Flyaway

Tutor-Saliba Corp. has sued the city airports agency, seeking $9.86 million it says is owed for the construction firm's work on the Van Nuys FlyAway center. The suit alleges Los Angeles World Airports made unreasonable demands for "unnecessary surveying, testing, removal and replacement of concrete structures." The firm, which also is constructing the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters, alleged in the lawsuit, filed Friday, that the city mishandled the $33.

A City Council panel on Tuesday authorized a study of the expansion of the Van Nuys Airport FlyAway terminal that provides San Fernando Valley residents with bus service to Los Angeles International Airport. The council's Commerce Energy and Natural Resources Committee endorsed efforts by the city Airport Department to expand and improve the facility, which is used by nearly 750,000 residents annually.

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners on Tuesday asked builders to submit proposals to expand the Van Nuys Airport FlyAway bus terminal in hopes of making it more of a visitors' hub. The expansion has been endorsed for years by Valley business and tourist organizations calling for a first-class facility to accommodate travelers to and from commercial airlines at Los Angeles International Airport. One proposal calls for setting up a U.S.

L.A. airport commissioners have decided to double the fare to $10 each way on the Westwood FlyAway bus from UCLA to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) rather than eliminate the money-losing service. The action, which doesn't require approval from the Los Angeles City Council, was voted on Monday.  [ Updated at 12:15 p.m. July 13: The fare change will take effect Aug. 1, LAX said in its Twitter feed and Facebook page.] Neither the FlyAway website nor the recorded information [(866)

A former Los Angeles County sheriff's sergeant whose estranged wife disappeared in 1991 was convicted Wednesday of killing her, although authorities never found her body. John Racz, who retired from the Sheriff's Department more than 20 years ago, was convicted of murdering Ann Mineko Racz, 42. He is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 14 and faces 25 years to life in prison. Juror Robert Johnson said the prosecution's "landslide of evidence" resulted in the conviction.

Marvin Kratter is not a man to shrink from hyperbole. The 69-year-old entrepreneur once credited a Romanian "youth drug," which Kratter manufactured and sold in Nevada, with curing his depression and saving his life. He later predicted that an abandoned gold field in Northern California, in which he had a controlling interest, would become a "mini-Venice," featuring luxury home sites nestled along 24 miles of waterways. It hasn't, yet.

A company in Newport Beach is staking its future on products that it hopes won't take off. Leisure Labz believes that it has solved a problem that co-owner Tom Talmon calls "one of life's little pet peeves that nobody ever does anything about"--flyaway beach towels. Yup, hard on the heels of such indispensable beach accessories as brightly colored zinc oxide sunscreens, sand-proof portable radios and suntan oil packed in a plastic bracelet so it is always with you, come Wind Weights.

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners has recommended discontinuing the $5-per-trip Westwood FlyAway bus service to Los Angeles International Airport because it is operating at a loss, but UCLA and its students are trying to negotiate a way to save it. "The FlyAway bus provides an absolutely critical service to UCLA students," student body President Emily Resnick said in a statement. "Without this service, thousands of students will no longer be able to go home for holidays or other important events.

The Airport Commission is considering plans for a 1,290-car park-and-ride center in Sylmar for Los Angeles and Ontario international airports. The $11.8-million project would be built on 12 acres at 13503 San Fernando Road, near the Golden State and Foothill freeways. The Department of Water and Power owns the land. The commission is due to vote on the proposal Tuesday. If approved, the center would open in 18 months. It would provide nonstop bus service to LAX and, in a second phase, Ontario.