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Hesperia and other High Desert communities have fallen on hard times -- which some local leaders say could be leading to teen crime.

Another alleged murder plot by middle school kids in San Bernardino County -- uncovered just two days after three young teens were arrested and charged with trying to kill a mom -- has residents of the High Desert communities wondering just what is going on.

The San Bernardino Sun reports that a 14-year-old boy from Phelan was arrested yesterday at about 12:45 a.m. for allegedly hatching a plot -- complete with procured weapons and written plans -- to kill a classmate who had supposedly taken his bike.

The boy had also tried to enlist the help of other classmates, but was unsuccessful, according to the Sun. Authorities say they received a tip about his plans -- the alleged target had no inkling about it -- and made the arrest at the boy’s home.

Two days earlier, a 13-year-old girl from Hesperia enlisted the help of two friends -- a boy and girl, both 14 -- in an alleged attempt to enter her mother’s trailer home and kill her as she slept.

In that incident, the three friends -- all students at Ranchero Middle School -- “conspired, formulated a plan and attempted to kill” the girl’s mother because she was considered to be too stern in her parenting, authorities said. The mother, Angelica Aquirre, was attacked but not seriously hurt (at least not physically).

Today, local leaders and residents are trying to figure out why these things are happening.

“When we heard there was another one, we were shocked,” a sheriff’s spokesperson told the Sun.

Hesperia Mayor Russ Blewett said the problem could be a recent influx of low-income residents to their communities following the housing bubble.

LAPD

Abel Avila is shown in his more recent driver's license photograph.

Los Angeles police announced a surprise arrest in a very old L.A. murder case, catching a man who they say had moved to San Jose, changed his name and lived on the lam for 27 years.

Abel Avila, now 57, has been wanted ever since a 30-year-old Los Angeles man named Arnulfo Medina was shot and killed on July 10, 1985 in a love-triangle murder, police said yesterday in a statement.

He was arrested Tuesday in San Jose after officers found him living under an alias and carrying a fake driver’s license.

According to police, Avila shot and killed his sister’s boyfriend 27 years ago because the man was having an adulterous affair with another of Avila’s relatives -- something that upset Avila so much he was allegedly willing to kill over it.

As described in the statement released yesterday, that night in 1985, at about 8:30 p.m., “Medina was walking with his girlfriend in the area of 37th Street and Main Street when the suspect, 30-year-old Abel Avila, who is the girlfriend’s brother, approached in his car and confronted Medina. Avila pulled out a gun and shot Medina, killing him.”

Somehow, investigators from the LAPD’s Newton Station caught a tip that Avila was living in San Jose. They traveled there and “after a long surveillance, a probation search, followed by more hours of surveillance,” located the fugitive and arrested him.

He was taken back to Newton Station and booked on murder charges.

Ben Margot/AP

After weather-related (or perhaps, rematch-related) issues posteponed the push off from San Francisco Bay last week, the retired Battleship U.S.S. Iowa is finally set to complete its journey to the Port of Los Angeles.

Headed south to meet its new destiny as an interactive naval museum, the U.S.S. Iowa is scheduled to depart the Port of Richmond at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 26, and begin a four-day tow down the coast, provided the weather cooperates.

A decades-long member of the "mothball fleet," the powerful ship is expected to pass under the Golden Gate Bridge between 2-3 p.m. on Saturday as it makes its way out of the Bay area.

Those with an obstructed view or limited shore access, from, say, living anywhere else in the world that isn't the California coast, can still track the ship's movements, however.

The Pacific Battleship Center –- the non profit that’s restoring the ship and bringing it to L.A. -- will be providing a live stream of the voyage thanks to a webcam mounted above the bow, and a donation of transponders and tracking services by Pole Star Space Applications Ltd.

Robert Kent, president of The Pacific Battleship Center, says the organization doesn't operate other attractions, and that it was created specifically for the purpose of acquiring the U.S.S. Iowa from the U.S. Navy.

"We’ve just finished about three-million dollars worth of restoration work on the vessel and the Iowa actually looks like she’s ready to go back into service," Kent told KPCC's Ashley Bailey. "All her weaponry is back on board, the entire superstructure all the way down to the waterline has been repainted, mast has been put back on."

The Pacific Battleship Center has a 10-year permit with the City of L.A.’s Harbor Department to maintain the battleship along the San Pedro waterfront.

According to the agreement, the city has the right to relocate the Iowa if annual paid attendance falls below 100,000 visitors, but Kent expects the ship will draw double that number of visitors per year. 

The museum will open in July.

Pro tip: Don't call the battleship a boat. "That will be the first thing that makes all us sailors cringe. A boat is really tiny and this is really magnificent," says Kent.

FBI

Eric Wells

Two people have been indicted in an alleged multistate pimping operation that had at least two underage girls, and possibly others, turning tricks around California and the Southwest, including near Disneyland.

Authorities say they currently know of two young victims, ages 14 and 17, who were shuttled around and advertised as prostitutes on websites like MyRedBook and Backpage, then made to turn tricks in motels like the Motel 6 on Disney Way.

Eric Wells, 24, and Tonisha Moore, 22, were arrested late last month, and on Wednesday a federal grand jury handed down an indictment against them, the Orange County Register reports. Moore is described as a prostitute and the mother of Wells’ child. The teen girls in their service were not related to them.

Although Anaheim police cracked the case and the couple was tracked down in Sacramento, the couple allegedly crossed state lines with the girls -- three times in a nine-day period -- so are now in the custody of the FBI, according to reports. They face charges in federal court of sex trafficking of children, conspiracy and transportation of minors, and could face life in prison if convicted.

Wells and Moore allegedly claimed the girls were 19 in their ads -- and authorities believe there may be other underage victims.

Anaheim police first noticed one of the girls as she was exiting a CVS drugstore on South Beach Boulevard -- a 14-year-old alone in an area frequented by prostitutes. Asked where she lived, the girl told officers she was staying at the Travelodge down the street.

Police investigated and the case unraveled from there. Wells and Moore were arrested April 24 at a motel in Sacramento, where police say they had taken the 17-year-old.

According to authorities, the couple met the girls in Las Vegas in mid-April. They traveled to Phoenix soon after that before arriving in Anaheim.

Photo: Westminster Police Department

Jenna Jameson was arrested Friday May 25, 2012 for suspected DUI.

Jenna Jameson was arrested early Friday morning in Southern California on suspicion of driving under the influence.

The ex-adult film star struck a light pole with her vehicle, say Westminster police, who received a 911 call reporting the accident around 12:45 a.m., reports the OC Register.

The famous former porn actress, who suffered minor injuries in the accident but refused medical treatment, showed signs of intoxication prompting authorities to conduct a field sobriety test, according to a statement.

Jameson, who has twin sons with mixed martial arts star Tito Ortiz, was booked at the Westminster City Jail and later cited and released.