Government Agencies

Filling a job that has been vacant for three years, Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday narrowly approved the hiring of an attorney to investigate the cases of children who die while in the county's care. To take the post, Rosemarie Belda will leave the Office of County Counsel, where she has represented the Department of Children and Family Services, the agency that will now be a central target of her reports. In addition to investigating child deaths, she has been asked to recommend reforms that might prevent future fatalities.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week tried to yank one of his appointees from a state board after the man balked at an administration-backed proposal he considered too risky for taxpayers. But lawmakers, in an end run, kept the San Francisco businessman on the panel. The appointee to the California Transportation Commission, James Ghielmetti, objected to an administration plan to accelerate the expansion of private companies' role in freeway construction. He advocated giving regulators more time to assess the potential effects of such a move.

Typically, a foreign consulate in the United States doles out passports, helps travelers in crisis and serves as a liaison to the home country. But the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles has become an almost de facto public agency in recent years, forming partnerships with government officials and nonprofits here to provide healthcare, offer mental health counseling, fight labor violations and hold literacy classes.

Las Vegas has made a fortune off its sly slogan, the one suggesting what happens in Vegas stays in the famously -- hmmm, how to put it? -- open-minded city. But getting people to Vegas hasn't been so easy of late, what with the lousy economy. And it didn't help when President Obama took a shot at the desert playground, making an offhand banker-bashing remark that seemed to tie Las Vegas to corporate excess.

This part happens all the time: A construction crew putting up an office building in the heart of congested Tysons Corner in McLean, Va., hit a fiber-optic cable no one knew was there. This part doesn't: Within moments, three black SUVs drove up, half a dozen men in suits jumped out, and one said, "You just hit our line." Whose line, you may ask? The guys in suits didn't say, recalled Aaron Georgelas, whose company, the Georgelas Group, was developing the Greensboro Corporate Center.

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was declared a state and National Historic Landmark in 1984. Its architecture and history are unparalleled. It is also one of the oldest sports stadiums in use in the nation. And as any USC Trojan fan can tell you, the Coliseum is in urgent need of major repairs and upgrades to ensure that sports fans are safe and enjoy state-of-the-art amenities as they cheer on their favorite team. After all, history alone doesn't sell tickets or bring back world-class teams.

Five years after undergoing sweeping reforms, the nation's spy agencies continue to be hobbled by turf battles, incompatible computer systems and uncertainty over their legal boundaries, according to a harshly critical report issued Wednesday by the intelligence community's internal watchdog.

In a surprising reversal, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. on Wednesday moved to void the corruption conviction of former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska and ordered an internal review of the prosecutors, saying their case was riddled with impropriety. The high-profile prosecution of Stevens, who at the time was the Senate's senior Republican, has been criticized by the presiding federal judge. Holder said he was reserving judgment on whether lawyers in the Justice Department's public integrity section had committed misconduct.

Angered by the Sudanese government's decision to expel 13 foreign aid groups in Darfur, leaders at one of the region's largest displacement camps are threatening to reject all humanitarian assistance until the organizations are allowed back. The self-imposed aid embargo at Kalma camp, which includes the monthly food distribution, is heightening concerns about the welfare of the 88,000 residents. The World Food Program said Kalma leaders Thursday refused a grain delivery. The U.N.

The head of the nation's cyber security center has resigned amid persistent turf battles and confusion over the control and protection of the country's vast computer networks and systems. Rod Beckstrom's decision to step down as director of the National Cyber Security Center comes as the White House is conducting a broad 60-day review of how well the government is using technology to protect everything from classified national security data to key financial systems and air traffic control.