Beverly Hills Ca

There are million-dollar mansions in foreclosure, layoffs on Rodeo Drive. And reservations are no longer a must at all but the most exclusive restaurants. As recently as the summer, many wealthy Southern California enclaves appeared beyond the reach of the worst recession in decades. But rich cities, it turns out, aren't always so different from the rest.

When Rick Caruso first bought a triangular lot near the intersection of Burton Way and La Cienega and San Vincente boulevards nearly 15 years ago, he had yet to make his name as the baron of developments such as the Grove and Americana at Brand. The property has sat undeveloped ever since. But in the last few years, the area around it has been on an upswing -- buoyed in part by the success of Caruso's Grove project to the east. Shops and restaurants along 3rd Street have become regional draws.

Beverly Hills has long afforded companies a platinum-plated address with amenities to match -- top-notch restaurants, hotels and boutiques in a walkable environment. The city has attracted such prestigious businesses as MySpace, Live Nation, Platinum Equity and talent agencies William Morris and the Firm. But in recent years Beverly Hills has suffered the loss of three high-profile companies: Creative Artists Agency and ICM, talent agencies that migrated to Century City; and Hilton Hotels Corp.

He's saddled up with his feet in the stirrups and his hands on the reins. After 24 years, is it time for John Wayne to ride out of Beverly Hills and into the sunset in Newport Beach? That question was weighing heavily -- about 6 tons in all -- at Wilshire Boulevard and Hamilton Drive on Thursday as word came that a landmark statue of the Duke might be uprooted and moved to Orange County.

Will actor Omar Sharif pay up in dollars or euros? That's what parking valet Juan Anderson is wondering after the film star was ordered to pay him $318,190 as a result of a 2005 altercation outside a Beverly Hills restaurant. Sharif, best known for his roles in the movies "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Dr. Zhivago," allegedly punched Anderson in the face when the valet refused to accept a 20-euro note as payment for retrieving his Porsche sport utility vehicle at Mastro's Steakhouse.

As she confronted the shackled man who beheaded her neighbor and then mutilated her husband, Valerie Engelson stood in court Friday and called out to her slain spouse. "I cry thinking of your last vision, scared, staring helplessly into the eyes of this demented beast, a total stranger from off the street," she said in a voice that rang with rage. "I know your killer will die in prison one day alone in his cell, old at the end of a despicable life of horror. . . . Then off to hell."

The operator of two English language schools was charged Wednesday with running a scheme that allowed foreign nationals, including several Russian prostitutes, to fraudulently obtain student visas to enter and stay in the United States. Bezhad "Ben" Zaman, 50, of Beverly Hills, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Iran, was arrested by federal agents without incident in what investigators believe is the largest student visa fraud scheme ever staged on the West Coast, authorities said.

If you hate to sit in traffic at the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards, prepare to discover your inner reserves of patience. To the dismay of residents wary of overdevelopment, the Beverly Hills City Council has approved a high-rise condo and retail project for the eight-acre site of the defunct Robinsons-May department store.

Beverly Hills Police Lt. Michael Hines knows the sinking feeling officers get when they pull someone over for speeding only to see other drivers go roaring past. He can't be everywhere at once. The dozen traffic officers who patrol this wealthy burg say they've watched it happen for years. While they work the city's busier streets, motorists are short-cutting on quiet residential roads, often tearing along in what Hines calls "wonderfully high-performance vehicles." Scottsdale, Ariz.

Imagine a glass house with mid-20th century lines and mountain views in a country setting, with hawks soaring overhead and an orchard overflowing with fruit. Sound like Eden? That's what owner Doug Chapin dubbed this Beverly Hills-area estate, which he bought and remodeled in 2003. The main house was designed in 1959 by Hal Levitt, the Modernist architect.