Contract

In California's new state-run health insurance market, Kaiser Permanente will cost you. The healthcare giant has the highest rates in Southern California and some other areas of the state, surpassing rivals such as Anthem Blue Cross and other smaller competitors. The relatively high premiums from such a strong supporter of the federal healthcare law surprised industry analysts, and it has sparked considerable debate about the company's motives. Some experts say Kaiser intentionally bid high to avoid drawing too many customers next year who are sick or who have been uninsured for years and may be costlier to treat.

PITTSBURGH - Clayton Kershaw soon could become the richest pitcher in baseball history. But Kershaw was upset that he had to talk Sunday about his ongoing negotiations with the Dodgers, whom he blamed for leaking information to Fox Sports. The previous night, Fox Sports reported that Kershaw and the Dodgers were "making progress" toward agreement on a seven-year contract extension. According to the report, which cited unnamed "major league sources," the deal being discussed would be worth more than the record $180-million, seven-year contract between the Detroit Tigers and Justin Verlander, who in March agreed to five-year extension through 2019.

As lifeguards begin their busy summer season, the bronzed guardians of California's beaches find themselves at the unlikely center of the battle over costly public pensions. The six-figure salaries of some full-time municipal lifeguards have fueled talk radio segments and blog comments in recent weeks, with some commentators expressing surprise at the pay for those who patrol the beaches. For local government, the larger concern is over the pensions that lifeguards receive when they retire.

The Dodgers have the best pitcher in baseball, and a treasure chest overstuffed with shiny coins from Time Warner Cable. Clayton Kershaw is the man. The Dodgers plan to pay the man. The cost almost certainly would exceed $200 million, with Kershaw becoming the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history. The return on investment would be entirely unpredictable. The best-case scenario pitches in Anaheim on Sunday, for the New York Yankees. Of the six pitchers to complete at least four years of a contract worth at least $90 million, CC Sabathia is the only one who has remained successful and durable.

Auto leasing deals abound these days, with offers that often seem too good to be true. How about a well-equipped Honda Accord for $250 a month with no down payment or any other drive-off fees? Or better yet, $199 a month for a Chevrolet Malibu? So, what's the catch? There isn't any if you know what you're getting into. There are always details. You need top-tier credit to qualify. You pay a penalty if you turn that Honda in with more than 36,000 miles. And the payment is not $250 a month because of that little matter of tax. It is more like $275, depending on where you live.

Talks between the Clippers and Celtics on a possible deal to bring Boston Coach Doc Rivers to Los Angeles reached a stalemate when both sides refused to budge on their offers, several NBA executives said Saturday. The Clippers have concluded that if Boston isn't receptive to their offer and Rivers isn't available, they will hire either Indiana associate head coach Brian Shaw or former Memphis coach Lionel Hollins this week, according to the executives, who asked to be quoted anonymously because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Car dealers have found a new way to profit from people with money trouble: leasing them hand-me-down vehicles. The deals are pitched to customers as the cheapest way to drive a used car off the lot, with the added benefit of an easy escape for those who can't keep up with the payments. Few customers are told about the advantages on the other side of the trade. Leases can allow dealerships to sidestep interest rate caps, and there are fewer financial disclosures rules than with a conventional car loan.

The gig: Gwynne Shotwell, 49, is president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, the Hawthorne company that builds rockets and space capsules to resupply the International Space Station for NASA. Shotwell is No. 2 at the pioneering company behind founder and chief executive Elon Musk. She is responsible for day-to-day operations and managing customer relationships and company growth. Shotwell, with a sunny demeanor and a blunt way of speaking, is often responsible for updating the media on SpaceX's missions while they're happening.

There are frequent fliers, and then there are people like Steven Rothstein and Jacques Vroom. Both men bought tickets that gave them unlimited first-class travel for life on American Airlines. It was almost like owning a fleet of private jets. Passes in hand, Rothstein and Vroom flew for business. They flew for pleasure. They flew just because they liked being on planes. They bypassed long lines, booked backup itineraries in case the weather turned, and never worried about cancellation fees.

Olympic sprint champion Florence Griffith Joyner died after suffering an epileptic seizure, according to autopsy results released Thursday, and her family and friends say they hope the findings will put to rest rumors that drug use contributed to her death. Griffith Joyner died last month in her sleep at age 38. Her husband, Al Joyner, bitterly criticized those who suggested that she took performance-enhancing drugs.

SEATTLE - When cyclist Lance Armstrong was found to have used performance-enhancing drugs last fall, he was publicly disgraced, stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life. When outfielder Melky Cabrera tested positive for PEDs last summer, he was suspended 50 games. Then two months later he was rewarded with a two-year $16-million contract, by far the richest of his career. It's a loophole that has undermined baseball's get-tough approach to drugs and weakened the strongest drug-testing program in U.S. professional team sports.

The Dodgers would retain more than $6 billion from their new television contract under a tentative agreement with Major League Baseball, according to two people familiar with the agreement. The settlement would avert a showdown between the Dodgers and MLB in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and would effectively end the court's jurisdiction over the Dodgers' affairs. The people providing the information about the settlement spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations have not concluded.

Vonta Leach was released Tuesday by the Baltimore Ravens, who failed to agree on a restructured contract with the All-Pro fullback. Leach was an integral part of a running game that helped the Ravens become Super Bowl champions last season. Paving the way for standout halfback Ray Rice, Leach made the Pro Bowl in each of his two seasons with Baltimore and was a key figure in the locker room. After negotiations reached a standstill, both sides agreed it would be best to terminate Leach's contract.

From Wells to Ethier For all the magic Yasiel Puig worked in his first week in the major leagues, let us not overlook this trick: He turned Andre Ethier into Vernon Wells . The Angels took on the $86 million owed to Wells when they traded for him in 2011. He lost his job the next year, with the emergence of Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo in the Angels' outfield, and he was traded to the New York Yankees this year. Of that $86 million, the Angels will end up paying $72 million.

Sad news on Thursday that the million-dollar mermaid Esther Williams has died . She'll be remembered as many things. She was an athlete and a movie star, of course, but also a style icon who helped sell the fantasy of Hollywood as the swimwear capital of the world with glittering pools and smiling starlets diving into them. An L.A. native, Williams was a swimwear champion who got her start at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. She made a splash on film in the 1940s and '50s, appearing in a dazzling array of swim costumes and performing spectacular feats of underwater acrobatics while she was at it. When she signed her contract with MGM, one of the conditions was that she receive a guest pass to the Beverly Hills Hotel, so she could swim there daily.

Josh Hamilton is batting .216 overall, .146 with runners in scoring position. He has driven in 18 runs, the same as Alberto Callaspo and Chris Iannetta . He is on pace to strike out 173 times, a career high. This is not what Hamilton or the Angels had in mind for the debut season of a five-year, $125-million contract. In the first week of the season, the Texas Rangers walked Albert Pujols intentionally several times to get to Hamilton. On Sunday, with the tying run on base in the eighth inning, the Astros pitched carefully to Mark Trumbo with Hamilton on deck and first base open, walking Trumbo on five pitches.

Parking tickets are a big deal in Los Angeles. For years, the city has been jacking up fines, which slams many low-income renters and young people who live in tightly packed neighborhoods where they have to fight over street parking. Most politicians don't want to talk about it because parking fines are a big part of the city's revenue. Those tickets bring in $150 million a year. When the city runs into money problems - as it always does - it's the easiest thing in the world to raise fines instead of running afoul of unions, developers and political donors.

Philip Hsiang and his wife, Mary Ann, used to pay almost $1,000 a year for a pair of cellphones under a family plan contract. But as recession gripped the economy a few years back, the Davis couple opted for low-cost prepaid phone service and never looked back. They shaved $800 off their annual phone bill, even though Hsiang could easily afford the pricier plan on his salary as an electrical engineer. "As a Chinese immigrant to the U.S., it's a virtue to be frugal," Hsiang said.

Kemp, then and now Beyond power and speed, Matt Kemp had durability. When the Dodgers signed him to an eight-year contract, Kemp had played in 365 consecutive games. We are two months into the second year of that contract, and Kemp is on the disabled list for the third time. Derek Jeter appeared on the disabled list twice during his 10-year contract with the New York Yankees. Kemp's hamstring injuries - the left one last year, the right one this year - might not have any lasting effect.

The central question in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death trial is who employed Dr. Conrad Murray: Jackson or concert promoter AEG. In testimony that appeared to undercut AEG's claims that the doctor worked for Jackson, a company executive said Thursday that negotiations over Murray's $150,000-a-month contract did not include the singer or his advisors. He also said that the performer's camp never saw the drafts of the agreement. The admission by Shawn Trell, AEG Live's senior vice president and general counsel, appeared to help the Jackson family members who insist the company negligently hired and supervised Murray, now serving time for involuntary manslaughter after giving the singer a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol.