New Year S Day

The Armchair Parade: KTLA Channel 5 will present commercial-free, live Tournament of Roses Parade coverage at 8 a.m., with replays at 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. KTLA's parade countdown show will begin at 6:30 a.m. KMEX Channel 34 will present live, commercial- free parade coverage in Spanish at 8 a.m., with a pre-parade show beginning at 7 a.m. KABC Channel 7 will present live coverage of the parade reports beginning at 5:30 a.m.

Amare Stoudemire, the New York Knicks' All-Star power forward, reportedly will make his season debut during a New Year's Day game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday evening. Stoudemire began practicing in mid-December following preseason surgery on his left knee, which he injured in October. He originally targeted Christmas Day for a return but had to tone down those expectations. The Knicks, who have the fifth-best record in the NBA at 21-9, could be without All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony, who hyperextended a knee last week and has missed two games.

About 500 people celebrated their hope for the Cambodian new year on Saturday with a daylong festival of prayers, food and dancing at The Cambodian Family center here. "It is important to get together," said Kieng Lim of Garden Grove, who brought her 3-year-old nephew to celebrate the Year of the Dog. "We ask for luck, spirit and longevity for the New Year."

Facebook was able to avoid what could have been an embarrassing privacy ordeal with a messaging feature it built for New Year's Day. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based social network recently introduced a new feature for its desktop site that allows users to pre-write messages for their friends that get sent out as soon as 2013 arrives at the stroke of midnight. Nice concept, but the feature had a fatal flaw: The messages weren't private. The top 10 embarrassing tech flops of 2012 British blogger Jack Jenkins discovered and reported the problem with the "New Year's Midnight Delivery" feature on Sunday.

6 Days to Go: 12/26 * Volunteers begin "hell week," gluing tons of dry vegetation, mostly seeds, onto floats at assembly sites in Pasadena and Azusa. * Pasadena city employees at the crack of dawn begin removing street-light poles that would block spectator's views. 5 Days to Go: 12/27 * Truckloads of fresh flowers begin arriving at float assembly sites, where volunteers begin counting and cutting the blossoms.

Authorities released the identity Thursday of a man being sought in the hit-and-run death of a mother and one of her 4-year-old twin sons. Roberto Carlos Paz, 43, is suspected of running a red light and broadsiding a minivan at Albertoni and Main streets about 9 p.m. on New Year's Day. Known to friends as "Carlos," the suspect spends his time in Long Beach and South Los Angeles, according to the Sheriff's Department. Midi Mikasa, 34, of Carson died at the scene, and her son Nathan died soon after.

Look to the sky: The U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber Spirit will participate in its first parade with a flyover to begin the 108th Rose Parade. Grand marshals: This year's co-grand marshals are Olympic gold medalists Carl Lewis and Shannon Miller. In keeping with the parade theme of "Life's Shining Moments," Lewis and Miller have had their respective shining moments in track and field and women's gymnastics in front of an international audience.

WHERE TO PARK WHEN: Begins at 8 a.m. on South Orange Grove Avenue and runs about two hours. The Rose Bowl game begins at 2 p.m. PARKING: Spectators wishing to park within a reasonable walking distance should arrive by about 6:30 a.m., police say. It is helpful to know in advance where you plan to sit. Overnight parking is permitted beginning at noon on Sunday. However, all "No Parking" areas and red curb zones remain off limits.

Considering how many of his friends are unemployed, electrician Javier Ramirez felt like he'd hit the jackpot when his company scored a contract for government buildings here in Spain's sprawling capital. He gets paid by the hour, and rewiring 250-year-old marble halls is a formidable job that should feed his family for years. The problem is, Ramirez worked only about half of last month, and the time off wasn't his choice. It was courtesy of Spain's slate of religious and municipal holidays — a generous 14 per year, 40% more than in the United States — and a beloved little tradition called the puente , or "bridge.

"Happy New Year," someone said. A hollow greeting, but its impact ran deep. It was Jan. 1, 1943. I was in an Arizona internment camp, my parents and siblings in similar detention in Wyoming. We had been separated in the confusion of the mass evacuation of people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast during World War II. For seven months, I had been trying to join my family, but in vain.

Considering how many of his friends are unemployed, electrician Javier Ramirez felt like he'd hit the jackpot when his company scored a contract for government buildings here in Spain's sprawling capital. He gets paid by the hour, and rewiring 250-year-old marble halls is a formidable job that should feed his family for years. The problem is, Ramirez worked only about half of last month, and the time off wasn't his choice. It was courtesy of Spain's slate of religious and municipal holidays — a generous 14 per year, 40% more than in the United States — and a beloved little tradition called the puente , or "bridge.

The end of the Aughts brings a clean slate, countless resolutions and the opportunity to work off that layer of excess marshmallow fluff and sugar cookies. Whether you've made the promise to live macrobiotically for the next year or are just looking to clean up your act after all of the holiday bingeing, these detox dining options will get you and your body off to a fresh start in the new year. RH at the Andaz West Hollywood (Brunch served 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. New Year's Day)

Stories about the impossibly gorgeous floats that fill Pasadena on New Year's Day are as ubiquitous this time of year as holiday gift cards. But a half-hour documentary airing at 3 p.m. Sunday on KTLA is hard to resist. The title says it all: "The Making of the World's Longest Rose Parade Float Featuring Tillman, the World's Fastest Skateboarding Bulldog." If there had been more room on the DVD screener, the producers should have added "Only This Time He Snowboards." Yes, it's true.

Dads aren't getting as many collect calls on their special day. A decade ago, Father's Day saw the highest volume of collect calls in the U.S., according to AT&T Inc. But last year, New Year's Day and Thanksgiving saw a surge in calls to beat that record, while more collect calls were made on Mother's Day than Father's Day for the third year in a row. The volume of collect calling has steadily declined, AT&T said, probably because of increased reliance...

Two bar patrons who fatally stabbed a bouncer and injured another customer during a New Year's Eve altercation in Aliso Viejo two years ago were sentenced Friday to decades -- and possibly life -- in prison. Lorne Paul Kelley, 28, of Big Bear faces 71 years to life in prison. Ricky Lee Nelson, 29, of Hesperia was sentenced to 32 years to life in prison. The men were drinking with friends at Time Out Tavern early New Year's Day 2007 when Nelson, an Army veteran, made disparaging comments about Marines.

I'd never taken a long walk on New Year's Day. Never been bargain hunting on New Year's Day, never been to a beach on New Year's Day. I've never been to church, never been to a restaurant, never been to a friend's house. Never, not once in 39 years of single life, did I ever have a date on New Year's Day. Never, not once in 11 years of married life, have I ever taken my wife to dinner on New Year's Day. One thing and only one thing has mattered for every single New Year's Day of my entire life: bowl games.

A man suspected of going on a New Year's Day shooting spree that left one person dead and two wounded was in serious condition after shooting himself in the head, authorities said Sunday. The suspect, Robert Wheeler, 25, of Canyon Country called the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department about 11 p.m. Saturday from a phone booth on Pico Canyon Road in Stevenson Ranch and said he had earlier killed store clerk, Christopher Simons, 25, of Saugus.

Today is New Year's Eve and Saturday is New Year's Day. The following services will be affected: * MAIL: All post offices are open and mail will be delivered today. On Saturday, all post offices are closed; no mail delivery. * BANKS: Most banks and savings and loans are open today; most will be closed Saturday. * COURTS: Today and Saturday, all federal, state and county courts will be closed. * SCHOOLS: Most public schools are closed until Monday.