WOMAN TRAPPED IN CAR IN POOL IS BRAIN DEAD: ESCONDIDO (AP) — A San Diego County woman has been declared brain dead after being trapped in a speeding car driven by her boyfriend that plunged into a swimming pool.
U-T San Diego reports 22-year-old Ashley Garcia never regained consciousness after the June 18 accident. A medical examiner's investigator says her organs will be donated.
Garcia was a passenger in the car when it went out of control near Escondido, crashed through a fence and landed upside down in the pool.
The driver freed himself, but Garcia was trapped in the submerged car for 10 minutes until a neighbor managed to cut her seat belt and free her.
The accident is under investigation and the driver hasn't been charged.
WILDFIRES BURN 700 ACRES OF BRUSHLANDS: GORMAN (AP) — A nearly 700-acre brushfire is burning north of Los Angeles but authorities say no homes are threatened and they hope to contain it by noon Tuesday.
Fire spokesman Manuel Madrigal says the 689-acre blaze in Los Padres National Forest is 60 percent contained Monday and it didn't move overnight. Madrigal says the flames have been reduced to a few smoldering trees and hotspots.
More than 600 firefighters and some water-dropping helicopters are on the scene near the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area.
The fire began Saturday in a Ventura County campground. The cause is under investigation.
South of that blaze, a 12-acre fire is burning in steep, rocky terrain in San Bernardino County's Lytle Creek. It's 70 percent contained after briefly threatening five cabins over the weekend.
MINOR QUAKES SHAKE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: UKIAH (AP) — Two minor earthquakes have shaken Northern California.
A U.S. Geological Survey computer-generated report says a magnitude-3.4 quake struck at 1:13 a.m. Monday and was centered 15 miles east-southeast of San Jose and nine miles north of Morgan Hill. The USGS reported a magnitude-3.3 quake about 22 miles northwest of Ukiah in Mendocino County at 6:24 a.m.
Law enforcement officials say they did not feel either quake and received no reports of damage or injury.
DOG HAS A JOB, NEEDS FAMILY WHEN APPLAUSE OVER : RANCHO SANTA FE (AP) — Wouldn't it be great if you knew how a rescue dog would act before you adopted it?
Ness is a Chihuahua who will soon be up for adoption, but until then you can watch him acting as "Bruiser" in a stage production of "Legally Blonde: The Musical" at the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista north of San Diego.
Veteran animal trainer Rob Kuty of San Diego Pet Training says Ness is learning how to speak on command, jump into a purse and stay relaxed despite a live orchestra and audience.
Ness is living with Kuty until the show is over, and will be available at the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe after July 14.
Kuty says Ness doesn't know he's a star, he just likes being with people.
FREEWAY WORK TO CAUSE TRAFFIC AROUND GRAPEVINE: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Several lane closures on the Grapevine pass is expected to create traffic delays on the main highway between Southern and Central California this week.
The state Department of Transportation began repaving Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles Sunday evening by closing all but one northbound and southbound lane at the Kern County line.
Officials said lane closures will go on the rest of the week. No more than three lanes will be opened during the brief afternoon window when construction stops.
Heavy snowfall and wildfires typically force lane closures on the Grapevine. A deadly collision in the truck lane tunnel closed the busy highway for two days in 2007 and cost $17 million to clean up and repair.
EX-DEPUTY GETS JAIL FOR SMUGGLING DRUGS IN BURRITO: LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy has been sentenced to two years in jail for attempting to smuggle drugs into a courthouse jail in a burrito.
Henry Marin was sentenced Monday and remanded into custody following the hearing. The 27-year-old pleaded no contest to one count of bringing drugs into a jail. A conspiracy count was dismissed.
Prosecutors say a woman who was cooperating with a sheriff's investigation handed Marin a burrito containing heroin. The exchange took place outside an Airport Courthouse courtroom where Marin was assigned. Investigators stopped the deputy before he went back into the courtroom.
Marin resigned in April.
AMPUTATIONS HIGH IN FRESNO COUNTY
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Fresno County residents lose toes, feet and legs to amputations at a higher rate than most California counties.
State officials say the amputation rate in Fresno County is 0.46 per 1,000 residents.
The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development says California's overall amputation rate is 0.31 per 1,000.
Dr. Sanjay Srivatsa said that you have to go to someplace like Alabama to find an amputation rate higher than Fresno County.
Doctors can't explain why the county's amputation rate is so high.
They say many people who get lower-limb amputations are poor, obese and smoke. And many have diabetes.
'JEOPARDY!' HOST 'UP AND ABOUT' AFTER HEART ATTACK: LOS ANGELES (AP) — A spokeswoman says "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek is "up and about" in a Los Angeles hospital as he recovers from a mild heart attack.
Sony Pictures Television spokeswoman Paula Askanas said Monday that Trebek is "in good spirits" while doctors complete their tests. She says he has been moved to a regular room.
The 71-year-old Trebek was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Saturday. He's expected to fully recover and be back at work when "Jeopardy!" resumes production for a new season in July.
He has been hosting the popular quiz show for 28 years.
METROLINK TRAIN KILLS PEDESTRIAN IN SAN FERNANDO: SAN FERNANDO (AP) — A pedestrian has been struck and killed by a Southern California commuter train.
The northbound Metrolink train hit the pedestrian at about 8:05 a.m. at the Brank Boulevard crossing in San Fernando, about 15 miles north of Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.
Metrolink spokeswoman Sherita Coffelt says Metrolink train No. 203 had earlier left Union Station and was heading north on the Antelope Valley line.
