Family

Talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, have bought a 13-acre estate in Montecito that had been listed at $26.5 million. The purchase price has not yet appeared in the public record. The restored Tuscan-style villa and gardens had undergone years and millions of dollars in reconstruction work under the care of an earlier owner, designer John Saladino. The two-story villa was built in the late 1920s from locally quarried stone. The property, entered through wrought-iron gates, has a quarter-mile-long driveway that winds through olive and eucalyptus trees.

Many Napa Valley wineries are beginning to welcome visits from families, and they're making a serious effort to keep the kids engaged. Lest we forget, wineries are farms, and in many cases they have farm animals, game birds, fish ponds, picnic grounds and other kid magnets. Not all of wine country is kid-friendly, mind you, but you can find ample attractions to make this a satisfying destination for serious wine lovers … and grape juice lovers too. The tab: We spent about $647 for a family of four, including $315 for one night at the Villagio Inn, $260 on meals and $72 on a castle tour and wine tasting.

With gas prices continuing a steady upward climb, you may be headed to the dealer in search of something less thirsty at the pump. But which cars' sticker price gives you the most bang for your buck? We asked Edmunds.com to look at the vehicles with the lowest sticker price per fuel-economy rating. The math was simple: divide the car's base price by its EPA rating for combined fuel economy. The result gives a look at how much each mile per gallon will cost you. Photos: Top 10 cars with lowest cost per mpg Topping the list is Ford's C-Max Energi.

ROME - Each day, Giacomo Di Giralomo makes a point of asking, "Where are you, Matteo?" on his talk radio show, which is broadcast across western Sicily. It's a question that the police are asking with greater urgency as they seek Matteo Messina Denaro, the Sicilian Mafia's last fugitive godfather, a fixture on Top 10 lists of the world's most wanted for allegedly killing about 50 people and going on the run 20 years ago. Known for his love of fast cars, women and designer clothes, Messina Denaro, 51, has returned to the spotlight with the opening of a trial in Palermo last month.

Amid anxiety over rising costs from the federal healthcare law, California received better-than-expected insurance rates for a new state-run marketplace, but many consumers still won't be spared from sharply higher premiums. Three years after President Obama's landmark law was passed, the state unveiled the first details Thursday on what many Californians can expect to pay for coverage from 13 health plans offering policies in the state's exchange, in which as many as 5 million people will shop for coverage next year.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke publicly for the first time Monday about the breakup of his 20-year marriage, saying he was responsible for the split even as he refused to talk about what caused it. In a somber meeting with reporters at City Hall, Villaraigosa declined to answer questions about whether the break with his wife, Corina, was triggered by another romantic relationship.

When I think of actress Lupe Ontiveros, who passed away from liver cancer at 69 Thursday night, what stays with me most is her strength. Her women tended to be strong and resilient, no-nonsense types, whether they were running a theater company as she did in "Chuck & Buck," dealing with a rebellious daughter in "Real Women Have Curves," or picking up after some well-heeled white family, as she did in"The Goonies. "There was a "I have seen it all" quality that danced in her eyes, more bemused by the frailties of the human race than bitter about them.

What would it take to get you into an electric car today? Forced by state regulators to sell more zero-emission vehicles, automakers are tripping over each other to offer consumers rock-bottom lease deals. For the first time, electric vehicles are penciling out cheaper than their gas-powered counterparts. Honda joined the price war this week by dropping the lease on its Fit EV from $389 to $259 a month. It threw in collision and vehicle theft coverage, maintenance, roadside assistance - even a charging station at your house.

If you are a teacher in debt, there's good news and bad news. There are literally dozens of programs that could potentially help wipe out your student loans. But most of them have narrow requirements that may lock you out. Just ask Troy Dale, a high school counselor from Ellis, Kan. He and his wife have $23,000 in student loans that they've been paying down for nearly a decade. At their current rate, they'll still be paying off their student debts when their oldest child enrolls in college.

Few markets crashed harder than Compton when California's real estate bubble burst. The city's northwest side saw the median home price plummet to $94,000 in 2009, down from $385,000 at the peak. Foreclosures dotted the streets. Families fled, leaving trash and old furniture behind. "There were a lot of empty houses. It was a big mess," said real estate broker Ruben Magdaleno of Re/Max VIP. These days, the working-class community has a new identity: comeback kid. Northwest Compton has posted the most dramatic price jump of any area in Southern California.

The family of a man who died after being beaten by Kern County Sheriff's deputies and attacked by a police dog have filed a federal civil rights claim against the officers involved, the department and other agencies, a precursor to a lawsuit. The death of David Silva - which a Kern County autopsy report said was accidental due to hypertensive heart disease - garnered widespread attention because of the number of witnesses to the beating who stepped forward and because officers later detained two witnesses until they turned over their cellphones with video recordings.

As a member of Congress, Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) is proud to stand up for the principles of limited government and individual responsibility. The first-term congressman expresses skepticism about such safety-net programs as food stamps, regarding them as the handiwork of an "oppressive" government that snatches wages from the hands of working people. Helping the poor is better left to individuals and churches, he said at a recent committee hearing in Washington, because then "it comes from the heart, not from a badge or from a mandate.

ARDMORE, Pa. - Phil Mickelson, who has already wrapped up the father-of-the-year title, was the leader in the clubhouse after the rainy first day of the U.S. Open here Thursday. It was storybook stuff. The golf wasn't bad, either. Mickelson, for the better part of the last two decades among the top golfers in the world, has won four major championships, but never a U.S. Open. Winning one would round out a legacy of his three Masters and one PGA title. Not that he hasn't been close.

MEXICO CITY - The project is of mind-boggling proportions: It would cost $40 billion, take a decade to complete and be more than twice the length of the mighty Panama Canal. Yet on Thursday, the Nicaraguan legislature controlled by President Daniel Ortega approved just such a plan, for a sea-to-sea canal from the Pacific to the Caribbean, with a little-known Chinese firm footing much of the bill. Proponents say the canal megaproject could bring to Nicaragua and the region a major share of the expanding global maritime trade business, especially from U.S. and Asian markets, worth trillions of dollars.

WASHINGTON - Although the drive for tougher gun controls has faded into the background, families of victims in the Newtown school shooting returned to the Capitol on Wednesday to show they are not giving up. Advocacy groups on both sides of the debate also are ramping up their campaigns, preparing for the Senate's likely return to the issue after it completes work on the immigration overhaul bill. Despite intense pressure from the families and gun control advocates, none of the senators who voted against a plan to expand the background check system has indicated he would change his vote.

At the height of his career, Michael Jackson had it all. International fame. Grammy-winning records. Unimaginable wealth. But in the final months of his life, as the King of Pop planned his ill-fated comeback in London, one of his biggest motivators was just to make enough money to buy his own home where he could raise his children, according to testimony Wednesday. Jackson broke down in tears as he confided that he was tired of "living like vagabonds" - shuttling his family between a Las Vegas rental and a Bel-Air hotel - said Randy Phillips, concert promoter AEG Live's chief executive who has spent days testifying in a wrongful-death suit filed by the singer's family.

London is swinging again thanks to bride and princess-to-be Kate Middleton. Millions are hanging on her every move — where she shops, where she primps, what she eats and drinks. Although the couple live (part of the time) in a rented farmhouse in North Wales, Middleton and Prince William will likely move to London's Kensington Palace at some point in the future. And Middleton certainly spends a lot of time in London — especially now that the wedding is a month away — mostly in the swish neighborhoods of South Kensington, Chelsea, Knightsbridge and Mayfair, all of which are in close proximity to Hyde Park and the Buckingham and Kensington palaces.

A man with no risk factors for prostate cancer can go his whole life without ever taking a PSA test, according to the American Urological Assn. In a new clinical guideline unveiled Friday, the urologists said that only men between the ages of 55 and 69 should even consider getting a PSA screening test if they have no signs or symptoms of prostate cancer. Men should only get tested after discussing all the pros and cons with their doctors, and if they decide to get tested, they should not get tested again for at least two years, the guideline advises.

Way back in the 20th century when life was simple, my wife, Mary Frances, and I lived in Carpinteria, swooping in and out of Santa Barbara without a second thought. Nowadays, returning as Angelenos with a 9-year-old, we have second and third thoughts, as we consider cost, balance kid stuff and adult stuff, and consult the school calendar. But we managed a great visit a few months ago, thanks to a hotel that gave us creature comforts and walking access to great food, historic atmosphere and the beach.

A fifth victim of the Santa Monica shooting rampage died Sunday as Santa Monica College students and staff tried to cope with the violence and prepared to return to the campus Monday. Student Marcela Franco, 26, died with her family by her side at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica College officials announced. Marcela, who had just enrolled for summer classes at the school, and her father, Carlos Navarro Franco, 68, a groundskeeper at the college, were shot in the father's SUV in a campus parking lot. Authorities are still trying to determine what caused John Zawahri, 23, to open fire on Santa Monica streets before ending up on the campus, where he was killed in a shootout with police.