Honors

Negrohead Mountain is an unlikely memorial to a former slave who made a name for himself at the western end of Los Angeles County. More than 120 years ago, pioneers in the Santa Monica Mountains named the peak for John Ballard, the first black man to settle in the hills above Malibu. Today, authorities will take the first step toward what they consider a more fitting tribute by renaming the 2,031-foot volcanic peak Ballard Mountain. The name now used by the U.S.

The legacy of Harvey Milk has had a very good year. Three decades after California's first openly gay elected leader was gunned down in San Francisco City Hall, Milk has been celebrated by an Oscar-winning film, named to the state Hall of Fame and lauded by President Obama. But despite those posthumous accolades, a legislative push to create a day of recognition for Milk became one of the most contentious issues in the Capitol this year. The proposal, which passed the Legislature on Thursday, is among more than a dozen gay rights bills offered in the aftermath of Proposition 8, last November's ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage in California.

PHOENIX -- Like the two old friends they are, Darrell Green and Art Monk chatted about the latest news in their lives: making the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Never mind that thousands of people were listening to the conference call after Saturday's announcement. This was simply two former Washington Redskins sharing verbal hugs after receiving the sport's highest honor.

Sean Andrew Stokes received a hero's welcome when he returned home to Northern California from Iraq after his first tour of duty in early 2005. The young Marine was glad to be home, he told a television reporter at the airport, but added: "We mourn the guys we lost and rejoice with the guys who came back." In the fall of that year, he again deployed with the Camp Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment. Then in 2007, he extended his enlistment once more and started his third combat tour.

If you can hit, drive or pedal better than anyone else, you've probably been invited to the White House and had your photo taken with President Bush. To football players, race-car drivers and Lance Armstrong, add this: anglers. On Tuesday, Bush's Oval Office champions were two bass-fishing tournament winners. With Alton Jones, who won $500,000, on one side and Judy Wong, who won $60,000, on the other, the president sought the right words to sum up their achievements.

Nearly four decades after their deaths, four combat photographers received a museum burial Thursday as family, friends and former colleagues recalled how the men gave their lives to show the world "Vietnam as they saw it." A helicopter carrying the four photographers was shot down over a mountainside in southern Laos on Feb. 10, 1971. Human remains were recovered in 1998, along with wreckage including camera parts, film and broken watches.

It was the 4 1/2 minutes that forever changed the California Highway Patrol. Thirty-eight years ago today, four CHP officers died in a fierce gunfight with a pair of heavily armed motorists outside a Valencia coffee shop after a seemingly routine traffic stop.

The dapper octogenarian in a crisp blue suit, his face smoothed by plastic surgery, swanned from table to table in the candlelit banquet hall, bestowing kisses and collecting accolades. An aging movie star being feted by fans? A veteran politico taking his bows?

CANTON, Ohio -- The Hall of Fame induction ceremony turned Hog wild Saturday. Darrell Green and Art Monk walked across the stage waving their arms and urged thousands of Washington Redskins fans to give them one more salute. Emmitt Thomas, a former Chiefs player and Redskins coach, simply waved back.

The honor is all theirs, say those who are memorializing Los Angeles' most decorated hero of the Spanish-American War 106 years late. All-but-forgotten Buffalo Soldier and Medal of Honor recipient Edward Lee Baker Jr. will be recognized Saturday by the West Adams Heritage Assn. A costumed look-alike will reenact his life, standing above his grave in the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery. Baker died in 1913 at age 47.