Woman Pleads No Contest in Stalking Walton

A woman charged with stalking Los Angeles Lakers forward Luke Walton has pleaded no contest and was ordered to stay away from him for three years.

Deputy District Attorney Ann Ambrose with the Stalking Unit said Stacy Elizabeth Beshear, 35 of El Segundo, entered the plea to one count of misdemeanor stalking before Judge Hector Guzman. She was sentenced to three years probation, ordered to attend weekly counseling sessions for one year and ordered to stay away from Walton’s home, where he practices with the Lakers and at Laker games for three years.

Beshear was arrested Sept. 18 after she pulled up to his car and pretended to fire gunshots at him with her hand, officials said.

Celtics Rout Lakers 131-92, Claim 17th NBA Title

The NBA championship is back with its traditional holder - the Boston Celtics.

Boston placed five players in double figures, led by a game-high 26 points from both Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, in routing the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday evening in Beantown, 131-92. Finals MVP Paul Pierce added 17 points. You could say that the Big 3 had a little help from their friends.

Rajon Rondo (21 points, six steals) and James Posey (11 points), who also both scored in double figures, and a cast of others, clearly outplayed the Lakers on this late spring evening in Boston.

This was no fluke or what could have been for the Lakers. They were clearly outplayed for most of the Finals and by one factor - defense. Although Boston scored 131 points on this night, it was the defensive play of the Celtics that was the difference.

As great a player as Kobe Bryant is, his supporting cast left him out to dry for most of the Finals. There is no doubt Bryant is the best player in the NBA at this time, but his teammates were virtually non-existent for much of this series.

Although the Lakers figure to be back in the hunt next season, and although salaries and free agency will play a major role with this team, management needs to do some house cleaning. We believe that moving Vlad Radmanovic, Luke Walton and Ronny Turiaf would be a good start. The Lakers bench in this series was clearly a major disappointment.

Secondly, Lamar Odom needs to amp up his game if he wants to keep playing with Bryant. Odom, except for flashes of good play here and there, was also non-existent in this series. The same could be said for Pau Gasol.

In the end, the better team clearly won, but Lakers fan can only wonder what the series would had been like if Bryant would have had a little help from his friends.

MONDAY HEADLINES.....

NEWS

* Police captured a parolee accused in the killing of a Yolo County sheriff's deputy in Dunnigan. Marco Antonio Topete, 35, of Arbucke was arrested for allegedly shooting and killing deputy Tony Diaz of Woodland. The shooting happened around 10 p.m. Sunday during a traffic stop. Topete reportedly then fled on foot after the shooting. Dunnigan is approximately 40 miles from Sacramento.

* Police shot and killed a man outside Turlock Saturday evening after he reportedly beat a baby to death. The man reportedly fought with passers-by who tried to intervene, before he was shot to by a police officer. The 27-year-old suspect has not been identified. The child appeared to be 1 or 2 years old.

* One woman was killed and seven others were injured Sunday after an SUV ran into a crowd of people leaving church in Venice. The vehicle hit five people around 1:15 p.m. following a Father's Day mass at the Catholic Church of St. Mark.

* The former husband of a San Diego area woman who was found dead in her driveway in May was to be arraigned today on a murder charge. Frank Weaver, 60, was arrested last month in Idaho and brought back to San Diego. While police have not said how the Santee woman died, her body exhibited signs of trauma, according to reports.

SPORTS

* With Game 5 in their pockets, the Los Angeles Lakers headed back east today to prepare for Tuesday night's Game 6 in the NBA Finals with the Boston Celtics. Los Angeles avoided elimination Sunday evening with a 103-98 victory at the Staples Center.

* In baseball action today, New York Mets at Los Angeles Angels (7:05 p.m.); Detroit Tigers at San Francisco Giants (7:15 p.m.).

WEDNESDAY HEADLINES.....

NEWS

* In the wake of a major drug bust Tuesday at San Diego State University, one local family is hoping something good comes out of it. It was last year when 19-year-old SDSU student Jenny Poliakoff (pictured left) died of a reported drug overdose at an off-campus apartment. Her death, due to a mixture of cocaine and alcohol, reportedly led investigators to a months-long operation to arrest those using and selling drugs on campus.

* A San Diego woman, arrested as a fugitive on the run for more than 30 years, is on her way back to Michigan to serve out the remainder of a drug charge sentence. Susan LeFevre, 53, was released from a San Diego prison and was heading home to Michigan to face prison time. LeFevre had been living in California for three decades, is married, and the mother of three children. She reportedly never told her husband or children of her past in Michigan, where she was arrested on drug charges.

* Six California men charged with running a crime ring that stole nearly $2 million from federal and private health insurers were arrested recently in connection with an interagency effort against health care fraud. Deputy District Attorney Celia Politeo of the Organized Crime Division said the defendants collectively face 62 counts of conspiracy to commit a crime, money laundering and grand theft of personal property. The alleged crimes occurred between March 2005 and September 2006. To see more on this story, visit dailyinsurer.blogspot.com.

SPORTS

* The Los Angeles Lakers took a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series with a 120-110 win over the Utah Jazz.

* The New York Mets left town with a 12-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in an afternoon contest at Dodger Stadium.

MONDAY HEADLINES.....

NEWS

* And you think your financial times are tough. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reports that California is looking at a budget gap that could reach $20 billion through June 2009. With talk of such a deficit, there is already discussion in Sacramento of possible tax increases and spending cuts that may reach classrooms, law enforcement and health care.

* Officials with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (Labor Commissioner’s Office) issued 38 citations totaling more than $207,000 in fines to restaurants in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in a recent two-day enforcement sweep. To see more on this story, visit dailyinsurer.blogspot.com.

* SmartDrive Systems Inc. will be participating at the 2008 Risk and Insurance Management Annual Conference in San Diego (April 27-May 1) exhibiting driver risk management solutions for fleets. RIMS 2008 gathers more than 10,000 risk professionals over five days. The annual Conference and Exhibition will offer resources to help companies identify the critical issues facing risk professionals today, discover innovative ideas and solutions to optimize risk, acquire the skills and resources to become a risk management expert and cultivate and strengthen your network of contacts. To see more on this story, visit dailyinsurer.blogspot.com.


SPORTS

* The Los Angeles Lakers made it a clean sweep of the Denver Nuggets in their first round Western Conference matchup, eliminating the 50-win team in a 107-101 victory in Denver.

WEDNESDAY HEADLINES.....

NEWS

* An afternoon pile-up that involved nine cars and a motorcycle left the always busy Golden Gate Bridge closed for more than an hour on Wednesday afternoon. Nine people were injured, including two critically, in the mid-afternoon accident. Commuters were forced to use a couple other alternatives to get around, including the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

* One firefighter was killed and another injured Wednesday in a blast at a building near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The injured firefighter was reported Wednesday evening in critical condition. Authorities reported the accident took place at 8800 Sepulveda Blvd.

* An earthquake shook the Newport Beach area on Wednesday. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake measured in at 3.1 and took place shortly before 8:30 p.m.

SPORTS

* Despite 27 points from Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers fell Wednesday evening to the lowly Charlotte Bobcats, 108-95.

* Mathieu Schneider and Teemu Selanne scored during the shootout for Anaheim as the Ducks posted a 2-1 OT win over the Los Angeles Kings Wednesday evening at the Honda Center.