Charles Smith

Former Boston Celtic player Charles Smith was convicted Thursday of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a crime in the hit-and-run deaths of two Boston University students. He was acquitted of the more serious charge of manslaughter. Smith, 24, a former star at Georgetown, had been charged in the deaths of Michelle Dartley, 20, of Ridgewood, N.J., and An Trinh, 21, of Placentia. They were struck on a busy thoroughfare near the university last March 22.

An alleged gang member was convicted Monday of murdering three people, including a 10-year-old boy, on a quiet South L.A. street in an attack that became known as the 49th Street Massacre. Charles Ray Smith, 41, repeatedly shook his head as the verdicts were read in a packed downtown L.A. courtroom. In the audience behind him, the mother of the 10-year-old victim wept quietly. David Marcial had been riding his bicycle with his 12-year-old brother outside their South L.A. home on a warm June afternoon in 2006 when two gunmen opened fire.

Forward Charles Smith, the No. 3 pick in the National Basketball Assn. draft, signed a multiyear contract with the Clippers Saturday and is expected to be in camp today, only 2 days behind the rest of the team. "He is a very important signing for us," General Manager Elgin Baylor said. "We're really happy to have him here. One or two days, we can live with that." The 6-foot 10-inch Smith, a member of the U.S.

Claydes Charles Smith, 57, a co-founder and lead guitarist of the group Kool & the Gang, died Tuesday in Maplewood, N.J., after a long illness, publicist David Brokaw said. The cause of death was not announced. Kool & the Gang grew from jazz roots in the 1960s to become a popular musical group of the 1970s, blending jazz, funk, R&B and pop. After a downturn, the group enjoyed a return to success in the '80s.

Charles Rome Smith, theatrical director, producer, writer and actor who co-founded Ray Bradbury's Pandemonium Theatre Company and had a lengthy association with "The Threepenny Opera," has died. He was 77. Smith died Aug. 16 in Sunland of lung cancer. With Bradbury, Smith formed and operated the theater company for more than four decades, producing plays and theatrical versions of Bradbury's stories.

Claydes Charles Smith, 57, a co-founder and lead guitarist of the group Kool & the Gang, died Tuesday in Maplewood, N.J., after a long illness, publicist David Brokaw said. The cause of death was not announced. Kool & the Gang grew from jazz roots in the 1960s to become a popular musical group of the 1970s, blending jazz, funk, R&B and pop. After a downturn, the group enjoyed a return to success in the '80s.

Finally, Charles Smith will allow himself to celebrate. In seven previous games, the Clipper forward averaged 28.3 points, including three performances of 30 or better. The Clippers won one, Tuesday night over Seattle at the Sports Arena. Saturday night, before 12,823 at Market Square Arena, Smith scored a career-high 40 points. And the Clippers beat the Indiana Pacers, 107-105, sweeping the two-game season series against a possible playoff team in the process.

It's not David vs. Goliath anymore, and that's the problem with playing the San Antonio Spurs these days. David is Goliath. That would be 7-foot-1 David Robinson, who contributed 20 points and 11 rebounds to a 90-89 victory over the Clippers Friday night before 13,916 at the Sports Arena. But Robinson, like most of the other Spurs, didn't have an opinion on the most controversial play of the Clippers' season.

Forward Charles Smith said that he has broken off contract negotiations with the Clippers and will become a restricted free agent July 1. The team has the right to match any offer that Smith receives.

Pat Haden, Ann Meyers and Charles Smith will be honored at the Constitutional Rights Foundation's Sports and the Law dinner and auction tonight at the Century Plaza Tower Hotel.

Charles Rome Smith, theatrical director, producer, writer and actor who co-founded Ray Bradbury's Pandemonium Theatre Company and had a lengthy association with "The Threepenny Opera," has died. He was 77. Smith died Aug. 16 in Sunland of lung cancer. With Bradbury, Smith formed and operated the theater company for more than four decades, producing plays and theatrical versions of Bradbury's stories.

Searching for answers in a tight budget year, Orange County Supervisor Charles V. Smith on Friday asked county officials to explore selling John Wayne Airport as a way to eliminate almost $850 million in debt left from the county's 1994 bankruptcy. It's not clear whether potential buyers -- such as Los Angeles or Newport Beach -- would be interested.

Brig. Gen. Charles Coburn Smith Jr., a career military man who was honored with the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star during three decades of service, died in his sleep Nov. 7 at the age of 95. He had been living at an assisted living facility in Seattle. Smith was a commanding officer during World War II in North Africa, Italy and Austria. After the war, he served in the U.S. Embassy in Paris. He was stationed in South Korea when he was promoted to brigadier general in 1956.

Charles Rome Smith has had a recurring nightmare for at least 20 years. It goes like this: He's directing a production of "The Threepenny Opera'--but on opening night, the cast fails to show up. "Talk about being haunted by a production," Smith said. He'll see if his dream comes true Thursday, when his staging of the classic musical by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill opens at Theatre West. This will hardly be Smith's first opening night with "The Threepenny Opera."

Every day, 84-year-old Helena Scott is haunted by images of her slain daughter and gripped with a mixture of anger and grief reflected in her tear-swollen eyes. "My only child is dead," the Camarillo widow said Wednesday, unleashing her emotions on her daughter's convicted murderer. "No words truly express my pain and loss."

In the race to represent Orange County's 1st Supervisorial District, the incumbent is chairman of the board, a man whose list of endorsements reads like a Who's Who of elected and community leaders. The challenger is a brash newcomer, unafraid of an uphill battle. Charles V. Smith, first elected in 1996, is the only member of the Board of Supervising facing an election challenge this year. Todd Spitzer is running unopposed and the board's three other members do not face reelection until 2002.

Small forward Tyrone Nesby and shooting guard Charles Smith have impressed Coach Chris Ford so much with their effort since training camp that they'll be rewarded with their first starts of the year tonight at Houston. Nesby, the Clippers' leading scorer in two of their last three games, and Smith, who saw his first action of the season at Dallas on Tuesday, will replace Lamond Murray and Eric Piatkowski in the starting lineup.

In a divisive start to the year, the new majority on the Board of Supervisors flexed its political muscle Tuesday by selecting as chairman a die-hard supporter of plans to build a commercial airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. The largely ceremonial job of chairman is traditionally handed to the vice chairman, who in the past year was Tom Wilson.