Canoe

In a summer wonderland of theme parks and sparkling beaches, city officials soon will be offering canoe and kayak trips along the upper reaches of the Los Angeles River. Tickets for the Los Angeles River adventure are expected to go on sale as early as July 8, and promoters are promising a ride like no other. The route through the San Fernando Valley's Sepulveda Basin flood control channel will take customers along a 3-mile stretch of river where the water is 10 to 15 feet deep and edged with willows, sycamores and slanted concrete walls a stone's throw from the 101 and 405 freeways.

Here are some good places for eating experiences: Local eatery. Hawaiian Style Cafe, Waimea. This low-key breakfast joint is an obsession with those who have tried it. Lines of locals form on weekends, and the place closes when it runs out of food. The Loco Moco (eggs, hamburger and gravy over rice) is the "local food" you are looking for. (808) 885- 4295. Romantic dinner. CanoeHouse, Mauna Lani Bay Hotel. A beachside location, indoor-outdoor seating, live Hawaiian music and plenty of fresh fish make CanoeHouse the place for a romantic splurge or special occasion.

Although this quiet town on the Russian River was named for a trader in pioneer times, today its name is more likely to be associated with canoeing and wine tasting. Those are the favorite activities of summertime visitors, who also are drawn to the area by its country inns and excellent restaurants. At Trowbridge Recreation, near the river, rent a canoe to explore the rural and redwood scenery of Sonoma County. Then exchange your paddle for a stemmed glass to sample the region's fine wines, including the champagnes of Korbel and Piper Sonoma.

Although Colombia's armed forces delivered a serious blow to the country's largest rebel force with the killing of its leader, analysts Saturday held out little hope for a peace initiative by the decimated but still potent leftist insurgent group. The 63-year-old rebel leader, who went by the alias Alfonso Cano, was killed Friday in a military operation in southwestern Colombia. At a news conference Saturday, President Juan Manuel Santos called on the rebels to lay down their arms.

Enjoyed your coverage of eco-tours to the Amazon ("Exploring Amazonia," July 21). I have just returned from a fabulous adventure to the other end of the Amazon, the River Napo out of Coca, Ecuador. Biological Journeys, McKinleyville, Calif., arranges trips to the La Selva Jungle Lodge from Quito. This tour company made excellent arrangements for me, and once there via motor canoe and paddle canoe, I saw the rain forest, countless butterflies, birds, monkeys, insects, bats, fish, medicinal plants.

"One, TWO, three, tip!" I crash into the water with three 10-year-old girls giggling and screaming. Despite my warnings, the girls haven't securely placed the paddles under the gunwales. They start floating away. I have one hand steadying the canoe, the other reaching for the blades; with my legs, I'm trying to scramble into the water-filled boat. The girls are spilling out of the canoe, threatening the precarious balance, shrieking as we make no further progress toward shore.

Former CIA Director William E. Colby probably suffered a heart attack or stroke while he was out canoeing, and then fell into the water and died, the Maryland medical examiner's office said. An autopsy found evidence that the former spymaster, 76, had suffered from hardening of the arteries, Chief Medical Examiner John Smialek said. The body was found after an eight-day search.

Robert Melford doesn't remember much about the day he nearly lost his life. The 26-year-old assistant Boy Scout leader can't recall the 20-foot powerboat slamming into the canoe from which he was fishing. He doesn't remember the frantic shouts for help, the blood from the gaping gash in his head, the chilly water of Lake Mohave as he went under. The last thing that Melford remembers is dozing in the red canoe, absorbing the desert sun and waiting for the bass to bite. He said his memory picks up about a week after the April 1 accident.

I enjoyed the article on Tahaa ["Afloat on Society's Fringe," Oct. 19]. About 35 years ago, my brother and I, both in our 50s, visited there. A brochure in our Raiatea hotel said it would be a fun boat ride, so we asked about getting there. A guy named Joe took us to his boat, which was a canoe with an outboard motor. The minute we left it started to rain. We spent a half-hour in the open ocean -- no radio, out of sight of land -- but we got there. We were in bathing trunks, so Joe asked us if we wanted to dive and see the fish.

The boyfriend of a San Clemente woman found stabbed to death inside her apartment was arrested in Texas where he was found sleeping in a canoe along the banks of the Rio Grande, police said Monday. Robert Karl Russell, 40, was arrested on suspicion of weapons violations and will be questioned in the death of Cheryl L. Joyner, authorities said. Police in Cameron County, Texas, said they found the victim's car parked near the place where they arrested Russell.

NEW YORK -- Robinson Cano hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, rookie Ivan Nova pitched brilliantly into the ninth inning in an unusual relief appearance and the New York Yankees shook off a 23-hour rain delay to beat the Detroit Tigers 9-3 in their suspended playoff opener Saturday night. A day after rain wiped out aces Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia after only 1 1/2 innings, the game resumed in the bottom of the second. No national anthem, all Yankees. Cano barely missed a homer on his tiebreaking double in the fifth and New York broke it open with a six-run sixth against Doug Fister.

The Angels roughed up Mariano Rivera twice in three days. They did not have to face Alex Rodriguez or CC Sabathia. They still lost the series. So, since the Angels are a team with October aspirations, just how do they match up with the New York Yankees? "If you go by payroll, they've got us beat," outfielder Torii Hunter said. The city of New York went into full panic mode on Thursday, even though the Yankees beat the Angels, 6-5. Rivera had his third consecutive poor outing — this time giving up a three-run home run to Russell Branyan — forcing the fans of the spending champions to freak out about what might happen in the ninth inning come October.

Reporting from Phoenix — Matt Kemp admitted he got a little excited at his first taste of All-Star competition, even if it was basically just batting practice. "I was probably a little amped up. Probably a little quick," the Dodgers outfielder said after Monday's home run derby. But even the fact he finished last in the eight-man event with just two home runs couldn't take the shine off his evening. "It was tight, man. That was a great experience," Kemp said. "I wish I could have hit more home runs.

In a summer wonderland of theme parks and sparkling beaches, city officials soon will be offering canoe and kayak trips along the upper reaches of the Los Angeles River. Tickets for the Los Angeles River adventure are expected to go on sale as early as July 8, and promoters are promising a ride like no other. The route through the San Fernando Valley's Sepulveda Basin flood control channel will take customers along a 3-mile stretch of river where the water is 10 to 15 feet deep and edged with willows, sycamores and slanted concrete walls a stone's throw from the 101 and 405 freeways.

When Gary Ferguson closed his eyes, he could still hear the roar of the river and see the torrent of water as it crashed through boulders and fallen trees. Jane was in the bow, he was in the stern, and the rapids surrounded them. "Paddle hard!" he remembered yelling, as if paddling might have helped. FOR THE RECORD: Grief journey: In a Nov. 14 article in Section A about writer Gary Ferguson's hike to spread the ashes of his wife in the wilderness, a caption under a photograph of a campfire scene identified the man on the left as Steve Muth.

The gig : General manager of the 54-story Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotel complex at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles. A local guy : Cano, 53, is the son of Mexican immigrants, born near Chinatown at what was once known as the French Hospital and is now called the Pacific Alliance Medical Center. Today he can see the neighborhood where he was born and grew up from the top floor of his hotel complex. A long route to the top : He made a lot of stops on his way to the top of the Ritz-Carlton.

In the late 1800s, wealthy families from Ohio and other Midwest states would travel by rail, boat and horse-drawn wagons through rugged wilderness to reach this tiny lakeside town in northern Michigan. Today the rustic community is not much bigger, still set among seemingly endless stands of pine trees and an intricate system of serene rivers and lakes. But now it is easily accessible and more than living up to the Michigan slogan, "Water Wonderland." Indian River lies at the southern tip of Burt and Mullet lakes, two of the largest lakes in the state, about a four-hour drive north of Detroit.

One team member nearly drowned. One fell off a cliff. One wanted to call it quits one day into the competition. Such were the trials and tribulations of Team Rockport, the five-person squad from Orange County that traveled to Patagonia, Argentina, in early December for the world's toughest extreme endurance event, Raid Gauloises ("Endurance on the Edge," Nov. 29). Team Rockport was, along with nearly a dozen others, disqualified five days into the competition for failing to reach a mandatory checkpoint by a certain time.

What could have been a spirit-lifting victory for the Dodgers quickly turned into their ugliest loss of the season. Overtaxed closer Jonathan Broxton blew a four-run lead and the usually level-headed Garret Anderson was tossed from the game in a brutal ninth inning for the Dodgers, who were beaten an inning later on a two-run home run by Robinson Cano. The 8-6 defeat to the New York Yankees was capped by the 10th-inning ejection of Russell Martin, who slammed his bat when a pitch from Mariano Rivera that he believed was ball four was called for a third strike.

New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano drove in 85 runs last season, a very respectable number. His current hitting streak has him on pace to surpass that total by year's end. Cano has a major-league-best .361 batting average and 50 RBI near the season's halfway mark, landing him in the top 10 in the American League. Cano, who has a .413 on-base percentage and 53 runs, said he has become more patient at the plate. Viewing more pitches also helped him to hit .400 in April and .357 in June, he said.