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The phone had reportedly been taken from one of the victims, and its tracking signals led police to a suspect.
WEST ADAMS, Calif. (KTLA) — The cell phone of one of two USC graduate students killed last month helped lead police to their alleged killers, according to the Los Angeles Times.
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Ballistics tests reportedly showed a link between two earlier attempted murders and the deaths of two USC graduate students.
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A Simi Valley motorcyclist died early Saturday morning when he rear-ended a Jeep Wrangler on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth.
Los Angeles police Officer Wendy Reyes said William Lovvorn, 28, was declared dead at the scene. The driver of the Jeep was not injured.
The Jeep was traveling north when it was struck from the rear by Lovvorn's motorcycle near Santa Susana Pass Road shortly after midnight, Reyes said.
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Facing an 0-2 deficit in the NBA Western Conference semifinals series, the Los Angeles Clippers have a home-court advantage Saturday as they take on the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center.
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The city-owned observatory in the Hollywood Hills is selling eclipse sunglasses for $2.99 a pair, and has plenty of them, said its spokeswoman Susan Szotyori.
Griffith Observatory is open Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and on Sunday opens at 10 a.m. and will be open through the partial solar eclipse Sunday evening, which begins at 5:24 p.m. and reaches its maximum shadow at 6:38 p.m.
The observatory was determined to have a plentiful supply, Szotyori said, because officials there want to make sure everyone who comes to the observatory Sunday can view the eclipse safely. Looking directly at the sun can cause permanent vision loss, and most who do suffer blindness following eclipses are children and young adults, NASA says. Regular sunglasses won't do the trick.
Eclipse sunglasses, as you might imagine, are not really in demand most of the time, so it's hard to know where to find them. And, at least elsewhere, they were hard to keep in stock as eclipse frenzy took hold this week.
In Redding, Calif., which will enjoy a full "ring of fire" eclipse if the clouds stay away, stores reported quickly selling out of eclipse glasses earlier in the week but had more orders on the way, the Record-Searchlight newspaper reported.
So-called "No. 14" welder's glass — which can also be used to look directly at the sun — and special camera filters for solar eclipses were also difficult to find, the newspaper reported.
In Reno, Nev., the Fleischmann Planetarium and Science Center sold out of 17,000 pairs of glasses earlier in the week, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported Thursday, and had to ordered an additional 10,000 pairs.
The Griffith Observatory will be also selling "Solarama" devices that will project an image of the eclipse on a surface for $9.99.
NASA has issued strict warnings against looking at the sun during an eclipse without proper equipment. "Most individuals who sustain eclipse-related eye injuries are children and young adults," a NASA report said.
The problem is that intense visible light can cause damage to cells in the eye, and can destroy them, according to NASA, and can cause temporary or permanent vision loss.
"When a person looks repeatedly or for a long time at the Sun without proper protection for the eyes, this photochemical retinal damage may be accompanied by a thermal injury – the high level of visible and near-infrared radiation causes heating that literally cooks the exposed tissue," NASA says.
"The danger to vision is significant because … retinal injuries occur without any feeling of pain (there are no pain receptors in the retina), and the visual effects do not occur for at least several hours after the damage is done," the agency said. "Even when 99% of the Sun's surface … is obscured during the partial phases of a solar eclipse, the remaining crescent Sun is still intense enough to cause a retinal burn."
And by the way — don't throw your eclipse glasses away. Another rare cosmic sight will occur soon — Venus move between the Earth and the Sun on June 5, and we will able to see a dark dot float across the surface of the sun. It will be the last such occurrence in our lifetime, says transitofvenus.org.
You can still enjoy the eclipse for free, wherever you are.
You can also get a piece of cardboard, punch a nail through it, and then angle the cardboard to project the sun's light on another piece of cardboard. "You'll see a projected image … when the sun goes into eclipse, you'll see a crescent," Krupp said. The smaller the hole, the sharper image you can get. A more elaborate version can be found here.
Another easy method: using a hand mirror to reflect the light of the sun onto a wall or some other surface, Krupp said.
Another idea is to use binoculars to project an image of the sun on a surface, NASA says. Just don't use the binoculars to look at the sun directly!
Griffith Observatory will also have, for free, telescopes with specially designed filters for people to watch the eclipse directly.
Tweet your plans and photos to @latimes or @lanow with the hashtag #LATeclipse, or share your eclipse experience on our Facebook page. Let us know how your vantage point is. We'll be compiling the best reader moments from the evening.
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Photo: Nuns visiting from Peru take in eclipse in Lourdes, France on Aug. 11, 1999. Credit: Lionel Bonaventure / Agence France-Presse
Graphic: View of the eclipse from Los Angeles. Credit: Courtesy of Griffith Observatory, used with permission
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With the Lakers, Clippers, Kings, and a bike race all in action, expect traffic and parking challenges around Staples Center.
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – An action-packed sports weekend at and around Staples Center in downtown L.A. will likely translate to driving and parking challenges all weekend long.
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Police hunt for two different drivers who struck and killed 79-year-old Virginia Ramirez.
PACOIMA (KTLA) — Police this week will announce a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of two hit-and-run drivers who killed a 79-year-old woman.
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The woman recovering from second- and third-degree burns after rocks she picked up at San Onofre State Beach ignited in her pocket said she feels grateful to be alive and expressed thanks to all those who helped her.
She said she has undergone two painful surgeries to have skin grafts to her injured leg.
"We know bad things happen to many people," Lyn Hiner told the Orange County Register. "I'm thankful God carried us through this. That Jason, the deputy, the firefighters and the doctors, the hospital staff and our friends and family have all been with us. I know there are patients here that are going through a lot more than I am. I'm grateful it wasn't the girls and that it didn't happen on the freeway on our drive home."
She is also describing the freak incident.
"We were talking about who was going to pick up the babysitter," Lyn Hiner told ABC's "Good Morning America" in an interview from her hospital bed. "And all of a sudden something hot on my leg just sort of started to bother me, so I started thinking it was a bug bite so I started slapping it and the next thing I know my pants were on fire."
When the rocks fell to the floor of her San Clemente house, they continued to burn the wood, she said. Her husband's hands were also burned as he tried to help her, and the "rocks were still smoking when firefighters took them to the hospital," Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Marc Stone said.
Authorities from the county health agency said two of the rocks contained a "phosphorus substance," a chemical element that can be highly flammable.
Rob Hiner, who appeared on the show alongside his wife, described the fire as a "bright, intense flame."
Fire authorities responded to smoke alarms in the couple's home set off because the flames were so intense. "There were actual flames coming off of her cargo shorts," Stone told ABC News. "The husband was outside with a garden hose, actually trying to cool her leg down."
The Orange County Health Care Agency examined the two rocks and sent them on to a state laboratory for further testing, said Tricia Landquist, an agency spokeswoman.
Scientists have told The Times that they are puzzled by the mysterious fire and have never seen anything like it.
"It's pretty implausible," said Larry Overman, a professor of chemistry at UC Irvine. "I can't think of a scenario of chemicals on the beach that would have the properties that are described."
Andrew Borovik, also a chemistry professor at UC Irvine, had similar doubts. He said that phosphorus, which after processing is typically kept in a controlled setting and stored in water — could indeed ignite when air touches it. But he was unsure how the phosphorous substance could be part of a rock.
"I don't know if it exists just sitting around on the beach," Borovik said. "It just seems unlikely."
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Photo: Rocks picked up on San Onofre State Beach that later ignited inside a woman's pocket, leaving her with severe burns. Credit: Orange County Health Care Agency
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The cellphone of one of two USC graduate student slain last month helped lead police to their alleged killers, law enforcement sources told The Times.
The sources said one of the suspects arrested Friday took a cellphone from one of the victims and detectives were able to locate him by tracking signals sent by the device.
Authorities also identified a signal from a second cellphone in proximity to the victim's phone, they said.
The second phone was identified as belonging to the suspect.
At a news conference Friday evening, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck identified the suspects as Bryan Barnes, 20, of Los Angeles and Javier Bolden, 19.
Barnes was taken into custody Friday afternoon by a team of LAPD SWAT officers, along with FBI and other federal agents, who raided an apartment near the USC campus.
Bolden was arrested by the same team three hours later in Victorville and flown back to L.A. by helicopter.
Beck offered few details about the arrests. But police sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation, said Barnes was the suspected gunman in the April 11 slaying of electronic engineering students Ming Qu and Ying Wu, both 23.
Bolden was believed to have been present when the students were gunned down during a robbery while sitting in Qu's parked BMW in the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue, the sources said.
The suspects were being held without bail and were expected to be booked on suspicion of murder late Friday. They are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.
Beck said the suspects did not have extensive criminal records but were believed to have been involved in two earlier attempted slayings.
"Early on, forensic evidence made us suspect quite strongly that this was a part of a series of crimes committed by the same men," the chief said.
Ballistics tests on shell casings recovered at the scene of the shooting show they were fired from the same gun used in two other shootings, police sources said.
Detectives working on the two previous shootings had followed some "very tenuous" leads that they believed tied the earlier incidents to the primary suspect in the USC case, a police source said.
Beck and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa praised detectives for their work.
Villaraigoisa portrayed the arrests as a sign of how seriously the city takes public safety and sought to reassure an international audience, in Spanish and English, that Los Angeles is not a dangerous destination.
"Safety is priority No. 1 in this city," he said. "Students at our city's universities should feel safe in and around our campuses."
The mayor, the father of a college-age daughter, said his heart went out to the Chinese students' parents.
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Photo: USC President C.L. Max Nikias bows before images of Ying Wu and Ming Qu before eulogizing the students at a memorial service last month. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times
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The forecast looks generally promising for California and much of the southwestern United States — which will have prime views of the "ring of fire" solar eclipse, AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist John Feerick said.
But for some areas getting a view of the partial, crescent shaped eclipse late Sunday, clouds could be a problem — including in Washington state, Oregon, eastern New Mexico, eastern Colorado and parts of the South and Midwest, according to AccuWeather.com. The web site put together a map of the national cloud-cover forecast.
In Southern California, eclipse fans should be aware that the coast will probably be partly cloudy, which could ruin what will be the best solar eclipse — partial or otherwise — that L.A. could see until 2071.
"Anywhere on the coastal plains is probably going to be partly cloudy," said Stuart Seto, weather specialist for the National Weather Service office in Oxnard.
Seto advised traveling to the valleys or anywhere further inland, away from the low clouds that hang over the coast. "Of course, the mountains will probably be the best," Seto said. Just make sure that you have an unobstructed, preferably elevated, view of the northwest horizon, said Griffith Observatory director Ed Krupp.
But there's still a chance that the coast could be clear. Seto said viewers on the beaches will "be able to tell around 3 or 4 o'clock" if the clouds will clear up, giving them time to head inland for the eclipse, which will begin around 5:24 p.m. and reach its maximum shadow around 6:38 p.m. in Los Angeles.
Feerick, the forecaster at AccuWeather.com, said he suspects the coastal locations could see the eclipse, but added: "If you want to be safe, going inland is the way to go."
The weather prospects were shaky for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan, which are in the middle of monsoon season.
The Hong Kong Observatory forecasts clouds with a few rain patches early Monday morning. It'll be particularly difficult viewing the eclipse in Hong Kong because the best part of the eclipse, where the moon obscures all but the sun's outer ring, happens just before sunrise between 6:06 and 6:10.
That is when the sun is just 5 degrees above the horizon — and there are few spots in Hong Kong with unobstructed views of the northeastern horizon.
Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau forecast rain for Monday. And clouds could also be a problem in parts of Japan.
The Hong Kong Observatory is webcasting the eclipse starting at 5:41 a.m. Monday local time (2:41 p.m. Sunday Pacific time).
In Japan, Panasonic is sending a team to climb Mount Fuji to film and broadcast the "ring of fire" solar eclipse. The team will begin broadcasting its climb to the top of the mountain on Saturday at 3 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, or Sunday at 7 a.m. Japan Standard Time.
More webcasts can be found here at MSNBC.
Tweet your plans and photos to @latimes or @lanow with the hashtag #LATeclipse, or share your eclipse experience on our Facebook page. Let us know how your vantage point is. We'll be compiling the best reader moments from the evening.
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Photo: A partial eclipse of the sun silhouettes palm trees on the grounds of Sky Pilot Temple in Pomona Christmas morning in 2000. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times
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Parts of California will have strong views of Sunday's "ring" eclipse.
He suggested a place with a clear view of the northwest, with an elevated view and a clear horizon, to see the moon obscure the sun's beams. Griffith Observatory, which is run by the city of Los Angeles, will have extra telescopes and staff on hand to help people view the eclipse for free.
"They'll be seeing something that is really unusual — a big bite coming out of the sun. And that's the real charm of this event," Krupp said.
The best view of the ring eclipse is expected to be on the northern edge of California, near Eureka, Redding and the northern suburbs of Sacramento 
The Griffith Observatory is set to hold a special eclipse-viewing event Sunday and plans to sell affordable eclipse-viewing glasses and other devices that will project images of the eclipse on the ground. Regular sunglasses will not protect the eyes, said observatory spokeswoman Susan Szotyori.
Telescopes equipped with special filters will also be set up to help the public view the eclipse, officials said.
According to NASA, the annular eclipse will begin at sunrise local time in southern China, then pass over Hong Kong; Taipei, Taiwan; and Tokyo before reaching its greatest extent in the Pacific Ocean near Alaska's Aleutian Islands. After entering California, the moon's shadow will block almost all sunlight from Reno, Nev.; the Grand Canyon in Arizona; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Lubbock, Texas.
NASA has also set up an interactive Google map showing times of the eclipse — click on the map and it'll show when the eclipse will begin and end anywhere in the world. The times are set to "Coordinated Universal Time," which is seven hours ahead of California.
Annular eclipses are different from total eclipses, where no "ring of fire" is visible.
A word of caution: Don't look at the sun directly during the eclipse! Experts say it's possible to cause permanent damage to eyesight. Here's one way to make a simple pinhole projector to view the eclipse, and NASA also recommends using binoculars to project the eclipse on a white card.
The eclipse should be visible unless fog rolls in early Sunday night.
Check out this NASA Google map to find Western locations affected by the eclipse.
Tweet your plans and photos to @latimes or @lanow with the hashtag #LATeclipse, or share your eclipse experience on our Facebook page. Let us know how your vantage point is. We'll be compiling the best reader moments from the evening.
| Location | Start Partial Eclipse | Start Annular Eclipse | Max Eclipse | End Annular Eclipse | End Partial Eclipse | % of sun diameter covered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crescent City | 5:07 pm | 6:23 pm | 6:26 pm | 6:28 pm | 7:35 pm | 97% |
| Albuquerque, N.M. | 6:29 | 7:33 | 7:35 | 7:38 | 8:36 | 97% |
| Redding | 5:11 | 6:26 | 6:28 | 6:30 | 7:36 | 96% |
| Zion National Park | 6:23 | 7:31 | 7:34 | 7:36 | 8:37 | 96% |
| Lake Tahoe | 5:15 | 6:29 | 6:31 | 6:32 | 7:37 | 95% |
| Chico | 5:13 | 6:28 | 6:30 | 6:31 | 7:37 | 95% |
| Eureka | 5:09 | 6:25 | 6:27 | 6:29 | 7:36 | 95% |
| Grand Canyon | 5:25 | 6:33 | 6:35 | 6:37 | 7:38 | 94% |
| Yosemite Village | 5:18 | 6:33 | 7:39 | 92% | ||
| Sacramento | 5:15 | 6:31 | 7:38 | 92% | ||
| Las Vegas | 5:23 | 6:35 | 7:39 | 92% | ||
| San Francisco | 5:15 | 6:32 | 7:39 | 90% | ||
| Monterey | 5:18 | 6:34 | 7:41 | 88% | ||
| Palm Springs | 5:26 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 86% | ||
| Lancaster | 5:24 | 6:37 | 7:42 | 86% | ||
| Downtown L.A. | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Malibu | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Griffith Observatory | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Burbank | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Woodland Hills | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Chatsworth | 5:24 | 6:37 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Santa Monica | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Alhambra | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Arcadia | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Rowland Heights | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Ontario | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Anaheim | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Oxnard | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Long Beach | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 84% | ||
| Redondo Beach | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 84% | ||
| Palos Verdes | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 84% | ||
| Huntington Beach | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 84% | ||
| San Diego | 5:27 | 6:39 | 7:43 | 83% |
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Photo: The moon cast a shadow at the sun blocking it partially in a partial solar eclipse as it sets on Jan. 26, 2009 in Manila's bay. Credit: Aaron Favila / Associated Press
Photo: Ring of fire eclipse in China in 2010. Credit: NASA
Photo: The difference between a total and annular eclipse. Credit: NASA
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