CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
February 23, 2013 | By Seema Mehta and David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times
Outside campaign committees affiliated with two powerful city employee unions have spent more than $2.2 million on their bid to make Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel the city's next mayor, according to Ethics Commission records posted Saturday. Working Californians, which is heavily backed by the Department of Water and Power union, reported spending an additional $770,000 on Greuel, much of it for campaign commercials. That brings the group's total to $1.65 million - money that has also gone toward billboards, pollsters and campaign consultants working on Greuel's behalf.
SPORTS
February 16, 2013 | Bill Plaschke
PHOENIX - They dress side by side in the Dodgers' spring training clubhouse, the hot prospect and the old pitcher, worlds apart, inseparably linked. The hot prospect, Yasiel Puig, crisply drapes a uniform across the muscled frame of a fullback. The old pitcher, Eddie Oropesa, slowly climbs into a uniform with a softening body that hasn't appeared in a major league game in nine years. Puig is a promising outfielder who was illustriously signed out of Cuba last summer for $42 million.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
February 16, 2013 | By Bob Pool, Los Angeles Times
Most restaurant owners shudder when a food truck pulls up outside. Not Mike Israyelyan. He invited one inside the Hollywood restaurant he calls Calle Tacos. Israyelyan and partners Robert Vinokur and Dorian and Javier Villaseñor spent $20,000 to have the side of a 22-foot-long food truck measured and an exact copy fabricated out of stainless steel. Then they equipped it with lights and tires, covered it with a colorful vinyl logo wrap and hauled it on a flatbed to Hollywood Boulevard.
NATIONAL
February 13, 2013 | By Michael Muskal
The Department of Defense inspector general has questioned an Air Force report of its investigation that blamed the pilot for the 2010 crash of an F-22 Raptor fighter jet. In its report released on Monday, the inspector general's office questioned the original findings of the Air Force's Accident Investigation Board (AIB) report on the F-22 crash. “The AIB Statement of Opinion regarding the cause of the mishap was not supported by the facts within the AIB report consistent with the clear and convincing standard of proof,” according to the inspector general's report.
SPORTS
February 12, 2013
Lakers tonight VS. PHOENIX When: 7:30. Where: Staples Center. On the air: TV: TWC SportsNet, TWC Deportes; Radio: 710, 1330. Records: Lakers 24-28, Suns 17-35. Record vs. Suns: 1-1. Update: Ex-Laker Lindsey Hunter has a 4-7 record since taking over for Alvin Gentry last month as coach of the Suns. Phoenix has won only five of 27 road games this season. Point guard Goran Dragic leads the team in scoring (14.2 points per game) and assists (6.4). —Barry Stavro
NEWS
February 11, 2013 | By Jay Jones
Five funny folks will entertain Feb. 22 and 23 in Las Vegas when these stars of cable's Comedy Central perform standup schtick during the “Comedy Central Vegas Weekend.” Comics Dave Attell and Jim Norton will bring their adults-only humor to the Hollywood Theatre at the MGM Grand both nights. Attell, who has a career spanning more than 20 years, stars in the Showtime series “Dave's Old Porn.” Norton, who is heard daily on SiriusXM's “Opie and Anthony” program, has also written two bestselling books.
TRAVEL
February 10, 2013 | By Catharine Hamm
Consumers continue to get dinged and, worse, surprised by "resort" fees that often aren't quoted upfront in the hotel booking process. This one lump-sum fee often covers such items as phone calls, bottled water, Internet access, access to the pool or spa or other services that guests may or may not use. In September, two On the Spot columns dealt with those fees. When I contacted three consumer advocates who were active about the issue, they had just received a reply to a letter of complaint that they had sent to the Federal Trade Commission.
BUSINESS
February 8, 2013 | By Dawn C. Chmielewski, Los Angeles Times
Some bands wait years to reach the Grammy stage. The rock band Within Reason won on the strength of a monthlong social media campaign. The Alabama group was selected from among 1,500 contenders from around the country who vied for the chance to perform in front of a live audience and be featured as part of CBS' online coverage of the Grammy Awards. The Gig of a Lifetime concert is one of the highlights of three days of original digital programming that will give viewers Internet access to events they might not otherwise see. VOTE: Grammy awards play-at-home ballot The events also include streaming coverage of Friday's Social Media Rock Stars Summit, where Grammy-nominated producer/songwriter Om'Mas Keith and four-time Grammy winner Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins headline a discussion of how digital and social media have changed the music industry.
BUSINESS
February 7, 2013 | By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times
Retailers got a much-needed boost in January after a lackluster holiday shopping season, using post-holiday clearance deals to lure cagey consumers worried about higher payroll taxes. H&M's coupon for 30% off this week drew Toluca Lake payroll accountant Katy Genovese to the store at the Americana at Brand shopping center. She walked out with a $20 dress and $30 in shirts. Genovese, 57, and her shopping partner, Lori Berlanga, 45, said they spent January hitting up malls for bargains that are increasingly plentiful and longer-lasting.
SPORTS
February 4, 2013 | By Broderick Turner
BOSTON - In the end, it was just another loss the Clippers suffered to the Boston Celtics, 106-104, on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden. The Clippers could talk all they wanted about rallying from a 19-point deficit to pull to within two points, but it was that big hole they dug in the first half that put L.A. in that position in the first place. The Clippers could talk all they wanted about missing All-Star point guard Chris Paul (bruised right kneecap), but the Celtics also were missing Rajon Rondo (season-ending torn ligament in right knee)