The case of 10-year-old Anthony Avalos exposes serious failures by the Los Angeles County child protection system to intervene before his death.

While authorities continued working Tuesday to identify victims of the deadly weekend boat fire near Santa Cruz Island presumed to have killed 34 people, a pair of Santa Monica residents were identified by colleagues and friends as passengers on the ill-fated voyage. Acquaintances posted online tributes to the pair — Marybeth Guiney and Charles McIlvain,…

Police, civic leaders and relatives of an 18-year-old woman killed during a drive-by shooting in Santa Ana last week pleaded for the public’s help and announced a $50,000 reward on Tuesday, Sept. 3., for information leading to those responsible for her death. Victoria Barrios and one other person were struck by gunfire near the intersection…

Southern Californians will swelter with humid, triple-digit temperatures in the valleys and inland areas through Thursday, with diminishing threats of afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms in mountain and desert regions, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS issued a heat advisory for 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday for Inland counties, with highs…

Trial began Tuesday for a driver charged with second-degree murder after a 2016 crash on the 405 Freeway that left a 10-year-old girl dead and her father and older sister seriously injured. Prosecutors allege that Adam Kanas, 39, was driving erratically while under the influence of multiple prescription drugs when he crashed his Chevy Tahoe…

VENTURA COUNTY COAST — The co-owner of a Santa Cruz-based diving company is missing after a boat she was on caught fire and sank early Monday off the coast of Southern California, killing at least four people and leaving many others missing. Kristy Finstad — a diving instructor and marine biologist who runs Worldwide Diving…

If not for unforeseen hip surgery, Torrance resident Dale Sheckler, 62, could have been one of the victims in Monday’s tragic dive-boat incident in the Channel Islands. He had planned to book the three-day Labor Day trip but the surgery changed his mind. Recovery crews were still working Tuesday to bring ashore more bodies of…

SANTA CRUZ — Students from a Santa Cruz high school were reportedly aboard the boat that caught fire and sank early Monday off the coast of Southern California. Nine people from the dive-boat Conception remained missing Tuesday morning, while 25 passengers were confirmed dead, authorities said. KGO-TV, this news organization’s media partner, reported a Pacific…

A magnitude-3.4 earthquake was reported Tuesday at 8:05 a.m.

Rescuers searched the waters off the Channel Islands as well as the Santa Cruz Island shore, hoping to find survivors of the Conception dive boat fire, but have found only bodies.