Diversity

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office admitted Monday that its prosecutors erred in allowing a suspect - now accused in the killing of four people in Northridge - to receive drug treatment instead of prison time during a September court hearing. The suspect, Ka Pasasouk, was in Van Nuys Superior Court after being arrested on suspicion of drug possession. He was on probation at the time, and the L.A. County Probation Department had urged that he be sent back to state prison for "long-term detention" because of his lengthy criminal record.

The federal government on Friday proposed protecting 66 kinds of corals under the Endangered Species Act, an acknowledgment that these reef-building animals are suffering so many insults they are threatened with extinction. The proposal, which covers corals in the Pacific and the Caribbean, lists 19 ways that corals are under assault. They include overfishing, pollution, heat-stroke, disease and dissolving in seawater that is turning more acidic. A team of scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service spent more than three years reviewing the health of these reef-building corals before proposing their protection.

DEL MAR - In January, when he joins the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, Dave Roberts will be the only Democrat among four Republicans, the first Democrat on the board in more than two decades. He will also be the first new supervisor in 18 years. And he will be the only one who is not a graduate of San Diego State. He has three degrees from American University in Washington, D.C. He's also gay and married to a retired Air Force master sergeant. The two are adoptive parents to five former foster children, ages 4 to 17, who call them Daddy Dave and Daddy Wally.

Bill O'Reilly can breathe a little easier. Last week while speaking about the reelection of President Obama, the Fox News commentator said, "The white establishment is now the minority. "  But when it comes to who owns the nation's TV and radio stations, whites -- and white males in particular -- are still the majority. The Federal Communications Commission just released its report on the ownership of commercial broadcast stations which reveals that as of 2011, whites own 69.4% of the nation's 1,348 television stations.

The Marine Corps has launched a multimedia advertising campaign aimed at encouraging more women and minorities to join as officers, and ending a decades-old stereotype that the Corps is the domain of white men. The Marines' “Fighting With Purpose” campaign tracks with the lesson that many pundits have drawn from last week's election results: The nation's demographics have dramatically changed. The campaign, created by the advertising and marketing firms UniWorld Group and JWT, features 1st Lt. Drexel King, an African American based at Camp Pendleton, and Capt.

WASHINGTON - Tuesday's election dramatically changed the face of California's congressional delegation, shuffling in an eclectic group of freshmen lawmakers whose lack of seniority may diminish the state's Capitol Hill clout in the short term. At least 11 of the delegation's 53 House members will be newcomers in the biggest turnover in 20 years. Democrats currently outnumber Republicans, 35 to 15, and are leading in three tight races. The new delegation will have a more diverse look: The number of Latinos will increase to nine from six. But San Pedro Democrat Janice Hahn's defeat of incumbent Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach)

CHICAGO - TyRon Turner celebrated the victory of President Obama at his lakefront election-night party, but he woke up Wednesday morning wanting a little more. So he took a cab to the president's Kenwood neighborhood to applaud him personally, if only as he passed by in a motorcade. But as he stood on the sidewalk in a sweatshirt and blue knit cap, the small-business owner said he couldn't stop thinking about the challenges ahead. The divisions in the country were so evident on television on election night, he said, as cameras panned the saddened faces of Romney supporters and the jubilant ones around him at McCormick Place.

President Obama overcame a disappointingly slow economic recovery and a massive advertising onslaught to win a second term Tuesday night, forging a coalition of women, minorities and young people that reflects the changing political face of America. The outcome was surprisingly swift. The TV networks called the race against Republican Mitt Romney less than 20 minutes after the polls closed on the West Coast, as a succession of battleground states tipped the president's way. About 90 minutes later, the former Massachusetts governor offered his concession in a phone conversation with the president.

It started with the Vietnamese after the fall of Saigon. Then came the Romanians, the Iranians, the Central Americans and those from the Middle East, all showing up at the little Garden Grove haven they knew simply as the "refugee club. " Folks at St. Anselm's Cross-Cultural Community Center offered newcomers the basics: where to find a job, how to write a resume, how to get a handle on America. By the thousands, those fleeing war, poverty or persecution poured in. Now, this club has moved from its humble quarters - cramped rooms, donated furniture and dim lighting - into a gleaming $3.7-million two-story building in Orange.

Back to Blood A Novel Tom Wolfe Little, Brown: 704 pp., $30 About a quarter of the way through Tom Wolfe's new novel, "Back to Blood," pornography addiction specialist Dr. Norman Lewis waits with his nurse (and mistress) Magdelena Otero to be interviewed by a "60 Minutes" crew. Norman is delirious at the prospect of his star turn - so much so that he becomes a bit, er, overstimulated. "' Now - while they're at the door!' " he grunts at Magdalena, who responds, " 'No, Norman!