Campaigns

City Controller Wendy Greuel, whose campaign for Los Angeles mayor had been dramatically out-spending rival Eric Garcetti, loaned her campaign $100,000, according to documents filed with the City Ethics Commission over the weekend. The move comes a little more than two weeks before election day, as Greuel faces cash-flow pressures that have forced her to cut back on TV advertising. A clear picture of the candidates' financial conditions will emerge on Thursday, when financial disclosure reports are due.  But a Times review of fundraising and spending in recent weeks found that Greuel has been raising less money than City Councilman Garcetti, but spending at a faster pace since the March 5 primary.

Despite bitter attacks in recent weeks, the two candidates for mayor of Los Angeles grudgingly conceded in a debate Sunday night that their rival was (mostly) honest and not so different on many of the plans they have for leading the city. That didn't mean City Councilman Eric Garcetti and Controller Wendy Greuel didn't find plenty of opportunity for attacks on each other's trustworthiness and independence. But they also laid out records that they said made them most qualified to replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is leaving office June 30 after serving the maximum two terms.

Metta World Peace has taken a leadership role in fostering mental health awareness. Starting Monday, World Peace and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health will partner in May for Mental Health Awareness Month. World Peace's "Talk It Out" campaign will be on display on Metropolitan Transportation Authority shelters, depots, buses and trains in both English and Spanish. “It's unnecessary stress if you're holding things in,” World Peace said. “It can just bring unnecessary stress to your heart and to your mind.

One day last year, a 9-year-old named Thomas came home and announced he was running for office. "Are you kidding me?" his father responded. "Don't we have enough elections in this family?" Thomas, the son of Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel, has been around politics his entire life. Over the years, he has gamely tagged along as Greuel has waged four election campaigns, including her current bid for mayor. He's the kid with sandy blond hair and square-framed glasses standing next to Greuel at fundraisers, field office openings and in commercials.

SHABQADAR, Pakistan - When Masoom Shah hits the campaign trail these days, he brings a 9-millimeter Glock pistol and a team of up to 50 bodyguards. Instead of appearing before large crowds, he meets small clusters of voters at guesthouses where everyone is frisked before they enter. He limits his speeches to 30 minutes and then quickly slips out of the room. And at the end of the day, he returns home and prays. "I say to God, 'Thank you, another peaceful day has passed,'" said Shah, 45, a member of Pakistan's secular, anti-Taliban Awami National Party, or ANP, and a provincial assembly candidate in the country's volatile northwest.

Chances are by now you've seen " Real Beauty Sketches ," a video released a few weeks ago by the Dove soap people. It documents a social experiment: Women describe themselves to a forensic sketch artist, who draws them from behind a curtain. Then the artist draws the same women based on descriptions from people who've only just met them. The accounts don't exactly line up. "My mom told me I had a big jaw" turns into "she was thin, so you could see her cheekbones. " "I kind of have a fat, rounder face" turns into "she had nice eyes.

WASHINGTON - Early last month, state lawyers and election officials around the country dialed into a conference call to talk about how to deal with the flood of secret money that played an unprecedented role in the 2012 election. The discussion, which included officials from California, New York, Alaska and Maine, was a first step toward a collaborative effort to force tax-exempt advocacy organizations and trade associations out of the shadows. The unusual initiative was driven by the lack of progress at the federal level in pushing those groups to disclose their contributors if they engage in campaigns, as candidates and political action committees are required to do. "There is no question that one of the reasons to have states working together is because the federal government, in numerous arenas, has failed to take action," said Ann Ravel, chairwoman of California's Fair Political Practices Commission, who organized the call with officials from about 10 states.

WASHINGTON - President Obama on Wednesday will nominate venture capitalist Thomas Wheeler as the nation's top telecommunications regulator, tapping a major campaign fundraiser with long ties to the media and the telecom industries, White House and industry officials said. Wheeler, managing director of Core Capital Partners in Washington, D.C., would replace Julius Genachowski as chairman of the five-member Federal Communications Commission board. Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, who was mentioned as a candidate, will take over as acting chairman when Genachowski steps down in the coming weeks.

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen is resisting a push by activists and journalists for better disclosure of campaign finance data, arguing in essence that it would cost too much to comply. It's a surprising stance from Bowen, whose office has fought to make more information about donors available to California voters. It also strains credulity. At issue is a request by MapLight California, California Common Cause and 10 others, including this newspaper, for a downloadable version of the campaign finance data that the secretary of state collects.

When two groups supporting rival Los Angeles City Council candidates met on a street in Little Armenia last week, an afternoon of vote canvassing turned into an altercation. Two 17-year-old campaign workers for candidate John Choi claim they were stopped and threatened with violence by two men who are backing Mitch O'Farrell, Choi's opponent in the 13th Council District race. They allege that after they called a supervisor to come to the scene, a third man then approached and brandished a gun. Supporters of O'Farrell deny that account, saying it was the Choi workers who sparked the confrontation by falsely claiming that a prominent Armenian American leader had endorsed Choi.