AM news: little old ladies, looking up, backed up, clearing up

arsenic and old ladies - A 73-year old and a 75-year old have been arrested in a life insurance scam that has allegedly netted them more than $2 million. Olga Rutterschmidt and Helen Golay took out life insurance policies on homeless men, carefully crafting ficitonal relationships that would qualify them as beneficiaries. Authorities say they took out at least 19 policies on two men who both died after being run down in alleys.

want some more - With mayoral oversight of LAUSD a possibility, teachers' union UTLA has decided to demand a one year 14% pay hike from LAUSD. We'll be the first to say teachers are chronically underpaid, but we think there is some truth in the allegation that the teachers are taking advantage of the current political pressures; 14% is no small potatoes.

green line backed up - A 5:50am auto accident in Downey ended with a car on the metro green line tracks — but at least the car didn't tangle with a train. The tracks and the 105 freeway were blocked as crews cleared the scene (delays, of course).

gray skies are going to clear up - Yesterday's rain caused power outages in Highland Park and a mudslide in Glendale that left one building redtagged. But it looks like the storm has passed us, and we can count on our weather being 72 degrees and sunny for the, oh, next 138 days or so.