HEALTH
September 19, 2011 | By Lisa Zamosky, Special to the Los Angeles Times
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.
SPORTS
February 22, 2012 | Chris Erskine
Welcome to this rite and ritual of an American spring, breaking in a new glove. As with anything in baseball, there are 100 views on the proper way to do this, all argued passionately. Glove gurus, some more guru than others, recommend treating a stiff new glove as either your best friend or roadkill. You can drown a glove, you can bake it, you can run it over with the car. Breaking in a baseball glove isn't science so much as a form of testosterone-fueled witchcraft. Tony Pena, former major league backstop and current New York Yankees bench coach, reportedly goes ape on a new catcher's glove, turning it inside out, outside in, punching, prodding, mugging it into submission — it's almost hard to watch.
SPORTS
March 30, 2013 | T.J. Simers
I lost my dad decades ago. But then this guy comes along who likes to sing as he walks, a jolly Irishman who laughs and cracks wise with a hint of the devil in him and I remember that guy. We become friendly, but then who isn't a friend of his? He gives me his email address, and I don't know, do you believe in signs from beyond? Or remarkable coincidences? Vin Scully uses an email address that makes you believe his nickname is "Red. " My dad's name was John, but everyone called him "Red.
BUSINESS
April 29, 2013 | David Lazarus
A growing number of Indian tribes are getting into the payday loan business, saying they just want to raise revenue for their reservations while helping cash-strapped consumers nationwide. But federal officials suspect that, at least in some cases, tribes are being paid to offer their sovereign immunity to non-Indian payday lenders that are trying to dodge state regulations. So far, the tribes have prevailed over California and other states that have tried to assert authority over tribal lending operations.
HOME & GARDEN
May 11, 2013 | Chris Erskine
What's to live for? The price of wine continues to skyrocket, and Warren Buffett is now tweeting. What's next for us culturally? Bingo night at the Louvre? Meanwhile, the criminal justice system insists on hammering on poor Lindsay Lohan. It's only a matter of time before her work suffers, and then who takes over as the freckled queen of American cinema? Leonardo DiCaprio? That's the obvious answer. Yes, I have issues with him as Gatsby, but more on that in a moment. For now, I'll tell you what's to live for. Summer, that's what.
SPORTS
March 5, 2011 | T.J. Simers
For any parent, it's the dreaded phone call. "My son never calls at 7 in the morning," says Mychal Thompson . "When I saw his number, right away I was saying to myself, uh-oh, and I hope nobody is hurt. "I answered, 'What's wrong?' Not hello, good morning, just 'What's wrong?'" Thompson is a former Laker, a broadcaster for the team and a father of three boys off on their own. "That's how I heard about it; Klay called," he says. Klay is his middle child and the leading scorer in the Pac-10 while playing for Washington State.