Who Said L.A. Traffic Couldn't get any Worse?

It can when the President is in town for a fundraiser. 

Drivers abandoned their cars, yelled at police officers and fumed as traffic came to a halt for the presidential visit Monday night. Some streets in Hancock Park were even closed to pedestrians.

One man went for a run just as the area was locked down and found himself waiting 25 minutes at a yellow police tape barrier to get back home.

Residents reported that commutes and errands that typically took minutes turned into hours-long ordeals. One particular complaint was that streets remained blocked for hours -- even when Obama was inside TV producer John Wells' Hancock Park home at a fund-raiser.

"What has occurred is way beyond reasonable and can only be described as negligent," L.A. resident Kevin McCarthy said in an e-mail to The L.A. Times.

The Los Angeles Fire Department reported no delays for emergency vehicles. But the LAPD and other officials heard an earful from angry motorists.

Central Iowa Water Safe to Drink Again

Good news for those in flood ravaged Central Iowa.  The water is retreating and it is safe to drink again.

City officials announced Sunday that the order in Ames that water be boiled first had been lifted.

Ames was forced to shut down its water system Wednesday after broken water mains were discovered as a creek and river flooded large swaths of the city. By Thursday, residents were allowed to use small amounts of water for showering or flushing toilets. Crews have repaired or isolated the broken mains.

The flooding in Ames came after three nights of heavy rain caused creeks and rivers in central Iowa to swell earlier in the week.

8 Die in California Off-Road Desert Race

A racing truck plowed into a crowd and scattered "bodies everywhere" moments after sailing off a jump at a California race Saturday, killing eight people and leaving 12 injured, authorities and witnesses said.

The crash came shortly after the start of the 8 p.m. PDT race called the California 200, said San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman.

"There was dust everywhere, people screaming, people running," David Conklin, a photographer covering the event for off-road magazines, told The Associated Press.

Conklin said the Prerunner truck was among the first 20 off the line in the race, and had just gone over a jump known as "the rockpile" about two miles into the race.

Officials said the driver wasn't hurt but had to flee the scene to escape angry spectators.

The 200-mile race is part of a series held in Soggy Dry Lake Bed near the city of Lucerne Valley in the Mojave Desert, 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Tens of thousands of people attend the California 200, in which a variety of off-road vehicles take jumps and other obstacles and reach speeds up to 100 mph on the 50-mile off-road course. The race had been scheduled to last through the night.

The crowd was standing within 10 feet of the track with no guard rails separating them from the speeding vehicles.

7.2 Magnitude Earthquake near Guam

A major 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit 232 miles west southwest of the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Friday.

The quake occurred in the Mariana Islands region of the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 2.9 miles on Saturday, August 14, at 7:19 a.m. local time. Earlier USGS had reported the quake at a 7.1 magnitude and a depth of 12.4 miles.  The Mariana Islands are made up of Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no destructive tsunami threat, however earthquakes of this size can be destructive along coasts near the epicenter. A quake of this magnitude is capable of widespread, heavy damage, but there were no immediate reports of destruction or injuries.

Earthquake in Ecuador

A powerful earthquake shook the South American nation of Ecuador on Thursday, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.

The magnitude-6.9 quake that hit at 6:54 a.m. (1154 GMT) was felt across much of the nation, including the capital, Quito.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake was centered 105 miles (170 kilometers) southeast of Quito. But it was also very deep — about 114 miles (190 kilometers) below the surface — a distance that might have blunted its damage.

At the Hotel Ambato, Ecuador the front desk reported the quake was felt and it shook up hotel guests who came down to the lobby, but there were no reports of damage.

A call to a small backpacker's hotel in the small town of Tena, which is east of Ambato, also reported that a quake was felt, but there were no damages there either.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that a tsunami did not appear to be generated, based on historical models.