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ENTERTAINMENT
May 18, 2012 | MARY MCNAMARA, TELEVISION CRITIC
In an odd yet understandable marketing strategy, the folks behind E!'s new reality show "Mrs. Eastwood & Company" have spent a lot of pre-premiere publicity time explaining what the show isn't. Which is to say, Clint Eastwood. The legendary actor and director will appear in but a few episodes and then only briefly. He will not, for instance, be slamming doors or engaging in filmed therapy sessions with his wife, Dina, around whom the show revolves (see title.) That doesn't mean the show is not about Clint Eastwood; it is. If the principal characters -- Dina, her 15-year-old daughter Morgan and 19-year old stepdaughter Francesca -- were not related to him, there would be Absolutely No Reason to watch this, which, by reality show standards, promises to be tame to the point of sedation.
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BUSINESS
May 23, 2012 | By Don Lee
WASHINGTON -- More green shoots are appearing in the nation's long-dormant housing market. Sales of new homes rose 3.3% in April from March to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 343,000, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. That was slightly stronger than what most analysts had forecast, and the latest in a string of recent reports suggesting that a housing recovery is taking hold. On Tuesday, the National Assn. of Realtors said existing home sales increased 3.
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BUSINESS
May 17, 2012 | By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana said they improved his strength and posture. Celebrity Kim Kardashian boasted they allowed her to ditch her personal trainer. But federal and state officials said the rocker-bottom Shape-ups and other toning shoes made by Skechers USA Inc. don't live up to the hype from the company and its high-profile endorsers. On Wednesday, the Manhattan Beach company agreed to pay $50 million to settle false-advertising allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of 44 states, including California, as well as the District of Columbia.
ENTERTAINMENT
May 22, 2012 | By Joe Flint
BOSTON -- Looking to make consumers who subscribe to cable or satellite television aware that the bulk of the Summer Olympics can be watched online at no additional charge, NBC is going to embark on a large marketing campaign in advance of the London Games. "There will be a barrage of information sent out to the American public about how one can access this content," said Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics.
ENTERTAINMENT
May 14, 2012 | By Ben Fritz and Steven Zeitchik, Los Angeles Times
Often film sequels are slam dunks at the box office, a seamless continuation from where a previous hit left off. But as the new installment of the 15-year-old franchise "Men in Black" proves, getting to the big screen isn't always a cakewalk. One of the most troubled productions in recent Hollywood memory, Sony Pictures' latest movie in the Will Smith-Tommy Lee Jones sci-fi-comedy franchise encountered multiple script rewrites, a discontented star and a three-month production shutdown as writers and studio executives scrambled to fix a project that nearly fell apart . By the time it was over, the studio had run up a tab of nearly $250 million - making "Men in Black 3" one of the most expensive releases of the summer.
BUSINESS
October 30, 2011 | Ken Bensinger, Los Angeles Times
First of three parts Tiffany Lee wanted a car. She was weary of the two-hour bus ride to her job at a UCLA Health System clinic. She hated having to ask friends to drive her 7-year-old son to his asthma treatments. But as a single mother with three children, bad credit and a $27,000-a-year salary, she couldn't find a bank or dealership willing to give her a loan. Then a friend steered her to Repossess Auto Sales in Hawthorne. Another buyer might have balked at the deal she was offered.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2012 | By E. Scott Reckard, Los Angeles Times
A newly streamlined government plan to reward homeowners who diligently pay their underwater mortgages is proving a bonanza for banks, which by one estimate may pocket $12 billion in extra revenue by refinancing loans. The revisions to the Obama administration's 3-year-old Home Affordable Refinance Program have yielded mixed results for homeowners, analysts and mortgage professionals say. Some responsible homeowners are indeed getting lower-interest loans despite owing far more than their homes are worth.
HEALTH
March 16, 2009 | Elena Conis
Teas from across the globe are becoming more and more popular in the U.S. One relative newcomer, yerba mate, is attracting fans for its allegedly jitter-free caffeine boost and high antioxidant content. Lab research suggests some potential health benefits from drinking yerba mate, but studies of lifelong yerba mate drinkers in the tea's native South America suggest the brew increases the risk of some cancers -- a fact most marketing campaigns omit.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
July 27, 2011 | By Ari Bloomekatz, Abby Sewell and Kate Mather, Los Angeles Times
Bob Brickman spent months fighting a ticket he got last fall from a red-light traffic camera at Wilshire and Sepulveda boulevards in West Los Angeles. The 61-year-old from Playa Vista eventually decided to give up the fight and fork over the $476 fine. Now he's regretting paying every penny. City officials this week spotlighted a surprising revelation involving red-light camera tickets: Authorities cannot force violators who simply don't respond to pay them. For a variety of reasons, including the way the law was written, Los Angeles officials say the fines for ticketed motorists are essentially "voluntary" and there are virtually no tangible consequences for those who refuse to pay. The disclosure comes as the city is considering whether to drop the controversial photo enforcement program, with the City Council scheduled to vote on the matter Wednesday.
HEALTH
January 16, 2012 | By Lisa Zamosky, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Lipitor is the most prescribed name-brand drug in America - nearly 3.5 million people take it every day to control their cholesterol. Since the statin entered the market in 1997, it's earned New York-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. $81 billion, making it the best-selling prescription drug of all time, according to IMS Health, a Danbury, Conn.-based healthcare information company. So when Lipitor's patent protection came to an end Nov. 30 and a generic alternative became available, an awful lot of patients had a decision to make: Should they stick with the drug they knew or switch to something less expensive?
BUSINESS
May 22, 2012 | By Oliver Gettell
Video-on-demand services usually come into play toward the end of a film's life span — either to follow a theatrical run or to take a movie straight to video. For the website Prescreen, however, VOD is the launching pad. Prescreen, which debuted in September, offers users a curated selection of independent films, most available for 60 days and many exclusive to the site. A single film is spotlighted in a daily email, and most rentals cost $2 to $8 for a 48-hour viewing window.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2012 | By Jessica Guynn, Los Angeles Times
Maybe what Facebook really needs is a "buy" button. After a lifeless opening last week, Facebook shares tumbled on their second day of trading, losing about $10 billion in market value Monday as investors questioned the company's revenue prospects. Shares of the Menlo Park, Calif., social network fell to as low as $33 before closing down $4.20, or 11%, to $34.03. It was unclear if Facebook shares got help from traders at the company's lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley, who stepped in Friday to prop up shares just a hair above their $38 offering price.
NEWS
May 21, 2012 | By Michael Hiltzik
It has long been clear that the most wonderful thing about Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice is the spectacular marketing skill that persuades consumers to fork over their hard-earned cash for a liquid that sells for five to six times the price of, oh, cranberry juice. As we've mentioned in the past , the key to that marketing is the claim by Pom's makers, the Beverly Hills grandees Stewart and Lynda Resnick and their company, that Pom has wonderful health effects, especially in the areas of prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction, and cardiovascular performance.
BUSINESS
May 19, 2012 | By Alex Pham, Los Angeles Times
Facebook Inc.'s initial public offering isn't just a flop on Wall Street. It's also not making waves in social gaming land. Facebook, whose popularity among its nearly 1 billion users has been partly fueled by social games published by Zynga Inc., Electronic Arts Inc. and others, may be facing a collapse of its gaming ecosystem, according to a book released this week by P.J. McNealy, a media analyst with Digital World Research. "Early Days: The Social Gaming Market and Facebook's Achilles' Heel" argues that developers are no longer making as many Facebook games because it has become impossible for them to make money.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2012 | By Ricardo Lopez
California’s jobs engine sputtered in April as employers trimmed their payrolls, breaking a streak of eight consecutive months of employment growth. Employers shed 4,200 jobs, according to figures released Friday from the state's Employment Development Department. The unemployment rate dipped last month to 10.9% from 11% in March, but only because discouraged workers  departed the labor force.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2012 | By Andrew Tangel
NEW YORK -- Facebook Inc. is just hours away from transforming itself into one of America’s largest public companies in a splashy stock market debut that has been the talk of Wall Street. The social network is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market at 8 a.m. Pacific time under the ticker symbol FB. It is set to become the second-largest initial public offering in history.
HEALTH
January 12, 2009 | Chris Woolston
Americans spend billions on hair-care products each year, a remarkable investment for a part of the body with no real function. We clean it, nourish it and style it -- and we definitely mourn its loss. Lots of products and procedures promise to restore thinning or disappearing hair. One especially intriguing option is the HairMax LaserComb, a hand-held laser device that supposedly revives hair follicles.
BUSINESS
July 8, 2011 | By Lauren Beale, Los Angeles Times
A diamond-encrusted lining is emerging in Southern California's cloudy real estate market. At least a half-dozen Westside mega-estates have sold for more than $20 million so far this year — creating a deafening buzz in local realty circles. Only a few home sales in other Southland counties have surpassed the $20-million mark. On the horizon is the close of Candy Spelling's larger-than-White-House-sized "Manor," which has reigned supreme from its $150-million listing price perch in Holmby Hills for more than two years and is expected to eclipse last year's record $50-million Bel-Air sale by a wide margin.
FOOD
May 18, 2012 | By David Karp, Special to the Los Angeles Times
- Early cherries are reason enough to head to the farmers market, but be careful. Erratic winter chill, freezes during bloom, hail and late rains have made for a short crop of early cherries from the southern San Joaquin Valley. But there's still plenty of great fruit available at farmers markets for those who take care to select fresh, ripe cherries of the best varieties. In the last decade, the task has become trickier, but potentially more rewarding, with the arrival of new and unfamiliar varieties.
BUSINESS
May 13, 2012 | By Lauren Beale, Los Angeles Times
Singer and actress Julie Andrews has listed the Brentwood house she owned with her late husband, director and screenwriter Blake Edwards , for $2.649 million. Less than a month after coming on the market, the tidy white home with gray shutters is already in escrow. The traditional-style house features a family room and living room with French doors opening to a fanciful garden that appears to be "practically perfect in every way" to borrow a phrase from "Mary Poppins. " The formal dining room has a cathedral ceiling and glass walls.
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