John Morton

Even the Mystical Traveler had to admit: Oct. 5 was a particularly trying day in a trying season. Earlier in the fall, California's Senate race had taken a weird hop, with national media and Democratic spin doctors suddenly blasting Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington, wife of Republican candidate Mike Huffington, for her involvement with spiritual teacher John-Roger and his Church of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, or MSIA.

WASHINGTON - Immigration officials acknowledged Thursday that they had released 2,228 illegal immigrants from detention in February and early March, not several hundred as they previously had announced, in an effort to reduce spending in advance of mandatory budget cuts. John Morton, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told a House subcommittee hearing that four of those discharged were rearrested after agents discovered they had violent criminal records. At least six others had felony convictions or had repeatedly violated immigration laws, Morton said, and dozens more had been arrested for shoplifting and petty larceny, or cited for drunk driving.

Former WBA heavyweight champion Michael Dokes , whose only losses in during a 50-fight career came against Gerrie Coetzee, Evander Holyfield and Razor Ruddock, fights will fight George O'Mara (11-6-1) of Van Nuys at the Reseda Country Club tonight in a scheduled 10-round bout. Also, heavyweight Rocky Pepeli (14-3-1) of Burbank will face John Morton (10-20-1) of Louisville in a scheduled 10-rounder. The card will begin at 7:30.

USC receivers coach Tee Martin was in Knoxville, Tenn., on Monday to meet with new Volunteers Coach Butch Jones, according to several reports. It should come as no surprise. Martin quarterbacked Tennessee's 1998 national championship team and would be a popular addition to Jones' staff if he can be lured away from the Trojans. Last week, after Jones was hired, Martin was asked about the possibility of hearing from Tennessee. "That's where I went to school, that's my alma mater, that's always home for me,” Martin told The Times.

While reading Shav Glick's last article, which outlined his incredible career, I recalled that in 1969 at Riverside, I had the honor of giving The Times' new motor racing reporter his first ride in a race car. Though his face was distorted from the 130-mph breeze -- we were in an open roadster with no wind protection on his side -- he forced a faint smile. For 36 years since, Shav has put smiles on racers' faces with his accurate, passionate and unbiased reporting. He will be sorely missed.

WASHINGTON - Immigration officials acknowledged Thursday that they had released 2,228 illegal immigrants from detention in February and early March, not several hundred as they previously had announced, in an effort to reduce spending in advance of mandatory budget cuts. John Morton, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told a House subcommittee hearing that four of those discharged were rearrested after agents discovered they had violent criminal records. At least six others had felony convictions or had repeatedly violated immigration laws, Morton said, and dozens more had been arrested for shoplifting and petty larceny, or cited for drunk driving.

John Morton, who has coached in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints and the Oakland Raiders, will replace Lane Kiffin on USC's staff, Coach Pete Carroll said Monday. Morton was an offensive assistant and passing game coach this season for the Saints. He will be the Trojans' receivers coach and passing game coordinator. Morton, 37, worked for the Raiders for seven years and was a member of the coaching staff in 2002-04.

USC receivers coach Tee Martin was in Knoxville, Tenn., on Monday to meet with new Volunteers Coach Butch Jones, according to several reports. It should come as no surprise. Martin quarterbacked Tennessee's 1998 national championship team and would be a popular addition to Jones' staff if he can be lured away from the Trojans. Last week, after Jones was hired, Martin was asked about the possibility of hearing from Tennessee. "That's where I went to school, that's my alma mater, that's always home for me,” Martin told The Times.

When you see a man's name followed by the numbers 10-20 , you can assume one of two things: Either the man has very bad eyesight or he's a horrible boxer. John Morton's eyes are normal, and he is not a bad boxer. What the heavyweight from Louisville, Ky., had was a bad manager and a worse trainer, he claims, guys who threw him into a ring on a day's notice against some of the top heavyweights in the world.

Re "Morning Becomes Apoplectic," Commentary, July 30: Rob Long's tongue-in-cheek diatribe against Santa Monica's National Public Radio station KCRW because of its liberal bias and its sophistication seems out of place in a country whose radio waves are virtually owned by right-wing Rush Limbaugh-philes, most of whom exhibit very little, if any, sophistication. I do confess that KCRW's "Bookworm" show is a little over the top for me, even though I've lived with a novelist for 32 years.

"Downton Abbey,"the royal wedding, more "Downton Abbey," the Silver Jubilee, the wind-up to the Summer Olympics - American popular culture hasn't been so Anglophilic since the halcyon days of Merchant Ivory and Emma Thompson's Oscar noms. It's gotten a bit sickening, really, all those plummy vowels and absurd hats, with the dandelion-haired mayor of London, Boris Johnson, showing up on Letterman to pitch his new book and Kate Middleton fever. Fortunately, no one skewers the British quite like the British, and if ping-pong did not in fact originate on the table tops of Britain (as Mayor Johnson in one of his wackier pre-Olympic moments suggested)

Last week the Obama administration announced a series of much-needed changes to the controversial Secure Communities program, under which state and local police are required to turn over the fingerprints of everyone they arrest to federal officials, who check for past criminal records and prior deportation orders. When it was first unveiled, officials promised that Secure Communities would target dangerous immigrants convicted of violent felonies, but it has cast far too wide a net. Since 2008, more than half of those deported under the program had no criminal records or had been convicted of misdemeanors.

John Morton, who has coached in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints and the Oakland Raiders, will replace Lane Kiffin on USC's staff, Coach Pete Carroll said Monday. Morton was an offensive assistant and passing game coach this season for the Saints. He will be the Trojans' receivers coach and passing game coordinator. Morton, 37, worked for the Raiders for seven years and was a member of the coaching staff in 2002-04.

While reading Shav Glick's last article, which outlined his incredible career, I recalled that in 1969 at Riverside, I had the honor of giving The Times' new motor racing reporter his first ride in a race car. Though his face was distorted from the 130-mph breeze -- we were in an open roadster with no wind protection on his side -- he forced a faint smile. For 36 years since, Shav has put smiles on racers' faces with his accurate, passionate and unbiased reporting. He will be sorely missed.

Re "Morning Becomes Apoplectic," Commentary, July 30: Rob Long's tongue-in-cheek diatribe against Santa Monica's National Public Radio station KCRW because of its liberal bias and its sophistication seems out of place in a country whose radio waves are virtually owned by right-wing Rush Limbaugh-philes, most of whom exhibit very little, if any, sophistication. I do confess that KCRW's "Bookworm" show is a little over the top for me, even though I've lived with a novelist for 32 years.

Even the Mystical Traveler had to admit: Oct. 5 was a particularly trying day in a trying season. Earlier in the fall, California's Senate race had taken a weird hop, with national media and Democratic spin doctors suddenly blasting Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington, wife of Republican candidate Mike Huffington, for her involvement with spiritual teacher John-Roger and his Church of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, or MSIA.

Seton Hall Coach P.J. Carlesimo blanched when guard John Morton took an ill-advised three-point shot a minute into the second half of Monday night's National Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship game against Michigan. Morton soon found himself on the bench. "After Coach pulled me, the assistant coaches talked to me and told me to do what I'd been doing all year," Morton said. Morton didn't remain on the bench for long.

Were the Dean brothers as zany as their nicknames, Dizzy and Daffy? Some say they weren't, but Grantland Rice told of a time Daffy was swigging on a soda pop as a train carrying the St. Louis Cardinals entered a long tunnel. Rice said he overheard this exchange between the brothers: Daffy: "Diz, you tried any of this stuff?" Dizzy: "Just fixin' to. Why?" Daffy: "Don't! I did, and I've gone plumb blind." Fair or foul?

John Morton, who for the past 30 years has driven high-tech, expensive race cars for a living, drives a beat-up 1972 Datsun pickup truck when he's not getting paid to be behind the wheel. Morton, 51, winner of The Times Grand Prix in 1985 and 1987, said he has a practical reason for driving such a low-profile vehicle around Southern California. "It keeps me from getting carjacked," he said.