Drilling

The new film "Promised Land," written by and starring Matt Damon and John Krasinski (the pair also produce with Chris Moore), uses the hot-button issue of fracking - a method of natural gas extraction that utilizes a high-pressure mixture of water and chemicals to break up underground rocks and release the gas - as the backdrop against which to explore nothing less than the current state of American identity. Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film drills down to the question of how we decide who we are. "If people want to internalize it as a political issue movie, they are going to and we're not going to be able to stop them," said Krasinski.

SEATTLE - The Kulluk drilling rig was in the process of dismantling in the Beaufort Sea off the coast of Alaska on Wednesday, concluding Shell Alaska's troubled debut season of offshore drilling in the U.S. Arctic. Company officials said the Noble Discoverer rig was already headed south out of the Chukchi Sea, and operations in the Beaufort were coming to a close on the last day allowed under federal permits for drilling, prohibited after the onset of winter ice. “Given the challenges we faced from the perspective of sea ice and logistics in deploying assets and employees to the Arctic for the first time in two decades, we're very pleased with the work we accomplished,” Shell spokesman Curtis Smith told the Los Angeles Times.

Millions of Californians paused their routines Thursday and participated in the Great ShakeOut, a simultaneous exercise billed as the largest earthquake safety drill in U.S. history. Across the state in schools, offices, hospitals and - for the first time - Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, people dropped for cover at 10:18 a.m. as if the Big One occurred. "This is the first time we're focusing on commuters for a ShakeOut event," said John Bwarie, a spokesman for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Mitt Romney said "the president cut in half the number of licenses and permits for drilling on federal lands and in federal waters. " According to the Bureau of Land Management, in fiscal year 2011, 2,188 leases were issued for energy development on federal lands.  Four years earlier, in fiscal year 2007, 3499 leases were issued. So, not quite a 50% drop, but a drop nonetheless. However, the biggest drop-off came in fiscal year 2008, to 2,416 leases. The fiscal year for the federal government starts Oct. 1, 2007, so that decline began under the Bush administration.

Autism advocacy was in its infancy in the mid-1990s when an organization of parents put the word out about a trip to Washington, D.C., to press for research dollars. Joining them unannounced was a political novice with her own autistic child who quickly became a household name in activist circles. Elizabeth Emken "was a mom from Danville who had read this somehow, and there she was in Barbara Boxer's office," said Jon Shestack of Los Angeles, who along with his wife founded Cure Autism Now in 1995.

Uh-oh. Dwight Howard shot a bunch of three-pointers at the end of Tuesday's practice. Another Andrew Bynum on the Lakers' hands? Not exactly. Coach Mike Brown was in a jovial mood while watching Howard, even declaring that his long-distance shot might be used in late-game situations. That won't happen, but the Lakers were elated to include Howard in some two-on-two and three-on-three drills with contact - long before he began lofting threes. It would be a surprise only if Howard did not suit up for the Lakers' opener Oct. 30 against Dallas.

it really hasn't been that difficult for 6-foot-3 Clippers guard Chauncey Billups to temper his excitement in training camp. He has been excited to join Chris Paul in the backcourt with the starting team at practice during some drills and offensive sets. However, Billups has been low-key about this because he knows he isn't ready for full contact because he's not fully recovered from left Achilles' tendon surgery. "I think if I was younger it would be tougher," said the 36-year-old Billups.

After the first of the Clippers' two practices Saturday, Chris Paul unraveled the tape on his right thumb, on which he had surgery to repair a torn ligament. Although Paul has been limited in what he can do in practice while the thumb continues to heal, he made sure to stay involved. He stayed away from any contract Saturday, even though Paul said he can dribble and shoot the basketball. When Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro had the players work through a few offensive sets and drills, Paul and Chauncey Billups , who is limited in what he can do in practice while he recovers from a torn left Achilles' tendon surgery, joined the first-team unit.

WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - It was the down slope of August, and in the icy winds and freezing rain that masquerade as summer on the Arctic coast, Shell Alaska had to move its community barbecue indoors to the school gym. Billed as the oil company's thank-you to the Iñupiat Eskimo village that is about to become a base for offshore drilling operations, the event featured free hamburgers, beans and something rarely seen up in the Far North - plates heaped...