Fully

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.

WASHINGTON - In the first and only vote Thursday on the immigration bill, senators turned back a Republican measure that would have delayed a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally until after the border with Mexico is fully secure. Republicans still plan to offer several other measures to enhance border security, but this one, from Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, was one of the most hard-line of the proposals. The 57-43 vote to defeat the amendment offered an imprecise test of whether the Senate will find the 60 votes needed to pass the bill.

WASHINGTON - In the first and only vote Thursday on the immigration bill, senators turned back a Republican measure that would have delayed a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally until after the border with Mexico is fully secure. Republicans still plan to offer several other measures to enhance border security, but this one, from Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, was one of the most hard-line of the proposals. The 57-43 vote to defeat the amendment offered an imprecise test of whether the Senate will find the 60 votes needed to pass the bill.

Authorities on Thursday significantly increased the number of homes destroyed by the Powerhouse fire to 24, more than double the previous estimate. Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Anthony Akins attributed the rise in damage to a survey by ground crews that were able to explore the burn area more fully mid-week. All 24 of the destroyed homes were in or around Lake Hughes. Atkins said the newly discovered destruction was in a nearby canyon. The fire also claimed 29 outbuildings when erratic winds drove the flames toward the hamlets of Lake Hughes and Elizabeth Lake and surrounding areas overnight Saturday.

How outrageous an idea that if you are stupid enough to get ripped off by a loan shark, you don't have to repay ("State Sues to Void 'Instant Loans' by Wells Fargo Unit," Jan. 10). I would fully agree that all interest should be deferred, maybe even the repayment going into the state coffers, but to forgive a loan fully is insulting to anyone smart enough to avoid that loan. Ben Boorman Compton

We do not allow minors under 18 to vote, to sign binding legal contracts, to enlist in the Army without parental permission, or to marry without special permission because we know that they are not fully mature or responsible. But we are perfectly willing to gas them, electrocute them or lethally inject them if they commit a murder, as if they were fully responsible adults. KENNETH A. COATES Claremont

Dukakis can celebrate winning his party's nomination all he wants, but after his soft-on-crime record as the governor of Massachusetts is fully exposed, he'll find himself in a lot of hot water with the voters, and his veto of the death penalty won't be the only reason. JOHN NEELY Vallejo

Re "Open Valley Campaign's Books," editorial, Dec. 11: Asking the Valley VOTE committee to open its books is akin to asking congressmen to fully explain their income, or lobbyists, in general, to "come clean." Who are those that really seek to leave the city of Los Angeles, but more importantly, why? If this were strictly a money issue, VOTE ought to fully disclose its financial supporters. Paying the costs for the verification of signatures falls, as I view it, in their hands and out of their pockets.

According to The Times, "Federal officials say the health implications of malathion have not been fully researched" (Metro, Dec. 13). How come it is legal to repeatedly spray people with chemicals that have not been fully researched? Spraying is continuing under a "special permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency." What about a People Protection Agency? Is the EPA protecting the environment--or agribusiness? County Supervisor Ed Edelman, a Democrat, said "he does not believe he could obtain the votes to urge the government to delay spraying.

RE "At This Point He Gets to Act as Provocateur" [Sept. 18]: How nice it is to be able to look up to a movie star, George Clooney, with respect and admiration, one whose values I can relate to. How nice that those blockbuster sums of money (that are so difficult to fathom for people whose annual business budgets in the arts don't exceed $100,000) are put to use on projects that have an ethical backbone yet are still based on artistic considerations. And, George, my condolences for the death of your dog. I fully empathize.

State fire officials have reduced the total acreage burned in a Ventura County wildfire that threatened thousands of homes and drew in firefighters from across the country. The Springs fire, which started last Thursday in Camarillo south of the 101 Freeway burned 24,251 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Earlier estimates put the fire's damage at 28,000 acres. The fire is 95% contained and should be fully under control Thursday, according to the Cal Fire website.

The Springs fire in Ventura County was 90% contained Tuesday morning and was expected to be completely under control by the end of the day, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The blaze damaged 15 homes but did not destroy any buildings and only inflicted minor injuries on civilians and firefighters, officials said. The flames burned through decades-old brush around Point Mugu State Park as it scorched a path to the sea and Pacific Coast Highway.

Since 2002, filmmaker-activist Robert Greenwald has made a string of vital feature documentaries, including the trenchant exposés "Uncovered: The War on Iraq" and "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism. " His latest, the brief "War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State," although vigorously assembled, proves to have less impact. Here, producer-director Greenwald takes on a big topic, zips through some history (Galileo and Copernicus were early whistle-blowers, Frank Serpico and Karen Silkwood more modern examples)

Google this week began shipping its Glass smart eyewear to app developers. The company also revealed that the widely anticipated device will not be fully functional when paired with an iPhone. The smartglasses, which some buyers have already received, connects to Wi-Fi networks or Bluetooth-enabled smartphones to access the Internet. This allows Glass wearers to make calls, do Google searches or even hold video chats with friends using Google+. The device can also let users send their friends text messages and retrieve directions using GPS. But a sentence at the bottom of the webpage describing the specs for the glasses says the device, or at least the early "Explorer Edition" being shipped to developers, must be connected to an Android phone running the MyGlass app to send text messages and use GPS. QUIZ: How much do you know about Google?

SAN DIEGO - Kenley Jansen should be able to attend his newborn daughter's graduation and wedding ceremonies. No longer does the Dodgers' hard-throwing setup man have to worry that playing baseball could cost him his life. His heart now functions normally. Nearly six months ago, Jansen underwent a cardiac operation that scared him out of his usual laid-back persona. "It's finally fixed," Jansen, 25, said with a smile. Heading into the Dodgers' series opener against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday, Jansen has pitched three times.

"The Happy Poet," a no-budget comedy about one man's no-budget sandwich-cart venture, would have to dial up the energy several notches to qualify as deadpan. With a DIY ethos on both sides of the camera, the Austin, Texas-set feature is an ultra-low-key takeoff on the conventional find-your-bliss Hollywood arc. Funny and incisive in moments, it never fully takes off. The title character, Bill, is a nonwriting poet who has left the workaday world to hawk organic fare in the park. He's played by Paul Gordon, the film's writer-director-editor, with a flat affect and a halting monotone that speaks volumes but doesn't grow less irritating.

Let us give LAX its due in improvements over the past 18 months. My travels into the Pacific and Far East allow me the luxury of entering LAX through the Northwest Airlines terminal an average of six times a year. There I find: 1) There is no charge for carts; 2) Unless arriving prior to 8 a.m., my maximum wait for passport control has been from two to six minutes and 3) When fully staffed, as I have found them to be most of the time, LAX has been faster in processing arriving passengers than most Pacific/Far East airports I have experienced.

We are the Duarte Youth Athletic Club, a nonprofit, fully self-supporting youth sports organization that was founded in the early '50s by a group of World War II Duarte veterans. Our purpose is to provide the youth of our community with a positive avenue in which to channel their energies, in a sports program that is available to all of Duarte's children regardless of social-economic background. We repeat we are fully self-supported by league fund-raisers, United Way contributions and the donations of our sponsors, and have no political or financial ties with the Duarte city government.

A Los Angeles jury convicted five of six former council members of stealing from the working-class city of Bell in a corruption scandal that became a national synonym for outrageous municipal salaries and rogue governance. The verdict Wednesday came on the 18th day of deliberations - nearly as long as the trial itself - and left the jury still deadlocked on nearly half the counts. The judge ordered the jury to return to court Thursday, though it remains unclear if the panel will continue to deliberate on the undecided charges.

WASHINGTON - Nearly six months after President Obama vowed to "bring to justice" the militants who killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya, the joint CIA and FBI effort to catch the ringleaders has made little apparent progress. Officials say U.S. authorities do not yet have a full understanding of who planned and carried out the two brief but intense assaults, nearly eight hours apart, on a lightly guarded diplomatic compound and a nearby CIA base late on Sept.