Economic Discrimination

The California Supreme Court refused Thursday to extend the state civil rights act to bar discrimination against the poor, ruling that landlords may deny rentals to people who fail to meet minimum-income standards. The decision came in the first major review of the act by the conservative high court and marked an abrupt departure from past decisions granting broad protections even against forms of bias not specifically covered by the law.

The divide between rich and poor in California has been growing for decades, with most of the jobs created in the state paying wages at opposite ends of the spectrum and the top earners pulling down the biggest gains, according to a report from a nonprofit research group. The California Budget Project said in the report, to be released today, that wages for people toiling at the bottom of the pay range dropped 7.

Jade Goody, accused of being a racist for her treatment of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, was evicted from Britain's "Celebrity Big Brother" show by viewers Friday. The 25-year-old was considered likely to be kicked out by public vote after she was cast as the villain of a program that triggered protests and dominated headlines in Britain and India, prompted a sponsor to pull out and may threaten Goody's career.

The Legislature's black caucus vowed Wednesday to block a state loan for the downtown Los Angeles-to-Pasadena light-rail line unless the Metropolitan Transportation Authority makes a "real financial commitment" to improve transit service in the county's African American community. A letter sent to MTA board Chairman Larry Zarian and signed by seven black legislators calls the MTA's recently adopted rail recovery plan "nothing short of environmental and economic discrimination."

Los Angeles County health officials are failing to perform tens of thousands of routine apartment inspections in buildings whose landlords pay mandatory inspection fees, a task force studying the department said Tuesday. The Blue Ribbon Citizens' Committee on Slum Housing also found that the health department is less likely to carry out inspections in poor neighborhoods where slum conditions fester.

More than anything, some journalism and missing-child experts say, it was the brutal and haunting details of Samantha Runnion's abduction and killing that made her case an overnight media sensation. There was the brazen nature of the kidnapping, in broad daylight on a quiet Orange County street. Then the discovery of the 5-year-old girl's body by a hiker in the Cleveland National Forest, his anguish captured on a 911 tape and played over and over on television.

A heated debate Wednesday over federal job training funds turned into an argument between City Council members from the San Fernando Valley and the Central City over who has the poorest constituents. Councilman Alex Padilla of Pacoima jousted verbally with Councilman Mike Hernandez after Padilla complained that his Valley district is being shortchanged.

Northern Trust Corp., a major Illinois banking company, said Wednesday that the mortgage practices of its four subsidiaries are under review by the Justice Department for possible lending discrimination against minorities. Northern Trust is the third banking company to acknowledge it has been targeted by the Justice Department for allegedly discriminating against minorities in mortgage lending. The two other banks are Shawmut National Corp. of Boston and Barnett Banks Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla.

Dorothy Garwood got an unpleasant surprise when she lifted the receiver on a pay phone at Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. A local call cost Garwood, 77, nearly twice as much as it had a few weeks ago--35 cents, not the 20 cents she expected. "This was the first time I had noticed," Garwood said. "I think they should have made us a little more prepared, given us a little more notice. "It seems very high for an ordinary phone call."

It was perhaps foreseeable that a plan to lock some of Britain's most annoying personalities under the same roof would turn ugly. The defrocked beauty queen, the sniffy Bollywood movie star, the dimwit reality show veteran famous for wondering whether Cambridge was in London -- could it have turned into anything but a catfight? Hardly anybody, though, thought it would turn into an international incident.

More than anything, some journalism and missing-child experts say, it was the brutal and haunting details of Samantha Runnion's abduction and killing that made her case an overnight media sensation. There was the brazen nature of the kidnapping, in broad daylight on a quiet Orange County street. Then the discovery of the 5-year-old girl's body by a hiker in the Cleveland National Forest, his anguish captured on a 911 tape and played over and over on television.

Immigration groups complained Thursday that the government is giving the rich and famous special treatment under a new program that will allow foreign celebrities, athletes and executives to get their working visas in 15 days for a $1,000 payment. The visa application process takes three months for most foreigners. "This basically says, 'If you have money, we'll let you into our country as soon as we can.

The burned-out cafeteria and auditorium at Russell Elementary School in South Los Angeles is surrounded by piles of dirt, mounds of broken asphalt and large chunks of concrete. Sometimes men show up to work on the charred building. Sometimes it sits abandoned. For more than two years, the cafeteria manager has had no cafeteria to manage. No big ovens. No counters. There has been no stage for school plays, no hall large enough for assemblies.

Concerned that too many wealthy, white students are abusing the system to get extra time on the SAT, Democratic state lawmakers are pushing legislation that they say will make the system fairer for students of every race and economic class. A bill introduced last week in the state Senate would forbid high schools in California from determining which students who claim a learning disability are qualified for special accommodations on the high-stakes test used in college admissions.

A heated debate Wednesday over federal job training funds turned into an argument between City Council members from the San Fernando Valley and the Central City over who has the poorest constituents. Councilman Alex Padilla of Pacoima jousted verbally with Councilman Mike Hernandez after Padilla complained that his Valley district is being shortchanged.

First Alliance Mortgage Co., an Irvine home-equity lender accused in the past of racial discrimination and defrauding the elderly, said Thursday that federal authorities and seven states are investigating its lending practices. The lender and its parent company, First Alliance Corp., were named in a letter from the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department and the attorneys general of the states.

Someday, every high school classroom might resemble Room 304 at Villa Park High. Students enter their morning English class, pop open their laptop computers, plug them into the portals at their desks and browse the Internet to find potential topics for research projects. They e-mail their homework to 11th-grade English teacher Connie Bohnert, who has posted her assignments and lecture notes on the class' animated Web page.

Paul Kelly used to think of himself as a good Catholic. He dutifully attended Sunday Mass and regularly opened his checkbook to charities. He was a good fit for his Orange County community. But some of the social teachings of the church, which condemn unfettered capitalism and promote international peace, rubbed Kelly--an engineer who worked in the weapons industry--the wrong way. He simply did not believe in pacifism.