Gloria Hillard

Women in California prisons for killing their abusive partners may get a chance at freedom. Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed a bill that allows new evidence to be considered in decades-old cases.

Arefa, 6, suffered a life-threatening wound on her head as well as severe burns when her family's tent in Afghanistan was engulfed in flames from an IED. Doctors treating her at a hospital in Los Angeles say her struggle to stay alive for three years is nothing short of a miracle.

A number of studies have touted the health benefits of canine companions. But a new study says dogs can make for a happier, more productive workplace, too.

El Centro has something most hard luck small cities don't have — the Blue Angels. For three months every winter, the Navy's flight demonstration squadron makes the city its training home. It's been an enduring love affair for both the city and its adopted military family.

Slab City is a 600-acre chunk of California desert on an abandoned WWII artillery training range, home to long time residents, newcomers and transients. There is no running water, no sewers, and no other comforts of modern day civilization, and the folks of Slab City like that just fine.

In 1952, the federal government created a program that encouraged Native Americans to move off reservations and into cities such as Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles. They were lured by the hope of a better life, but for many that promise was not realized.

Although in the past bell ringers were primarily volunteers, for many behind the kettle today, the temporary job has become a lifesaver. For first-time bell ringers Lynn and Rusty Smith, the minimum wage job is helping to keep them afloat during tough economic times.

Occupy L.A. is camped out on the front lawn of City Hall in Los Angeles. A large number of homeless people are also camped there, causing the group to divide into sections on the lawn. The homeless are in an area referred to as Skid Row. The part-time protesters are in an area called Westwood, after a nice part of town.

Taylor Howell told his high school football coach that if he wasn't blind he would love to play football. The coach told him he'd have to come up with a better excuse than that. The sophomore now plays center on the junior varsity team.

Screen legend Elizabeth Taylor died Wednesday of complications from congestive heart failure. She was 79. Taylor was English by birth and became an American movie star after she was discovered by a talent scout at age 9. In her later years, Taylor put considerable energy and money into the fight to find a cure for AIDS.