Michael Knight

An ex-convict with a history of passing bad checks pleaded not guilty Thursday in Van Nuys Municipal Court to charges that could return him to state prison for eight years, prosecutors said. Gregg Dohring, 34, of Studio City entered the plea before Judge Michael E. Knight, who set bail at $95,000 and scheduled an Aug. 14 preliminary hearing.

As a young boy in Taiwan, Jerry Yang was forced to study calligraphy - writing Chinese characters with a brush. The practice is thought to mold character as well as to reflect it, but Yang found it a tedious chore. In 1998, when he was turning 30 and had already co-founded Yahoo, he heeded the call to look back to his heritage and bought two Chinese calligraphies at auction. It was the beginning, he has written, of "a journey of discovery, inspiration, and fulfillment. " Today, his collection numbers 250 works, including some by the greatest calligraphers of the Ming and Qing eras, and 40 of them have been selected for "Out of Character: Decoding Chinese Calligraphy," a new exhibition at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (through Jan. 13)

An independent review criticized the controversial ticket program for next year's Summer Olympics, leading to calls Monday for the resignation of Michael Knight, Sydney Olympics minister and president of the organizing board SOCOG. SOCOG was criticized when it was revealed that it kept about 500,000 tickets out of a public pool to offer to corporate clients at up to three times face value. The vast majority of tickets have since been returned for normal sale following public outrage.

A transient couple charged with the kidnaping and murder of a Chatsworth teen-ager and the attempted murder of her friend also injected the surviving girl with cocaine, authorities said Friday. The report of the cocaine injection came as the Los Angeles Country district attorney's office released an amended criminal complaint in which the woman, who was still at large, was charged with murder and seven other felonies.

A woman juror who married a man after voting to convict him of murder, rape and kidnaping has asked an appellate court to overturn the verdict because she was coerced. Gwendolyn Wix, 41, was a juror in the murder trial of Steven Erickson, 34, found guilty on March 16, 1987, in the February, 1984, abduction and shooting death of Victoria Winchester, 26. Erickson could have received the death penalty but instead was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A story in an English newspaper that an injured Nigel Mansell might be considering skipping the Indianapolis 500 and returning to Formula One racing this season was met with vigorous denials by members of Mansell's Newman-Haas team Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "It's all made-up hogwash," said Michael Knight, Newman-Haas public relations spokesman. The story, by Alan Henry, one of the most respected European racing writers, appeared in the Manchester Guardian.

How's this for a nightmare? The world's best jump into Sydney Harbor for the swimming leg of the Olympic triathlon. Then--cue that thumping music from the movie "Jaws"--a shark, gliding below in the salty water, shoots straight up like a missile and takes a big bite out of some world-class flesh. Oh, the horror! Michael Knight laughs. Loudly.

Alec Baldwin was in Van Nuys Municipal Court on Wednesday, ready to begin his battery trial for allegedly socking a photographer in the face. The media horde was there, looking for live shots of the sleekly groomed Baldwin--star of "The Hunt for Red October" and "The Marrying Man" and husband of movie star Kim Basinger--battling for his good name and freedom. Baldwin faces up to six months in jail if convicted on the misdemeanor charge. The only thing missing was the jury.

A 69-year-old Reseda man, whose back-yard pool made him popular with neighborhood children, was sentenced Wednesday to a year in County Jail for molesting three girls, ages 12 and 13. William (Bud) Brown, who was convicted in December of sexual battery and child molestation, also must serve six months of home detention upon his release and three years probation, Deputy City Atty. George Schell said. Van Nuys Municipal Judge Michael E.