Leaves Of Absence

Dennis Dixon, who became the football coach at Golden West College last season, is taking a leave of absence for health reasons, Athletic Director Tom Hermstad said Tuesday. Mike Shaughnessy, an assistant at Golden West the last 17 seasons, is the interim head coach. Dixon, 49, who wants to keep the nature of his illness private, will remain a physical education teacher. "I think everybody knows I have some health problems," said Dixon, who coached the Rustlers to a 5-5 record last season.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's top appointee on the Board of Public Works will take a leave of absence following a Times report that she is the subject of a child endangerment investigation, a mayoral aide said Thursday. The mayor said he did not think that Andrea Alarcon, 33, should resign from her post, which pays $130,000 per year. He would not discuss the police case, which was opened after Alarcon's 11-year-old daughter was found unattended Friday night at City Hall.

It has been nearly two months since a fatal accident involving four UC Riverside basketball players and two of their friends, but the tragedy of that night is still raw. Which is one reason why Riverside Coach David Spencer won't be with his team tonight in Ames, Iowa. Last Friday, a little more than a month after he was inconsolable at an on-campus memorial service and exactly a week before his team's opener at Iowa State, Spencer announced he was taking a medical leave of absence.

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s office disclosed Monday that the veteran Democratic congressman has been on medical leave from Congress for the last two weeks and is being treated for exhaustion. In a statement from his office, spokesman Frank Watkins said the 17-year congressman went on medical leave June 10. “He asks that you respect his family's privacy,” the statement said, adding that his congressional offices remain open for constituents. The statement was the first public disclosure that Jackson has been on medical leave for two weeks.

UC Irvine placed the chief of its medical center on paid administrative leave Wednesday, less than a week after shutting down the hospital's scandal-stricken liver transplant program. Dr. Ralph Cygan, chief executive officer of UCI Medical Center in Orange, will remain off the job while a committee of experts explores why the hospital turned down scores of donated organs even as patients on the waiting list were dying.

The Orange County Grand Jury recommended Monday that the county change its personnel policies to reduce the time employees may spend on paid leave during disciplinary reviews. In a five-year period starting July 1, 1998, Orange County's government spent an average of $975,000 per year on employees who were forced to stay off the job while on paid administrative leave, the report noted.

The teacher whom the Los Angeles school district has spent seven years and nearly $2 million trying to fire spoke publicly for the first time Wednesday, saying he did not sexually harass students and is the target of discrimination. Matthew Kim, a former special education teacher at Grant High School in Van Nuys, had declined to speak to The Times numerous times over the last several months.

Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Carson) has taken a six-week leave of absence from Congress after being diagnosed with cancer, her office said Wednesday. "The congresswoman wishes to thank everyone for their expressions of love, well wishes and prayers," a statement issued by her office said. "She will maintain a limited schedule in her district and is requesting respect of her privacy at this time."

Gov. Gray Davis has decided to sign legislation allowing most California workers to take paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child or to care for sick family members, administration officials said Sunday. Davis will sign the measure today at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, officials said, capping one of the most closely watched issues of the legislative session and making California the first state to enact a comprehensive paid family leave program.

Chris Albrecht temporarily stepped aside as chairman and chief executive of Home Box Office on Tuesday after his weekend arrest on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend. But the incident raises questions about how the cable channel handled an earlier allegation of battery involving Albrecht. In 1991, Time Warner Inc.'

A longtime Los Angeles County employee who now is the director of beaches and harbors was nominated Tuesday to temporarily run the beleaguered assessor's office. John Noguez, who was elected assessor in 2010, announced this month that he will take a paid leave of absence while county prosecutors investigate whether he and his top aides illegally lowered property taxes for wealthy property owners and contributors to his campaign. County supervisors asked Chief Executive William T Fujioka last week to suggest people who could fill the empty chief deputy assessor position and oversee the office.

Bruce Dow, the beleaguered chief executive of the Screen Actors Guild-Producers Pension and Health Plans, which have been rocked by allegations of misconduct, has taken a leave of absence. Dow has "requested and been granted a leave of absence from his duties," trustees for the plans said late Wednesday. In an interview, the veteran plan manager said he requested a 60-day break on medical grounds and is not resigning his post. The pension plans' chief operating officer, Christopher Dowdell, will take on day-to-day management responsibilities, the trustees said.

Newspaper and television giant Gannett Co. is restructuring its executive ranks in the wake of the sudden resignation of its chairman and chief executive over health issues. Craig Dubow, 56, who has been with Gannett for 30 years, resigned Thursday afternoon because of disability, the company said. Dubow had been on a leave of absence since Sept. 15 to deal with a recurring back issue. He had previously taken a three-month leave of absence in 2009 after having back and hip surgery.

Facing the most intense calls yet for his resignation, Rep. Anthony Weiner said Saturday that he would seek professional help in the wake of a still-raging scandal over his online sexual liaisons with at least six women. After House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats declared that the New York Democrat should quit, Weiner's office instead said that he would take a leave of absence to seek treatment. Weiner "departed this morning to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person," a spokeswoman for the congressman said.

Apple Inc. has pulled off a string of runaway hits ? like the iPhone and the iPad ? that have revolutionized every industry they touched. It has become the world's second-most-valuable company, worth more than $300 billion. But when shareholders meet Wednesday at the company's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters, the buzz will not be about Apple's next sleek new gadget or soaring profits. Much of the talk will be about Chief Executive Steve Jobs and what Apple would do without him. The secretive Apple has been reluctant to talk publicly about Jobs' battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer and a liver transplant.

Apple found a way to divert attention from Chief Executive Steve Jobs' health Tuesday ? a blowout $6 billion in profit. A day after Jobs stunned investors and employees alike by announcing he was taking medical leave for the third time in seven years, Apple Inc. crushed analysts' estimates with record first-quarter revenue and earnings. The company's stock rallied on the report, buoyed by impressive sales of iPhones, iPads and a pipeline of consumer gadgets. Shares fell a less-than-anticipated 2.2% to $340.

A day after admitting he fathered a child outside his marriage, the Rev. Jesse Jackson won a unanimous vote of confidence Friday from the executive board of his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, which granted him a leave of absence to "reconnect" with his family but insisted that he return when he is ready. Rainbow/PUSH Executive Vice President James T. Meeks, named acting president, said the board agreed "not to accept any thought of resignation or pullback on the part of Rev. Jackson."

Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona intends to return to work Monday, ending a 60-day paid leave of absence initiated after he was charged with corruption in a federal grand jury indictment. It remained unclear how much time Carona would spend in the sheriff's Santa Ana headquarters when he returns to work. In a statement, the department said Undersheriff Jo Ann Galisky would continue to handle day-to-day operations after Carona's return.

The former spokesman for the Los Angeles County Superior Court has filed a complaint with federal authorities that accuses court administrators of discriminating against him on the basis of a longtime mental illness. In the Dec. 13 request for an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation, Allan Parachini alleged that supervisors fired him after they learned that his "chronic severe depression" had worsened and that his doctors were recommending he take a leave of absence, his second in less than a year.

Somewhere, New York Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett is cracking the first smile he's shown in a while. No one player's performance seems more linked to the presence of Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland , who Yankees Manager Joe Girardi said will return from his leave of absence on Tuesday. Eiland's hiatus for an undisclosed personal matter began on June 4 and coincides with Burnett's recent slide. The right-hander is 0-5 with an 11.35 earned-run average in June, the latest defeat coming when he was pulled in the fourth inning of a 9-4 loss to the Dodgers on Saturday.