OPINION
July 13, 2012
Re "Dysfunction at the jails," Editorial, July 11 The Times fails to acknowledge the summation presented by your chief witness at the county's new jails commission, Sheriff's Capt. Michael Bornman. Bornman was asked what needed to be done to improve the jails. He said repeatedly that the department had already fixed problem after problem. His list of improvements at the jails was so long he had to write them down. As he went through his list, he said (and this is a quote often repeated in his summation)
OPINION
January 31, 2014
Re "Go native," Letters, Jan. 26 The cries for the obliteration of lawns in L.A. continue. The anti-lawn activists look at lawns while we use lawns. A green lawn can be walked upon and sat upon, and children and pets can play on it. It is an easy-to-maintain, utilitarian surface that is aesthetically restful. Native gardens, touted as water-friendly replacements, require the normal garden tasks of purchasing and installing plants, grooming, weeding and, yes, watering. A look around my hometown reveals native gardens that have been abandoned by owners, probably due to maintenance issues.
SPORTS
December 5, 2013 | By Broderick Turner
Nineteen games into the season and the Clippers are talking about their defense. Or in this case, their lack of defense. They gave up 107 points in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, seemingly with ease. The Clippers didn't close out on three-point shooters. They didn't rotate on defense. They gave up layups and dunks. Simply put, the Clippers were just poor on defense. “I think we should have it,” Blake Griffin said of defending properly. “I've said it over and over, but defense is one of those things that you can really control a lot just by your intensity and being down and ready.
SPORTS
March 26, 2012 | By Mark Medina
The emphasis Lakers Coach Mike Brown stressed on defense comes in many shapes and forms. There are DVDs. Brown wowed the Lakers' front office with these during his job interview so much that he quickly became the favored candidate. He then distributed them to all his players before the lockout so they'd get a head-start on learning and executing his defensive concepts. There are terms. The main one Brown reiterates involves "shrinking the floor," which entails closing off baseline drives.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
December 13, 2013 | By Robin Abcarian
It's hard to hear the details of Ethan Couch's crimes without flinching. Last June, the 16-year-old Texan plowed his father's pickup truck into a group of Good Samaritans helping a disabled vehicle on a narrow residential street in a Ft. Worth suburb. He killed four, including a mother and daughter, and permanently maimed two of his seven teenage passengers, one of whom landed on his head, and is permanently paralyzed. But it's even more painful to hear about the punishment handed down Thursday by Texas State District Judge Jean Boyd, who sentenced Couch to 10 years' probation after he pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication manslaughter, according to the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram , and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury.
SPORTS
January 23, 2010 | By Baxter Holmes
Defense is USC's bread and butter, its faithful standby. If shots aren't falling, if calls go against them, if the hardwood cracks in two and a chasm appears, suspending play indefinitely -- it's cool, no worries, don't sweat it. The Trojans can still rely on their rock-solid defense, which is built on players being aggressive, knowing if they get beat, a teammate has their back. But against Washington State on Thursday, that defense, which was ranked first nationally in scoring defense (54.7)