IN BRIEF
CRASH UNDER INVESTIGATION
Las Vegas man dies after truck hits pole
A 21-year-old Las Vegas man died in an early morning crash Sunday when he lost control of his pickup and struck a power pole on Russell Road near Lamb Boulevard, Las Vegas police said.
The man's identity was not released.
Police said the crash occurred about 1:25 a.m. They said the man was driving a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado east on Russell when he failed to maintain his travel lane and veered toward the south curb. The truck went onto the sidewalk and struck a light pole before continuing east and hitting a power pole.
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash remains under investigation.
SANTA ANA WINDS
Southern California swelters in record heat
Eddie Saade says he couldn't stand the 50-degree weather that chilled his home in Hollywood last week, so he turned on the heater.
Sunday, the 25-year-old laughed at that memory as he sat on the beach in Santa Monica, sweltering in Southern California's record-breaking heat.
While beachgoers enjoyed temperatures in the 80s, downtown Los Angeles rose to 94 degrees, up 2 degrees from the previous high, which was set in 1914.
Other records included Long Beach (96 degrees), at the University of California, Los Angeles, (90 degrees) and Los Angeles International Airport (87 degrees), courtesy of unseasonable Santa Ana winds that blew into Southern California from Nevada, said meteorologist David Gomberg of the National Weather Service.
"Typically, we get wind coming off the ocean and that's what keeps us so mild," he said. "The reason everything's so dry right now is because the winds are coming from the desert air mass, meaning that it originates over land."
The Santa Ana winds are most often associated with the brush fires of the fall and winter months, so their current appearance is unusual. "Sometimes even if you don't get the winds, you'll feel the effects of the warmth," Gomberg said.
Additional heat records are expected to be broken in Southern California today.
ONE DEAD, ONE IN HOSPITAL
Mother accidentally runs over two children
Authorities say a 5-year-old child is dead and a 3-year-old hospitalized after their mother ran them over as she was parking her car.
The Fresno County Sheriff's Department says the woman accidentally hit her vehicle's accelerator instead of the brake on Sunday morning and struck the children.
The 3-year-old has been taken to Community Regional Medical Center and there was no word on the child's condition.
Authorities did not identify the woman.
DENVER, BOULDER AREA
Workers try to restore power lost in storm
Utility workers in Colorado are trying to restore power to thousands of homes and businesses that lost their electrical service during a strong snowstorm.
Xcel Energy spokesman Joe Fuentes said about 5,500 customers remained without power Sunday in Boulder and in the Denver area.
That's down from about 10,500 customers who lost electricity after the storm struck Friday and dropped as much as 52 inches of snow in the foothills west of Denver.
Up to 10 inches of snow also fell in the Denver metro area. Officials closed an 80-mile stretch of Interstate 70 from Friday into Saturday, stranding hundreds of travelers.
