Management

If the horrific garment factory collapse last month in Bangladesh has any silver lining, it is the response from more than 30 of the world's leading apparel companies - including Benetton, PVH, Abercrombie & Fitch, H&M, Inditex (Zara), Marks & Spencer and Tesco - to sign an agreement to protect the safety and lives of that nation's workers, who make the companies' products. The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh is a historic advance over the voluntary private factory monitoring that has tragically failed to prevent the recent disasters in Bangladesh and in places around the world where clothes are stitched for the global market.

It seem like the perfect crime: Masked men snatch an assistant bank manager in her garage, strap a bomb to her and force the woman to rob her own East Los Angeles bank of $565,500. But now authorities allege that one of three men charged with last fall's movie-like holdup is none other than the assistant bank manager's boyfriend. According to a federal indictment unsealed Monday, Reyes "Ray" Vega arranged for the woman, whose name has not been released, to strap on a fake bomb so she would appear to be a hostage - setting the stage for him to rob the bank in September.

NEW YORK - The next wave of union protesters isn't blue collar. It's lawyers, paralegals, secretaries, helicopter pilots, judges, insurance agents and podiatrists. These white-collar workers are not exactly the picture of the labor movement, but they are becoming a more essential part of it as they turn to unions for help in a tough economy as bosses try to squeeze out more profits. "Employers have been downsizing, asking employees to take on larger roles, making them work more hours," said Nicole Korkolis, spokeswoman for the Office and Professional Employees International Union.

MILWAUKEE - Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti was evasive when asked Monday about Don Mattingly's job status, refusing to say whether the last-place team could fire its manager this week. Against this backdrop of uncertainty, Clayton Kershaw pitched his second complete game of the season, a 107-pitch masterpiece in a 3-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park that ended the Dodgers' three-game losing streak. "Every time I get in trouble, Kersh saves me for one more day," Mattingly said jokingly.

WASHINGTON - President Obama forced out the head of the IRS on Wednesday, seeking to restore the public's faith in the tax agency while asserting a measure of control over a rapidly growing political problem. Making a hastily scheduled statement at the White House, Obama denounced the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service as "inexcusable" and pledged to "do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. " "Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it," he said.

Students filed into Chris Cox's dim classroom at Daniel Webster Middle School in Los Angeles' Sawtelle neighborhood, took their seats and immediately began working on a language arts warmup exercise. While Cox took roll, the eighth-graders silently worked. When they went over the answers, students raised their hands and waited to be called on. Down the corridor, seventh-graders streamed into Brent Walmsley's classroom and took over. Some sat on table tops; others wandered around the room, pausing to grab foamy handfuls of hand sanitizer that sloshed on the floor.

The San Fernando Valley is 260 square miles of suburbia. Actually, make that suburbia on nutritional supplements. And antidepressants. With perhaps a little cosmetic surgery south of Ventura Boulevard, where the big money is. Or maybe - now that it's grown to more than 1.7 million people in nearly three dozen cities and neighborhoods rich and poor - the Valley isn't even a suburb anymore. It begins just 10 miles northwest of Los Angeles City Hall, sprawling west to the Simi Hills, north to the Santa Susana Mountains, and east to the Verdugo and San Gabriel mountains.

The schism between the Rev. Robert H. Schuller and his son at Orange County's Crystal Cathedral arose over a disagreement about broadening the church's long-running television show, "Hour of Power," beyond a single personality -- a move opposed by the younger Schuller, pastors involved in the matter said Sunday. The elder Schuller announced Saturday that he was removing his son, the Rev. Robert A. Schuller, as the show's only preacher three years after turning the program over to him.

Dr. Shahram Ravan has treated patients at Midway Hospital Medical Center for nearly 20 years. It wasn't until the cardiologist became one of the hospital's new owners and began examining its books recently that he was able to diagnose why the Los Angeles facility was bleeding red ink. One clue popped out of a pharmacy bill. It showed the 200-bed hospital was paying $3.20 per pill for an ulcer medication. Ravan asked his pharmacy manager how a commonly prescribed drug could cost so much.

After 18 years at the helm of Los Angeles' oldest Spanish-language TV station, Daniel D. Villanueva resigned Wednesday and said he expects another Latino to be named to succeed him as general manager of KMEX Channel 34. "I've been wanting to slow down for the last five years," Villanueva said.

SAN JOSE - The San Jose Sharks were fined $100,000 by the NHL on Saturday because of General Manager Doug Wilson 's public criticism of the league's decision this week to suspend Sharks forward Raffi Torres . The NHL said in a statement that $25,000 was for violating a league rule prohibiting formal team statements to the media within 48 hours of a disciplinary suspension. The remaining $75,000 was for "the inappropriate nature of the comments. " BOX SCORE: Sharks 2, Kings 1 Torres delivered an open-ice hit to Kings center Jarret Stoll in Game 1 of the teams' Western Conference semifinal series, resulting in a suspected concussion for Stoll.

"I want him to play 100 miles an hour with his hair on fire. " - Washington Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo , to the Washington Post, rejecting suggestions that Bryce Harper should play cautiously in the outfield after injuring himself crashing into the wall at Dodger Stadium. "I don't answer to fans. They don't play this game. … They have absolutely no idea what it means to be a professional teammate at this level. " - New York Mets Manager and former Angels manager Terry Collins , on criticism for using Jordany Valdespin to pinch-hit one day after Valdespin angered the Pittsburgh Pirates with a bat flip and slow trot after homering in a 7-1 loss.

ATLANTA - There is a new-age school of thought that believes teams should use their best relievers the way the Dodgers are using Kenley Jansen - in potentially game-altering situations, often in innings other than the ninth. But Manager Don Mattingly said his decision to use Jansen in this manner is based on his team's needs rather than a desire to revolutionize the modern bullpen. Even with Brandon League struggling, Mattingly has hesitated designating Jansen as the closer because doing so would severely limit his options leading up to the ninth inning.

ATLANTA - More than a quarter of the season is complete. The losses are continuing to mount. But in the wake of a come-from-ahead, 3-1 defeat to the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night, Manager Don Mattingly remained adamant that the last-place Dodgers are underperforming. The alternative would have been to concede that the $230-million ballclub is incapable of winning consistently. "I'm not going to believe that," Mattingly said. "I know we're capable. " BOX SCORE: Atlanta 3, Dodgers 1 Mattingly pointed to how before losing their first two games of a three-game series at Turner Field, the Dodgers won four of five games.

ATLANTA - Will Don Mattingly be the Dodgers manager for the remainder of the season? Team President Stan Kasten wouldn't say. "I don't discuss the manager and I never do," Kasten said. "Ever since spring training, we said that, when you wanted to talk about him every day. We had a rough start but we expect to get through this. " Kasten was reminded he was asked a yes-or-no question. "What was the question again?" Kasten asked. Will Don Mattingly be your manager for the rest of the year?

About 300 labor union members and other activists staged a demonstration to protest the potential sale of the Los Angeles Times to the politically conservative Koch brothers. Demonstrators marched outside the downtown L.A. headquarters of Oaktree Capital Management, an investment firm that holds a roughly 20% stake in Tribune Co., which owns The Times. Protesters alleged that Charles and David Koch, billionaire siblings who fund conservative causes, want to buy The Times in order to skew the paper's coverage to favor anti-union objectives.

When it came to mass recognition in the United States, the late Latin music star Jenni Rivera used to say she wasn't Coca-Cola, and maybe she wasn't Pepsi either. But she wasn't going to let anyone tell her she wasn't at least akin to Fanta. The sentiment - more colorfully expressed in Rivera's words according to friend and manager Pete Salgado during a recent interview in Studio City - may partly explain why the Mexican regional superstar floated under the radar of most non-Spanish-language outlets before her death last year.

A bit of ratings counseling is in need for Charlie Sheen's TV comeback: His FX series"Anger Management" saw another double-digit drop in viewership in its third week. Its fourth episode, which aired Thursday night, delivered 2.4 million total viewers, according to Nielsen figures - down 28% from the previous week and 27% in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demo. The viewership dive is all the more troubling considering its second week had already experienced a drop of 2 million viewers.

Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly held outfielder Carl Crawford out of the lineup Wednesday and he plans to do the same with Andre Ethier on Friday, when the team opens a six-game trip in Atlanta. Only Matt Kemp has played in more games or had more at-bats than Crawford and Ethier, both of whom, the manager said, were in need of a break. "The [body] language tells you kind of where he's at. And then you see it on the field in his energy level," he said. "You can kind of feel it with guys.

Arte Moreno has placed blame for the team's brutal 2013 start, its failure to make the playoffs for three straight years and several high-priced moves that have paid minimal dividends on the one person the Angels owner can't fire: Himself. "If you're going to blame anyone, you've got to blame me," Moreno told FoxSports.com on Wednesday in New York, where he is attending the owners' meetings. "I'm the one at the end of the day that has the final call. " Moreno orchestrated the signing of first baseman Albert Pujols to a 10-year, $240-million deal before 2012.