Charlie

It was billed as a "shocking tell-all" and a "world exclusive," but the National Enquirer's March 26 cover story landed with a thud. TMZ, Page Six and other major players in celebrity gossip ignored the article in which a masseur claimed John Travolta offered money for sex. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this article used the term "masseuse"; it should have said "masseur. " Five weeks after the issue left the checkout aisle, a DUI attorney from Pasadena put the anonymous masseur's tawdry tale in a lawsuit and it became an overnight pop culture sensation, topping Google News, trending on Twitter and meriting a segment on "Good Morning America.

Thirteen Los Angeles Police Department officers were recognized for heroism during a recent ceremony in Hollywood. Police Chief Charlie Beck last week presented the officers and detectives with the department's highest honors, the Medal of Valor and the Purple Heart. This was the second year the Purple Heart was bestowed on officers who suffered grave injuries in the line of duty. The officers included men and women, some injured or put at risk while on patrol, on undercover assignments or headed home after work.

'Charlie St. Cloud' MPAA rating: PG-13 for language including some sexual references, an intense accident scene and some sensuality Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes Playing: In general release

Criticizing the chief Re "Beck facing rare criticism," April 16 The fact that suspects do stupid stuff that gets them killed or wounded is apparently lost on the L.A. Police Commission, which has criticized Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck for not punishing officers it found to have used improper force. By insisting that errors of the head be punished, the message to the rank and file is to hesitate the next time - and you too can be among the "honored fallen.

'Good Luck Charlie' Where: Disney When: 8:30 p.m. Sunday Rating: TV-G (suitable for all ages)

In a now-discontinued commercial for T-shirts, Charlie Sheen playfully accosts former NBA icon Michael Jordan, who just wants to speed away as fast as he can from the encounter. Sheen's TV employers may now be getting a taste of how Jordan felt. Arrested in a domestic-violence incident on a Colorado vacation last month with his third wife, Brooke Mueller, the star of "Two and a Half Men" has threatened to bring tabloid shame to CBS at the worst possible time, just as the Tiger Woods mistress melodrama has heightened popular cynicism and sponsor anxiety about the off-camera behavior of male celebrities.

Trouble and Charlie Sheen have never been strangers, but now the star's felony rap could cause major headaches for his TV bosses. Sheen was charged last week with felony menacing and two lesser counts in connection with a Christmas incident in which Aspen, Colo., police said he assaulted and threatened his wife, Brooke Mueller. Sheen, out on bail, didn't enter a plea and is due back for a court hearing March 15. If convicted, he could face three years behind bars. What does that mean for CBS' "Two and a Half Men," the No. 1-rated sitcom that stars Sheen as a caddish lout?

The lights were down low in a movie theater, and up on the screen, Zac Efron was about to kiss a girl when a collection of shrill "oohs" and "aahs" interrupted the intimate moment. With "Charlie St. Cloud," out Friday, Efron tackles his first commercially dramatic role — a move that signals his desire to leave behind his reputation as a teen heartthrob. But considering his very vocal fans at the film's premiere in Los Angeles last week, it may take more than just one film to make the break.

Will Charlie Sheen cut a deal with prosecutors, or is he ready to fight to clear his name? That's the question as the sitcom star's court date looms Monday. Facing a felony charge from a Christmas Day incident in Aspen, Colo., when his wife called 911 to say the actor was threatening her life, Sheen is facing the endgame of a scandal that has threatened to engulf his career. According to TMZ, the celebrity website that has followed the case on a near-daily basis, Sheen is preparing to plead no contest to a misdemeanor in exchange for prosectuors dropping the felony menacing charge and would also submit to anger management classes.

It was all pomp and pageantry at the LAPD's downtown headquarters Thursday as newly appointed Chief Charlie Beck was sworn in to office -- for a second time. Beck officially became the department's leader a few weeks ago when the City Council unanimously approved his nomination by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Beck, 56, took the oath of office in a brief ceremony after the council vote. Thursday's event was for show and celebration. Against the backdrop of City Hall, elected officials, department brass and a few hundred other guests filled the courtyard outside the Los Angeles Police Department's gleaming new headquarters.

Teddy Charles, a jazz vibraphonist who performed with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus and other bebop-era jazz greats before becoming a charter boat captain in the Caribbean, died Monday at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead on New York's Long Island. He was 84. Charles died of complications from heart disease, according to a niece, Sally Phillips. Although he was grouped with Milt Jackson and Terry Gibbs as a premier vibraphonist of the bebop years reaching from the late 1940s through the '50s, Charles was also well-regarded as a pianist and composer whose cutting-edge recordings of the mid-1950s were forerunners of the avant-garde jazz of the following decade.

Responding to incidents of violence against transgender arrestees, the Los Angeles Police Department plans to open a segregated lockup for biologically male and female suspects who identify themselves as members of the opposite sex, officials said. By early May, a 24-bed transgender module will open at the LAPD women's jail downtown, the first such police lockup in the nation, according to Capt. Dave Lindsay, the jail division commander. "This is a major change," Lindsay said.

The price of power Re "Activists feeling burned," April 6 Southern California has many large, empty rooftops that could easily support a sea of solar panels. Exploitation of this vast resource, which is already connected to the grid, should be a top regional priority. Unfortunately, the decision-makers at our utilities prefer to stick with an outmoded business model that relies on corporate point-source energy production, in which solar power plants are substituted for coal-fired ones.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Anthony Kim had the hole-in-one, Charlie Wi had the finishing flourish and Jason Dufner was a picture of steady progress. Birdies on two of his final three holes lifted Wi's name to the top of the Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard, carding a six-under-par 66 that gave him a two-shot advantage over his nearest pursuers as the morning groups finished at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. Wi had predicted his score might not hold up and he was right, as Dufner came through with the afternoon groups to post an impressive round ending with a duplicate 66. Dufner had just one bogey for the round and an eagle three on the par-five 16th.

The courtroom battle between former "Desperate Housewives" costar Nicollette Sheridan and the show's creator, Marc Cherry, over the circumstances of her character's demise is another reminder that for an actor, the only thing worse than not getting a part on a show is getting killed off a show. "It's a one-way contract, they can drop you at any time," said Steve Schirripa, who spent seven years nervously pawing through the pages of scripts for "The Sopranos" wondering if this was the episode where his character would get whacked.

A jury found former Los Angeles Police Det. Stephanie Lazarus guilty of murdering the wife of a man who had spurned her, bringing an end to a remarkable case in which a new generation of the LAPD redeemed the failures of a past one. On Thursday, after little more than a day of deliberation, the panel of eight women and four men concluded that Lazarus brutally beat and then shot Sherri Rasmussen three times in the chest on Feb. 24, 1986. Three months before the attack, Rasmussen, a 29-year-old hospital nursing director, had married John Ruetten, who dated Lazarus casually for a few years leading up to the wedding.

In a surprise development Tuesday that casts doubt on the rest of its season, television's top-rated sitcom, "Two and a Half Men," halted production after its star Charlie Sheen announced he was checking into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic. "We wish him nothing but the best as he deals with this personal matter," said a statement attributed to CBS, Warner Bros. and executive producer Chuck Lorre, who, according to sources familiar with the situation, were caught off-guard by the actor's move.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck is vowing to make his department more responsive to the rights of cyclists, responding to growing complaints from bikers who say the city isn't doing enough to protect them from careless and aggressive motorists. Beck made his pledge Wednesday during a City Hall meeting with bicycle advocates, who want the department to do more to crack down on motorists who don't respect cyclists' right to the road. Beck said bike riders are "our most vulnerable commuters" and that the Los Angeles Police Department needed to do a better job of protecting them.

The Three Musketeers of tennis are really bursting at the seams this year. It is their time. The sun is baking the Palm Springs desert most days now, and Charlie Pasarell, Ray Moore and Steve Simon are like 5-year-olds on Christmas morning. Their BNP Paribas Open starts Wednesday. The tickets are flying over the counter. The weather forecast is good, so far. Plus, almost every player you have ever heard of and wanted to see play, as well as dozens you haven't and don't, will be there, squeaking and grunting and hitting shots regular people can't imagine.

L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca said he would get behind a "sensible" plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants who have been in the country for several years without breaking any other laws. Baca's comments Thursday came the day after Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck also expressed support for such a plan, saying that it would reduce the number of hit-and-run accidents and uninsured drivers on city roads. Baca said such licenses should only be issued after illegal immigrants fill out comprehensive applications, similar to those for citizenship.