Trackers Kill Tiger in Ventura County

Sharpshooters searching for a 425-pound tiger that had prowled the hills of Simi Valley for two weeks shot and killed it Wednesday after a family awoke to find it walking past their backyard. The decision by government trackers to use high-powered rifles instead of tranquilizer darts to bring down the elusive cat outraged animal rights activists. But state officials said they had no alternative but to shoot to kill, because the animal could have attacked or bolted onto a highway or into a public park nearby. Thus ended a bizarre two-week saga that brought wilderness trappers to suburbia and forced families to keep children and pets indoors after huge cat tracks started being spotted throughout the oak-studded hills of eastern Ventura County. About 6 a.m. Wednesday, 45-year-old Ken Tucker awoke to see the tiger slowly pacing along his backyard fence on Coffeetree Lane in Moorpark and then crouching next to his neighbor’s wrought-iron fence. Usually, he said, two small dogs are in the neighbor’s yard, but they were inside. The tiger, Tucker said, “was intently looking through that fence like it wanted something. It could easily have jumped that fence because it’s only 5 feet high.” Tucker woke his wife and teenage daughter and son. “I told them they had to come and see this. Then I called 911 and I said, ‘I found the tiger you’ve been looking for.’ ” Read the story here.

Alternate Jurors Seated in Jackson Trial

Jury selection in the Michael Jackson trial was completed today when eight alternate jurors were sworn in to hear the child molestation case against the pop star. The alternates will listen to the evidence during what is expected to be a six-month trial, but will only take part in deliberations if another juror is unable. A jury of 12 was sworn in Wednesday to weigh the fate of Jackson, accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy at the star’s Neverland ranch. No African Americans are on the jury, though a 19-year-old African American man was among those seated as an alternate. He is sixth on the list, so the probability of participating in a verdict is low. Despite defense objections, the prosecution used its peremptory challenges to keep two African American women from serving as a juror or alternate. Race has been one of the issues throughout the Jackson proceedings. His family has argued that he is being prosecuted in part because he is a popular African American star. Read the story here.

For Some, Avalon Is Alcatraz

The bright orange postcard is easy to spot on display at souvenir shops that dot Avalon: “Help! I’m marooned on Catalina Island.” Goofy keepsake for most visitors, but for Avalon resident Jorge Rodriguez, 28, an illegal immigrant and construction worker who’s lived on the island since he was a teenager, the card’s gag has an uncanny note of accuracy. “You can’t go there anymore,” Rodriguez said, gesturing north to the mainland. “Since they started checking los IDs, everyone’s afraid.” Avalon’s sizable Latino community has been abuzz for months with stories and rumors of periodic documentation checks by U.S. Coast Guard and immigration officials on the ferries that connect Avalon to the mainland, where workers go for cheaper food, medical care, family visits and to spend their wages at Southern California theme parks. Read the story here.

Builder charged with embezzlement

A foreman for a Temecula-based construction company has been charged with 102 counts of accepting kickbacks and embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from undocumented immigrant employees, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Juan Gonzalez Valdovinos, 53, of Moreno Valley, is accused of taking a percentage of the wages owed to the undocumented workers he hired for prevailing-wage jobs of building public schools. Valdovinos’ lawyer, Don Inskeep, said he has not seen all of the investigative reports yet, but believes his client is “a worker who got caught up in something bigger than himself.” Prosecutor Paul Fick contends Valdovinos has been conducting business in this manner since he started working for Four Point Builders about four years ago. Fick said Valdovinos would take an employees paycheck, get it cashed and give the employee a cut of the money. Read the story here.