Limo

OAKLAND - Grief and disbelief reverberated from the Bay Area to the Central Valley on Monday as questions multiplied about a limousine fire that killed five women and injured four on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. Although officials said they had yet to review the limousine's maintenance record or examine its burned-out shell, California Highway Patrol Capt. Mike Maskarich said the 1999 Lincoln Town Car was licensed to carry only eight passengers, though nine were inside. The Saturday night inferno trapped the women as they headed for what was to be a celebratory bridal party at a hotel.

The San Mateo County coroner's office Tuesday released the names of five women killed on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge when their limousine became engulfed in flames. They are: Neriza Fojas, 31, and Michelle Estrera, 35, of Fresno; Jennifer Balon, 39, of Dublin, Calif.; Anna Alcantara, 46, of San Lorenzo, Calif.; and Felomina Geronga, 43, of Alameda. Four others survived. Other than Geronga, the close-knit Filipina friends were all nurses who had met while working at Oakland's Fruitvale Healthcare Center, bonding like "sisters," one survivor told a local television station.

"My Guys" is one of those sitcoms you can take or leave. But leave is more likely. The protagonist, a rough-around-the-edges widower and limo company operator named Sonny Demarco (Michael Rispoli), is likable enough. As are his sons, 15-year-old Michael (Mike Damus) and 12-year-old Francis (Francis Capra).

OAKLAND - Grief and disbelief reverberated from the Bay Area to the Central Valley on Monday as questions multiplied about a limousine fire that killed five women and injured four on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. Although officials said they had yet to review the limousine's maintenance record or examine its burned-out shell, California Highway Patrol Capt. Mike Maskarich said the 1999 Lincoln Town Car was licensed to carry only eight passengers, though nine were inside. The Saturday night inferno trapped the women as they headed for what was to be a celebratory bridal party at a hotel.

The driver of a Cadillac limousine intentionally ran over a woman and dragged her body nearly a mile through skid row in downtown Los Angeles early Thursday, authorities said. Sonia Tauanuu, 25, was pronounced dead about 1 a.m. by witnesses at the scene, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The incident, which police are investigating as a homicide, began shortly before 1 a.m. when two women began arguing in the 700 block of Ceres Avenue, the LAPD said. The driver got into the vehicle, struck the woman and began driving northeast through skid row, according to the LAPD.

For some, getting noticed is what being in L.A. is all about, and what better way to get noticed than by driving an unusual car? Boy, have we got one for you. Porsches? Passe. Hot rods? Ho-hum. Convertibles? So conventional. We're talking 1982 Zil-115 limousine. And not just any limo but the Presidential Transporter that was maintained by the KGB in Moscow for the personal use of Soviet General Secretary Yuri Andropov from 1982 through 1984.

If a couple of this year's big-screen releases are any indication, whole worlds of weirdness are unfolding behind the tinted glass of white stretch limos. First Robert Pattinson's dissatisfied financier made his slow, vexing progress through Manhattan in "Cosmopolis. " Now the French actor Denis Lavant inhabits 11 roles in Léos Carax's thrillingly outré "Holy Motors. " In comparison with the earlier film, the Parisian odyssey is far less tethered to the social climate or to much of anything in the way of narrative expectations.

Regarding the article "Prom need not break the bank" (Personal Finance, April 13): The prom season's once again here, And one thing is certainly clear: While a limo and flowers Will bring pleasure for hours, We'll be paying the bills for a year. Sam McCarver San Juan Capistrano

Into the limo go the stars of CBS' sitcom "How I Met Your Mother." Out of the limo they go. In the limo, out, in ... well, you get the picture. For this New Year's Eve episode, Josh Radnor, Alyson Hannigan, Jason Segel, Neil Patrick Harris and Cobie Smulders will enter and exit this stationary limousine 16 times. If it were shot like a regular sitcom, there would be a couple of takes of a scene like this, shot before a live audience in one night of taping.

Excuse me, but wasn't it Ira Reiner who, only moments ago it seems, was bashing city functionaries for wasting taxpayer's dollars? And now, as a byproduct of someone else's criminal behavior, we learn that Ira uses a county limo and driver to take his family out. Now, I must confess that being driven to work allows Reiner to get things done on taxpayer's behalf. But I don't see why we should be paying for driver and car to sit around during family outings. Then again, maybe Reiner gets work done between courses.

Three years ago, Randy Hanson accused then-Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable of breaking his jaw and teeth during a fight at the team's training camp. Now the ex-assistant coach for the team known as the “Silver and Black” is on trial for allegedly leaving a man's face black and blue after an assault at a Pismo Beach bar. Hanson, 45, is facing two felony charges for allegedly smashing a beer bottle into the face of 51-year-old James Kelsey outside Harry's Bar and Night Club.

A limousine driver who was apparently involved in a hit-and-run collision Wednesday in Van Nuys was involved in a fatal accident shortly afterward half a mile away, authorities said. Sgt. Mike Zaboski of the Los Angeles Police Department said the Town Car-style limousine was first involved in a non-injury accident near Riverside Drive and Fulton Avenue.  About 1:35 p.m., Zaboski said, the same driver was involved in a four-car crash at Fulton Avenue and Magnolia Boulevard. The two locations are half a mile apart, he said.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama's limousine will display the District of Columbia license plate reading "Taxation without Representation" during inauguration activities and through the remainder of his term to call attention to the district's lack of voting power in Congress. The decision, announced by a White House aide, comes in response to a resolution unanimously passed by the D.C. Council calling on Obama to display the slogan during the inaugural ride down Pennsylvania Avenue to highlight what the resolution calls the "fundamentally unfair and undemocratic condition of district residents.

WASHINGTON -- The District of Columbia Council is calling on President Obama to put a "Taxation without Representation" license plate on the presidential limousine in the inaugural parade to draw attention to the city's long-standing desire to be represented by voting members of Congress. Displaying the slogan during the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue would highlight the "fundamentally unfair and undemocratic condition of district residents," according to a resolution unanimously approved by the council last week.  Council member Mary Cheh, the resolution's chief sponsor, and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson presented one of the standard plates issued by the district to residents, along with a copy of the resolution, to a senior administration official last week.

Lest there be any concern that our new "Bachelor," Sean Lowe, is too innocent to handle a gaggle of debaucherous women, have no fear. The good ol' Texas boy arrived at the iconic Agoura Hills mansion well equipped to ward off overeager females in sparkly gowns. "I brought a rape whistle in case I'm in trouble," Sean warned one "Fifty Shades of Grey" fan, who had just pulled a cheap-looking tie out of her cleavage. Oh, that's right. There was no shortage of crazy on the season premiere of "The Bachelor" Monday night, the 17th -- yes, you heard me right -- season of this marvelous, soul-ruining show.

LAS VEGAS - Here's a sobering lesson: What happens in Vegas sometimes ends up in a grand jury indictment. Federal authorities announced the arrest of nine people, including the owner and employees of a prominent limousine service here after their indictment on a host of federal racketeering charges. Charles Horkey, 52, owner of CLS Transportation, and his employees were indicted on charges involving distribution of controlled substances, facilitating illegal prostitution and credit card and bank fraud, authorities said.

Here's my take on Tom Hanks ("Average Joe Versus the Icons," by Amy Wallace, Nov. 7). Last year before the Academy Awards, our Junior Girl Scout troop was standing on the curb near the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, waving to the limos as they slowly drove by. One limo stopped. A window rolled down and Tom Hanks leaned out. He looked directly at us and said "Hi, girls!" as he waved. Then the window went up and the limo drove on. He probably doesn't remember, but it's something we'll never forget.

Three years ago, Randy Hanson accused then-Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable of breaking his jaw and teeth during a fight at the team's training camp. Now the ex-assistant coach for the team known as the “Silver and Black” is on trial for allegedly leaving a man's face black and blue after an assault at a Pismo Beach bar. Hanson, 45, is facing two felony charges for allegedly smashing a beer bottle into the face of 51-year-old James Kelsey outside Harry's Bar and Night Club.

If a couple of this year's big-screen releases are any indication, whole worlds of weirdness are unfolding behind the tinted glass of white stretch limos. First Robert Pattinson's dissatisfied financier made his slow, vexing progress through Manhattan in "Cosmopolis. " Now the French actor Denis Lavant inhabits 11 roles in Léos Carax's thrillingly outré "Holy Motors. " In comparison with the earlier film, the Parisian odyssey is far less tethered to the social climate or to much of anything in the way of narrative expectations.

When Leos Carax shrugs, it is a gesture not of Gallic ambivalence but of existential bewilderment. The 51-year-old writer-director tends to shrug a lot. Since the premiere of his "Holy Motors" at this year's Cannes Film Festival, where the enigmatic Carax gave no interviews, the film has been widely hailed as a triumph, with even its detractors acknowledging its audacity and some critics declaring it the film of the year. His first feature in 13 years, it reunites the filmmaker with Denis Lavant, who starred in Carax's first three features, including the recklessly indulgent 1991 romance "The Lovers on the Bridge," which costarred the director's then girlfriend, Juliette Binoche.