Management

President Obama's plan to save failing U.S. automakers -- and make them the instruments for creating a cleaner, greener transportation system -- marked a major step across the line that traditionally separates government from private industry. His announcement Monday of a new position on bailing out Detroit went beyond a desire to be sure tax dollars were not wasted in bailing out struggling companies.

Declaring that the country had reached the end of the road with Detroit's automakers, President Obama on Monday mapped a new course for bailed-out General Motors Corp. and Chrysler in a series of moves designed to force the hands of workers, creditors and others with a stake in the companies. Obama, using the threat of bankruptcy as a weapon, vowed to transform the U.S.

A Sherman Oaks money manager accused of spending millions of his investors' dollars on a lavish lifestyle and high-profile charitable contributions agreed Tuesday to let a court-appointed receiver manage his companies' assets. Bruce F. Friedman has agreed to meet with the receiver that U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real appointed to operate his companies, Diversified Lending Group Inc. and Applied Equities Inc., said a lawyer for the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is suing Friedman.

The women and men, gently prodded by a facilitator, opened up about their daily inspirational practices: "Every morning and every night I create a feeling of gratitude for everything in my life," one woman said. Said another: "Remembering that there are so many people with so much less." Group therapy? No. It's a workforce training session held last month for the employees of Primary Freight Services Inc. of Rancho Dominguez.

Revealing the recession's rising toll on financial firms, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. disclosed Friday that it had ordered six more California banks to clean up their acts in February after the agency examined their books and operations.

The state is taking over a Monterey County school district that was facing bankruptcy and lending it $13 million, state officials announced Wednesday. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed emergency legislation authorizing the loan to the King City Joint Union High School District. A state takeover is required by law once such a loan is granted.

Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell on Monday backed Los Angeles Times Publisher David D. Hiller's decision to replace the newspaper's editor. "I've said loud and clear that I am returning control of our businesses to the people who run them," Zell told Tribune employees in an e-mail message. "That means David Hiller has my full support. He carries direct responsibility for the staffing and financial success of the L.A. Times." Hiller said in an interview that he notified Zell last week that James E.

An independent auditor hired by the Orange County Board of Supervisors has found the county's investment portfolio is being managed in a "thoughtful, prudent manner" by the elected treasurer and that the investment pools are sound, according to a report released Monday. The report appears to vindicate the management of the $6.

Some people think Sam Zell should reread his new employee handbook. During a meeting last week with Orlando Sentinel employees, the Tribune Co. chairman ended his answer to a photographer's questions about hard news coverage by directing a two-word obscenity at her. A video of the meeting made its way to YouTube and on Monday was on the media gossip website Gawker, which described Zell as a "salty billionaire."

Overcrowding in the emergency room at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is placing patients in immediate jeopardy, according to state inspectors working on behalf of the federal government. The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services expects to receive a formal citation based on last week's inspection, another blow to the county's fragile emergency room system. In August, the county was forced to close most of Martin Luther King Jr.