Avalanches Kill 3 People In Mountains Near Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES -- A series of avalanches in the mountains outside of Los Angeles killed three people after sweeping backcountry slopes in the San Gabriel Mountains, authorities said Saturday.

Despite the avalanches, about 6,000 people swarmed to the Mount Baldy Ski Resorts, about 80 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, to ski and snowboard, resort officials said.

Southern California braced for more weekend storms. Meteorologist Richard Thompson said that as much as eight inches of rain would fall in the hills outside Los Angeles.

Immigration Agents Cited ID Plan Before Raid

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Local immigration officials e-mailed Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Julie L. Myers to advise her that the city had adopted a program to offer ID cards to illegal immigrants and that a planned raid would therefore likely draw significant news coverage, newly released documents show. The June 6 raid took place two days after the city's Board of Aldermen approved the program. ICE officials have denied that the raid was retaliatory, saying that it was planned months in advance and that its timing was coincidental.

Las Vegas Casino Still Closed After Fire

LAS VEGAS -- The burned exterior facade along the roof of the Monte Carlo hotel and casino will have to be removed or secured before the Las Vegas Strip resort can reopen, the chief county building inspector said. A spokesman for resort owner MGM Mirage said that he could not immediately say how long the repairs from Friday's blaze would take.

5 Die in Crash at Exclusive Fla. Runway

OCALA, Fla. -- Five men were killed after a car in which they were riding traveled off an airport runway and crashed at the exclusive "fly-in" community of Jumbolair Aviation Estates, the Florida Highway Patrol said.