The loss is just one in a recent rash in thefts of the costly anti-smog devices that police say are sold to scrap metal recyclers for cash.The rash of thefts began in early January, and since then, more than a dozen catalytic converters have been stolen from vehicles in North County, police said. All of the thefts target late-model Toyota trucks and sport utility vehicles, they said."They pick those because they sit higher off the ground," making it easier for thieves to crawl underneath and remove the converter, which is attached inside the exhaust pipe, Escondido police Lt. Bob Benton said.The converters are stolen for the small amounts of precious metals they contain, including platinum, rhodium and palladium, and can fetch up to $100 at scrap metal yards, authorities said.The thefts do not cause serious damage to the vehicles, but can cost victims up to $3,500 in repairs, said Jennifer Baray, assistant service manager at Toyota of Escondido.Like pilfered copper pipes and wiring, police began seeing catalytic converter thefts when the price of the metals increased, authorities said."There's always some hot valuable that's being stolen because of its scrap value," said Fiona Everett, crime analyst for the Carlsbad Police Department.Frank Scafidi, spokesman for the National Insurance Crime Bureau, said there are no hard statistics on the frequency of the crime, which has grown into a nationwide problem."We started getting reports of these things early last year.

Inglewood market clerk shot while standing inside store

Metro police are searching for an unidentified man who shot an Inglewood convenience store clerk last night.

Saguaro Lake ranch showcases nature

Nestled along the Salt River, out on the far-eastern flanks of the Valley, there exists an oasis. The Saguaro Lake Ranch Resort is fewer than three dozen miles from downtown Phoenix, as the crow flies. Yet it feels like another world. Craggy cliffs soar hundreds of feet into the sky. Lining the Salt River is a ribbon of riparian greenery where rustic casitas are scattered around a spacious lawn. "Everybody who comes out here says the same thing: 'I never knew this existed,' " says Casey Thompson, an intern at the ranch, who is studying commercial recreation at Central Michigan University. "I'd never seen anything like it. You're driving out here and it's desert, desert, desert. Then you drop down into all this," he says, a sweep of his arm taking in the river and trees and grass.
Built for the dam The resort began in 1927 as a camp for workers on the Stewart Mountain Dam.

New energy bill calls for 35 MPG CAFE, increased ethanol production ...

The 'do instead' can be anything other than 'a slight polishing of the status quo' which is all this energy bill is. Sure, some pork is sent to corn farmers. And there is a small smear of lip service for 'alternative energy' research. Uh huh. But big changes are needed for a big change in results. And this energy bill contains no big changes.At its heart, this energy bill is about doing the same old things, continuing to burn hydrocarbons without any serious improvements in fuel economy or emissions control.In short, it is the very definition of insanity. .

MIDDLEPORT: Roy-Hart facilities project shot down

The 2007 Royalton-Hartland Central School District Facilities Project is dead.Residents voted 385-331 against the renovation and expansion project that would have raised taxes approximately 17 cents more per $1,000 of assessed value.The total cost for the project would have been about $15 million, with most being covered by state aid. The amount after the aid would be about $1.4 million, which is the amount that residents would be responsible for and paying through the tax increase. Superintendent Paul Bona said the district will try to find out what parts of the project residents did not like."At this point, I'm asking the board, as they're out and about in the community, to try and get a sense of particular areas that may have caused this defeat," Bona said. "We have to assess it. It was close, if the board of education is able to get a pulse ...

Hasbro Previews G.I. Joe , Hulk , Iron Man , Indy & Clone Wars

Their Marvel line will include Iron Man's Hulkbuster armor from "World War Hulk," as a tie-in to the two Marvel movies. You can check some of those out here. Hasbro's 2008 line of Indiana Jones toys will roll-out in four waves that include characters and vehicles from all four movies, starting with Raiders of the Lost Ark and the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on May 1, then figures from "The Last Crusade" will follow in July and "Temple of Doom" in September, although Hasbro has promised that these will be ongoing toys and not just done simply to tie into the movie. There was more secrecy revolving around the upcoming "Crystal Skull" than any other movie presented by Hasbro with a bunch of the toys not shown at all, since some of them might give away key plot points of what happens in the movie.