Five months of contentious negotiations between NBA owners and players could come to an end in December, while two months of Occupy L.A. will close its encampment on City Hall Park Monday.
Mayor Announces Occupy L.A. Eviction
City Hall Park has been home to the Occupy L.A. encampment for more than 50 days, but Monday marks the end of the tent city, according to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
“From the start we have said that a long-term encampment is not sustainable in City Hall Park,” Villaraigosa said during a press conference.
Occupiers have until 12:01 a.m. Monday to pack up their tents and take down the cardboard signs that have become synonymous with the nationwide anti-Wall Street movement.
Talk of closing the 1.2-acre park began last week, after Deputy Mayor Matt Szabo reportedly shared news of the pending eviction with Occupy LA representatives at a meeting. Demonstrators would be given a 72-hour window to leave the area.
Villaraigosa announced the outsting Friday afternoon at a 4:00 press conference, and said officers will pass out bilingual fliers throughout the weekend informing protesters of the eviction plans.
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Los Angeles held on to the last big-city encampment. The movement's founding location in New York City’s Zuccotti Park and Occupy grounds in Oakland were forcibly cleared earlier this month.
Tentative Agreement Could Mean NBA is Back
Basketball fans breathed a sigh of relief early Saturday morning after five months of negotiations between players and owners came to end.
NBA commissioner David Stern confirmed a “tentative understanding” that could have professional basketball back on the court by Christmas day.
The agreement calls for a 10-year deal, which both sides can opt out of after six years.
If all goes well, a 66-game season could start Dec. 25 with a triple-header featuring the Knicks versus Celtic, Heat versus Mavericks, and Lakers versus Bulls.
Teen Substance Abuse at Epidemic Levels
Substance abuse by young users has been dubbed America’s top public health problem by a recent study, which found that one in eight high school students in the U.S. has a substance abuse problem.
This kind of early abuse could have long-term consequences, affecting nerve development in the brain, according to Dr. David Sack of Promises Treatment Centers.
"The synaptic connections in the brain continue to develop until about age 20,” Sack said. “So that's when teenagers start to use drugs chronically.”
NBC4’s Dr. Bruce Hensel said the physical toll drug abuse takes on developing bodies is much larger.
“Teen users are at significant high risk of developing an addictive disorder,” Hensel said.
The UC Davis campus police chief was placed on administrative leave, two campus officers were suspended and an investigation is underway into the pepper spraying of peaceful protesters during a campus demonstration.
Video of a UC Davis police officer nonchalantly pepper spraying seated students went viral, stirring up outrage and calls for Chancellor Linda Katehi to step down.
Katehi has set up an internal investigation of the incident and has asked the Yolo County District Attorney to also investigate the incident.
Teen Takes Plea Deal in Gay Classmate’s Slaying
A case that was declared a mistrial in September has now sentenced the defendant to more than 20 years behind bars.
Brandon McInerney, who shot and killed a 15-year-old gay classmate in 2008, has already served four years in juvenile hall for his role in the slaying.
McInerney, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, will spend another 21 years and will not be eligible for time off for good behavior or receive credit for time already served.
"He eventually approached victim and shot him in the back of the head. As Larry King lay disabled on the ground, McInerney shot him in the head a second time," according to a statement released by the District Attorney's office Monday, Nov. 21.
McInerney pled guilty to both murder and voluntary manslaughter in the case that has garnered an emotional following as prosecutors argued the shooting was fueled by hate.
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