Finalists

One of the literary world's favorite fiction prizes, the PEN/Faulkner award , announced its 2013 finalists Wednesday. In its 33rd year, the contenders come from publishers large and small. The finalists are Amelia Gray for "Threats," published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux; "Kind One" by Laird Hunt and T. Geronimo Johnson's "Hold It 'Til It Hurts," both published by Coffee House Press; "Watergate" by Thomas Mallon, published by Pantheon; and Benjamin Alire Sáenz for "Everything Begins & Ends at the Kentucky Club," published by Cinco Puntos Press.

For 10 high school baseball teams, this weekend's championship games at Dodger Stadium must feel like Christmas morning. The anticipation could be felt after players won their semifinal games. Austin Olivas, a left-handed starting pitcher for Huntington Beach Marina, said: "Just thinking about it, it's amazing. I've been playing with most of these kids since I was 10 years old. To have this opportunity to go out there with them is amazing. Clayton Kershaw is my favorite player.

The Los Angeles Police Commission has completed its work and forwarded to the mayor three capable candidates to succeed William J. Bratton as chief of police. The matter now rests with Antonio Villaraigosa, who must decide what he wants in a chief. This is a moment of great consequence: The mayor will not likely make another appointment with more serious ramifications for the city or his legacy. Bratton's tenure offers many indicators of what qualities are important for a chief's success -- as well as a few where improvement is in order.

Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau was named Friday as one of three finalists for the NHL's Jack Adams Award, honoring the league's coach of the year. “Bruce and his staff have done a terrific job leading our team," Ducks General Manager Bob Murray said. "We have a hardworking group that was prepared to play and meet the challenge of a short regular season, which is a credit to our coaching staff and the players. This is certainly a deserved honor.” Joel Quenneville, who guided the Chicago Blackhawks to the NHL's best regular-season record, and the Ottawa Senators' Paul MacLean, whose team navigated a slew of key injuries, are the other finalists.

The Thurber Prize for American Humor announced its three 2012 finalists Wednesday. Surprisingly, a book that's a riff off a television show made the top three. That book is "Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America," which expands the humor of the TV show "Parks and Recreation. " Although the book's cover indicates that it was written (and run through spell-check) by Leslie Knope, the character played by Amy Poehler, its actual author is Nate Di Meo. Di Meo is also the producer and host of the podcast The Memory Palace , which was recently added to Jesse Thorn's offerings at MaximumFun.org.

The 10 fiction finalists and six poetry finalists in the running for the 2013 Best Translated Book Award were announced Wednesday. The books were originally published in 11 languages, and were narrowed down from a longlist announced in March. The finalists include a Nobel Prize winner -- Herta Muller -- and a number of authors less well-known in the U.S. One of the goals of the prize is to bring more attention to works in translation, which are sometimes overlooked by American readers.

The Dayton Literary Peace Prize announced the finalists for its 2012 awards Wednesday. The prizes, which are awarded in fiction and nonfiction in conjunction with the Dayton Peace Prize, are given annually to work that "uses the power of literature to foster peace, social justice and global understanding. " Six finalists have been named in fiction and five in nonfiction. Michael Ondaatje, author of the Booker Prize-winning novel "The English Patient," which was adapted into the Oscar-winning film, is among the 2012 fiction finalists for his novel "The Cat's Table.

The Basketball Hall of Fame's finalists for the 2013 class have strong California connections with two-thirds of Golden State's Run TMC -- Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond -- joining Oakland native and former Laker Gary Payton as well as former Long Beach State and Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian among the 12 still under consideration. The announcement of the finalists is a prelude to the NBA's All-Star Weekend in Houston. The inductees will be announced at the Final Four in April.

The American Society of Magazine Editors on Monday announced the finalists for its 2013 awards . The National Magazine Awards -- known as the Ellies for the Alexander Calder "Elephant" that winners receive -- will be presented at a luncheon in New York on May 2. Many of the usual suspects appear on the finalists list: GQ and the New Yorker are perennial favorites, and National Geographic, with a total of seven, received the most nominations....

A deceased biographer and a first-time bestselling novelist are among the finalists for the 2011 National Book Awards. Five finalists in four categories – fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people's literature – were announced Wednesday in Oregon. After the announcement, a sixth book was added to the list of finalists in young people's literature. "We made a mistake, there was a miscommunication," said Harold Augebraum, executive director of the National Book Foundation. "We could have taken one of the books away to keep it five, but we decided that it was better to add a sixth one as an exception, because they're all good books.

Alexander Soto, a 14-year-old forward from Elizabeth, N.J., won Major League Soccer's Sueño MLS youth talent search Sunday, becoming the youngest winner in the competition's eight-year history. Luis Aranzazu, a 17-year-old from Pembroke Pines, Fla., was selected top goalkeeper. Both players, discovered at open tryouts with MLS team D.C. United, have been invited to join an MLS club Academy Team.  “I'm very proud and will keep chasing my dream of becoming a professional soccer player,” Soto said.

Former USC football player Khaled Holmes is a finalist for Sports Illustrated's award for college athlete of the year. Holmes, profiled last October in The Times, earned an undergraduate degree in classics and a masters in communication management. The 6-foot-4, 305-pound center was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth round of last month's NFL draft. Sports Illustrated will choose two athletes -- one female and one male -- as winners May 22 and feature them in the magazine's May 27 issue.

The Tate Britain announced its four finalists Thursday for the 2013 Turner Prize. Among them is Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, the first black woman to be named a finalist for the Tate's modern art prize. The prestigious - and often controversial - annual award is given to UK-born or -based artists who are under 50 for an "outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work in the 12 months preceding. " A prize of £25,000 (about $38,600) goes to the winner. The remaining three finalists receive £5,000 (about $7,700)

The South Florida Sun Sentinel was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for public service journalism Monday for its investigation of off-duty police officers who endangered the lives of citizens by speeding. The newspaper, owned by Tribune Co., started its investigation after an off-duty Miami police officer was pulled over by a Florida state trooper for driving 120 mph in fall 2011. The resulting three-part series, "Above the Law," found that accidents caused by officers driving at high speeds - in many cases when off duty - caused at least 320 crashes since 2004, killing or maiming 21 people.

Candidates Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel prepared for a Thursday night debate - their first since the two emerged as finalists to be the next mayor of Los Angeles - by renewing their sniping over who would be most beholden to public employee unions. Wednesday afternoon's tit-for-tat came as Garcetti stood with the top three also-rans from the first round of voting last month who now support him for mayor, and as Greuel campaigned with school board member Monica Garcia. The two candidates also traded barbs about who is ducking face-to-face showdowns leading into the May 21 election to determine who will replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is leaving office after two terms.

The 10 fiction finalists and six poetry finalists in the running for the 2013 Best Translated Book Award were announced Wednesday. The books were originally published in 11 languages, and were narrowed down from a longlist announced in March. The finalists include a Nobel Prize winner -- Herta Muller -- and a number of authors less well-known in the U.S. One of the goals of the prize is to bring more attention to works in translation, which are sometimes overlooked by American readers.

Two finalists for the T.S. Eliot Prize for poetry have withdrawn, saying they objected to investment company Aurum Funds sponsoring the United Kingdom award. The Poetry Book Society, which runs the annual award for a collection of poetry, lost funding from Arts Council England as part of government spending cuts. "I fully understand why the Poetry Book Society has looked elsewhere for funding," said Australian John Kinsella, who was shortlisted for his work "Armour. " But as "an anticapitalist in full-on form," he said, he had to withdraw on ethical grounds.

It's not as if USC safety Taylor Mays needed extra motivation going into the final games of his career, but the senior probably got some Monday. Mays, a two-time All-American, was not among the three announced finalists for the Thorpe Award, presented annually to college football's top defensive back. Mays, a 2008 Thorpe finalist, had hoped to finish his career by joining 1989 winner Mark Carrier as the only Trojans to receive an award that was established in 1986. But Mays suffered a knee injury against Ohio State that sidelined him for the Trojans' loss at Washington.

ATLANTA -- Florida Gulf Coast was a carnival cruise while it lasted and Wichita State was a hoot, but there will be nothing "mid" about the majors playing for Monday's national title. The final call is strictly blue grass vs. blue blood. Louisville, the top overall No.1 team in the tournament, will play Michigan from the Big Ten, the nation's top overall conference this season. Everyone else — thanks for participating. In Saturday's national semifinal games in front of a football-sized Georgia Dome crowd, Louisville held off interloper Wichita State, 72-68, then Michigan survived the vortex that had been Syracuse's zone defense, 61-56.