Fraud is a year-round, multibillion-dollar enterprise, but the holiday season offers a wide-open window of opportunity as scammers fish with email, phone calls, texts, fliers and regular mail

The 180,000-carat Bahia Emerald has long been held in Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department custody, but a federal judge’s ruling could clear the way for it to return to Brazil.

A California infant has died from listeria amid an outbreak linked to certain ready-to-eat meat and poultry products that have been recalled.

A man installing Christmas lights in Escondido died when he was electrocuted by a power line, reported NBC.

On Thursday, rain poured across the northern edge of the state, slowly moving south. Santa Rosa Airport saw 4.93 inches of rain, shattering its previous daily record in 2001 of 0.93 inches.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies found two men shot outside a VFW hall in La Mirada. Eric Ortiz, 34, was killed. Juan Garcia, a member of the Mexican Mafia called “Topo,” was seriously injured, according to a law enforcement source.

It’s a huge jump toward gender equality in California’s Capitol, where only men have served as governor and women made up one-quarter of state lawmakers just eight years ago.

Once bustling with city employees, the Civic Center mall has been made desolate by telecommuting options and online access to municipal departments.

From January to September, 1,224 dogs were euthanized at L.A.’s six shelters — 72% more than in the same period a year earlier, a Times analysis found.

The L.A. County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed the bones were human but have not determined the identity of the person or cause of death.