Finances

Thousands of teachers and other union members rallied Thursday at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles to oppose state and local cuts to education that are widely expected to result in larger classes for students as well as layoffs and more expensive healthcare. Most of the rhetoric blistered Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his proposed budget, but speakers also took aim at the Los Angeles Unified School District and schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines. "Mr.

More Californians are failing to make their mortgage payments than at any time in the last 20 years, but fewer of them are losing their homes, according to new figures. The drop in foreclosures follows moratoriums adopted by major banks and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The increase in loan defaults, meanwhile, suggests that rising unemployment and the continuing recession are still claiming fresh victims.

Dena Lansford, 49, would like to have a cholesterol check, a mammogram and, soon, a colonoscopy. She hasn't seen a dentist in more than a year. She worries that she might suffer a similar fate as her mother, who had a stroke at 47. But after losing her job and health insurance last year, the Wildomar woman said, "I'm not doing any preventive care." As of February, an estimated 3.

At the tranquil Four Seasons Resort Aviara north of San Diego, a heated struggle for control of the deluxe hotel's future is playing out in a rare public spat. The increasingly nasty tussle at the Carlsbad resort is indicative of tensions throughout the higher end of the hotel industry, as travelers cut way back on spending. At issue is the very definition of luxury.

Frustrated emergency room doctors filed a class-action lawsuit against the state Tuesday, saying that California's overstretched emergency healthcare system -- which ranks last in the country for emergency care access -- is on the verge of collapse unless more funding is provided. Across the state, scores of hospitals and emergency rooms have shut their doors in the last decade, leading to long waits, diverted ambulances and, in the most extreme cases, patient deaths.

When Gilbert Cates tries to explain the hard times facing the Geffen Playhouse, he turns to an analogy from his long experience as a film director and producer of television shows, including the annual Academy Awards telecast. Whenever studio heads talk about cutting the budget for one of his movie projects, Cates compares it to trimming an airplane. Sure, you can take a little off the wheel, a little off the engine, a little off the wing, he tells them.

A proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to shorten the school year by five days is creating panic among educators across California, who say they barely have enough time to fit the state's academic standards into the existing 180-day calendar. The idea to cut funding equivalent to five school days would save $1.1 billion at a time when California faces a massive budget deficit. But state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell called the proposal "devastating."

It's Valentine's Day, and the movie studios have rolled out chick flicks like bouquets for every gal whose husband or boyfriend has ever disappointed them. Thank goodness. Or so that seems to be the message from female moviegoers who have been lining up for women-enticing movies in droves. Last year kicked off with the wildly successful "Sex and the City: The Movie" followed by "Mamma Mia!" in the summer and "Twilight" in the fall.

They like us. They really like us. Just don't expect them to help us invent the future. A string of U.S. senators delivered so many lofty odes to the American newspaper at a "Future of Journalism" hearing this week, it almost made me blush. When a Republican senator suggests you're something like a bulwark of democracy, you've got to smile. But that doesn't mean newspapers command a winning majority around here.

The firestorm over American International Group is spreading beyond executive bonuses, with lawmakers and policy experts now questioning virtually all aspects of the taxpayer-financed rescue package for the insurance giant. Among other issues, critics are asking why AIG was allowed to use federal bailout money to repay $13 billion in debt obligations to Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs, as well as debts to foreign banks.