In brief: Car hits crowd, killing 3
REDONDO BEACH, Calif. – Pedestrians were filing out of a church Christmas service when a car sped around other vehicles at a red light and plowed into the crowd before hitting another car head-on, police and witnesses said. Three people were killed, and several more were injured, California authorities said.
“Someone ran the red light, and bodies started flying. It was pretty horrible,” witness Marco Zonno told KNBC-TV.
Within moments of the crash Wednesday night along California’s famed Pacific Coast Highway, people were at the sides of victims lying in the street, said Mark Milutin, 26, who was in one of the cars stopped at the light.
“It was a very fast reaction,” he said. “Two or three people were around each victim.”
Margo Bronstein, 56, was arrested after the crash on suspicion of driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter, Redondo Beach police Lt. Shawn Freeman said.
Five children and eight adults, including the suspect and the other driver, suffered injuries, Freeman said. Three people, Mary Anne Wilson, 81; Saeko Matsumura, 87; and Martha Gaza, 36, all of Torrance, later died, police said.
At least two people remained in critical condition Thursday morning, Freeman said.
Still no longshoremen deal
LOS ANGELES – While West Coast seaports struggle to keep up with billions of dollars of cargo, dockworkers and their employers apparently aren’t close to a new contract nearly six months after their old deal expired.
Longshoremen have continued to work without a contract at 29 ports from San Diego to Seattle that are a vital trade link with Asia, though their employers say workers have deliberately slowed their pace over the past few months.
City bans elephant tool
OAKLAND, Calif. – The circus will stop coming to Oakland starting in 2016 after a tool used by elephant handlers was banned in the city.
The Oakland City Council earlier this week unanimously approved an ordinance outlawing bullhooks. The instrument resembles a fireplace poker, with a sharp hook on one end that is used by trainers to control the animals.
Oakland is the second California city, after Los Angeles, to ban the use of a bullhooks.