Clearing

A former San Marino couple has donated $2 million for the second-phase construction of the Chinese Garden at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. The donation by Judy Yin Shih and Joel Axelrod, who now live in Oregon, will fund the Clear and Transcendent Pavilion, a traditional Chinese structure, which will be at the edge of the lake on the garden's undeveloped north side, Huntington officials announced. In a statement, Shih cited her experience as a Huntington docent in 2008 as helping to inspire the gift.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are a powerful economic engine for Southern California. They produce more jobs than the entire movie business, and they connect the United States to ports across the Pacific Ocean. The hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of goods that pass through them are an essential source of economic livelihood, and yet at times the ports impose a burden on those who live closest to them, forcing policymakers to weigh what is best for the nation and the region against what harm it might do to neighbors.

Around the corner from the bustle and roar of Broadway's Jewelry District in downtown L.A., a quiet alley serves as a respite for locals and tourists. Shops and restaurants with colorful awnings and peeling brick facades present a kitschy, Old World scene, complete with a potbellied chef statue, and a Marilyn Monroe perched in a pink Cadillac. On most days, a group of Armenian men can be spotted hunched over a backgammon board, shrouded in cigarette smoke. But the fate of St. Vincent's Court - a California historical landmark - has been thrown into question after a complaint prompted a city crackdown on outdoor seating.

Anyone who meets 16-year-old pole vaulter Kaitlyn Merritt of Santa Margarita can easily envision her one day becoming an astronaut, mountain climber or F-15 fighter pilot. It's in her DNA to never stay on the ground for too long. "When I was little, my parents said I used to climb everything," Merritt said. "I climbed the cabinet. I climbed the couch. " So it's only natural that Merritt has become the best female pole vaulter in the nation for her age group. She set a national sophomore record and a meet record on Saturday in the Arcadia Invitational when she cleared 13 feet 8 inches.

California lawmakers have moved forward with one of several bills introduced after the massacre of young students in Newtown, Conn. The measure would put panic buttons in the state's schools. Under the legislation, proposed by Assemblymember Kristin Olsen (R-Modesto), if federal funding becomes available to cover the cost, school districts would install panic buttons in each classroom, cafeteria, theater, gym and other regularly used space in a school serving grades K-12. Pressing the button would alert local law enforcement to respond to an emergency that could include an armed intruder on campus.

Almost a year ago, a former standout football player at Long Beach Polytechnic High School trembled in Los Angeles County Superior Court as a judge dismissed his rape conviction. Outside the courtroom that day, Brian Banks offered cautious hope that one day, he could restart his athletic career. Wednesday, Banks signed a contract with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, a major step in his quest for redemption. "I can't believe this is happening," Banks told reporters shortly after signing.

CINCINNATI -- Ryan Madson has taken a lap around the calendar in his rehabilitation from last April's Tommy John surgery, but the Angels reliever has found the last hurdle the toughest to clear. Madson felt tightness in his elbow after throwing a 40-pitch, high-intensity bullpen workout on March 27 and was shut down for about a week. The right-hander returned to a mound Wednesday but only for a light, 15-pitch session. “Sometimes it's a trust factor; sometimes it's that little hurdle of discomfort you want to get over,” pitching coach Mike Butcher said of the final stages of rehabilitation.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said Wednesday that it was sending a mobile missile defense system to Guam as a "precautionary move," as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said North Korea posed a "real and clear danger" to the U.S. military base on the western Pacific island, as well as to allies and other U.S. territory. North Korea has named Guam and Hawaii as potential targets in bellicose statements in recent weeks, which have increased tension on the Korean peninsula and prompted a series of U.S. military moves aimed at beefing up the American presence in the region and reassuring allies that the United States will come to their aid in the event of an attack.

One of the most far-reaching gun-control measures proposed this year in California cleared its first hurdle Tuesday after its author said it is needed to address an "epidemic of gun violence" in the United States. The legislation by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) would require ammunition to be sold by licensed dealers, would require buyers to provide identification and subject them to background checks and possible enforcement if they are not eligible to carry guns. The bill would also outlaw kits for magazines capable of holding more then 10 rounds and require the state to notify local law enforcement agencies when someone buys more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition in a five-day period.

A federal judge ruled Monday that Stockton is eligible for bankruptcy protection, but left the door open for CalPERS obligations to be part of negotiations in the coming phases of the bankruptcy. Over the objection of creditors who argued the city could come up with more money, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein said Stockton can move forward with a plan to reorganize debt. He twice stated that the creditors had acted in bad faith and had refused to pay their share of the costs for negotiations.