An Irvine man orchestrated what amounts to a car-laundering scheme, buying stolen cars and trucks and reselling them with counterfeit identifiers, police allege.
The man, identified as 37-year-old Zihua Zhang, was arrested Thursday while driving a Dodge Durango SRT that Irvine police said had been stolen. At his residence in Woodbridge, police said they found a bigger prize: a stolen purple McLaren worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A detective with the Irvine Police Department had been tracking an auto theft operation, which led to the arrest. Zhang is accused of purchasing stolen luxury cars, replacing their vehicle identification numbers with fakes and selling them.
The Durango SRT that Zhang was driving when he was stopped Thursday had an altered VIN plate, police said in a statement.
Along with the McLaren, police said they found fraudulent VIN plates, license plates and checks at Zhang’s residence, as well as three unregistered firearms.
He was booked at Orange County jail. Irvine police did not disclose Monday whether Zhang remained in custody.
California, home to a rich pool of talent in major industries such as film and tech, has lost thousands of workers to states that have a lower cost of living and other perks, according to a recent report.
The National Assn. of Realtors, which analyzed U.S. census data from the third quarter of 2023, found nearly 87,000 workers flocked from California to other states for new jobs, while the Golden State gained only 69,000 new workers. The group published its findings last month.
Some of the popular destinations for California job switchers: Texas, Arizona, Washington and Nevada.
Even though California’s job market remains strong, high costs of living and a lack of affordable housing, especially in cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, play a role in why people accept jobs elsewhere, said Nadia Evangelou, a senior economist for the Realtors association.
“The lack of affordable housing doesn’t just impact homebuyers. It also affects the state’s ability to retain talent,” she said. “This trend is concerning because it reflects the economic strain that high housing costs place on professionals, even those with stable incomes.”
The findings illustrate some of the challenges California faces as it tries to keep workers in the state. Known for its sunny weather and scenic beaches, mountains and deserts, California also grappled with big hurdles in the last year, including the Hollywood strikes and mass layoffs in the tech and media industries. That could also leave workers contemplating whether they should find new opportunities elsewhere in states such as Texas that don’t have an income tax.
California lost more workers than any other state that was part of the analysis with a net loss of 18,485 job switchers.
On the flip side, states in the Southeast and Southwest gained the most workers, the analysis found. Virginia — with an abundance of government contracting, tech and defense jobs — saw a net gain of 7,191 job migrants, more than other states analyzed. Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia rounded out the top five gainers.
The analysis by the real estate trade group has some limitations. The census data don’t include Alaska, Michigan, Mississippi and North Carolina. The analysis also focuses on people who quit their current jobs for new ones, not laid off workers.
Larger states have more people moving in and out, so the trade group also looked at another metric to gauge how alluring a state is for people switching jobs. Calculating “the percentage of people moving into a state relative to all job movers in that state,” the group found South Carolina, Maine, Montana and Tennessee were the most attractive states for people who switched jobs.
Stabilizing mortgage rates and more housing supply could help slow down the California exodus, but the state is also competing for talent, Evangelou said.
“This, unfortunately, will continue because it depends on the demand and how much supply we have out there,” she said.
A federal judge ruled Monday that a San José State University volleyball player, who teammates say is transgender, can continue to participate in a volleyball tournament this week.
The ruling by Judge S. Kato Crews, an appointee of President Biden to the U.S. District Court in Colorado, comes ahead of the three-day Mountain West Conference in Las Vegas that is set to begin Wednesday.
The federal lawsuit filed on behalf of several volleyball players, including former students and a San José State associate head coach, not only sought to ban the player from participating in the tournament but also to rescind wins granted to San José State University’s volleyball team after previous rival teams forfeited matches due to the participation of the transgender player.
At least four universities forfeited matches against San José State University following controversy over the player.
Blaire Fleming, the student who teammates say is transgender, could not immediately be reached for comment. Fleming, who has been on the team’s roster since 2022, has not spoken publicly about the issue.
A spokesperson for San José State University could not immediately be reached for comment.
The lawsuit, filed two weeks ago, is the latest in the ongoing debate about transgender athletes, particularly transgender women competing in women’s sports.
It comes a month after a video showing a play in which the player is seen spiking a ball, hitting a San Diego State player in the arm and briefly knocking her down. The San Diego State player, Keira Herron, a junior, successfully kept the ball in play with the dig and immediately stood up and smiled.
But the play circulated on social media accompanied by claims that the San Diego State player was hit on the head and that the San Jose State player is transgender.
President-elect Donald Trump, who has previously referenced the video, said he plans to ban all transgender women from competing in women’s sports.
Plaintiffs in the case accused San José State University of recruiting a transgender player and argued that allowing the player to participate in the tournament discriminates against female athletes and deprives them of equal opportunities, including access to playing time and scholarships.
In his ruling, Crews said the Mountain West Conference Board of Directors had approved a Transgender Participation Policy in 2022 when the player was also on the roster and because no issues were raised ahead of the tournament, the plaintiffs then failed to meet their burden to show irreparable harm had been caused.
“Until the filing of this lawsuit, there was no dispute between the parties over the applicability or enforceability of the [Transgender Participation Policy],” Crews wrote. “Concerning SJSU’s alleged trans teammate, she has been a member of the team since the 2022 season and has played on the team each season since.”
“It was not until the spring of 2024, at the earliest, that questions arose from Plaintiffs regarding her gender.”
Frustrating as it may be, road construction is a fact of life and a sign of progress. Infrastructure gets old and needs to be replaced, and cities that can afford it devote resources into improving their streets and sidewalks. It’s not hard to find cities with threadbare budgets whose streets slowly degrade into oblivion. By contrast, Minneapolis can invest in its future.
One of the more frustrating lines of argument, though, is when frustrations over construction boil over into condemning any kind of change. It’s a talk radio staple to blame bike lanes or crosswalks for high taxes or congestion, increasingly so these days, both locally and across the continent. One local example, Adam Platt’s recent column “The Road Diet,” tried hard to paint street reconstruction as part of something akin to a “war on cars” in Minneapolis.
Instead, these plans are a smart investment in the city’s future, providing streets that better reflect its assets and strengths. Rather than chasing the phantom of suburban traffic flows and free parking, Minneapolis’ economic future depends on walkable streets and quality public space. Though the construction process can be frustrating, the city’s reconstruction projects over the past summer bring us much closer to that vibrant urban future, and better in line with the 21st century economy.
Take the county-led Hennepin and First Avenue project in Northeast Minneapolis. When these streets were last reconstructed in the mid-20th century, the city’s economic landscape looked a lot different than it does today. The entire downtown waterfront was still industrial, and both the North Loop and the Mill District were massive rail yards surrounded by surface parking and nearly-abandoned old buildings. Northeast Minneapolis was practically synonymous with industry and warehouses, and both Hennepin and First Avenues were designed as wide, concrete, one-way roads with plenty of porkchop islands to expedite trucking.
Today, there’s almost no trace of that economy. I remember one night years ago, staring in the open windows of Superior Plating, a 90-year-old factory that applied chrome exteriors to metal. It was a huge, dirty facility on the corner of First Avenue and University that seemed from out of another world. By the time it closed in 2011, it had only 12 employees left. Today there’s a pair of tall apartment towers on the site with 278 apartments, a salon, a gym and a restaurant. Now the only trace of the old economy is the fact that both Hennepin and First Avenues have long remained wide, industrial-scale roads with marginal sidewalks.
The county’s plans for redesigning and calming these one-way streets are common sense and good for both the local economy and the thousands of residents in the shiny apartment towers. Removing “channelized” turn lanes and adding bump outs will make the area safer and more walkable, boosting local businesses in the area and improve quality of life for the thousands of new residents. The future of Northeast and Central will look a lot different from their industrial past.
Hennepin Avenue South is a similar story, though with a different historical trajectory and a city-led planning process. (Unlike other parts of Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis “owns” this section of the roadway.) I wrote about this street reconstruction years ago, calling it “a deluxe version of a four-to-three conversion that will slow speeds and reduce crashes.” The new deign will be far safer for drivers, while dramatically improving the feel of the street for anyone on foot.
The jury is still out on whether the controversial Public Works “compromise” around part-time bus lanes will work. My gut tells me that, without aggressive enforcement, the lack of full-time bus lanes will turn into a “worst of both worlds” scenario, making the situation worse for both business access and transit.
Elsewhere in the city, the county-led reconstruction of Northeast Lowry Avenue, like Hennepin Avenue, represents a straightforward change making the street dramatically safer for people walking or driving. Lowry has long been a prime example of engineering malpractice, as four-lane undivided street cross-sections are the most dangerous ways to design urban roads. Because they multiply the number of conflict points, the streets cause daily havoc for people in and out of motor vehicles and jump off the city’s maps of crash data.
The new design will literally save lives and prevent countless crashes over its design life. Most businesses along Lowry will benefit from the calmer traffic and improved public realm, and with better business access provided by drivers turning left along the street. By far the biggest improvements will be on the sidewalks themselves, which will improve dramatically with bump outs and boulevard amenities. If anything, people should be worried about the rise in property values that comes with a more humane public realm.
But as they say, your mileage may vary. Changes to the built environment create winners and losers, and businesses like gas stations, car washes, or drive-thru restaurants that profit from volume, curb cut access and turnover will probably be worse off with the new designs. Instead, the new streets will cultivate walkability and connection, making Minneapolis most important public spaces connections between communities instead of dangerous barriers. That’s a good trade-off for the majority of businesses and residents in Northeast Minneapolis.
Having to drive a bit more slowly through the densest and most valuable parts of a city is no great cross to bear, and the economic tradeoffs are quite beneficial. Doing an errand the other morning, I got stuck behind a school bus along with a half dozen other drivers. The yellow bus was idling in the street with its red lights flashing, stopping traffic for what seemed like an eternity. I started to get frustrated.
But then I took a breath; that’s life driving a car in a city. We long ago made the collective calculation that faster convenience for drivers is not worth the risk to kids, and err on the side of caution around vulnerable people. The same logic applies to any of these major Minneapolis reconstructions. These have been the city’s most dangerous streets for generations, causing incalculable mayhem. The business case for road diets is solid, but this isn’t really a business question, it’s a moral one. Safer streets save lives.
Bill Lindeke
Bill Lindeke is a lecturer in Urban Studies at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Geography, Environment and Society. He is the author of multiple books on Twin Cities culture and history, most recently St. Paul: an Urban Biography. Follow Bill on Twitter: @BillLindeke.
Two toddlers were killed Sunday night when a speeding drunk driver ran a red light, causing a three-car collision, police allege.
Just after 11 p.m. the Rialto Police Department responded to a multivehicle collision at the intersection of Riverside and Walnut avenues.
A white Honda Accord with four occupants, including two toddlers ages 3 and 4, was turning left onto Walnut Avenue when a speeding blue Dodge Ram pickup going south on Riverside Avenue ran a red light and T-boned the Honda, sending it crashing into a tow truck, said Rusty Lamm, public information officer for the Police Department.
The driver of the Dodge Ram, whom police identified as 28-year-old Alexis Garcia of San Bernardino, fled the scene, officials alleged.
The two toddlers were in their car seats, but one was ejected from the car and declared dead at the scene, police said.
The 24-year-old female driver and a 25 year-old male passenger in the Honda Accord were transported to a local trauma center with minor to moderate injuries, Lamm said. Officials have not released their names.
Officials said the driver of the tow truck was not injured.
Photos of the incident shared on the Police Department’s Instagram showed children’s clothing and toys scattered in the intersection in the aftermath of the collision.
According to the Rialto police, officers later discovered the Dodge Ram and Garcia a quarter of a mile away from the incident, where it appears the truck became disabled. He was arrested by police officers on suspicion of murder, driving under the influence of alcohol and felony hit and run and booked into the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.
Garcia had a passenger in his vehicle at the time of the collision who was not injured, according to police.
Mike Hughlett at the Star Tribune is reporting St. Paul-based Bremer Financial, the second largest bank based in Minnesota, will be sold to Old National Bank for $1.4 billion, culminating a five-year saga over Bremer’s future.
Sam Stroozas at MPR News reports Dionne Sims is selling Black Garnet Books, Minnesota’s first Black-owned bookstore, to friend Terresa Moses.
Anna Schier at Patch reports a Connecticut couple that stole roughly $1 million in Lululemon merchandise over the course of a multi-state retail theft operation were eventually arrested at a store in Woodbury.
Via FOX 9: Peach and Blossom, turkeys raised in Northfield, were pardoned by President Joe Biden at the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation at the White House, a long-standing tradition.
Izzy Canizares at Bring Me the News reports State Fair admission tickets will cost $14 “for one day only” on Tuesday while supplies last.
Lydia Morrell at KARE 11 is reporting pop star Pink is adopting her Minneapolis foster pup, Graham Cracker.
Happy anniversary to all the MSTies enjoying 36 years of laughs…
📺DEBUT: ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’ premiered 36 years ago, November 24, 1988, on Minneapolis’ KTMA pic.twitter.com/5kLJ1jlbv5
The California Highway Patrol searching for a driver who killed a 16-year-old bicyclist in a potential case of road rage in Exposition Park have identified a person of interest.
Two cars believed to be involved in the fatal hit-and-run were seized by police at a Los Angeles home Saturday, the CHP announced in a news release.
The series of events began Friday when police responded to a hit-and-run crash in a BMO Stadium parking lot around 4:30 p.m., according to authorities. Police who arrived on the scene learned there was some type of argument between a group of about 40 bicyclists and a blue BMW on Figueroa Street, north of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, according to authorities.
The driver of a black Honda followed one of the bicyclists into the parking lot on Exposition Park property. That’s when the driver fatally crashed into the boy, authorities said. The teen’s name has not been released.
The driver then drove away, according to police.
On Saturday, investigators served a search warrant at a Los Angeles home and seized a blue 2021 BMW sedan and a black 2018 Honda Accord. During their investigation, police identified a 28-year-old man as a person of interest who is believed to be the driver of the Honda that struck the teenager, the CHP said.
According to the news release, “The CHP continues its investigation and asks the driver responsible to turn himself in to authorities.”
“On behalf of the CHP, I extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones mourning this tragic loss during the holidays,” CHP Chief Chris Margaris said in a statement. “We stand with you in this time of grief and are actively working to bring the person responsible to justice.”
Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact CHP detectives at (323) 644-9550 during normal business hours or the Los Angeles Communication Center at (323) 259-3200 after hours.
A Ramsey County judge has ordered Minnesota cannabis regulators to delay the first cannabis license lottery that was set for Tuesday morning.
Judge Stephen Smith, after an hour-long hearing on four lawsuits filed against the Office of Cannabis Management, decided to delay the lottery to give four parties time to appeal to the state Court of Appeals. All four had sued to stop the lottery over their claims that they had been wrongfully denied entry into the lottery.
OCM last Monday notified two-thirds of the 1,800 certified social equity applicants that they would not be moving into the lottery. Then on Friday it set the first lottery for 280 licenses for Tuesday of this week. Social equity applicants are individuals who are in groups that the Legislature stated suffered disproportionately from marijuana prohibitions.
Smith, who called the case both interesting and urgent, issued an order that was both in response to plaintiffs’ fear that their clients would be harmed if they miss the lottery and the state’s argument that the district court lacked jurisdiction. He said he would issue a stay of the cases to allow the four plaintiffs — and perhaps others — to ask the Court of Appeals to rule on whether the OCM followed the law.
Judge Stephen Smith
“It requires the court to make a decision on very short notice with limited information,” Smith said. “At this point I’m going to stay the matter and have the appellate court review the decisions that have been made.
“With that, there’s no lottery tomorrow and the matter will go to the appellate court and the appellate court can exercise its jurisdiction in determining how this matter should move forward,” Smith said.
The four plaintiffs represented a variety of applicants who received denial notices. Most stated that the OCM did not provide required explanations for the denials or had not previously requested applicants to correct problems in their applications.
One, Aranguiz, Connolly v. Office of Cannabis Management, involved an applicant that had signed an agreement with a third party to sell the business. That, state lawyers argued, was similar to 200 other applicants and ran afoul of state law that requires the applicants to be the owners and controllers of any license. The OCM said it blocked many applications it suspected were using social equity certified applicants to win licenses that would then be controlled by others — so-called straw purchasers.
“The basis for denial ultimately is … you have to disclose who actually is in control of the entity,” said assistant Attorney General Oliver Larson. “If you can be forced to sell your entity to someone else, you are not in control. If someone else is funding your application … you are not in control.
“The fundamental failure here is they were trying to hide the fact that these two plaintiffs were not the true party of interest,” Larson said, calling it “part of an illegal scheme.”
David Asp, the attorney for Cristina Aranguiz and Jodi Connolly, said the agreement they made with another entity allowed for the sale only if it was allowed by state law and regulations and approved by OCM. That, he argued, would make it allowable and did not constitute a legal requirement to sell a license if won at the lottery.
Other plaintiffs were applicants who say they were not given adequate explanation for their denials.
All asked to halt the lottery because they would suffer irreparable harm if they missed the special lottery for social equity applicants and had to try again next year in the general lottery that is expected to have many more applicants.
Courtney Ernston, a lawyer for several denied applicants, described one who paid $5,000 to enter the lottery and would have to pay an additional $5,000 next year. She described another who asked for a cannabis transporter license who, because there were fewer applicants than licenses available, would have won a license had they not been denied last week.
“The best case scenario is that this court must issue this (temporary restraining order) and stop this lottery from happening tomorrow,” Ernston said. That would give time for additional briefing by lawyers and another hearing.
“We’ve got a lottery happening tomorrow that we found out about Friday and it just can’t happen,” Ernston said.
State lawyers argued that the Legislature purposely set up an expedited process in order to provide social equity applicants a head start to prepare to enter the business when final OCM rules are adopted next spring. The law also allows cultivators to put seeds in the ground as soon as they received preapproval licenses, which was meant to get cannabis products ready for sale when stores open.
The law, argued Larson, the assistant attorney general, did not allow appeals such as the cases in court Monday.
“The Legislature understood that in order to get through hundreds of applications, make decisions, hold the lottery and start this process in a matter of a few months, was going to mean there was going to be a truncated review,” Larson said. It specifically said there would be no appeals of denials for the same reason.
Larson said that if the social equity lottery is delayed, OCM could be forced to cancel it and put all applicants — social equity and general applicants — into the same lottery next year.
“That is a real harm to the 600 or so folks who put in an application and did what they were supposed to do and are ready to go through this lottery process,” Larson said.
In addition, assistant attorney general Ryan Petty told Smith that the district court lacked jurisdiction and that the cases should have been filed at the Court of Appeals. He called the fact that the cases were filed in district court “a fatal defect” and asked Smith to dismiss the four cases.
But Asp and others argued that OCM did not follow the law when it did not issue deficiency letters to all applicants with gaps in their applications and then denied two-thirds of the applicants with limited or non-existent explanation.
“The law says that if they deny, they must notify applicant of the denial and the basis for the denial,” Asp said.
Smith seemed sympathetic to the assertion that without a stay the plaintiffs would suffer and also to the argument that district court judges such as himself lacked jurisdiction to rule. That can be determined by the Court of Appeals but such a pathway would not be available if the court didn’t stay the lottery, he said. State lawyers, however, had argued that the didn’t even have the authority to do that much.
And David Standa, an attorney for other plaintiffs, pointed out that if the lottery was allowed to proceed Tuesday and the Court of Appeals found OCM in violation of the law, a different set of problems would be created.
“What if the Court of Appeals came back and said, ‘Yeah, all these people need to be in the lottery,’” Standa said. “Is the OCM going to take away preapprovals from everyone it issued them to and then rerun the lottery with the people who were supposed to be in it.”
I am writing to highlight the issue of lead contamination in rental homes and its disproportionate impact on immigrant families in Minneapolis.
As an advocate working with these communities, I witness firsthand the harmful effects of lead poisoning on families, especially children. Lead exposure, which causes developmental delays, learning difficulties and severe health problems, remains a serious issue in older Minneapolis homes. Immigrant families often face barriers in the housing market — such as lack of credit history, little rental history, low-paying jobs and language barriers — that limit their access to safer, affordable housing. Landlords are slow to respond, and the city struggles to enforce remediation.
Many landlords continue collecting rent while ignoring lead-related issues. Immigrant families are often unaware of their rights and fear reporting problems could impact their immigration status. Free legal sources like HOME Line and Minnesota Legal Aid help tenants understand their rights and translation services are available to assist.
In 2023, the Minneapolis Department of Health reported that nearly 600 children had elevated blood lead levels, disproportionately affecting immigrant families. Immigrant households are also 30% more likely to live in homes that fail to meet lead safety standards, and even low lead levels can cause long-term harm, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
I urge city officials to adopt stricter policies, including mandatory lead inspections, increased funding for lead abatement in low-income neighborhoods and expanded support for immigrant families. These measures and improved legal outreach are critical to achieving health equity for all families.
Alyssa Olson is an Afghan Housing Stability Specialist at CAPI USA.
A Hawaii woman’s father who flew to Los Angeles looking for her after she was reported missing has been found dead near Los Angeles International Airport.
The body of Ryan Kobayashi, 58, was found in a parking lot on Sunday, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner. Los Angeles Police Department officials said they responded to reports of a body in the 6100 block of Century Boulevard about 4 a.m. Sunday and discovered someone dead of an apparent suicide.
Kobayashi was in Los Angeles looking for his daughter, Hannah Kobayashi, 31, who was last seen at LAX on Nov. 8 and last contacted her family by phone Nov. 9, according to a LAPD news release.
Kobayashi’s family confirmed Ryan’s death in a Sunday statement, saying they “endured a devastating tragedy.”
“After tirelessly searching throughout Los Angeles for 13 days, Hannah’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, tragically took his own life,” according to the statement. “This loss has compounded the family’s suffering immeasurably.”
Suicide prevention and crisis counseling resources
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, seek help from a professional and call 9-8-8. The United States’ first nationwide three-digit mental health crisis hotline 988 will connect callers with trained mental health counselors. Text “HOME” to 741741 in the U.S. and Canada to reach the Crisis Text Line.
The family has urged the public to “maintain focus on the search for her. Hannah IS still actively missing and is believed to be in imminent danger. It is crucial for everyone to remain vigilant in their efforts to locate Hannah.”
Volunteers organize as they prepare to hand out missing person fliers of Hannah Kobayashi, who was last seen at Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 8.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Kobayashi boarded a flight in Maui on Nov. 8 headed to New York City with a stop at LAX but never made it to New York, her family told USA Today.
She landed at LAX but missed her next flight, appearing instead to visit the Grove shopping center, where she went to a Nike event Nov. 10, her family told USA Today. The next day, Kobayashi apparently went back to LAX but didn’t board a flight. Later that day, she sent her family what it called “strange” text messages.
“Hannah’s last message to us was alarming — she mentioned feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity,” her family said. “She hasn’t been heard from since, and we are gravely concerned for her safety.”
Kobayashi also texted a friend that someone might be trying to steal her identity and money, her father told KABC-TV.
Kobayashi’s aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told KABC that her niece was planning to attend an event in New York.
