The city of Los Angeles filed a lawsuit Thursday against a building contractor and five of its subcontractors, accusing them of not paying more than 50 employees a total of more than $250,000 in wages and overtime.

Some employees who were meant to be making $49 an hour were instead paid $8 an hour and others promised $45 an hour were given $5 an hour, according to the lawsuit.

City Atty. Mike Feuer says the lawsuit is part of his office's broader effort to combat wage theft.

“There are some basic rules in our society that everyone expects they can live by,” he said at a news conference. “Among those is that when you put in an honest day's work, you deserve pay for that day. When people don’t pay what their workers are owed, it’s against the law.”

The city accused Mackone Development Inc., which had a $9.5-million contract to build the South Los Angeles Animal Care Center, of encouraging its contractors in some cases to violate state wage law. Mackone also failed to pay some of its...

It was hard enough for Chris Picco to lose his wife after childbirth, but then his infant son died days later in his arms.

In a loving tribute video that has now gone viral, Picco strums his guitar and sings the Beatles' "Blackbird" to his infant son, who was incubated at Loma Linda University Medical Center after he was born earlier than expected.

"He was dressed in an outfit that Ashley bought for him, with little guitars on it, and wrapped in a blanket made by a dear friend," Picco wrote in letter posted on the family's donation page.

"I am so thankful for the four unforgettable days I got to spend with him."

Chris Picco's wife, Ashley, died Saturday in her sleep after doctors performed an emergency Caesarean section and delivered Lennon.

Doctors remained concerned about Lennon's brain activity and lack of movement.

Picco asked the nurses if he could play songs for his son, who had seemed to respond to music when he was in the womb.

For several days, he played songs for Lennon.

On...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Thursday that he had ordered police to allow the release soon of an autopsy report on a mentally ill man fatally shot by officers three months ago.

Garcetti made a surprise appearance Thursday at an LAPD news conference, telling reporters the autopsy on 25-year-old Ezell Ford Jr. would be released by the end of the year. LAPD officials have placed a security hold on the results, preventing coroner's officials from making their report public.

"I am ordering the results of this autopsy be released," Garcetti said. "I think that is important for the family, that is important for the community, that is important for our city as well as our department."

Flanked by Garcetti, Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey and other city officials, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said investigators were still trying to track down witnesses to the Aug. 11 shooting. The hold on the autopsy, he said, was intended to ensure the accuracy of potential witness statements. 

Beck said the...

A Gardena man was charged Thursday with killing a South Los Angeles barber during a robbery earlier this year.

Mark Lequan Alford, 35, is charged with one count of murder with the special circumstances of a robbery, and with using a gun.

Alford is being held on $1-million bail.

Prosecutors say Alford shot Kevin Williams, 32, to death April 25 at a barbershop in the 6500 block of South Western Avenue in Harvard Park.

Alford and a second man went into Western Hair Lounge and robbed Williams, and when he resisted, Alford killed him with a single gunshot, prosecutors allege.

The two men reportedly fled and Williams died later at a local hospital.

If convicted, Alford could face the death penalty.

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna.

California State University trustees approved a new budget Thursday for the 23-campus system and boosted the pay of top executives. The trustees also heard from students about campus fees but decisions on those won't be made until January.

The 2015-16 budget request of $269 million includes $216.6 million in state funding. That is far more than the $119.5 million proposed in Gov. Jerry Brown’s spending plan. Unlike the UC system, Cal State is not considering system-wide tuition hikes.

But without full funding, the system again will have to turn away thousands of eligible students, said Chancellor Timothy P. White.

The trustees' actions came amid a raucous meeting in Long Beach where students chanted and banged drums, urging that controversial campus fees be rescinded.

The so-called student success fees have been enacted at a dozen campuses to hire faculty, increase course offerings, extend library hours and improve other services that were reduced during the years of state funding cuts...

Rescue crews Thursday found a 40-year-old Irvine man who had disappeared after a mountain biking trip in San Juan Capistrano the day before.

James Kretzschmar's wife called Irvine police Wednesday just before midnight to say she hadn't heard from Kretzschmar in hours, police said. He had been biking in the canyons off Ortega Highway, she told police.

Overnight, authorities found Kretzschmar's car in a parking lot for the Lazy W Ranch campground near the highway.

A helicopter and at least 20 ground personnel from the Orange County Sheriff's Department scoured the area, Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock told Times Community News.

About 2 p.m., searchers heard a man calling for help and discovered Kretzschmar in Lion Canyon, about five miles from a San Juan fire station on Ortega Highway where crews had set up a command post.

Kretzschmar appeared to be unhurt and in good health upon first inspection, Hallock said.