Housing

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Thursday that it would accelerate efforts to get victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita out of government-supplied trailers after tests showed that the temporary residences contain unhealthy levels of toxic formaldehyde. Tests in a statistically sampled selection of 519 trailers showed that formaldehyde levels averaged five times higher than levels in new housing, and in some cases much higher than that.

Jewish settlers have established a new West Bank community and expanded an existing one, drawing a protest Wednesday from Palestinian leaders who say the activity is hindering peace talks with Israel. Israeli officials said both initiatives were illegal and undermined Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's pledge to President Bush and the Palestinians for a freeze on most settlement activity. But it was unclear whether Olmert's government would evict the 37 Jewish families involved.

An ominous scenario of rising prices and slowing growth showed itself in spades Wednesday as the government reported that consumer prices are rising at a fast pace even as the housing sector remains stuck in its worst slump in a quarter-century. The combination of inflation and faltering growth -- the infamous "stagflation" of the 1970s -- creates a potential double bind for economic policymakers: Fight one and risk feeding the other.

Los Angeles' largest nonprofit AIDS services agency is suing to stop the city from foreclosing on a onetime AIDS hospice that was built with a city housing loan and is now being used as offices for HIV case managers. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation opened Linn House, its third hospice, on donated land near West Hollywood in 1995.

. -- Some people in this tiny Katrina-ravaged town talk of Harry Hull's modest, vinyl-clad home as if a spaceship had landed on the bayou. It stands out not because it is built on land only 5 feet above sea level -- scores of people have rebuilt on low land -- but because it looms 18 feet above ground. It is raised so high on wooden pilings that Hull, 70, must climb 26 steps to get to his front door.

Sigfried Carrle angled his farmer's hat into a forceful wind roaring across the Antelope Valley. He did not blink, even when a fly bounced off his craggy cheek. Dust curdled the air and shrouded the sun, and stalks of wheat trembled like the strings of a harp. The sign at Carrle's farm stand on the gravel shoulder of California 138, in the town of Neenach, read: "Last Chance Peaches." The landscape was so bleak it seemed prudent to ask: Before what?

Disney has worked hard not be the public face of a coalition of businesses and community groups fighting for a housing-free Anaheim Resort District. But behind the scenes, Disney is the coalition's checkbook. The latest campaign finance reports show that the entertainment giant has poured $2.1 million into the year-old coalition called Save Our Anaheim Resort District, or SOAR. The group's nearly 10,000 other members have contributed less than $2,000.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's top appointee on the city Planning Commission sent an e-mail to neighborhood activists asserting that a new city ordinance that allows housing developers to roll back zoning rules may violate state law.

The 22nd floor of the new Solair building, a residential, retail and transportation hub at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue, is still just a concrete platform -- the building's official opening is months away. But from that high up, it's easy to see how the building stands at the crossroads of change along the storied boulevard.

Downtown Los Angeles has seen a much-heralded revival in the last few years, with thousands of people moving in and a flock of new restaurants and upscale stores opening to serve them. Attractions such as Staples Center and the Nokia Theatre are helping support premium eateries and a lively club scene. But there are signs that downtown's residential boom is slowing, if not stalling out altogether.