Howard Paul

In what is cited as a medical first, surgeons in Sacramento have used a specially designed robot to help them perform a hip replacement surgery. Although robots have been used by surgeons in the past to help align instruments for brain surgery, the Sacramento procedure apparently marks the first time a robot has actively participated in an operation.

Two Lakers and two Clippers were selected Thursday as staters for the Western Conference All-Star team. Kobe Bryant received 1.59 million votes, the most of any player in the fan balloting, as the Laker star was chosen to his 15th NBA All-Star team. His Lakers teammate Dwight Howard was also selected as a starter for the West squad. This is Howard's seventh All-Star selection. Clippers Chris Paul (sixth All-Star team) and Blake Griffin (third All-Star selection) will also start for the West.

Two Lakers and two Clippers were selected Thursday as staters for the Western Conference All-Star team. Kobe Bryant received 1.59 million votes, the most of any player in the fan balloting, as the Laker star was chosen to his 15th NBA All-Star team. His Lakers teammate Dwight Howard was also selected as a starter for the West squad. This is Howard's seventh All-Star selection. Clippers Chris Paul (sixth All-Star team) and Blake Griffin (third All-Star selection) will also start for the West.

Howard A. Paul, 44, pioneering veterinarian who co-invented the Robodoc, a robotic device that assists with orthopedic surgery. Born in West Hartford, Conn., Paul earned degrees from Notre Dame University and the Ecole Nationale Veterinaire d'Alfort in France. He completed his internship and surgical residency and taught orthopedics at UC Davis.

Howard A. Paul, 44, pioneering veterinarian who co-invented the Robodoc, a robotic device that assists with orthopedic surgery. Born in West Hartford, Conn., Paul earned degrees from Notre Dame University and the Ecole Nationale Veterinaire d'Alfort in France. He completed his internship and surgical residency and taught orthopedics at UC Davis.

"Ten more minutes and I would've jumped in the fountain," said John Wayne's daughter, Melinda, after the marriage Saturday of Wayne's youngest daughter, Marisa. Melinda spoke as, praise the Lord, the reflecting pool that decorates the center aisle at the Crystal Cathedral began to hiss with turquoise geysers, sending spray onto sweltering guests (many of whom fanned themselves with Crystal Cathedral postcards during the scorching, 20-minute ceremony).

The Lakers made a trade Saturday, but it wasn't for Chris Paul or Dwight Howard. Two days after getting rebuffed by the NBA in an apparent deal for Paul, the Lakers sent forward Lamar Odom to Dallas for the Mavericks' first-round pick in the 2012 amateur draft. "It's a done deal," said a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly. PHOTOS: Lamar Odom through the years The Mavericks might also send the Lakers another unspecified draft pick.

Dwight Howard and Chris Paul have big decisions to make about where they might play next year, maybe changing their lives forever. I know what that's like. I was in the seminary, and had I not made out with Sandy in front of the Our Lady of Fatima statue at Notre Dame, liked it so much and gone on later to pursue Ginny so vigorously to become my wife, I might soon be pope. Had I stayed in the seminary, I probably wouldn't have had two daughters and three granddaughters.

A memorial basketball game will be held to raise money for the family of Taylor and Spencer Paul, who were killed in an auto accident last month as they drove home with their father, a coach. The boys were fatally injured on Jan. 18 when the station wagon driven by their father collided with another car near their home. Taylor 7, died instantly, and Spencer 2, died later at Chapman Hospital in Orange.

Stunned and sorrowful, longtime neighbors stopped by Sunday morning to console a grieving family, two of whose children were killed the previous night when a car driven by their father collided with another as he drove home from basketball practice. Friends said Don Howard Paul, 57, a youth-league basketball coach, had taken his team out for pizza after practice, dropped off two of the players, and was bringing dinner home with three of his five sons when the accident occurred.

In what is cited as a medical first, surgeons in Sacramento have used a specially designed robot to help them perform a hip replacement surgery. Although robots have been used by surgeons in the past to help align instruments for brain surgery, the Sacramento procedure apparently marks the first time a robot has actively participated in an operation.

Tiger Woods has missed the cut in the Abu Dhabi Championship after he was penalized two strokes for moving his ball from vines. He'll join top-ranked Rory McIlroy on the sidelines this weekend -- the first time that both have missed a cut in the 41 tournaments they've played together -- because of the blunder. It happened at the fifth hole Friday when his drive sailed to the right of the fairway and landed in a thicket of vines. Woods called playing partner Martin Kaymer over to see if he could get relief, and Kaymer agreed the ball had become embedded in the vines.

The Moorpark Library may be expanded to more than 1 1/2 times its present size under a plan being discussed by city and county officials, the director of the Ventura County Library Services Agency said Friday. As many as five prefabricated rooms may be built onto the library, adding as much as 2,900 square feet to the 5,000-square-foot facility, said Dixie Adeniran, the county's chief librarian.