Coffeehouses

There were 30 witnesses when two masked gunmen burst into a San Gabriel coffeehouse and opened fire, killing one person and injuring six others. But a week later, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide detectives said they are still trying to sort out the mystery of what happened -- and why. They said their investigation has been slowed in part because they have not found family members of the man killed.

An Orange County doctor has agreed to serve at least eight years in federal prison for illegally selling prescriptions for powerful painkillers and other drugs out of Starbucks coffeehouses, according to court records. Alvin Ming-Czech Yee, 44, of Mission Viejo routinely wrote prescriptions for highly abused medications to patients with no legitimate need for the medications, authorities have alleged in court papers.   Yee agreed to plead guilty to seven counts of illegal distribution of a controlled substance by a practitioner and to serve eight to 10 years in prison, according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. Yee admitted that he was guilty of distributing oxycodone, alprazolam and amphetamine salts to undercover officers posing as patients and to a confidential source working for the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the plea agreement.

An Orange County doctor has agreed to serve at least eight years in federal prison for illegally selling prescriptions for powerful painkillers and other drugs out of Starbucks coffeehouses, according to court records. Alvin Ming-Czech Yee, 44, of Mission Viejo routinely wrote prescriptions for highly abused medications to patients with no legitimate need for the medications, authorities have alleged in court papers.   Yee agreed to plead guilty to seven counts of illegal distribution of a controlled substance by a practitioner and to serve eight to 10 years in prison, according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. Yee admitted that he was guilty of distributing oxycodone, alprazolam and amphetamine salts to undercover officers posing as patients and to a confidential source working for the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the plea agreement.

The mood was electric that crisp, clear February day as couples lined up at San Francisco City Hall to be among the first to get licenses for same-sex marriages in California. Nine tortuous years followed: The state high court halted and invalidated the San Francisco licenses, then later ruled gays and lesbians could marry. Some 18,000 couples rushed to do so before voters put a stop to the ceremonies by passing Proposition 8 in 2008. Then a federal judge and an appeals court threw that ballot initiative out. On Tuesday, the two sides rested.

To encourage coffeehouses to locate in the city and to promote its fledgling Artists Village, the City Council has greatly reduced permit fees for coffeehouses and similar businesses. Under fees approved Monday, the cost for conditional-use permits will drop from $1,656 to $150 for coffeehouses and other businesses that do not serve alcohol but require cover charges for live entertainment.

BUDAPEST, Hungary - American coffeehouses are prized for their quick service and fast Internet - ideal for people on the go. But a century ago, European cafes were places to linger amid Gilded Age opulence. Nowhere was this more so than in Budapest, where some of its great historic cafes have survived economic crises, war and Communism. My wife, Rachel, and my mother-in-law, Edie, had never been to Hungary, but they had been hearing about Budapest and its grand avenues, delicious pastries and vibrant Jewish community all their lives: Edie's parents were born here in the 1890s.

I found Kevin Bronson's article about the photos of rocker Robb MacLean of great interest and also the whole concept of the Ungallery ("A Rock 'n' Roll of Film Life," Jan. 22). If Bronson visits many coffeehouses and other public places in L.A., he will find walls lined with photos created by locals, many with real talent, who exhibit their work in these places in lieu of galleries. There is some real talent to be discovered in these places and some interesting pictures and stories to be told.

A Municipal Court jury Friday acquitted the owner of a Santa Ana coffeehouse on a misdemeanor count that he demanded a cover charge without having the proper city permit. Dennis Lluy, the owner of Koo's Arts Cafe on Main Street, had argued that customers were requested to leave a $5 voluntary donation to cover cafe expenses, not pay a mandatory entrance fee.

A controversial exhibition of nude paintings received a last-minute reprieve Wednesday as operators of a Los Angeles coffeehouse ground out a compromise with a neighboring synagogue that viewed the artwork as obscene. The paintings of naked women will be moved to the rear of the Insomnia coffee house--out of sight of members of the orthodox Congregation Saarei Tefila across the street.

The city has modified its coffeehouse regulations, started last summer to discourage gang activity, because the restrictions also included small sandwich shops and other establishments not considered problem spots, officials said. "The redesigned ordinance will maintain a level of control for the Police Department but won't include sandwich shops, doughnut shops, small delis and other businesses that aren't coffeehouses," said Don Anderson, the city's community development director.

Hotel guests and area residents can get their morning jolt of java or ease into the  evening with a glass of wine at Stonehaus, which opened last week in Westlake Village. The rustic venue, a blend of coffeehouse and wine bar, is set amid the vineyard and olive groves at the Westlake Village Inn , a 141-room boutique hotel near the 101 Freeway in the Conejo Valley. For early risers, the gourmet coffeehouse serves private-label roasted coffee drinks, breakfast items and freshly baked pastries and breads.

CINCINNATI - Johanson Perez, a 29-year-old night baker at Panera Bread who is not a fan of President Obama, had a "70-comment fight" on Facebook with a friend over Donald Trump's $5-million offer for the president's school and passport records. "I'm sure we won't be as close after the election as we were before," said Perez, who'd stopped for lunch at Price Hill Chili, a neighborhood institution on the city's west side. "It's almost like he's in a cult. " At a nearby table, political independent Greg Littel, 20, a University of Cincinnati student who favors Obama, said he was dismayed by vandalism in his liberal neighborhood.

BUDAPEST, Hungary - American coffeehouses are prized for their quick service and fast Internet - ideal for people on the go. But a century ago, European cafes were places to linger amid Gilded Age opulence. Nowhere was this more so than in Budapest, where some of its great historic cafes have survived economic crises, war and Communism. My wife, Rachel, and my mother-in-law, Edie, had never been to Hungary, but they had been hearing about Budapest and its grand avenues, delicious pastries and vibrant Jewish community all their lives: Edie's parents were born here in the 1890s.

The cafe is narrow, with a dozen little tables and a gray concrete floor. Nothing too fancy. Nothing too shiny. No espresso poured into designer porcelain with a dusting of organic cacao and a layer of orange-infused, textured milk. No movie stars. Or hardly ever. But Kaldi Coffee & Tea is home to a community of dreamers who share a singular ambition: They want to be part of the movies. Since the silent film era, people have flocked to L.A., seeking stardom. Hollywood may change, but the calculus remains the same.

When Bob Hare opened his Hermosa Beach coffeehouse in 1958, he called it the Insomniac because it was open until 3 a.m. He brewed his coffee in a 300-pound dry-cleaning boiler and served it to such high-profile members of the Beat Generation as Allen Ginsberg and Lenny Bruce, he later recalled. The coffeehouse also became a haven for folk and blues musicians and other performers. Ginsberg read his poem "Howl" and a 16-year-old Linda Ronstadt sang, Hare said in 1992 in The Times.

The tinted windows at Cafe Miss Cutie in Garden Grove are a giveaway that this isn't your ordinary coffeehouse. At about 20 tables, men play cards and smoke, tossing cigarette butts onto the wood floor seconds before lighting up again. High-pitched pop music pulsates as waitresses dressed in sexy lingerie — and sometimes less — deliver the brew the customers crave: Vietnamese coffee, strong and sweet, in a small glass topped with whipped cream. The cafe is one of about 20 in this Orange County city, which includes part of Little Saigon, one of the largest Vietnamese American enclaves in the U.S. It also is among those raided in March by more than 150 federal and local law enforcement officials, exposing an underbelly of what police say includes nudity, gambling and prostitution.

Bob Dylan's "One More Cup of Coffee," Rick Danko's "Java Blues," Frank Sinatra's "The Coffee Song," Faith No More's "Caffeine".... With any luck, those tracks will be among the 250,000 songs customers will be able to burn onto customized CDs when the Hear Music Coffeehouse opens Tuesday in Santa Monica. It's the first-born offspring of an alliance between Starbucks and Hewlett-Packard, and the latest venture attempting to lure music fans in with CD compilations they create for themselves.

Concerned about noise and parking that could be caused by the opening of a late-night coffeehouse in their neighborhood, Encino residents will meet today with representatives of City Councilman Marvin Braude. But John Dunn wonders if Encino residents are losing sleep over nothing.

Sure, Oh Yoo-jin wanted a cup of coffee, but what the 24-year-old university student really wanted to do was commune with the residents of her tiny neighborhood cafe ? the cats. On a recent afternoon, Oh and her boyfriend shared the brightly lighted cafe with a dozen felines. There were cats lounging on the windowsills, curiously nosing customers' coffee cups or taking leisurely strolls past the register. That's the point of Seoul's newest cat cafe: Why just caffeinate when you can indulge with a purring tabby or Russian gray on your lap?