Developers

A new study showing an estimated 7% of American teens and adults carry the human papillomavirus in their mouths may help health experts finally understand why rates of mouth and throat cancer have been climbing for nearly 25 years. The evidence makes it clear that oral sex practices play a key role in transmission. The new data, published online Thursday by the Journal of the American Medical Assn., are the first to assess the prevalence of oral HPV infection in the U.S. population.

Mary Killman and Maria Koroleva were synchronized swimming rivals when they began the sport, competing against each other on Northern California club teams. Not much more than a year ago, they were paired together as an American duet. Though the U.S. failed to qualify for the London Olympics as a team, a failure that shocked Killman and Koroleva, they have qualified in the Olympic duet to salvage some success from the U.S. program. And Killman, 20, of Santa Clara, Calif., and Koroleva, 22, a Russian native with U.S. citizenship now living in Concord, Calif., are so determined to be side by side in the pool that they even share an apartment bedroom.

Philadelphia officials said Tuesday that they've opened investigations into the fire at a vacant warehouse that led to the deaths of two firefighters. The investigations are still in the early phase as officials seek to find a cause for the fire, a spokeswoman for Dist. Atty. Seth Williams said by telephone Tuesday. The city is also examining other buildings belonging to the developers who owned the warehouse and similar buildings like the one where the fire started about 3:15 a.m. Monday.

The sixth-generation iPhone is expected to have a larger screen, and several iOS developers say they would receive that change with a warm welcome. Rumors began earler this month saying the next iPhone, expected to arrive in October, could come with a 4-inch screen. Since its launch in 2007, Apple has never messed with the 3.5-inch size of its phone screen.

In response to "Developers Find Peace at a Price," Part I, Feb. 26: Developers call it "extortion" when they are called upon to reimburse the costs of nearby residents who are inconvenienced by their construction activities and the ensuing changes to the neighborhood. I do not question the legality of construction activities by developers if they obtain proper permits and comply with all laws and regulations relating to noise, hours of operation, and other aspects of their business.

The kangaroo rat is endangered due to the insidious, haphazard, ignominious developers. What crybabies that they cannot build on every square inch of land. The minuscule and greedy brain power of the developers is appalling. JOAN RICHARDSON San Clemente

I viewed the letter by Michael B. Kaiserman (Times, March 3) with great skepticism. But since Mr. Kaiserman is a developer, it comes as no surprise that he should attempt to discredit me and the Beverly Wilshire Homes Assn. This type of sabotage is used by developers against community activists all over the city whenever activists succeed in preventing or minimizing insidious overdevelopment. His criticism of a slush fund of $250,000 he purports to be for "Diana Plotkin and four of her friends" discloses the extent of his ignorance.

Re "Caltrans using suits to fund roads," March 27 So developers are upset because they have to pay fines and fees for the extra use of the freeways and environmental impact their developments create. Too bad, so sad. It seems Caltrans should have an ally in the powers-that-be, which issue permits for the overdevelopment that is rampant. It makes sense that the more you build, the more people you have sharing space. No way do I think there is anything altruistic in the "urban planning" taking place these days.

Ventura has a pro-growth City Council--Monahan, McWherter, Drake, Crew and Sullard. They've appointed a bunch of cement-loving Chamber of Commerce yes-men to the various boards and commissions, particularly the committee to review Ventura's future. The pro-growth forces should not be allowed to plan for the future at the expense of everyone else's--it's like letting the Bloods and Crips rewrite the penal codes. Keep in mind this whole update scenario began in response to growing public dissatisfaction with rampant development, all this traffic and all this concrete.

After reading "Developers, Spare Those Trees" (Aug. 28), I am mad! I wholly support Lorlaine Davis, the Trabuco Women's Club and the Sierra Club in their efforts to save the trees in Live Oak Canyon. It is the last unspoiled rural area in the county and should be a county treasure that is left to be enjoyed by all. Its beauty and peacefulness feed the spirit. The developers in Orange County, who are shortsighted and see only their own point of view, seem to operate by one motto only: "The end justifies the means."

Facebook Inc.'s initial public offering isn't just a flop on Wall Street. It's also not making waves in social gaming land. Facebook, whose popularity among its nearly 1 billion users has been partly fueled by social games published by Zynga Inc., Electronic Arts Inc. and others, may be facing a collapse of its gaming ecosystem, according to a book released this week by P.J. McNealy, a media analyst with Digital World Research. "Early Days: The Social Gaming Market and Facebook's Achilles' Heel" argues that developers are no longer making as many Facebook games because it has become impossible for them to make money.

Yahoo Inc. is trying to stake a claim on the summer movie season with the launch of Movieland, an interactive online game promoting 35 upcoming big-budget films. Developed with participation from all the major movie studios, Movieland is laid out as a virtual board game, with each square representing a summer film. Users will be able to watch trailers, answer trivia questions, earn and share online badges, buy tickets and win prizes. Ken Fuchs, vice president and head of sports, entertainment and games at Yahoo Media Network, said Movieland "game-ifies moviegoing in an interesting way. It sucks people into an experience.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Africa's rapid economic growth has helped change the stereotype of a hopeless continent of starving people waiting to be rescued, but it has also created an intense need for strong managers, according to a report released Tuesday. Poor management is hurting the effectiveness of global multinational corporations, major local companies, governments and charitable foundations in many African countries, says the report by the African Management Initiative, a nonprofit organization focused on training managers to help business development on the continent.

Despite strong opposition from environmentalists, the state Assembly on Thursday approved controversial legislation that allows a solar energy developer to bypass local agencies in seeking to build a large-scale power plant in a valley that is home to desert tortoises, golden eagles and bighorn sheep. The nation's leading environmental groups see K Road Power's proposed 663-megawatt Calico Solar plant as one of the most ecologically damaging renewable energy projects in the California desert.

A truce has been forged in the decades-long fight over the forested land surrounding the world-famous Pebble Beach resort. The California Coastal Commission on Wednesday approved a plan by actor Clint Eastwood, golfer Arnold Palmer, former baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth and other Pebble Beach Co. owners that is billed as the last development ever at the gated complex of golf courses, mansions and hotels on the Monterey Peninsula. The decision largely puts to rest a contentious environmental battle over the company's plans to expand into its prime real estate holdings in the forest above the craggy bluffs and crashing surf.

Magic Johnson has the power to veto any development Frank McCourt might propose for the Dodger Stadium parking lots, according to a provision in an agreement between McCourt and the new owners of the Dodgers. McCourt sold the Dodgers to Guggenheim Baseball Management but retained half-ownership of the parking lots. Guggenheim secured the right to approve any development and designated Johnson as the party who would grant approval. The provision, in a document that is not public, confirms what Guggenheim executives have said, that they control development of the property.

The lawsuit filed by Ventura Alpha Ranch Corp. partners and Orange County-based Lusk Co. against the city and county of Ventura ("Families Sue for Right to Develop Farmland," May 9) is the latest attack by California developers to undermine the planning, development, zoning and permitting authority of local government. If successful, Alpha Ranch and Lusk, and their supporters, the Building Industry Assn. and the Pacific Legal Foundation, would precipitate planning and development anarchy and eventual gridlock throughout California, sapping the vitality of our communities, economically and environmentally.

Digby Wolfe, an Emmy Award-winning comedy writer who helped producer George Schlatter develop "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," a landmark TV series that became an overnight sensation in the late 1960s, has died. He was 82. Wolfe, who later became a professor of writing at the University of New Mexico, died of lung cancer Wednesday at his home in Albuquerque, said his wife, Patricia Mannion-Wolfe. The British-born Wolfe - an actor, writer, singer and comedian whose early career included writing for the BBC's satirical "That Was the Week That Was" and hosting an Australian TV variety show - moved to Los Angeles in the mid-'60s.

Just off the trendy Melrose strip, on the western edge of Hollywood, is a refuge of tree-lined streets where neighbors greet each other by name and young couples start families and stick around into their golden years. Lately, it has also become a battlefront in a broader clash of conflicting imperatives: how to balance a government push to keep the aging and disabled out of institutions against community desires to protect the character and value of residential neighborhoods, particularly in a shaky housing market.