Eric

'Looking for Eric' MPAA rating: Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 57 minutes Playing: At Laemmle's Sunset 5, West Hollywood, and Monica 4-Plex, Santa Monica

SAN DIEGO - The guided-missile frigate Vandegrift returned here Wednesday with 15 officers, 190 enlisted sailors and a sick baby named Lyra. The rescue of the 1-year-old and her family from their crippled sailboat hundreds of miles out at sea was accomplished by a joint effort of the Coast Guard, California Air National Guard and the Navy, which redirected the Vandegrift from a training mission off Southern California. Avoiding the news media, Eric and Charlotte Kaufman and their two daughters - Lyra and 3-year-old Cora - disembarked at Naval Air Station North Island.

Despite being almost universally acknowledged as a master of film, the French director Eric Rohmer, who came to prominence as a member of the so-called New Wave of the late '50s and early '60s (although he was about 10 years older than many of its most famous members, Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut among them) arguably stands as one of the most misunderstood of great directors. Rohmer, who died Monday in Paris at age 89, came to international prominence with the films he made under the rubric "Six Moral Tales" between 1962 and 1972.

The push to bring a major music festival to downtown Los Angeles - one with rapper Jay Z expected to play a creative role - has set off a tussle between two L.A. politicians. Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar contends he was left out of discussions, spearheaded by Mayor Eric Garcetti in recent weeks, over bringing the two-day Budweiser Made in America music festival to Grand Park and the nearby steps of City Hall. Huizar, who represents most of downtown, called for the city to withhold approval of any permits for the Labor Day weekend event until the details are properly vetted.

Game Over? Close, but not quite. Disgraced former icon Eric Gagne, who electrified Dodger Stadium during a three-year stretch in which he saved a record 84 consecutive games, has agreed to a minor league contract with the Dodgers that includes an invitation to major league camp, according to baseball sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal is not yet official. Gagne is expected to be part of the group of pitchers and catchers who will report to spring training in Phoenix on Saturday.

Eric Rohmer, a former film critic who became one of France's most respected filmmakers and was internationally known for movies such as "My Night at Maud's" and "Claire's Knee," died Monday in Paris. He was 89. Rohmer's death was announced by his producer, Margaret Menegoz. Relatives said he was hospitalized a week ago but offered no further explanation, according to Agence France-Presse. French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the writer-director a "great auteur who will continue to speak to us and inspire us for years to come."

Here's the major take-away from the raunchy new comedy "A Good Old Fashioned Orgy" — it's not a good idea. Even with booze to blur the vision and the thinking, there are still some things best left undone where friends are concerned. Uh, right. In fact, and I'm pretty sure this has been documented by serious scientific research, for most folks, getting naked and having group sex with friends is close to the top of the better-not-go-there list. However, that scientifically salient fact does make this movie about regular folks contemplating some outside-the-box behavior more amusing than you might expect, but probably not by much.

The Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA) should consider renaming itself "Money Thrown Away." ERIC W. ROSE Thousand Oaks

In this time of dizzying change, I take great comfort in the dependable--like erIc (sic) Dickerson. I know I can always depend on erIc to: --Put erIc's needs ahead of his team's. --Be a divisive influence in the clubhouse. --Fumble in a critical situation. --Watch the championship game from the comfort of his own home. JOHN GERMAN Los Angeles

Eric: We love you, but we would love you a lot more if you could only hang onto the football. FRANK B. DRAPER Belmont Shore

Gay rights advocates in Michigan cheered Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr.'s announcement Friday that the federal government will recognize about 300 same-sex marriages hastily performed March 22. But the small victory translates to more complications for some newlyweds. After a federal judge struck down the state's gay marriage ban March 21, Deborah Dolney, 28, and her fiancee, Jessie-Mae Secord, 33, seized the opportunity to get married. Four counties opened their offices the next day to issue marriage licenses, and Dolney and Secord were among those in line.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, responding to a barrage of criticism about a Fire Department hiring system that eliminated thousands of qualified applicants, announced Thursday afternoon that he is scrapping the process. "I have determined that the Fire Department's recruiting process is fatally flawed," Garcetti said in a statement. The mayor said he made his decision after he discovered that Fire Department "staff organized special recruiting workshops for LAFD insiders. " A class of 70 new recruits is in training.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti suspended the city's firefighter recruitment program Thursday amid concerns about mismanagement and nepotism, including new emails that show special recruitment workshops were organized for relatives of department insiders. "I have determined that the Fire Department's recruiting process is fatally flawed," the mayor said in a statement Thursday. The action follows a Times report last month that thousands of candidates who passed a written test were excluded from consideration for a new training class because some of their paperwork wasn't received in the first 60 seconds of a filing period last spring.

Acknowledging concerns in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings last year, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Sunday that officials have taken every precaution to ensure that the city's marathon is safe and secure. Garcetti, who was on hand at Dodger Stadium for the kickoff of the 29th annual marathon, told KTLA that the world had changed since the Boston bombings -- in which three people were killed and dozens injured -- but that city agencies and the police department had put all necessary resources into Sunday's event to make certain there would be no problems.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford appeared on Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show Monday to promote his hometown, but ended up getting stacked up against Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Ford -- who gained international fame last year after media reports of public drunkenness and his admission to smoking crack cocaine -- had paid a visit to L.A. City Hall earlier Monday, but Garcetti, in Mexico on a business trip, was nowhere to be found. Ford told reporters that he makes it a point to visit the city halls of places he visits to "pop in and say hi. " Despite the Toronto City Council stripping him of official powers, Ford has refused to step down and announced in January that he would seek reelection in the fall.

Top tech executives, including BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt are in town this week for a two-day technology and media conference. Oasis: The Montgomery Summit -- for a decade known as the Montgomery Technology Conference before a name change this year -- will take place at the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica on Wednesday and Thursday. PHOTOS: Five ways the Samsung Gear 2 is better than its predecessor The invitation-only confab will feature panels, networking and presentations from chief executives of about 150 companies in the social, mobile, analytics and cloud sectors.

Michelle is certain that Eric, her husband of 10 years, is going to leave her. "He says he loves me," the 35-year-old civil engineer says, "but I know he doesn't mean it. And it's all because I'm too fat." Michelle never dreamed that anyone would fall in love with an ugly, overweight girl like her. "My mother convinced me of that. And she would hit me or scream at me whenever I didn't do something right."

Karin Sanchez speaks of the addiction of her son "Eric" (she requests that his given name not be used) with a restrained, powerful somberness deepened by the death of her husband from a heart attack two weeks earlier. The couple had been married 34 years, and if there was one thing they wanted, it was to provide a warm, stable home for their two sons and one daughter--something neither had had themselves. Born into a poor family in Germany, Karin Sanchez was 4 when her parents divorced.

MEXICO CITY - When historians write about 21st century Los Angeles, they'll probably observe that Eric Garcetti was the second Spanish-speaking L.A. mayor in a row to make an official visit to the Mexican capital. They may also note how trips such as his trade mission this week reflected the increasingly intimate cultural and economic ties between Los Angeles and its sister megalopolis to the south. But some of the subtleties of the experience may be lost to posterity if it is not also noted that Garcetti, like his predecessor, Antonio Villaraigosa, speaks a version of the language that, for lack of a more scientific term, might be called Funky American Business Spanish.

WASHINGTON -- Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. was taken to a Washington hospital Thursday after experiencing “faintness and shortness of breath” during his regular morning meeting with senior staff at the Justice Department. Holder was driven by a security detail to the MedStar Washington Hospital Center for treatment, officials said. He was described as “alert and conversing with his doctors,” according to Brian Fallon, the attorney general's chief spokesman. Fallon added that Holder was “resting comfortably and in good condition” and was expected to “undergo further evaluation.” It was unclear how long he might be hospitalized.