Downtown Los Angeles’ notorious “Graffiti Towers” have been nearly cleared of their illegal artwork after the unfinished development changed hands in a $517 million bankruptcy sale.

Oceanwide Plaza—a group of three incomplete skyscrapers—had stood deserted since 2019, turning into a highly visible and viral canvas for graffiti artists. Now, the long-abandoned towers opposite Crypto.com Arena are being redeveloped as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Olympic Games.

Cleaning teams worked from suspended platforms as high as 35 stories above the ground, removing graffiti from roughly 250 balconies. The operation also uncovered about 1,000 discarded spray-paint cans and a loaded firearm.

A court approved the purchase by KPC Square, a partnership between KPC Group and Lendlease, on July 21, 2026.

Under the terms of the approved sale, the new owners were required to remove graffiti from all three unfinished buildings within 90 days—a deadline that fell on Oct. 20.

“We finished the 250th one at 4 o’clock on Oct. 20, exactly 90 days,” John Petty, KPC Group’s head of real estate development, told the LA Business Journal. “We had to work overtime to get there.”

The strips of glass and concrete between the balconies proved especially difficult to reach, requiring crews to lower suspended platforms from the rooftops.

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While some balconies could be cleaned in about an hour, others required four or five hours of work. Vandals had repeatedly layered paint, applied primer and added clear protective coatings, Petty told the Journal.

Workers used extremely hot chemicals and water to remove the layers of paint. KPC tested multiple cleaning methods before selecting World’s Greatest Graffiti Removal Products for the job.

According to Petty, the East Los Angeles company’s owner “has come out here and basically played master chemist.”

Construction on Oceanwide Plaza began in 2015 as a $1.2 billion luxury project featuring a Park Hyatt hotel, condominiums and retail space near Crypto.com Arena and LA Live.

The project was shelved in 2019 after its Beijing-based parent company, Oceanwide Holdings, ran out of funding. The halt left contractor Lendlease with more than $150 million in unpaid bills, while Oceanwide spent the following five years unable to secure new financing or find a buyer.

The redevelopment will preserve the original mixed-use vision: 504 luxury condominiums, a 184-room Park Hyatt hotel and more than 150,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Texas authorities have identified the man accused of attacking students at a Turning Point USA tent on the University of Texas at Tyler campus Tuesday. The incident is the latest in a series of confrontations involving the conservative youth organization since its founder was assassinated last year.

Smith County booking records list the suspect as Ciro Tomlian.

Video from the confrontation shows a man wearing a cape and wide-brimmed hat throwing an American flag to the ground and swinging a cane at a group of people. Authorities said he is a former student who was not enrolled at the university when the alleged attack occurred.

Tomlian is charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of assault causing bodily injury. He allegedly struck Turning Point USA students with the cane.

A split image shows Ciro Tomlian’s booking photo and a video still from Tuesday’s alleged assault involving three University of Texas at Tyler students participating in a Turning Point USA event on Nov. 10, 2026. (Smith County Sheriff’s Office, @FrontlinesTPUSA/@Lis_Furguson/@AlannaDiane_)

The video captures the closing moments of the encounter and Tomlian’s arrest by campus police. He grabs an American flag, tosses it over his shoulder, raises his middle finger toward the students and says, “Back the f— off you fascist pieces of s—.”

A woman off-camera tells him to stay away. Tomlian then lifts the cane and takes a practice-like swing in her direction.

The man identified as Tomlian shouts, “Back up!” while the woman urges another person to move away.

A male voice off-camera responds, “No one’s scared of you.”

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk speaks at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Oct. 24, 2024. (John Locher/AP Photo)

Tomlian swings the cane again, apparently hitting the person speaking, before another individual rushes in and takes it from him. Police arrive moments later and handcuff the suspect.

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After being restrained, Tomlian appears to characterize the incident as self-defense, saying, “Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences.”

As officers lead him away, he says, “I apologize, officer. I was backed into a corner.”

UT Tyler President Dr. Julie V. Philley confirmed in a statement that the confrontation occurred during a Turning Point USA student event.

Stephen Redic is shown in a booking photo released by the Laconia Police Department in New Hampshire on Nov. 4, 2026. He faces misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct charges after a viral video appeared to show him slapping a Turning Point Action member. (Laconia Police Department)

“An individual who is not a UT Tyler student assaulted three people,” Philley said. “UT Tyler police responded immediately and arrested the individual.”

Tomlian remains held at the Smith County jail, according to booking records. He has also been barred from university property.

“Everyone has the right to free speech, and violence will not be tolerated at this university,” Philley said.

On Election Day, New Hampshire police arrested a 70-year-old poet accused of slapping a Turning Point Action volunteer across the face outside a polling location. That confrontation, involving an affiliated nonprofit, was also captured on video.

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated last year during a TPUSA event at Utah Valley University. Tyler Robinson, the suspect in that case, has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial in June 2028.

When a television repairman’s secret wife was found dead, residents of their Georgia community accused him of imprisoning and killing her.

Alvin Ridley was known throughout Ringgold, Georgia, as the “Zenith Man,” a nickname tied to his television-repair business.

He was also regarded as the town’s boogeyman. Ridley operated from a crumbling old building plastered with typed messages promoting conspiracy theories about the government.

Few people knew he was married until October 1997, when his wife, Virginia Ridley, was found dead inside their home.

Virginia had not been seen in public for 30 years, and suspicion quickly fell on Alvin, who was accused of murdering her.

Prosecutors argued that bruising around Virginia’s neck and bleeding in her eyes pointed to death by asphyxiation.

Attorney McCracken Poston, who joined the Daily Mail at the Hamptons Whodunit festival in Savannah last weekend, agreed to represent Alvin despite his client’s refusal to assist with his own defense.

“Alvin was difficult, and it started to affect him,” Poston told the Daily Mail.

Attorney McCracken Poston represented television repairman Alvin Ridley at his 1999 murder trial

Alvin was accused of killing his wife, Virginia, who had lived in seclusion for three decades before her death in 1997

“I couldn’t find anything about her, and nobody else had seen her, so she was a complete surprise to most people in town.

“Even Alvin was misleading people, because he and Virginia both believed her family was trying to set her up. They would tell little stories such as, ‘Oh, yes, she left me years ago.’”

When the couple married in the 1960s, Virginia’s family ran newspaper advertisements claiming she was missing. Two sheriff’s visits followed, but deputies found that she was not missing.

“The problem was that the story had already appeared in the newspaper, so the rumors and suspicion began spreading through the community,” Poston said.

Virginia’s parents later allegedly attempted to have the couple evicted. Alvin responded by insisting the matter go before a jury.

During the 1967 eviction trial, Virginia appeared in court and told the judge she wanted to remain at home with her husband.

The judge dismissed the case. It was the last time Virginia was seen in public.

“That should have ended the matter, but it didn’t. When she died, the remaining members of her family were operating on rumor and resentment, and they began claiming Alvin had held her against her will,” Poston said.

Alvin was viewed as the town’s boogeyman and ran his business from a deteriorating old building

After the couple married in the 1960s, Virginia’s family placed newspaper ads saying she was missing. Alvin is pictured at center with Virginia, left, and her mother, right, on Virginia’s 18th birthday in 1966

“Virginia received what amounted to a careless autopsy because nobody knew her, and everyone had already decided what they believed had happened.”

Poston found a crucial path to proving that Virginia had died of natural causes in late 1998, when he obtained the autopsy report of Olympic track star Florence Griffith Joyner.

“Georgia officials said Virginia had too much petechial hemorrhaging for the cause to have been a seizure, insisting she must have been murdered. Florence Griffith Joyner had even more hemorrhaging, yet her autopsy concluded that she had suffered a seizure,” he said.

“That was our breakthrough, although I still had this extremely unusual client who refused to cooperate.”

After months of asking, Poston was finally allowed into Alvin’s home on Thanksgiving 1998.

Inside, he found hundreds of Virginia’s writings describing her love for Alvin and their life together.

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“He had created a shrine from all the things she had written. I was stunned because, until then, I knew nothing about her,” Poston said.

At first, Alvin would not permit Poston to use the writings as evidence in his defense.

Poston found hundreds of Virginia’s writings about her love for Alvin and their relationship, which became part of his defense

Although Alvin was acquitted, Poston said half the town continued to believe he was guilty and that clearing his name took decades

“I was incredibly frustrated with him. He insisted on bringing two old suitcases filled with her writings to court. To make matters worse, dozens of cockroaches came along with those suitcases every day,” he said.

Poston later chronicled the case and his relationship with Alvin in his book “Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom”

Because of the infestation, Poston said the judge ordered the proceedings moved to another courtroom. That room happened to be the same one where Virginia had last appeared in public in 1967.

“I was energized because I was bringing this woman’s writings to the very place where she had last been seen publicly. It gave me tremendous momentum,” Poston said.

Then Alvin made a startling announcement: Jesus had appeared to him physically and instructed him to testify.

Alvin took the stand wearing a neck brace, which he brought to court each day because he believed the Constitution excused people from appearing if they were sick or injured.

Poston said he began carrying a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution to show Alvin that his interpretation was incorrect.

“I don’t know whether he truly saw Jesus or simply felt he needed a convincing explanation that I would accept. Either way, Alvin testified remarkably well.”

In 1999, after hearing Poston’s arguments and Alvin’s testimony, the jury acquitted him on every charge.

Even so, Poston said half the town continued to suspect Alvin was guilty, and it took decades for his reputation to recover.

Alvin was later diagnosed with autism and died in 2024 at the age of 82

Poston said the autism diagnosis gave Alvin a sense of freedom in his later years and helped him relax

Years after the trial, a former juror who had moved to Alaska and was working as a nurse discussed Alvin on a podcast and suggested that he be evaluated for autism.

“The moment I heard that, I thought, ‘That makes sense,’ because I had learned about autism since the trial. But I had never been under the pressure of a trial and therefore hadn’t thought to apply that understanding to Alvin,” Poston said.

Alvin was eventually diagnosed with autism. He died in 2024 at age 82.

Poston said the diagnosis appeared to free Alvin during the final years of his life, allowing him to ease up as he gained a better understanding of the challenges he had faced.

He later chronicled his defense of Alvin and their relationship in the book “Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom.”

Speaking to the Daily Mail at the Hamptons Whodunit event, held at The Alida Savannah, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, Poston said Alvin’s case—and the autism that went undiagnosed for much of his life—still weighs on him.

“There are more than five million undiagnosed people with autism who could face the same misunderstandings and misjudgments, potentially putting them on a path toward criminal prosecution,” he said.

“During an investigation, while working with a lawyer, appearing before a jury or ultimately standing before a judge, we all know judges who may become frustrated if a defendant does not look them in the eye. That can have a significant effect on sentencing.

“Unless we improve training so people can recognize and understand undiagnosed autism, this can happen repeatedly—and it will happen repeatedly.”

WESTERN SPRINGS, Ill. (WLS) — Two people were killed and another was injured Wednesday morning when an Amtrak train collided with a vehicle in Western Springs, according to a village spokesperson.

The crash occurred around 8 a.m. after a westbound Amtrak train struck a car on the tracks near Wolf Road, the spokesperson said.

Two people died at the scene, while a third person was transported to Loyola Hospital in Maywood with injuries.

Mike Struglinski said he was inside a nearby bank when he heard the impact.

Chopper 7 was over the crash site at approximately 8:36 a.m.

BNSF service was suspended for most of Wednesday morning as crews responded to the crash.

Inbound and outbound BNSF trains will begin and end service at Chicago Union Station and La Grange Road. Service will also operate between Aurora and Hinsdale.

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No train service will be available between Stone Avenue and Highlands. Metra said two Pace buses will transport passengers between La Grange and Hinsdale.

The crossings at Grand Avenue and Wolf Road are closed, while the Lawn Avenue crossing remains open.

Social workers will be available at Village Hall on Thursday, November 12, from 1 to 5 p.m. to assist anyone who witnessed the crash.

“On Wednesday, Nov. 11, Amtrak train No. 381 was traveling from Chicago to Quincy at approximately 8:10 a.m. (CT) when a vehicle came on the tracks and made contact with the train just west of La Grange.”

“There were no reported injuries to the 35 passengers or crew on board. Amtrak is working with local authorities to investigate the incident.”

“Customers were reaccommodated with alternate transportation via a bus, which will make all stops between La Grange and Quincy.”