Today’s News: Dorner tips keep coming; Backing off ‘Three Strikes’; LAUSD weighs layoffs

Manhunt continues. The search for suspected murderer Christopher Dorner is now going full bore on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Authorities raided a hotel in Tijuana, Mexico yesterday where they thought the fugitive ex-cop might be hiding. But it turned out to be just another dead end. Multiple police agencies are investigating more than 800 tips about Dorner. Officers in Big Bear have been going door to door to check cabins. Meanwhile, court records show that Dorner’s burned out truck was found near property owned by one of his associates. That’s led to speculation that he may have received help. KGTV, L.A. Times

Easing ‘Three Strikes’. An L.A. judge has started the process of reconsidering the sentences of more than 1,000 inmates convicted under the state’s Three Strikes law. Proposition 36 – approved by voters last November – eases the state’s three strikes law and allows inmates convicted of non-violent and non-serious offenses to seek shorter prison terms. Five inmates were ordered released yesterday, including an 81-year-old inmate who has served 17 years for stealing cigarettes. L.A. Times

Mahony’s vote. Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony will travel to Rome next month where he’ll participate in a special papal conclave to elect a successor to retiring Pope Benedict XVI. Mahony is a member of the 210-member College of Cardinals, which has the responsibility of electing a new pope. Cardinal Mahony’s turn on the global stage comes as controversy swirls him locally. Recently released church documents show that Mahony and other church leaders conspired to thwart police investigations of suspected child abuse by priests. L.A. Daily News

LAUSD layoffs. A group of L.A. Unified employees is speaking out against a proposal to layoff more than 200 district workers. The employees on the chopping block today include school psychologists, psychiatric social workers, counselors and teacher-librarians. Opponents say it’s counterproductive to fire the counselors and the other employees when the district is promoting school safety. LAUSD recently announced plans to hire up to one thousand campus aides to make campuses safer. KTLA

Fracking review. California lawmakers are scheduled to hold an oversight hearing on hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” today. The state’s Conservation Department has released draft regulations for the controversial drilling practice that will require energy companies to disclose for the first time the chemicals they inject into the ground. Oil regulators, environmental groups and representatives from the oil industry are expected to speak at today’s hearing. Capitol Public Radio.