Woman Feels Agonizing Burning Pain 24/7 - You Can Help

20-year-old Heidi Theis lies on the couch, in the dark, covered in ice and wet rags without moving every day.  Heidi suffers from a rare and extremely painful disease called complex regional pain syndrome or CRPS.

"To watch her go from enjoying the world and learning about the world to laying on the couch 24 hours a day 7 days a week and not be able to fix her has been very, very difficult," said her mom Stacie Theis, who couldn't hold back her tears.

CRPS affects the nervous system.  It causes chronic pain.  Heidi's problems started when the happy teen fell off a horse 2 years ago.  Heidi broke her leg, tailbone and damaged her liver.  The nerve damage in her leg never healed and developed into CRPS.

"She was showing signs of blistering she was burning from the inside.  She kept describing it as someone removing the blood out of her body and injecting pure battery acid," said Dave Theis, Heidi's father.

That intense burning is worsened by light.  So curtains block out the sun in the family's home, one candle lights the living room.

Heidi couldn't talk to us on camera, even talking is painful.  It took 2 years to get Heidi diagnosed, the whole time Heidi suffered.  There's no cure for CRPS.  But there is a glimmer of light in Heidi's dark world. A doctor at the California Pain Medicine Centers at UCLA offers a treatment, Ketamine injections that ease the pain and might give Heidi her life back.

Now the family is fundraising to pay for the expensive treatment they can't afford and Heidi can't afford not to have.

"If we don't keep her moving she'll atrophy. Which is the last stage of this disorder," said Stacie.

For more information on how to help Heidi go http://heidisjourneyofhope.org/

You can print a flier on that website and visit Chili's in Orange Monday Sept. 23rd and the restaurant will donate 15% of proceeds.

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Ribbon Cutting Opens New Bradley Terminal At LAX

Los Angeles, CA -

(FOX 11 / CNS) Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will join airport officials at LAX today to celebrate the opening of a sleek shopping and dining area at the Tom Bradley International Terminal and nine new boarding gates designed to accommodate the latest generation of super large jumbo jets.

The milestones being celebrated today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon represent the first phase of a $1.9 billion overhaul of the terminal -- the centerpiece of a wider $4.1 billion Capital Improvement Project at LAX, the largest public works project in the city's history.

Most of the airlines that operate out of the Tom Bradley International Terminal will be using the new gates starting today, according to airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles. Of those airlines, six fly the new generation jumbos, such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747-8, she said.

The terminal improvements also include a 150,000-square foot mall-like pavilion named after former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and featuring high-end dining, retail and lounges. The several dozen retailers and restaurants set to open in the Villaraigosa Pavilion include wine bars, offshoots of hip L.A. eateries and shops selling caviar and designer clothing.

The restaurants include ink.sack, Border Grill, Umami Burger, 800 Degrees and Larder at Tavern, and 50,000 square feet of retail space featuring shops such as Fred Segal, Bulgari, Porsche Design and Kitson.

Weary international travelers arriving at the new terminal will be greeted by high-resolution images displayed on jumbo digital screens embedded into the architecture.

Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports -- the city agency that runs LAX and other airports in the region -- said earlier this year that the sophistication infused into the new terminal would give LAX an edge since airlines that fly long distances are selective about where they stop.

"We are competing with every other city that has woken up and realized that these international flights are an absolute bread basket and backbone for their economy,'' she said. "We are about to deliver what the airlines and the passengers have come to expect from a world-class international travel experience. And I dare say we've actually even exceeded that.''

The pavilion's main architect, Curtis Fentress, said he focused on making passing through LAX a relaxing, inviting experience -- in sharp contrast to the airport's reputation as a disappointment for passengers.

A frequent traveler himself, Fentress said his design, which features large windows that let natural light stream in, "gives you a nice warm hug when you come into the building -- it makes you feel good, and that's what it's about.'' Fentress also designed Incheon International Airport in South Korea.

Once all of the airlines have changed over to the new gates, the old gates will be torn down and a second phase of renovation -- including another nine new boarding gates, a renovated immigration and passport control area and new federal security-screening areas -- will get underway, with completion planned for 2015.

The upgrades came almost a decade after they were mired in several lawsuits, now resolved. City Officials now face another round of lawsuits from community groups and surrounding cities stemming from recent approvals of projects in other parts of the airport, including a widening of the north runway that would bring the airport 260 feet closer to residential areas.

From Hal Eisner:

I've been covering this story for awhile. The new international terminal. How it's part of a much larger improvement project for LAX. How the new terminal, complete with a shopping mall inside, is twice the size of the current one. It's 1.2 million square feet. Most importantly, it has 18 new gates nine, of which, can accommodate the new super sized jumbo jets like the Airbus A-380's.

It also has a great big hall. By some it's referred to as the "great hall" but it's official name is the Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Pavilion. And, speaking of Mayor Villaraigosa one of the high points of today's big ribbon cutting ceremony is a photo op you just don't see everyday. It's like when all of the surviving presidents get together for something. This time it will a shot of Mayors Riordan, Hahn, Villaraigosa and Garcetti. Also, on hand will be the daughters of late Mayor Tom Bradley after whom the Tom Bradley International Terminal is named. Now, that's a picture I'm looking forward to seeing!

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Teacher Accused Of Luring Teens For Sex, Arraignment Postponed

Santa Ana, CA -

(FOX 11) 7 months ago Zachary Joshua Reeder was arrested by irvine Police. Reeder, married with a young daughter, taught social science at Servite High School and was a baseball coach. But, shortly after the arrest he was fired. Prosecutors are alleging that the 30 year old posed as a young, blonde woman on Facebook to lure underaged teenage boys to send him sexually explicit pictures and videos. According to the prosecution he faces 110 felony counts that range from lewd acts against a child to possession and distribution of child pornography. The DA's office says there are 70 victims. The youngest is 14.

While the arrest happened 7 months ago he has delayed his arraignment. That happened again today during a brief appearance in court. The judge delayed it to Oct 7th. Reeder is out on a million dollars bail.

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Ambassador College 15 Year Transition to Luxury Homes

Pasadena, CA -

(FOX 11)-- Next month, luxury townhomes and flats will go on sale for a coveted neighborhood in Pasadena.  The sales prices haven't been set, but considering the ways the units can be customizable, expect to pay more than a million dollars for the smallest unit. Where is this housing nirvana?  

The campus of the old Ambassador College, just a few blocks from Old Pasadena.  The first developer bought the most of the campus and proposed two thousand housing units, 15 years ago.  That didn't go over too well with the community and it set off an 8 to 10 year process of neighborhood meetings, negotiations, agreements and conditions.  Fast forward to 2009, City Ventures takes those agreements and in July razed two modern honey comb college buildings while building the first phase of 160 planned luxury townhomes and flats.  Once all those are sold, City Ventures will restore and sell the three historic mansions that remain on the campus.

You can visit the Merritt mansion which is being transformed into the Ambassador Gardens sales office.  I got the nickel tour and the drywall and compound were just going up to protect the amazing burled wood paneling.   Arguably the most remarkable feature of the Merritt is the underground swimming pool and garden.  The mansion also has a big sign out front marking it as  Worldwide Church of God property, but once restoration begins, that sign will go away and the mansion will go back to the way it looked in the early 1900's.

Meantime, there's no doubt that the location alone will sell the new homes at Ambassador Gardens.  The original Ambassador College featured running streams, koi ponds, sweeping lawns, fountains and mature trees.  All of that is preserved and all of that is designated public space.  The Norton Simon is across the street, the Rose Bowl down Orange Grove and Old Pas is just a two block walk.

Home, sweet home; 15 years in the making. 

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Town plans to fire foul-mouthed Pa. police chief

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM
Associated Press

GILBERTON, Pa. (AP) - A small-town Pennsylvania police chief's profanity-laced Internet tirades about the Second Amendment and liberals have earned him a measure of notoriety - and now, his bosses intend, a pink slip.

Gilberton Borough Council members said Thursday night they plan to fire Mark Kessler, nearly two months after voting to suspend the only full-time member of the town's police force.

Kessler, who's active in gun rights circles and started an armed group that critics call a private militia, posted videos of himself shooting borough-owned automatic weapons and cursing liberals and others who he said want to erode the constitutional right to bear arms.

Kessler said the council's decision was "no surprise" in light of the incendiary videos.

"We knew it was coming," he said.

A closed-door disciplinary hearing earlier in the day had dwelled on unrelated allegations, including that Kessler improperly used a state-administered program to buy discounted tires for his personal vehicle, failed to submit required crime data and made derogatory comments about borough officials.

Kessler's attorney, Joseph Nahas, said the charges were trumped up to conceal the town's intent to fire Kessler over the videos. He said after the vote he'll request a public hearing at which both sides can call witnesses, as is Kessler's right under due process rules. The council would then have to vote a second time to fire Kessler.

Kessler told reporters that he had been an excellent police chief and had nothing to apologize for. He said he'd broken no laws: "None. I'd be in handcuffs."

"My message was to wake up the people who are independents," he said, "to say, 'We've had enough and something needs to change, because we're in bad shape all around. Not only here in this little town but across the nation. It's a mess.'"

Kessler's pro-gun videos have garnered hundreds of thousands of views online. He acknowledges they are inflammatory but says they're designed to draw attention to the erosion of Second Amendment and other constitutional rights.

Mayor Mary Lou Hannon had said she found the police chief's language offensive.

Council members declined to comment after Thursday night's vote.

Kessler, a former coal miner, has spoken at gun-rights rallies and created a website on which he seeks recruits for the Constitution Security Force, whose stated mission is to defend the constitution and the country from tyranny.

Gun rights activists had traveled to the community of about 800 people, in Schuylkill County in eastern Pennsylvania's anthracite coal country, to show support for Kessler, and most of them displayed weapons.

Constitution Security Force member Bob Gardner traveled from Philadelphia.

"Mark has gotten railroaded," said Gardner, who carried a semi-automatic AK-47. "He was exercising his First Amendment rights by backing it up with his Second Amendment rights."

In January, Kessler drafted a resolution the borough adopted that calls for nullifying any federal, state or local regulations that infringe on the Second Amendment.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Original Pancake House: Best Breakfast In The OC

Anaheim, CA -

To look at some of the comments on Facebook about this story we weren't on television but Droolivision. Truth is the pancakes at the Original Pancake House in Anaheim were pretty darn good. Well, that's according to Hal's Best of Orange County (if there were such a thing), but we're talking about the OC Registers Best of Orange County and when you get on that list it can translate into increased sales.

That's what Adam Voll told me. Adam own the place and has some really loyal customers. I met three all of whom have been coming to Voll's restaurant since the 70's.

The OC Registers Best of OC comes out every year.This was the 20th edition. The booklets came out in Sunday's OC Register. They're also available online. They look at over80 categories. 70 picked by public vote like BEST BREAKFAST. That's what the pancake  house got and they were proud as they showed me their German pancake and apple pancake. They even flipped a few cottage cheese pancakes.

Congratulations to the Original Pancake House!

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