Company negligent in deadly landslide

August 21, 2008

VENTURA - A jury has ruled that a ranch company's negligence helped lead to a 2005 landslide that crushed part of a seaside community and killed 10 people. Jurors found on Tuesday that the La Conchita Ranch Co. did not build a sufficient drainage system for its land overlooking the community of La Conchita. The ranch's lawyers said that the area is geologically unstable and has had at least six landslides. (AP)

LOS ANGELES - A former laborer was sentenced yesterday to 11 consecutive life prison terms for triggering a 2005 commuter train crash that killed 11 people. Prosecutors argued that Juan Manuel Alvarez, 29, intended to kill commuters to gain attention from his estranged wife when he parked his vehicle on Metrolink train tracks. The defense described Alvarez's actions as part of an aborted suicide attempt. (Los Angeles Times)

KANSAS CITY - A Roman Catholic diocese has tentatively agreed to pay $10 million to settle 47 pending sexual abuse claims against the diocese and its priests. Bishop Robert W. Finn said in a letter Tuesday the deal is subject to his approval after he consults with two diocese boards. The tentative deal also calls for the diocese to meet 19 nonmonetary conditions. such as publicly acknowledging the wrongfulness of sexual abuse by its priests. (AP)

NEW ORLEANS - President Bush said yesterday that "hope is coming back" to New Orleans with the help of $126 billion in disaster aid poured into the Gulf Coast region over three years after Hurricane Katrina. He spoke at Jackson Barracks, a historic Louisiana National Guard post badly damaged by Katrina. (AP)