Stephan Lee Carr

It's missing- and injured-hiker season in Southern California. The story of teenagers Kyndall Jack and Nicholas Cendoya, rescued after three nights in the Orange County wilderness, is one of several this spring involving hikers who pushed their GPS systems or bodies too far afield. A teenage hiker died over the weekend in Eaton Canyon.

In fact, nearly every week so far this year we've seen reports by L.A. city or county rescuers about hikers in distress. What gives?

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StyleSpotting / Flickr

Bicyclists call it getting doored.

And in this case, it was deadly. Los Angeles police last night said a 49-year-old bicyclist died after a BMW driver opened her door as he rode in a bike lane, striking the rider and ending his two-wheeled journey forever.

It happened ...

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Sport Chalet / Facebook

Two people apparently checking out a possible gas leak in a utility closet were burned when the room exploded this morning, fire officials said.

It happened at the Sport Chalet at La Cañada Flintridge's Town Center mall, an L.A. County Fire Department official told us. The two suffered "flash burns," and were taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital.

It was reported ...

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Marshall Astor / Flickr

Three people were killed when a helicopter reportedly involved in the filming of a reality show crashed in Acton over the weekend.

The crash at the Polsa Rosa Movie Ranch was reported at 3:40 a.m. Sunday by the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

A company called Bongo Productions was ...

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Google Maps

Highway 38

Updated at the bottom with a revised and corrected number of dead as well as details about how the crash happened. Headline has changed. First posted at 11:36 p.m. Sunday.

Ten people were believed to have been killed when a charter bus collided head-on with a pickup truck in the Yucaipa area last night on a highway well-known to Southern Californians as a gateway to regional mountains and ski resorts.

The crash on highway 38 near Bryant Street in Mentone was reported by the San Bernardino County Fire Department at 7:09 p.m. but reports indicated it actually happened closer to 6:30.

Another vehicle ...

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Edward Guerrero / Flickr

Following LA Weekly's eye-opening report on the city's hit-and-run epidemic, one L.A. city Councilman wants something done.

Joe Buscaino is asking the LAPD to report to the council's Public Safety Committee "about what efforts are being undertaken by the Department to curtail hit-and-run incidents ... "

The councilman's motion ...

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hotgirlswithiphones.com

Distracting?

We told you last week how nearly 1 in every 2 accidents in L.A. is a hit-and-run.

Well, don't push your luck people. Research unveiled this week shows that 1 in 3 pedestrians are distracted by their cellphones and smartphones.

Lord.

Try to look out, people:

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Solorio's board

The shark involved in the fatal attack on Santa Barbara-area surfer Francisco Solorio was a whopper.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department last night described the shark involved as a great white measuring as many as 16 feet.

The department says Solorio was surfing with three friends at Surf Beach Tuesday morning when he ...

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Updated at the bottom with the victim's ID. Headline has changed. First posted at 1:10 p.m. Tuesday.

A man was killed in a shark attack today off Surf Beach in Santa Barbara County, a sheriff's official told the Weekly.

A Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman told us the beach is off Vandenberg Air Force Base and would be under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

It appeared to have happened ...

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@MemphisGarrett via @WehoDaily

As many as 33 people were injured when a driverless dump truck rolled into a Metro bus which then careened into a woman driving her preteen daughter in a BMW in Hollywood today, authorities said.

That driver seemed to get the worst of it, with the L.A. Fire Department's Brian Humphrey saying she had been trapped for 20 minutes and appeared to be in serious condition.

Her daughter was "fair." That left as many as 30 on the bus and its driver to seek treatment:

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Marc Evans / Flickr

A woman confined to a wheelchair experienced a tragic and horrific death in the subway stop beneath the Hollywood & Highland Center this week.

The woman and an assistant used an ascending escalator because an elevator was out of service, a Metro official said. Both fell, and the 60-year-old in the wheelchair ultimately succumbed to her injuries. The accident, witnessed by many, we were told, happened Tuesday about noon. But we're only hearing about it now:

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LSchinto / Flickr

A 36-year-old bicyclist who was apparently training for an upcoming Ironman Triathlon was fatally struck by a Metro bus on the PCH in Malibu over the weekend.

The tragic collision might have been an accident, according to what sheriff's Sgt. Philip Brooks told the Weekly.

The woman was riding on Pacific Coast Highway when ...

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@mikomariaclark

A driver jumped out of an out-of-control bus with no brakes just before it careened through a bridge's guardrail and landed on the 110 freeway downtown!

Crazy story. Unfortunately for us, it didn't end up going down quite like that.

Here's what the LAPD told the Weekly really happened about 10:08 a.m. on the Sixth Street bridge, and on the northbound 110 collector road beneath it, downtown today:

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ABC7 / yfrog

Updated at the bottom with the pilot's ID. Headline has been modified. First posted at 6:28 p.m. Friday.

A small plane crashed in West Los Angeles today.

NBC Los Angeles reported the plane might have been en route to Santa Monica Airport when the crash happened shortly after 6 p.m.

The L.A. Fire Department says the accident happened at ...

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Google Maps

Updated at the bottom with a fourth fatality. The headline was edited to reflect this. First posted at 8:01 a.m.

Three people, including a child, died when a minivan flipped over on the 134 freeway in Eagle Rock and sailed off a freeway bridge and onto Figueroa Street below on Sunday, according to L.A. fire officials and reports.

Broadcast news coverage indicated the van veered out of control, possibly as a result of a blown tire, flipped over a few times, ejected a child, and then went through a gap dividing the east and westbound lanes, landing three, four or more stories below.

Onlookers were horrified:

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@fadingsignal / Instragram

Emergency at Avalon.

The horror.

A fog machine malfunctioned at a Midnight Red concert that doubled as a pre-party for the Teen Choice Awards at Avalon Hollywood, sending six to a hospital, officials said.

Fog enveloped the crowd and a chemical from the machine apparently burned a few club-goers leading to some pandemonium; people at the scene seemed sensitive to chaos in the wake of the Aurora massacre. But an L.A. Fire Department spokesman was quick to call out those who made a big deal of it:

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A fan tribute to 'TwiFanG' posted via Twitter.

Updated at the bottom with an eyewitness' account of what happened. First posted at 1:32 p.m.

A woman collided with a car as she tried to cross a street outside San Diego Comic-Con today in a bizarre accident that took the Twilight fan's life.

The accident at Harbor Drive and Fifth Avenue, just down the street from the San Diego Convention Center, where Comic-Con officially starts Thursday, was reported at 9:22 a.m., San Diego police Lt. Andra Brown told the Weekly.

Here's the weird part:

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CBS2

What was going on behind the Bembis Meat Market last night?

A dramatic explosion around 6:30 p.m. in "a building tucked behind" the market, located just south of downtown Los Angeles, killed one and sent three more to the hospital with serious injuries, according to CBS News.

The Los Angeles Times says the unmarked building "stores nitrous oxide cylinders used to power mini-bikes and go-carts..."

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@GrantCardone

The view back on the ground.

Updated and edited, with freshest info at the bottom.

A flight en route to LAX turned around and landed at JFK airport in New York after striking dozens of birds on takeoff, prompting some to compare the episode to the "Miracle on the Hudson" that made pilot Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger an international hero.

No heroics were necessary this time, as the Delta flight 1063 appeared to maintain power as it ascended from New York earlier this afternoon.

One passenger took video with his iPad and tweeted the adventure:

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Grace, the heroic dog of La Puente

Update: The owner comes forward and reveals Grace's real name. See next page.

That was fast! Last week in La Puente, Grace the labrador became an Internet sensation by standing vigil over her car-struck, dead, canine comrade on Hacienda Boulevard. A local resident, worried that Grace would get hit as well, placed traffic cones around Grace because she would not budge from her heartsick vigil.

That Good Samaritan has now adopted Grace, beating hundreds of others who would do anything to own a dog with such fierce loyalty, heart and courage. As one commenter said this morning on KNX, we all want to "be like Grace."

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