A pedestrian was struck and killed while walking on the eastbound 101 Freeway in Encino early Wednesday, the California Highway Patrol said.

Multiple vehicles hit the pedestrian at approximately 1:06 a.m., CHP Officer Alex Rubio said.

Calls came in minutes before the collisions reporting a pedestrian walking on the shoulder and in lanes of the busy freeway through the San Fernando Valley.

There was no immediate description of the victim.

Responding officers encountered at least four vehicles that were involved in the fatal crash, Rubio said.

It was not yet clear if any of the cars collided with each other. There were no immediate reports of any drivers or passengers transported to hospitals with injuries.

All eastbound lanes of the 101 Freeway at White Oak Avenue were closed at 1:31 a.m. until further notice, Rubio said. 

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A shallow magnitude 3.2 earthquake was reported Tuesday evening 12 miles from Kettleman City, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 8:56 p.m. Pacific time at a depth of 0 miles.

In the last 10 days, there have been three earthquakes magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby.

This information comes from the USGS Earthquake Notification Service, and this post was created by an algorithm written by the author.

Read more about Southern California earthquakes.

Two people were killed and two others seriously injured Tuesday night in a traffic accident in Sylmar, authorities said.

The incident was reported about 8 p.m. when a single car rolled over in the 12000 block of Harding Street, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

The four victims were believed to be men in their 40s, according to the Fire Department.

Police said a preliminary report indicated that the vehicle may have hit a light pole but that traffic investigators were responding to gather evidence and try to piece together what happened.

No additional details were immediately available.

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A shallow magnitude 3.0 earthquake was reported Tuesday afternoon 13 miles from Kettleman City, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 5:58 p.m. Pacific time at a depth of 5.0 miles.

In the last 10 days, there have been two earthquakes magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby.

This information comes from the USGS Earthquake Notification Service and this post was created by an algorithm written by the author.

Read more about Southern California earthquakes.

Four California public universities do not do an adequate job of training employees who can respond to initial allegations of sexual harassment and violence, according to a state report released Tuesday.

Auditors examined policies and practices at UC Berkeley, UCLA, Cal State Chico and San Diego State University and surveyed more than 200 students about their experiences at those campuses between 2009 and March of this year.

The audit was requested by state legislators after they heard from UC Berkeley students who said school administrators were mishandling allegations of sexual assault and harassment.
 
The three additional schools were added to the audit later.

The review found that resident advisors and athletic coaches often are not properly trained to respond to reports of sexual assaults and that none of the schools provide copies of their sexual harassment policies to employees at the start of the academic year.

Auditors also found several cases where employees did not report...

The Albertsons company was ordered Tuesday to pay more than $3 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the grocery chain of illegal disposal, transportation, storage and mismanagement of hazardous waste at its 188 California locations. 

The company agreed to pay $3.4 million, including $2.7 million in civil penalties; $300,000 for the cost of the investigation; and $350,000 for supplemental environmental projects. The fines are the result of violations of the California Hazardous Waste Law, according to a news release from the Orange County district attorney's office. 

Albertsons did not admit fault or liability, according to the release.  

Waste generated at the 188 retail stores and two distribution centers in the state included over-the-counter medications, pharmaceuticals, aerosol products, ignitable liquids, batteries, electronic devices, pool chemicals and other products that contain hazardous materials, according to the release. 

The settlement is the result of enforcement action...

A transient who is accused of beating another homeless man to death over space in a parking lot told detectives that God told him to do it.

Marco Antonio Villanueva, 35, is believed to have beaten Ruben Zermeno, 56, to death with a blunt object, said Lt. Steve Jauch of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The dispute over the space allegedly occurred in the 13900 block of Valley Boulevard in an unincorporated area near Hacienda Heights, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported.  

He also said God told him he "had to do it," Jauch told The Times.

Hours after Zermeno's body was found June 18, police in Hacienda Heights arrested Villanueva on suspicion of stealing a gold Honda Accord. They found the car parked in a driveway at a home on Blue Sky Road as Villanueva slept on the porch.  

During the course of the investigation, detectives learned a man living in a gold Honda Accord was seen in the parking lot during the days preceding the murder.

Villanuevaadmitted to the killings...

The Navy sailor killed Monday during parachute training has been identified as a veteran SEAL with combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Chief Special Warfare Operator Bradley S. Cavner, 31, died from injuries sustained in a training accident in El Centro.

"The training SEALs go through is inherently high-risk," said Cmdr. Christian Dunbar, Special Warfare Group One's chief staff officer. "Bradley was a warrior who selflessly answered his nation's call to defend freedom and protect us."

Cavner enlisted in the Navy in February 2003 and graduated from SEAL training in Coronado in July 2004 and was assigned to a West Coast-based SEAL unit.

Cavner received a Bronze Star for bravery and a Combat Action Ribbon for being under fire and returning fire.

The accident is being investigated, the Navy said.

At the perjury trial of former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, a former city employee testified Tuesday that Alarcon told her he wasn't living in the district he represented when he was elected. 

Carolyn Jackson, who worked with city lawmakers as a representative of the city Department of Transportation before retiring in 2010, testified that she met with Alarcon in May 2007, two months after he was elected to the council.

She said when she congratulated him, Alarcon told her: "You know, I wasn't even living in the district when I was elected." Jackson said he added: "I am now, of course." 

She said she was surprised and "pretty angry," because "it's illegal to run in a district you don't live in."

Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes De Oca Alarcon, are accused of falsely claiming to reside in what was then the San Fernando Valley's 7th Council District. Alarcon ran for the seat and represented the area until he was termed out of office last year.

Under the City Charter,...

Los Angeles County supervisors finalized reforms to health benefits for future employees Tuesday, in a move that is projected to save the county as much as $840 million over the next 30 years.

Retiree health benefits became a sticking point in contentious labor negotiations last year. Although not technically part of the contract talks, unions objected to the proposal to reduce retiree benefits.

Earlier this year, county and union officials announced a deal that would scale back benefits for employees hired after July 1, but leave current employees' payments unchanged.

County officials praised the unions for agreeing to the deal. Board Chairman Don Knabe said the change would "reduce spiraling obligations for future employees while still providing a level of retiree healthcare that is both sustainable and fiscally responsible." 

Under the new arrangement, the county will still cover 40% to 100% of health insurance costs for retirees, depending on how long they worked for the county,...

A man pleaded not guilty this week to killing a woman whose burned body parts were found by Bakersfield detectives in a fire pit and a nearby motor home.

Alejandro Leon, 30, pleaded not guilty Monday to murder in the death of Evelynn Chuca, 30, whose body parts were discovered May 12, according to the Kern County district attorney's office.

The details of the discovery were contained in redacted Kern County sheriff's office reports filed in court and that became available Monday, the Bakersfield Californian reported.

The reports said Leon asked a man on May 11 to follow him into the motor home, where he showed him the bloody body of a woman lying on a couch, according to the Californian. It is unclear who owned the motor home.

The man said Leon told him, "Look what I did," according to the Californian. The man left and called 911 the next day.

On arriving at the property in east Bakersfield, detectives thought they saw a human skull in the fire pit. They also found three fingers near a...

San Bernardino police say two men found shot to death Tuesday inside an independent-living facility were victims of a possible murder-suicide.

Officers received a call about 12:30 p.m. from someone who had seen blood on the floor outside a bedroom in the home, San Bernardino police Sgt. Gary Robertson said.

Soon after, officers entered the bedroom in the 1100 block of Hancock Street and found the two men dead in an apparent murder-suicide, he said. A gun was recovered inside the bedroom.

It was unclear how the men, whose identities haven't been released, knew each other.

The landlord of the facility told police that one of the men had been renting a room there, he said.

Police were still at the scene Tuesday afternoon, collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses.

For breaking news in Los Angeles and California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA, or email her at veronica.rocha@latimes.com.