Chinatown

American Tapestry The Story of the Black, White and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama Rachel L. Swarns Amistad, $27.99 An intimate look at the First Lady's colorful family tree going back five generations, traversing through the Revolutionary and Civil wars, the great migration and on to the White House. (June) As Texas Goes… How the Lone Star State Hijacked the American Agenda Gail Collins Norton/Liveright, $25.95 How the conservative political agenda growing deep in the heart of Texas is creating social and economic consequences for the rest of the country.

Pacific Standard Time has been exploring the origins of the Los Angeles art world in museum exhibitions throughout Southern California. Times art reviewer Sharon Mizota set the goal of seeing all of them. This is her latest report. When one thinks of modern architecture in Los Angeles, it's the big names that come to mind: Neutra, Schindler, Lautner. Yet it obviously required a slew of less celebrated, more workaday efforts to make the city - for better or for worse - into the icon of urban sprawl that it is today.

"Chinatown" writer Robert Towne has listed his estate on the Westside at $12.995 million. Built in 1926 and designed for grand entertaining, the restored English country-style mansion and guesthouse have seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms and 10,000 square feet of living space. The nearly three-quarter-acre property is wooded and includes a swimming pool, a rose garden and a spice garden. Towne, 77, won an Oscar for original screenplay in 1975 for the Jack Nicholson-starring film about land and water rights disputes.

SAN FRANCISCO - Its decaying architecture, fluorescent lighting and kitchen prep sink wedged next to a toilet have served as fodder for a ribbing by comedian Conan O'Brien . Its 3 a.m. closing time made it a favorite for late-night club hoppers But most of all, the Sam Wo Restaurant in the heart of Chinatown was a haven for unassuming regulars and curious tourists - who for decades streamed through the cramped kitchen and up a narrow staircase...

MOVIES Who needs Coachella when a weekend of stellar cinema awaits you at the TCM Classic Film Festival? This year's installment features a variety of beloved favorites — including "Cabaret," "The Searchers" and "Chinatown" — screened in A-list venues such as Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Egyptian. TCM Classic Film Festival, locations, times and prices vary. Thu.-Sun. http://www.tcm.com/festival.

First published on Jan. 30, 2011. Revised and expanded in early 2012. The tourists think big. Arriving in Southern California, they expect to conquer Disneyland and Hollywood, perhaps on the same day, in between the surfing and snowboarding. Then they get stuck in traffic. Then come the recriminations, the tears, the vows to visit an island next time. The locals think small. Tracing tight little loops between home and work, they dodge freeways and alien neighborhoods. There are Los Feliz people who haven't set foot in Venice since the latter Bush administration (until this project, I was one)

Discount retail giantWal-Martoutwitted Los Angeles City Council members who sought to slow the company's expansion into Chinatown, securing permits for its store on the eve of a crucial vote on the topic. The council voted 13 to 0 on Friday to draft a law temporarily banning large chain stores from opening in the neighborhood. But minutes before that vote, the top official at the Department of Building and Safety revealed that a day earlier Wal-Mart had obtained permits needed to renovate its vacant commercial space.

Many members of the Los Angeles City Council think poorly ofWal-Mart, and with some good reason. They fear the giant retailer's reputation for crowding small businesses out of neighborhoods, and they are sensitive to the charge that the company's commitment to holding down prices comes at the expense of salary and benefits for its nonunion workforce. Egged on by their supporters in organized labor, members of the council will take up a proposal Friday to impose a temporary moratorium on retail development in Chinatown.

Four weeks after Wal-Mart announced plans to open a grocery store in Chinatown, Los Angeles City Council members have proposed a law that would block an array of chain businesses from opening in the neighborhood. A temporary ordinance sought by Councilman Ed Reyes would prohibit building permits from being issued for new "formula retail" stores - those that have standardized facades, color schemes, decor, employee uniforms and merchandise. Wal-Mart is seeking to open a 33,000-square-foot market and pharmacy in a vacant ground-floor commercial space at Cesar Chavez and Grand avenues.

With Wal-Mart heading to downtown Los Angeles, City Councilman Ed Reyes has introduced a motion to block new retail chains from setting up shop in Chinatown. "My intent is to protect the character of Chinatown," Reyes said. "I want to strive for balance that protects Chinatown and creates conditions that allow for local hiring. " The proposal, going before council vote on Friday, proposes a temporary ordinance to bar the city from granting building, demolition and other permits to "formula retail" stores, defined as retailers that operate stores with standardized merchandise, decor, color scheme, facades, uniforms or signage.