Classes

Dave Gold launched his 99 Cents Only Stores empire in Los Angeles at age 50 after mulling over the idea for over a decade. The thrifty entrepreneur took the dollar store concept and introduced it to middle-class and upscale neighborhoods. In the process, he created a chain that has become a mainstay for families squeezed during hard times or those who simply love a good bargain. Gold died Monday at his Mid-Wilshire home from an apparent heart attack, said his son, Jeff Gold. He was 80. Long before dollar stores dotted many street corners, Gold opened the first 99 Cents Only store in Los Angeles in 1982.

As colleges are rushing -- or being pushed -- to embrace online education, they might want to take pause: Most students prefer connecting with teachers and fellow students and don't want to take all of their classes online,  a new study suggests. Students preferred direct instruction if they expected a course to be difficult, singling out math and science, according to the study released Thursday by the Community College Research Center at Columbia University's Teachers College.

The state education department has ignored its obligation to make sure that thousands of students learning English receive adequate and legally required assistance, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. State officials said they had not studied the lawsuit, but insisted they are meeting their legal obligations. The suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and others, focuses on an estimated 20,000 students who are receiving no help or inadequate services as they work to learn English and keep up academically at the same time.

Science and Food: On Thursday, Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and the Edible Schoolyard will be heading to UCLA where she, along with chef David Binkle, director of food services for the L.A. Unified School District, and Dr. Wendy Slusser, professor of pediatrics at UCLA, will discuss school lunches and edible gardens at “Edible Education,” the second event in UCLA's "Science and Food" public lecture series. The lecture will begin at 7 p.m. at Royce Hall Auditorium. Tickets are $25 and available online or at the UCLA Central Ticket Office.

GERMANY Presentation Peter Wortsman will read from and discuss his new book, "Ghost Dance in Berlin: A Rhapsody in Gray," which has been described as "the perfect guide to all aspects of life in Berlin - the best and the wurst of it. " When, where: 7:30 p.m. Monday at Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Admission, info: Free. RSVP to (626) 449-3220. BICYCLING Presentation After four continents, 41 countries and almost 30,000 miles, Stephen Fabes, a British doctor, has reached California and will talk about his adventure on two wheels that took him from the mid-winter Alps to the blistering heat of the Syrian desert, and from the wilds of Africa to the magnificent peaks of the Andes.

A hot Friday afternoon in Long Beach played host to the qualifying round of the weekend's American Le Mans Series final. ALMS, as the race is known, is styled after the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, one of the oldest and most prestigious events in motorsports racing. ALMS is a series event, with 10 races of varying lengths held throughout the U.S. and Canada. What makes ALMS races so compelling is that spectators get to watch five different classes of cars compete on the track at the same time.

When I set out to study wine, it wasn't obvious how to do it or where to go. I'd worked in a wine shop in San Francisco one summer when the proprietor was away and the wine clerks in charge opened fabulous bottles to taste - all summer long. Wine and food writer Colman Andrews had told me about the master of wine program, but at the time it was only in London and you had to be part of the wine trade to participate. Now the word "sommelier" and the profession have entered the popular imagination - there's even a documentary, "Somm," that is ready to hit the theaters.

Students and faculty are gearing up for a fight to oppose legislation that would allow California community colleges to charge more for high-demand courses during summer and winter sessions. Colleges would be able to offer extension programs for credit leading to certificates, associate's degrees and for transfer to four-year universities, if enrollment was at capacity the preceding two years. The bill, AB 955, is similar to a controversial plan attempted by Santa Monica College last summer to offer core education classes such as English, math and history at a cost of about $180 per unit, alongside state-funded courses set by the Legislature at $46 per unit.

L.A. Unified teachers and administrators this week expressed wildly differing views of a classroom breakfast program intended to ensure that students don't start the day hungry. United Teachers Los Angeles gave the program a "failing grade" Monday as it released results from an online survey that said the effort had increased pests, created messes and cut down on instructional time. But David Binkle, the district's food services director, on Tuesday said that the program - which serves 193,000 students in 280 schools - was a "smashing success.

A scuba diver who died after he went missing at Shaw's Cove in Laguna Beach became separated from his classmates during a class dive and apparently ran out of air, Laguna Beach lifeguard officials said Monday. Mark Gibbs, a 51-year-old Tustin resident, was pronounced dead at 1:28 p.m. Friday at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, a few hours after he went missing, according to the Orange County coroner's office. Gibbs separated from his classmates at a depth of 25 feet and was found with an empty air tank, Laguna Beach Marine Safety Lt. Kai Bond told the Laguna Beach Coastline-Pilot . Newport Beach lifeguards and rescuers from the Orange County Harbor Patrol, Orange County Sheriff's Department and U.S. Coast Guard searched the area and pulled Gibbs from the water at 12:40 p.m., more than an hour after the first 911 calls came in reporting him missing, a Laguna Beach police news release said.