Category: News

Out of desperation, I ended up on a private jet. Driving from L.A. to San Francisco the day before Thanksgiving is never enticing. This year, the forecast called for heavy rain and snow in the mountains, which meant the 5 Freeway could close anytime at the Grapevine. Also, a fire above Santa Barbara meant potential…

Quickly, now: When does your passport expire? Your kids’ passports? Maybe you don’t remember, but even if you do, who really wants to deal with the process? Mobile Passport, which Customs and Border Protection says “does not require preapproval and is free to use,” can help. You may know this app because it’s helping travelers…

As Boeing Co. prepares to shut much of a huge factory near Seattle that builds the grounded 737 Max jet, the economic hit is reverberating in Southern California and across the United States. When the company announced this week that it will temporarily halt production of the 737 Max — the nation’s largest manufactured export,…

A clause that would allow California to take over bankrupt utility giant PG&E Corp. under certain circumstances has emerged as a big sticking point in negotiations between the company and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom wants the parent of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to include a provision in its reorganization proposal that would allow the…

Instagram is finally making rules to govern content in influencer advertising. Influencers, the photo-sharing app’s most-followed users who are paid by brands to post, will no longer be allowed to promote products related to vaping, tobacco and weapons, Instagram said Wednesday in a blog post. The decision came after Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority ruled this…

A stab of the throttle, and the rear tires break loose. A little more gas — really, just a little more — and you’re sideways. In Hellcat guise, Dodge’s Challenger coupe and Charger sedan are true muscle cars: loud, heavy, unwieldy, scary, silly and, yes, extremely fast. Dodge has hewed to the original muscle car…

Call it the end of a retail era. After 41 years at the Fred Segal center, Ron Robinson is closing his Melrose Avenue bricks-and-mortar store in early 2020. (He shuttered his Santa Monica location in November.) Although the news may coincide with Barneys New York’s bankruptcy and a shifting retail landscape, Robinson emphasized that his…

Leslie Saeta loves Christmas. Standing in her South Pasadena kitchen in early December, you would think it is Christmas as Saeta, dusted in flour and flanked by wreaths, bakes dozens of frosted sugar cookies for her annual holiday party. The first party took place 33 years ago: “We had 45 friends for the party,” Saeta…

MANILA  —  A Philippine court Thursday found key members of a powerful political clan guilty of a 2009 massacre in a southern province that left 57 people, including 32 media workers, dead in a brazen execution-style attack that horrified the world. Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes acquitted several members of the Ampatuan family and police officers, citing…

PERTH, Australia —  Australia’s most populous state of New South Wales declared a seven-day state of emergency Thursday as oppressive conditions fanned around 100 wildfires. Around 2,000 firefighters were battling the blazes, half of which remain uncontrolled, with the support of U.S. and Canadian backup teams and personnel from the Australian Defense Force. The last state…