Emergencies

Times are tough enough for Californians; they're even tougher for Californians' teeth. "One-quarter of all adults and 28% of children in California have untreated dental caries [cavities]," says Len Finocchio, a senior program officer at the California Healthcare Foundation, a health advocacy group. "Our research tells us that many people in California have been avoiding routine care that might have cost about $100 for a checkup and cleaning, and then find themselves in the emergency room, where they get only an antibiotic, a bill that can average over $600 and instructions to see a dentist."

Dodgers second baseman Mark Ellis returned home from the hospital Thursday, five days after undergoing emergency surgery on his left leg. Ellis was injured last Friday when Tyler Greene of the St. Louis Cardinals slid into him at second base. The next day, Ellis had fluid and blood drained from his leg. The procedure was required because the pressure on Ellis' muscles and joints was building. Team physician Neal ElAttrache told Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly that Ellis was several hours away from losing the lower part of his leg. Ellis is expected to be sidelined for six weeks.

If you think Bluetooth is a rare dental condition and an app is what you eat before the entree, you might not be a candidate for today's high-tech, whiz-bang smart phones. Instead, you might be happier with a mobile phone geared toward seniors. Those phones typically don't have Web-surfing capability, GPS maps and video games. Instead they have large buttons, oversized digital readouts and hearing-aid compatibility, along with a relatively simple calling plan. Although senior-friendly phones aren't new, their lower prices and variety are. A recent price skirmish among wireless companies means seniors can get an easy-to-use cellphone and cheap service to go with it, said Mac Haddow, senior fellow on public policy for the independent and nonprofit Alliance for Generational Equity.

Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said Sunday that the team doctor told him second baseman Mark Ellis was within several hours of possibly having his left leg amputated if Ellis hadn't had emergency surgery. "That was scary," Mattingly said of the injury, which is expected to keep Ellis out of action for six weeks. "I didn't realize how bad that was. " Ellis, 34, suffered the injury Friday when he was upended by the St. Louis Cardinals' Tyler Greene to break up a double play.

Airplane control problems last summer could have led to disaster for then-Sen. Barack Obama and his presidential campaign, according to a report released Friday by the National Transportation Safety Board. On July 7, 2008, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81 en route to Charlotte, N.C., and carrying Obama and 50 other passengers and crew made an emergency landing in St. Louis. An evacuation slide within the tail cone had inflated shortly after takeoff from Chicago.

United Airlines, the world's largest airline, is downgrading the "operational emergencies" it declared at six airport locations to force mechanics to work overtime, the machinists union said. The union, the International Assn. of Machinists, said the decision to pull back on the mandatory overtime was made after discussions this week between the union and United.

It was the Cat Lady again. The night before, the amiable, elderly caller had rung up the Los Angeles Police Department's 911 emergency command center five times. Monday morning, she called the Police Department twice more, as she has done almost daily for 18 years, to ramble on about her "kittens." "Those cats sure do get around," sighed Lisa Turner, a police operator, before gently persuading the woman to hang up.

Even without emergency contraception pills becoming available over the counter, there are several things you can do to prevent pregnancy if you act quickly. First, be prepared. Ask your doctor for a prescription for Plan B, Preven or regular birth control pills to be used as emergency contraception. Fill the prescription and keep it handy, at home or in your purse. Emergency contraception works best in the first 12 hours after sex, but it is effective up to 72 hours later.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in Humboldt County, where transportation officials ordered an unsafe bridge immediately closed. The Martins Ferry Bridge links California 101 and 169 and is often the only access from the coast into the northeastern part of the county. An inspection this month revealed critical problems with the bridge's foundation. Since then, drivers have been sent on a 100-mile detour. The governor said an alternate route needs $1.

For the duration of the strike, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has established emergency service on seven of the San Fernando Valley's busiest routes. There are fewer buses on those lines, however, and MTA officials cautioned passengers to expect to wait twice as long as usual between buses. For example, they said, if a bus normally reaches a particular stop every 20 minutes, buses on the emergency lines will probably arrive up to 40 minutes apart.

Emergency response times provided by Los Angeles fire officials to the public and City Hall leaders cannot be trusted because of problems with software used to prepare the numbers, according to a report by an expert assigned to audit the Fire Department's data analysis . The report called on the department to stop using the software until the problem is fixed and recommended an overhaul of the unit that analyzes statistics for Fire Chief...

Just before 10:45 a.m., Keith Marks called 911 and the Los Angeles County emergency response system sprang into action. A fire engine, a paramedic squad and a private ambulance - eight men in total - rushed to the Martin Luther King Jr. urgent-care center in Willowbrook. When they arrived, Marks, 56, was sitting calmly in a wheelchair just outside the entrance. His complaint: he was having joint pain from gout and wanted his medication refilled. "I can't walk," he said.

Political upheaval in Europe reached a new apex over the weekend when French voters threw out their incumbent president and Greeks gave the heave-ho to the ruling parliamentary coalition. The results suggest that a new consensus is emerging in Europe in favor of more economic stimulus, but they also call into question the continent's ability to agree on a plan to keep its fiscal problems from spreading uncontrollably. European leaders had agreed to a series of pacts that would rescue Greece and other defaulting countries in exchange for steep reductions in their red ink, while also requiring every country that relies on the euro to shrink their debts and curb deficit spending.

This year, India's Mahindra & Mahindra became the world's biggest tractor maker. It ran a television commercial in the U.S. to mark the moment. The aim was partly to celebrate - its relatively affordable products, which suit the tastes and pockets of emerging-market customers, have begun to do well in the U.S. Dominant in India and growing fast in China, the conglomerate can be seen as an example of a business from India overtaking established businesses...

WASHINGTON - A top U.S. commander is seeking authority to expand clandestine operations against militants and insurgencies around the globe, a sign of shifting Pentagon tactics and priorities after a grueling decade of large-scale wars. Adm. William H. McRaven, a Navy SEAL and commander of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, has developed plans that would provide far-reaching new powers to make special operations units "the force of choice" against "emerging threats" over the next decade, internal Defense Department documents show.

WASHINGTON - In a first term marked by clear partisan divisions, President Obama's decision to order a high-risk special forces operation targeting Osama bin Laden stands out as an unquestioned nonpartisan success. But the one-year anniversary of the Al Qaeda mastermind's death has become a flash point in early skirmishing between Obama and Mitt Romney, his likely Republican opponent in the fall election. It reflects both the competitive nature of this year's presidential contest and Democrats' zeal to highlight an advantage over the GOP on issues of national security.

A state of emergency declared after ethnic violence flared in the Central Asian republic of Kirghizia in June has been lifted, Tass reported Wednesday. The official Soviet news agency said the state of emergency "accomplished its task" and conditions in the republic had stabilized. The clampdown was imposed on June 7, along with a curfew in the capital of Frunze and the town of Osh, about 200 miles to the south, where fighting between ethnic Kirghiz and Uzbeks claimed more than 210 lives.

Big Wall Street investment companies are pulling back slightly on their borrowing from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program. A central bank report Thursday said that they averaged $32.6 billion in daily borrowing over the last week. That compares with $38.1 billion in the previous week and $32.9 billion before that. "Conditions in this particular part of the financial markets are easing up somewhat," said T.J. Marta, a fixed-income strategist at RBC Capital Markets who viewed the pullback as a positive sign.

A group of downtown residents and their dogs were romping on a small patch of grass next to the glass edifice that headquarters the Los Angeles Police Department when the playful mood was broken. "Hey, hey, look out!" someone shouted. A dog off its leash ran into the street, and was causing drivers to swerve. A similar incident had occurred just hours before, one park visitor said, when another dog escaped its owner and ran into the street, only to be saved by a homeless person.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Forecasting teams are calling for the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season to be slower than normal, although not by much. AccuWeather.com predicts 12 named storms, including five hurricanes, two with sustained winds greater than 110 mph. Weather Services International, or WSI, a part of the Weather Channel, projects 11 named storms, including six hurricanes, two of those intense. Both forecasts would translate to a slightly slower than normal season: On average, there are 12 named storms, including six hurricanes, three of them major.