Management

SAN FRANCISCO - As road trips go, this one looked like a disaster. The Dodgers were swept by their rivals, the first-place San Francisco Giants. They lost their power-hitting shortstop to an injury that will cost him weeks, not days. They flew home just half a game ahead of the last-place San Diego Padres. And yet, according to some of the voices in the visiting clubhouse after a 4-3 loss Sunday, the sweep marked a turning point in the Dodgers' season. BOX SCORE: San Francisco 4, Dodgers 3 In a good way. "It's really hard to start talking about moral victories after a sweep," catcher A.J. Ellis said, "but we felt like a ballclub the last two nights - a winning ballclub.

Mark Tercek had some horribly awkward moments after he left Goldman Sachs to run a U.S. environmental charity, the Nature Conservancy. At one of his first big staff meetings, he committed a total eco no-no by drinking from a plastic water bottle. When he got to work the next day, his new colleagues had left him a batch of reusable Klean Kanteen bottles. At about the same time, he went to a big event packed with luminaries in the environmental field and found himself face to face with Russell Train, founding director of the World Wildlife Fund in the U.S. "Who are you?"

Herbalife Ltd. said its feud with billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has been more costly than it anticipated, prompting speculation that the company is bracing for potential government investigations. The Los Angeles nutritional products company estimates it will spend $25 million to $40 million this year on legal and advisory fees to defend itself against Ackman's allegations that the company runs a pyramid scheme in which most of its independent salespeople lose money.

More than a month into the season, Angels Manager Mike Scioscia admits he's still not sure what kind of team he has. That's understandable, because he really hasn't seen his team much. "It's tough to evaluate exactly what our team's going to be because the team hasn't been out there," said Scioscia, who has lost his top starter, the left side of his infield and his starting center fielder and leading hitter to injuries in April. "So it's tough to say, 'Well, this will happen or that will happen.'" It would have been extra tough to predict all the things that happened in the Angels' 5-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, mainly because many of them hadn't happened all season.

WASHINGTON - President Obama on Wednesday will nominate venture capitalist Thomas Wheeler as the nation's top telecommunications regulator, tapping a major campaign fundraiser with long ties to the media and the telecom industries, White House and industry officials said. Wheeler, managing director of Core Capital Partners in Washington, D.C., would replace Julius Genachowski as chairman of the five-member Federal Communications Commission board. Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, who was mentioned as a candidate, will take over as acting chairman when Genachowski steps down in the coming weeks.

There's unanimity within the Lakers. Kobe Bryant and General Manager Mitch Kupchak both want Dwight Howard to return. There's also a problem within the Lakers: Howard isn't so sure. He declined to reveal which way he was leaning after his one-year run with the Lakers. "I'm going to take my time, get away from the game, my phones and everything and just clear my head," Howard said Tuesday in an end-of-season interview at the team's practice facility. "I'll do what's going to be best for myself, what's going to make me happy.

Question: I have lived in my current apartment building for three years with no problems, but recently a new manager took over. I originally came to the U.S. on a work visa; I was born and raised in China and speak Cantonese as my first language. As a result, I speak with a heavy accent. I am also much more comfortable with written English than with speaking English. About a month ago, I got a notice of a rent increase from the new manager, which surprised me because I had just gotten a rent increase a few months earlier.

UCLA football is embracing a high-tech future. The Bruins unveiled a new gizmo Wednesday: the CoachComm Tempo, a system that includes two Led Zeppelin-ready speakers and that can run the clock and scoreboard, simulate crowd noise, play music and be used to amplify the instructions of coaches. "A lot of teams around the country are using this," Coach Jim Mora said. "Oregon uses it; Chip Kelly bought one when he went to [coach] Philadelphia. We talked to five or six coaches and they all said it would help practice efficiency.

BALTIMORE -- This is starting to look familiar. When the Titanic sank, there was a Guggenheim on board. Benjamin Guggenheim's family went on to found an investment company that now owns the Dodgers, who are watching water gush into the corridors of their star-adorned, $230-million ocean liner. The Dodgers extended their losing streak to six games on Saturday at Oriole Park, losing both games of their doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles, 7-5 and 6-1. BOX SCORE: Orioles 7, Dodgers 5 The most expensive team in baseball history has a 7-10 record, already six games behind the first-place Colorado Rockies in the National League West.

Question: I manage a 12-unit apartment complex with a strict no-pets policy. We understand that under federal and state fair housing law, we may need to make an exception to our no-pet policy for a disabled resident who requires a service animal as a reasonable accommodation. However, there is a resident at my apartment complex who has a visitor staying with her for a few weeks. The visitor has a dog that accompanies her everywhere and appears to be staying in the resident's apartment with her. When I asked the resident about the dog, she told me that her guest is disabled and that the dog is a service animal.