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With gas prices continuing a steady upward climb, you may be headed to the dealer in search of something less thirsty at the pump. But which cars' sticker price gives you the most bang for your buck? We asked Edmunds.com to look at the vehicles with the lowest sticker price per fuel-economy rating. The math was simple: divide the car's base price by its EPA rating for combined fuel economy. The result gives a look at how much each mile per gallon will cost you. Photos: Top 10 cars with lowest cost per mpg Topping the list is Ford's C-Max Energi.

Santa Anita came away the big winner Thursday when the California Horse Racing Board tentatively approved racing dates for 2014 and 2015 in response to the pending closure of Betfair Hollywood Park on Dec. 22. Santa Anita will expand its usual fall meeting by more than two months, starting Dec. 26 and lasting through July 6, 2014. The Arcadia track will be in session for all three of the lucrative Triple Crown races. Santa Anita also gets the days for a possible 2014 Breeders' Cup during an autumn meeting that will run from Sept.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke publicly for the first time Monday about the breakup of his 20-year marriage, saying he was responsible for the split even as he refused to talk about what caused it. In a somber meeting with reporters at City Hall, Villaraigosa declined to answer questions about whether the break with his wife, Corina, was triggered by another romantic relationship.

Eric Garcetti held a narrow lead over Wendy Greuel late Tuesday as the two longtime city officials battled each other - and voter apathy - in the race to become the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles. With more than half the vote still uncounted, the contest remained too close to call. Greuel, addressing supporters at a downtown club, said she expected the election to go into "overtime. " Garcetti, speaking just before midnight, told supporters in Hollywood, "The results aren't all in, but this is shaping up to be a great night.

I'm an 84-year-old man on Social Security with original Medicare and Mutual of Omaha gap insurance. My insurance premium was raised from $262 to $363 a month, a 39% jump. After all my monthly expenses, I have just $240 left. What can I do in the event of another increase in my premiums? If you've had your current Medicare supplement plan for years, it's not surprising that you've seen your costs steadily rise, says Steve Zaleznick, senior Medicare advisor at PlanPrescriber, a Maynard, Mass.-based online provider of Medicare education and plan comparison tools.

Phil Jackson never liked to compare Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan. Believe me, I tried everything. Sometimes I'd ask him after random Lakers practices or before games against Charlotte, the team Jordan owned. Or after games in Chicago, where nostalgia hopefully would add to the mix. There would be a little nugget here, a tiny nibble there, but nothing that mattered. It's coming out now, though, in Jackson's 339-page memoir co-written with Hugh Delehanty and available Tuesday: "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success.

Your choices in San Francisco hotels are overwhelming. The prices can be too. So during our staff visit to the City by the Bay, we looked for reasonably priced hotels that had charm, location or both. We came back with 14 ideas on places to bed down. It's not a complete list, but it is eclectic, like the city itself. Mystic Hotel. This property, which opened in April, stands on a tunnel-adjacent block of Stockton Street that you'll never see on a picture postcard, yet it has style, as do the Burritt Tavern bar and restaurant downstairs.

Vietnam veteran John Otte did his best to forget the war. He got married, raised two sons and made a career working at credit unions. But as Otte neared retirement, memories of combat flooded back. Starting in 2005, he filed a series of claims with Veterans Affairs for disability compensation, contending that many of his health problems stemmed from the war. The VA agreed, and now the 65-year-old with two Purple Hearts receives $1,900 a month for post-traumatic stress disorder and diabetes - and for having shrapnel scars on his arms.

Trial judges are, on the books, elected officials, and even the vast majority of those whose names never appear on a ballot are subject to election challenge every six years. Should voters not call them to account for their performance, as they do with any other politician, on election day? Should they not encourage opponents to challenge incumbent judges? Or are judges different from members of Congress or city councils? Judges are most definitely different. The last thing we want or need in California is trial judges who sit on the bench with one eye on justice and the other on how any particular ruling is going to play with the public.

Los Angeles voters took regulation of the city's medical marijuana shops into their own hands Tuesday, embracing a ballot measure to sharply reduce the number of dispensaries in the city. But as in all things related to pot policy, the future of the new law is hazy. Under the measure, only 135 dispensaries - those that were operating before a failed moratorium in 2007 - will be allowed to stay open. But enforcement could prove a monumental challenge as backers of a rival measure threaten lawsuits and city lawyers begin the long process of identifying all of the city's dispensaries and bringing them into compliance.

After an especially contentious campaign, Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich conceded to challenger Mike Feuer late Tuesday, while attorney Ron Galperin was leading City Councilman Dennis Zine in partial returns for another citywide office, controller. From his jampacked party at a home in Hancock Park, Feuer said he was gratified by the "tremendous outpouring of support" he found as he campaigned in communities across the city. He promised to bring a "new level of connection" between the city attorney's office and L.A.'s neighborhoods.

Kelly Soo Park balked when homicide detectives handed her a warrant to collect her fingerprints. The businesswoman repeatedly asked whether the officers were playing a joke and demanded to speak to a lawyer, according to a police recording of the encounter. She refused to cooperate even as a detective snapped handcuffs on her and ushered her into a police car. In a downtown courtroom Wednesday, a prosecutor cited Park's reaction as evidence that she knew detectives had correctly identified the killer of a 21-year-old aspiring model and actress found beaten and strangled in a Santa Monica apartment.

If you just got married and bought a house, this would be a good year to land a job in an industry with a minimum annual salary of $490,000. The Angels are happy for Dane De La Rosa, and happy to have him too. After a decade chasing his dream through 10 minor leagues across nine states and Canada, De La Rosa has earned his first extended stay in the major leagues and emerged as one of the Angels' few reliable relief pitchers. On the day the Angels broke camp in Arizona, they acquired three relievers.

CAIRO - Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip remained closed Sunday as the families and colleagues of seven Egyptian soldiers who were kidnapped in the northern Sinai Peninsula last week continued a sit-in. A video was briefly posted on YouTube showing seven men identified as the abductees, imploring the government to secure their release. "Rescue us, Mr. President. We can't take it. Rescue us, people," the men plead, according to an Associated Press account. It was unclear who posted the video.

The Southern Section track and field championships are set for Saturday at Mount San Antonio College, and the 100-meter races could be as sizzling as the weather. Khalfani Muhammad - the defending state champion from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame - continues to be the runner to watch, but there are a lot of competitors closing in, which should push him to keep lowering his times. In the Division 3 final, Muhammad will face a challenge from Encino Crespi freshman Tarrik Brock, who ran the fastest 100 time by a freshman in state history in the preliminaries at 10.57 seconds.

SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. Interior Department violated federal law by failing to conduct an environmental review before ordering a Northern California oyster farmer to shutter his operation, attorneys for the farmer told a federal appeals court panel here Tuesday. In a case that has become a cause celebre across the political spectrum, oysterman Kevin Lunny had been ordered to close the farm late last year when his lease to operate within Point Reyes National Seashore expired. Closing Lunny's Drakes Bay Oyster Co. would make way for the first marine wilderness area on the West Coast at Drakes Estero, an environmentally sensitive area home to a large population of harbor seals.

Many hard-working people need access to short-term credit in a pinch to cover the cost of an emergency room visit or replacing a busted stove or carburetor. Yet apart from asking friends and relatives for assistance, a wellspring that comes with its own costs and often runs dry, many families turn to alternative, "predatory" lenders to finance unexpected expenses. Although the products offered by these alternative lenders — such as payday or car-title loans — can help families weather a financial emergency, the eye-popping interest rates can be devastating.

Chevrolet has found a bit of mojo over the past 24 months in a segment of the automotive landscape that, historically, hasn't been its strong suit: small cars. The compact Cruze was a sales leader for much of 2011 and after slowing a bit for some of 2012, was the bestselling car in its class for August. Meanwhile, GM (Chevrolet's parent) says people bought almost 74,000 of its sub-compact Sonic in its first 12 months on the market. So Chevrolet is going even smaller with the Spark.

California has proved to be a land of opportunity where hard work delivers prosperity and nurtures innovation. Its human capital has helped the state develop into the world's ninth-largest economy, which attracts nearly half of the venture capital in the nation. But this opportunity and success have not reached everyone, and the California dream is in danger of slipping away. Today, California ranks first in the country in the number of working low-income families. "Working Hard, Left Behind," a new study conducted by the Campaign for College Opportunity, found that millions in the state are working hard but are increasingly left behind.

The 149 air traffic control towers that were scheduled to close this summer because of federal sequestration will remain open until at least September, government officials said Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration said legislation approved by Congress last month allows the agency to transfer funds from other accounts to keep the towers open until the end of the fiscal year. The towers, run by contract workers, operate at small airports such as Brown Field Municipal Airport in San Diego, Riverside Municipal Airport, Whiteman Airport in Pacoima, Oxnard Airport, Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville and Fullerton Municipal Airport.