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The median home price in Southern California rose about $25,000 in March alone to hit $345,500, underscoring the region's fast-paced recovery. That represented an 8% increase from February and a 23.4% jump from a year earlier. It was the eighth consecutive double-digit increase and the highest level for the median since July 2008, according to March numbers reported Wednesday by real estate firm DataQuick. The robust gains, driven by a low inventory of homes for sale, more "move up" purchases and fewer foreclosures, should help solidify a recovery that began last year.

Suns 99 - Lakers 76 (final) The Lakers failed to win on back-to-back nights for the 14th time this season. The Phoenix Suns shut down the Lakers in the fourth quarter, allowing just 10 points to win, 99-76. Perhaps the Lakers just ran out of steam after a heavy stretch of schedule but Kobe Bryant could only watch in a suit as the Lakers five-point fourth-quarter deficit reached 20 in a short amount of time. Wesley Johnson and Luis Scola led the Suns with 14 points each as Phoenix shot 48.3% from the field and 40.0% from three.

Southern California's housing market is headed toward the spring shopping season with strong price gains and a steady improvement in sales. The robust price gains -- driven by a low inventory of homes listed for sale, more move-up purchases and fewer foreclosures -- should help solidify a recovery that began last year, experts said. The March numbers were reported Wednesday by DataQuick, a real estate information service. While some analysts have voiced concern about the potential for speculation in certain fast-gaining markets, many also note that a sharp recovery should be expected given how far home prices fell during the bust.

Nuggets 119 - Lakers 108 (final) The Denver Nuggets owned the paint, defeating the Lakers, 119-108. The Nuggets scored 78 points in the paint, taking advantage of 12 first-half Lakers' turnovers to build a sizable cushion.  The Lakers won both the third and fourth quarters by a single point but it wasn't enough to overcome a 13-point halftime deficit. Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 29 points on 12-of-23 shooting along with nine assists.  Steve Nash shot 6-of-9 from the field with 16 points, but Nash (six)

For those who want to spend more time than money in Las Vegas, here are 21 things to do for less than $21, all aimed at keeping the bottom line low and the fun factor high. 1. Springs Preserve. Forsake the fake pyramid and fake Statue of Liberty for a power walk through the real Vegas: 110 acres of pre-Bugsy Siegel desert. There are miles of cactus-filled trails, botanic gardens and a museum that pays tribute to the city's Mojave Desert roots. Open daily 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.

State and federal authorities may have cracked down on unscrupulous mortgage lenders to avoid a repeat of the housing market meltdown, but there are still plenty of companies that are eager to dupe people into taking out bad loans. Exhibit A: Companies sending official-looking letters that seem to say you have to take action or else your home loan will be in trouble. The letters, of course, aren't from a government agency. They're from some business trying to get you to refinance.

The Hyatt Regency brand is coming back to downtown L.A. The Marriott at 3rd and Figueroa streets will be renamed the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles Downtown in May. The hotel at 333 S. Figueroa St. started life in 1983 as a luxury Sheraton Grande and later became the Los Angeles Marriott Downtown. The Marriott was foreclosed , and China-based Shenzhen New World Group Co. bought it in 2010. It ceased carrying the Marriott name in August and has been operating as the independent LA Hotel Downtown . The aging hotel has been undergoing a $20-million renovation for more than a year to bring it up to Hyatt standards, a spokeswoman said.

Fifteen years before the clergy sex abuse scandal came to light, Archbishop Roger M. Mahony and a top advisor plotted to conceal child molestation by priests from law enforcement, including keeping them out of California to avoid prosecution, according to internal Catholic church records released Monday. The archdiocese's failure to purge pedophile clergy and reluctance to cooperate with law enforcement has previously been known. But the memos written in 1986 and 1987 by Mahony and Msgr.

The marble walkway leading into the California Club echoes with the ghostly footsteps of land barons, railroad tycoons and political kingmakers. So does the ostentatious front lobby of the Jonathan Club nearby. Private business clubs once were centers of power in downtown Los Angeles. You might have found rail magnate Henry E. Huntington playing dominoes and plotting his next expansion beneath the high, oak-paneled walls. Or William May Garland, the real estate developer, scheming to bring the 1932 Summer Olympics to Los Angeles.

Dodgers prospect Yasiel Puig was arrested by police in Chattanooga, Tenn., early Sunday and charged with speeding, reckless driving and driving without proof of insurance. A spokesman for the Hamilton County jail confirmed that Puig was booked Sunday morning and released a short time later. He has a hearing scheduled for the afternoon of May 14 in Hamilton County court. Puig, a 22-year-old Cuban defector, signed a seven-year, $42-million contract with the Dodgers last June. An impressive spring -- during which he hit .517, homered three times and drove in 11 runs in 27 games -- had him in the running for a spot on the opening day roster.

DENVER - Sorry, Lakers fans. Not yet. A modest three-game Lakers winning streak was strewn across the court by the Denver Nuggets, who looked like the varsity scrimmaging against the JVs for most of a breezy 119-108 victory Monday night at the Pepsi Center. The Lakers were turnstiles on defense, the Nuggets amassing - stop and sit for a sec - 78 points in the paint. Fastbreak points? Please. The Lakers were annihilated, 33-3. There was cheering for a fast-food taco promotion, but not the type Lakers fans would like.

A French electronic artist, Sébastien Tellier specializes in delivering lush, dreamy soundscapes drenched in atmosphere. Previously he has collaborated with artists as diverse as Daft Punk and Fela Kuti's legendary drummer Tony Allen, but here he'll deliver a rare performance stateside that focuses on his unique brand of romantic soundcraft. 333 Live, 333 S. Boylston St., Los Angeles. 9 p.m. Thurs. Free. RSVP at rsvp.vice.com/AirParties.

Despite a vexing ratings slump at its children's network Nickelodeon, Viacom Inc.'s second-quarter profit soared 56%. The strong earnings were produced by higher fees from pay-television operators and lower expenses at the media company's Paramount Pictures movie studio. For the quarter ended March 31, Viacom earned $585 million, or $1.07 a share, up from $376 million, or 63 cents, a year earlier. Revenue grew 2% to $3.33 billion. "Across our divisions we sharpened our focus on execution and efficiency while continuing to invest in programming," Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman told analysts in a Thursday morning conference call.

More people closed deals on home purchases in October than economists expected, driving down the number of homes available for sale to an eight-month supply. Existing-home sales rose 1.4% from the previous month and were 13.5% above the same month a year earlier. Each month, the National Assn. of Realtors reports the figures in the form of an annual sales pace adjusted for seasonal variations. Last month's pace was 4.97 million, the group reported. Regionally, sales were up 4.4% in the West over the previous month, up 2.1% in the South, up 2.8% in the Midwest and down 5.1% in the Northeast.

In its first earnings report with Meg Whitman as chief executive, Hewlett-Packard Co. reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit and revenue that beat expectations, but cautioned that it expected a challenging 2012. The tech giant Monday reported revenue of $32.1 billion for the three months ended Oct. 31, down 3.5% from $33.3 billion last year. Profit totaled $239 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with $2.54 billion, or $1.10, a year earlier. Excluding one-time charges and other items, Hewlett-Packard would have earned $1.17 a share, beating the Wall Street estimate of $1.13.

At one point during the Dodgers' 8-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday, a fan at Petco Park shouted at Matt Kemp . "Braun got two hits!" the fan alerted him. "Braun got two hits!" The fan was referring to Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers, whom Kemp is pursuing in the race for the National League batting title. "I just started laughing," Kemp said. "Shoot, he's actually one of my favorite players. " Kemp's triple-crown ambitions took a significant hit on this day, as Braun raised his average to .333 while Kemp was one for five, dropping his to .325.

Bishop Graphics fell flat on its face last year when it tried to enter the computer business. The Westlake Village-based company, the leading manufacturer of drafting supplies for designers of printed circuit boards, got the cold shoulder from customers when it tried to sell them costly computers and software. Eventually, Bishop Graphics lost as much as $750,000 on the venture. Even so, the company is undeterred.

The last 10 days have been emotional and exhausting for Allyson Felix. The 22-year-old from Los Angeles, who ran a personal-best 100-meter time of 10.93 seconds May 8 in Qatar, has since attended the funeral for the father of her boyfriend, Ken Ferguson, in Detroit and then attended her graduation from USC.

The British phone hacking scandal rocking Rupert Murdoch's media empire did not stop the company's top executives from being lavished with big salaries and bonuses. Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp., collected a $12.5-million bonus in fiscal 2011. He continues to be one of the most handsomely compensated executives in America — collecting a total package of $33.3 million for the fiscal year 2011. The 80-year-old media mogul's salary and stock package soared 46% over 2010 because of the bonus, which was bestowed because of Murdoch's leadership guiding the company through the economic downturn, News Corp.

The Treasury Department said Thursday that it had received an additional $1.8 billion from the General Motors Co. stock offering last month, bringing the total haul to $13.5 billion to help pay down the automaker's taxpayer-funded bailout. The additional money came from about 54 million GM shares owned by the Treasury that the underwriters of GM's initial public offering had the option to purchase within 30 days of the Nov. 23 offering. The sale of those shares three days later added to the $11.7 billion the government received from its initial sale of shares and cut the government's ownership stake nearly in half, to 33.3%, the Treasury said.