John Carter

Noah Wyle knows a good thing when he sees it. The actor, who plays Dr. John Carter on NBC's "ER," has signed to continue in the medical drama through the 2004-05 season, Warner Bros. Television said Wednesday. Wyle is the only member of the original cast to have stayed with the show continuously since its premiere in 1994. Sherry Stringfield, who plays Dr. Susan Lewis, was in the original cast but left the series for a few years to pursue other activities.

Many recent articles in The Times' Business section leave the impression that enforcement of Mexican ecology laws is much less stringent than in the United States. In fact, it appears that the next segment of U.S. industry to experience significant growth--perhaps replacing some of the dwindling aerospace business in Southern California--will be related to the Mexican environmental effort. Do not present Mexico as a backward country incapable of instituting meaningful environmental controls.

Fourteen years ago, the gender breakdown for behind-the-scenes employment in the top 250 films was 83% men and 17% women. By last year, women had improved their representation -- ever so slightly. In 2011, the division of labor in the same number of movies was 82% men and 18% women, according to a San Diego State University study looking at directors, writers, executive producers, producers, editors and cinematographers. "The shocking underrepresentation of women in our business" is how Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep described the "dreadful" statistics Tuesday night during Women in Film's 2012 Crystal and Lucy Awards ceremony at the Beverly Hilton hotel.

CALEXICO, Calif. - What's in a name? When it comes to the All-American Canal, apparently everything. Built in the 1930s, the 80-mile-long canal brings water from the Colorado River to the farmland of the Imperial Valley, transforming a rocky desert in California's southeast corner into one of the world's most bountiful agricultural regions. It replaced a canal in Mexico that once ferried water west and supplied farmers on both sides of the border. By building a new canal entirely in the U.S., Imperial Valley farmers and landowners, and the politicians who supported them, were asserting independence from their southern neighbor and, indirectly, claiming dominance over the river.

Seventy-one swimmers from 27 aquatics clubs were selected to the 80-member Southern California contingent that will compete in the Western Zone Championships Aug. 7-11 in Maui, Hawaii. Irvine Novaquatic boys' qualifiers are T.K. Erwin, Douglas Ciolli, Peter Baer, David Hwang, Erik Johnson, Collin Gladys and David Kim. Girls' swimmers are Kimberlee Frith, Frances Tran, Stephanie Furuno and Mallory Bojorquez.

Johnny Cash won the Country Music Assn.'s album of the year, single of the year and video of the year awards Wednesday night -- his first CMA awards since 1969. Cash, who died Sept. 12 at age 71 of complications from diabetes, had been nominated for four awards and won all but one: Vocal event of the year went to Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett for their hit duet "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere." Cash's son, John Carter Cash, accepted the awards with Cash's daughter, Kathy Cash.

“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" and “Safe House” stayed on top of the DVD and  Blu-ray sales and rental charts, respectively, in the U.S. and Canada last week.  Among new movies, “Project X” emerged the best-seller and “Wanderlust” the best renter. Other new movies that launched last week were “Big Miracle” which debuted at No. 4 on the sales chart and “Seeking Justice” at No.5. The action thriller “Safe House,” starring Denzel Washington, stayed at No. 1 on the rental chart for the third week in a row. However, on the disc sales chart, it dropped three places from the prior week to No.6.

There was a certain appropriateness to the appearance of the John Carter Octet at the first concert in the Southern California Institute of Architecture's new music series Saturday night in Santa Monica. Carter and SCI-ARC share vigorously contemporary views of their respective creative disciplines, and the iconoclastic sounds of the Octet sounded perfectly at home in the warehouse high-tech environment of the school's main building.

Two Hawthorne High School football players have been suspended from the team for the rest of the season because of their actions Friday night during a brawl between the Cougars and visiting Rialto Eisenhower, Hawthorne Principal John Carter said Wednesday. Carter, who would not identify the players, said disciplinary action was taken after a review of the game videotape. He said neither player was a starter.