Measures

The consumer products giant said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it will ask shareholders to approve a variety of defensive provisions at the company's annual meeting Oct. 8. Procter & Gamble said it "has no reason to believe that any party has plans of any kind to seek control of the company."

The supporters of the recall [of three Orange school trustees] claimed a win regarding the events surrounding Measure A and B in court on Monday. Here is what really happened. Recall supporters sued to remove the measures from the ballot. Measure A is about the Orange Unified School District's refusal to increase taxes to fund higher teacher salaries. Measure B is about the district's emphasis on back-to-basics education. The district proposed rewording the measures to fix the recall supporters' claims of bias.

Regarding "Rethinking criteria for doctors' pay" (March 15): As physicians work to improve the quality of healthcare for patients, pay for performance is one of the newest trends sweeping the healthcare industry. Doctors are eager to learn and improve and want to ensure that any insurer's evaluation is truly in the patients' best interest. Through the American Medical Assn.-convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement, more than 170 physician performance measures have been developed for asthma, heart failure and emergency care, just to name a few. Many of the measures have been endorsed by an independent quality organization, and we encourage their widespread use by physicians and health plans, though it is crucial that the assessment accurately reflect the quality of care provided.

What will a yes vote on Measures H and I (Segerstrom's Home Ranch project) mean to Costa Mesa? The multistory buildings will allow for over 75 acres of the 100-acre site to remain open space. More than 2,000 trees will be planted on the first phase alone in and around the gardens and public recreation areas. There will be better traffic flow due to significant street and freeway projects. A badly needed fire station and police sub-station will be built north of the freeway and there are many more benefits from the project for our community.

I keep to myself such measures as I care for, daily the rocks accumulate position. There is nothing but what thinking makes it less tangible. The mind, fast as it goes, loses pace, puts in place of it like rocks simple markers, for a way only to hopefully come back to where it cannot. All forgets. My mind sinks. I hold in both hands such weight it is my only description. From "Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology," edited by Paul Hoover (Norton: 744 pp., $19.95)

I, and I trust, many citizens like myself, am somewhat alarmed at the passage of the so-called "anti-cruising measures" by the City of Los Angeles. I understand that the purpose of such an ordinance is to prevent traffic and crime problems in the Hollywood Boulevard/Sunset Strip areas. Are there any provisions to prevent widespread abuse of this ordinance? I doubt it. Is a proposal waiting quietly in the wings of our Legislature that would prevent ordinary citizens from leaving their neighborhoods without a pass from the local government?

Californians have within their hands and their heads the power to lift their state out of the crisis that has gripped it for a generation. Voters are used to setting new courses here. They have done it in minor revolts and in electoral revolutions, but our current gridlock calls for more than just passing an initiative or recalling a governor. The state's political structure was established by and for earlier Californians, with different needs and different aspirations. It's time to redesign state government to suit the needs of the people who live here now. It's time for a constitutional convention.

SACRAMENTO - On its final day in session this year, California's Legislature on Friday sent Gov. Jerry Brown a package of cost-cutting changes to the state's pension systems that would require workers to pay more toward their benefits, raise the retirement age for new employees and plug loopholes that inflate monthly payments. Lawmakers also passed bills that would provide a $55-million bailout for the Inglewood school district, give college students a break on textbook costs, protect tenants' cats from declawing requirements and waive environmental rules for an overhaul of the emergency communication system serving Los Angeles County.

A package of proposals to increase accountability and oversight of Los Angeles County's troubled Probation Department failed to move forward Tuesday because Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas declined to vote on it. In response to scathing reports on the department's broken internal affairs unit and the abuse of minors, the package would have authorized the drafting of policies that would give Probation Chief Donald H. Blevins the ability to hire...