSUN Protester said: "We are tired of not being listened to. We are tired of being taken advantage of. If blocking traffic is the only way to bring attention to the budget cuts, then blocking traffic is what we will do."

j. davis said: "Only 500 protesters show up at UCLA? Another 500 or so people walk out at LAUSD? The numbers don't lie. NOBODY CARES! … Why not cover the amount of taxpayer money lost by sending out extra police to deal with the knuckleheads who would be better served by going to class or studying."

Want to weigh in? Share your thoughts below. Or read our coverage of the protests and join the conversation there:

Rallies across California decry education funding cuts

Education protesters arrested in Northridge and Oakland

Photo: Demonstrators at Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

Three people were shot and wounded during an attempted robbery at a Farmers & Merchants Bank in Long Beach Friday, authorities said.

[Updated at 1:10 p.m.: The wounded, including the suspected robber, were taken to a local hospital where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, said Lisa Massacani, a spokeswoman for the Police Department.  

Police responded to a report of a robbery at the bank on Bellflower Boulevard about 10:30 a.m., Massacani said.]

Witnesses described a dramatic scene.

Southern California Edison meter reader Alice Ramirez told The Times that she was making her rounds at 10:30 a.m. and about to open the door of the bank to read its meter when “I heard four gunshots. At first it sounded like heavy hammering and I thought it was construction work. Then I looked through the glass and saw at least three people lying on the floor. I ran out to the parking lot and saw two people in cars and yelled, ‘I just heard gunshots,’ called 911.”

The parents of the man shot to death after pulling a gun on Pentagon police guards Thursday had reported him missing in January and asked local authorities to hold him, concerned about his mental health.

[Updated at 12:48 p.m.: The family of the gunman, John Patrick Bedell, released the following statement Friday, according to the Hollister (Calif.) Free Lance:

"We are devastated as a family by the news from yesterday. To the outside world, this tragedy is the first and only thing they will know of Patrick. To us, he was a beloved son, brother, grandson, nephew, and cousin. We may never know why he made this terrible decision. One thing is clear though -- his actions were caused by an illness and not a defective character.

"We wish for the speedy and complete recovery of the two officers involved. The family asks that you respect their privacy in this terrible time."]

The parents of Bedell, 36, of Hollister filed a missing-person report on Jan. 4, said San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill.

Hill said the report stemmed from a call the family received from a Texas state trooper on Jan. 3. The trooper said he had stopped their son for speeding on a freeway heading west outside Amarillo, Hill said.

The trooper used Bedell’s cellphone to call Bedell’s parents, apparently trying to determine whether there was sufficient cause for a mental-health hold on Bedell.

“There’s an inference in [the report] that he was concerned about his mental health,” Hill said.

At least one person was shot during a bank robbery in Long Beach on Friday morning.

The shooting occurred at the 2300 block of Bellflower Bouelvard at the Farmers and Merchants Bank. Long Beach police confirmed a bank robbery occurred there but provided no further details.

KTLA News reported that the suspect appeared to be in custody and that the shooting occurred in the bank. 

The bank is in a major Long Beach shopping district near a Target, Trader Joe's market and a Sears store. Streets were blocked off in the area.

--Ann M. Simmons

[For the record, 12:10 p.m.: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated that there is a Whole Foods market in the shopping district.] 

Photo: Scene at bank robbery in Long Beach. Credit: KTLA News.

A woman who is suspected of abducting her 8-year-old daughter 14 years ago from the child's home in Northern California has been arrested in Monrovia.

Jessica Click-Hill, who is now 22, was contacted and authorities said she was unharmed. They did not reveal where she is now living.

The mother, Wendy Hill, was arrested after being spotted at a local Claim Jumper restaurant in Monrovia, officials said.

An FBI investigation was launched after authorities received a tip from officials at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Police would not say whether Click-Hill was aware that she was a kidnapping victim.

-- Amina Khan

[For the record, 12:15 p.m.: An earlier version of this post stated that the daughter had been discovered in Monrovia.]

Photo: Jessica Click-Hill and her mother Wendy Hill (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children) via KTLA News.

Two life-size Oscar statues made to resemble skeletons were found Thursday morning – one atop Runyon Canyon and one in the parking lot of Mel's Drive-In in Hollywood.

A plaque at the bottom of the statues read: "Beauty is one snip away," signed by a British artist named "D*Face." The Wrap told NBCLA:

They are the work of a U.K.-based artist who goes by D*Face, said a person with knowledge of the plot to emplace the statues on Thursday morning. The 6- to 7-foot figures, made of a painted resin, were crafted in the United Kingdom and shipped here...

Read the full story here.

Here are some other interesting L.A. items on the Web:

Is your house Tweeting? A house for sale in Malibu is tweeting from @villacascata. It only has 46 followers, but it got the attention of Curbed LA:

The houses are becoming sentient--and they're micro-blogging. A $13.95 million house in Malibu has its own Twitter acount, which unfortunately is actually written in the third person.

Destroyer Dewey to be commissioned: A new ship is set to be commissioned off the coast of Seal Beach, complete with cannon fire. The Orange County Register reports:

Seal Beach residents may hear a series of loud booms Saturday morning while the destroyer USS Dewey is being commissioned at the naval weapons station. Gregg Smith, a spokesman for the base, says, "There will (be) a saluting battery shooting off ceremonial cannons (firing blanks) during the event. Up to 19 shots."

Local barista champion: A Silver Lake barista came in second place at a regional competition, and is advancing to the championship round. NBCLA reports:

Ran Willbur's love of the bean is so intense, he said it's one of the main reasons why he did so well at the 2010 Western Regional Barista Competition. … As part of the competition, Willbur had to come up with 12 drinks: four espresso, four coffee and four signature drinks.

-- Anthony Pesce

Have some news for Linking L.A.? Contact Times reporter Anthony Pesce.

Los Angeles International Airport is among nine airports nationwide to get body-scanning equipment, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

Three other California airports -- San Jose, San Diego and Oakland -- will also be getting the equipment, the TSA announced in a statement on Friday.

“Explosive Trace Detection technology is a critical tool in our ability to stay ahead of evolving threats to aviation security,” TSA Acting Administrator Gale Rossides said in a statement. “Expanding the use of this technology at checkpoints and at departure gates greatly enhances security to keep the traveling public safe.”

There have been increased calls for body-scanning equipment since the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt on a Detroit-bound jet. But some have expressed concerns about workers viewing the bodies of passengers.

The new scanners will be placed in the passenger security-line areas, officials said.

-- Shelby Grad

So, how did I end up hanging with a rock star earlier this week on skid row?

Many, many moons ago I met a Catholic nun in Philadelphia who, to this day, is one of my heroes. Last year, I was honored to testify with Sister Mary Scullion at a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill about the virtues of programs like Lamp Community in Los Angeles and Sister Mary's Project Home, both of which have rebuilt the lives of hundreds of people fighting mental illness.

One of Sister Mary's biggest advocates and financial supporters is Jon Bon Jovi, who's in Southern California on concert tour, and Sister Mary told me he wanted to know if I could set up a tour of Lamp Community.

Bon Jovi, it turns out, is no dilettante. He has studied public policy issues regarding mental health and homelessness in various cities while on tour, calling it a fact-finding mission for his nonprofit organization. The charity supports affordable housing projects, and I've seen the effects of Bon Jovi's generosity in Philadelphia, where once-devastated neighborhoods have been rebuilt by and for Sister Mary's mental health clients, or family members, as she would call them.

"One night I was in Philadelphia outside of the City Hall," Bon Jovi told me, "and I realized, at least in my beautiful, romantic vision of the world, that our forefathers didn't envision" people sleeping on the pavement. "And I thought, I didn't need a scientist, and I didn't need a pill, to fix that."

If you'd like to hear more about Bon Jovi's tour of skid row, tune in this weekend to John Rabe's Off-Ramp on KPCC-FM (89.3 ) or listen to a clip here.

In the meantime, I was struck by how passionate Bon Jovi is about his mission, and it's clear he has learned there are many rewards, spiritual and otherwise, in giving.

I thought it would be nice to hear from readers who make time in their lives for causes they've become passionate about. Send along a few thoughts about what kind of volunteering you do, why you do it, and how it has changed your life.

-- Steve Lopez

Photo: Steve Lopez and Jon Bon Jovi visited the Lamp Community this week. Credit: 89.3-KPCC's John Rabe

A new storm was expected to bring another round of showers to Southern California this weekend, but forecasters did not expect it to dampen Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony or affect residents of denuded foothill communities.

Most of the rain is expected Saturday evening, continuing through Sunday morning, with decreasing shower activity through the afternoon, said Bill Hoffer, a spokesman for the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

“The lower pressure … will be overland, so moisture and precipitation will be rather limited,” Hoffer said.

Rainfall totals could range between one quarter and three quarters of an inch, with the possibility of about 1 inch of rain in the foothills and mountain regions, particularly across the San Gabriel Mountains, he said.

Despite the limited threat to areas ravaged by last year’s wildfires, Los Angeles County officials urged residents in foothill communities to remain vigilant and be prepared to evacuate if necessary.

“We have issued the alert advising that, given the current forecast, evacuations are possible,” said Bob Spencer, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. “But they haven’t pulled the trigger on that yet.”

An incident command center would be activated at 3 a.m. Saturday, Spencer said.

He said his agency was prepared for any changes in the weather that might affect the burn areas. All seven of the smaller debris basins in the region were almost empty, and the remaining 21 larger basins had available capacities of between 50% and 80%, Spencer said.

--Ann M. Simmons

In a letter addressed to parents and community members, a South Los Angeles elementary school principal apologized Thursday for “questionable decisions” about which prominent African Americans to highlight in a parade marking the culmination of Black History Month.

Lorraine Abner’s letter did not name the individuals. But her apology came after three teachers at Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School were suspended while the Los Angeles Unified School District investigates allegations that they had their first-, second- and fourth-grade students carry pictures of O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul at last Friday’s event.

“Unfortunately, questionable decisions were made in the selection of noteworthy African American role models,” the letter said. “As the principal, I offer my apology for these errors in judgment.”

Abner could not be reached for comment Thursday. 

The body of a man who jumped from a pier at the Port of Los Angeles was recovered Friday morning, and investigators are still trying to piece together the events that led to his death, authorities said.

The man had called 911 Thursday evening from a truck stop near E Street in Wilmington and made statements that led dispatchers to alert the Los Angeles Fire Department, said spokeswoman Lt. Stephanie Young.

The unidentified man may have crossed through Leeward Bay Marina to get into the port, where he jumped a fence into a car-transport facility. There, he approached a longshoreman and handed him his cellphone, Young said.

But as private security vehicles at the facility approached shortly before 7:30 p.m., the man grabbed his cell phone back and jumped from a pier into the water about 15 feet below.

The propeller of a cargo ship docking nearby churned up the water, creating a strong current, and the man drowned, authorities said.

Rescuers used sonar to recover his body shortly before 1 a.m. Friday after divers made unsuccessful attempts to find him.

--Amina Khan 

The parents of Chelsea King said they will fight for changes in sex-offender laws as a result of their daughter's slaying.

Chelsea, 17, was raped and killed, allegedly by a registered sex offender now in custody. She was last seen jogging around a lake near her home in San Diego County.

Brent King, her father, said on two morning TV new shows Friday that laws need to be changed so that registered sex offenders are restricted from being around children.

"Kids [need to be] kids and be safe," Brent King told NBC's "Today" show. "And predators should not be allowed within their reach."

Rescuers were searching Thursday night for a crew member who fell off a cargo ship in San Pedro harbor.

The crew member was on the United Spirit, which carries Nissan vehicles, when he fell into the water about 7:15 p.m, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

Scuba divers from the Fire Department and Los Angeles Police Department as well as personnel from the U.S. Coast Guard in rescue vessels were looking for the victim.