Penny

Two truck drivers have sued one of Southern California's largest trucking companies, alleging they were denied breaks, lunch hours and overtime because they were treated as independent contractors rather than employees of Harbor Express Inc. The lawsuit filed this week is one of several complaints lodged against trucking companies in recent years and is seeking class-action status. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said it could affect as many as 400 truck drivers who worked for the Wilmington-based company since May 2009.

Tenants kept the upper hand in office rent negotiations in Southern California in the first quarter, even though conditions improved slightly for landlords as the economy picked up and some businesses expanded. The most leases were signed in markets such as the Westside and Orange County, where some companies are growing enough to add workers, industry observers said. "I think we're on the slow road to recovery," said Hans Mumper, head of the greater Los Angeles region for real estate brokerage Colliers International.

It would be a mockery of justice and a waste of resources to force criminal defendants to trial without counsel. Not knowing rules of evidence, not realizing they are waiving their rights, unaware of the pitfalls of pleading to lesser charges, lawyerless defendants would be lost in a system that purports to grant equal justice. They would needlessly consume jurors' time as they flounder through trials, then would clog appellate courts while pursuing the justice they were denied in lower courts.

Although Hugo Chavez has died, Venezuelans are likely to still enjoy gasoline for pennies per gallon - if not for even less. The people of Venezuela have long been used to low-priced gas that is heavily subsidized by the state, viewing it as a birthright as a citizen of an oil-rich nation. That is not likely to change as Chavez's chosen successor, vice president Nicolas Maduro, takes the reins before an election to decide the next president, experts say. At the end of January, the price for one gallon of regular gas was four cents, according to research firm Airinc.

Re "Penny Here, and There," editorial, Oct. 22: I agree with your editorial. While cleaning the carpet at my rental, I find pennies enough for a Pepsi. Why am I picking up pennies? I'm a property owner with a Depression mentality. Yet it's my luck to lack a penny and have to break a dollar. I remember when five pennies could buy a burger, another five a Coke. Now a penny can't even buy a Tootsie Roll--a fistful might. Years ago, Congress wanted to do away with the penny.

Are Chipotle and Forever 21 - which have been accused in recent days of fleecing their patrons out of pennies - money-grubbing Scrooges or high-volume companies focused on efficiency? After Chipotle was accused of rounding bills to the nearest 5-cent amount, the Mexican-style chain said the tactic was a time-saving measure used in especially busy stores. Because totals were adjusted both up and down, the company said it wasn't making a profit off the practice. But late last month, a class-action complaint was filed against Chipotle in federal court in California alleging that the chain “routinely overcharged” its customers.

Re "A Penny Exposes Jail's Weak Points," June 28: When Francisco Puemas used a penny to make his escape from jail you could certainly say that he got his money's worth! Donald J. Crowell Huntington Beach

Expensive pennies The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to be wary of so-called penny auction websites, which advertise electronic products such as Apple Inc. iPads at bargain prices. Many people have complained about being charged fees as high as $150 after signing up for what was promoted as a free trial, the bureau said in a recent bulletin. Other customers have alleged that the sites use computer-programmed bots to place fake bids that drive up prices. The customers who have complained to the bureau also said they had been unable to obtain refunds, the bulletin said.

Re "Thought for your penny," editorial, Sept. 23 I agree with The Times' editorial, but it didn't go far enough. The nickel should be eliminated also. After all, in the past we got by without any coin smaller than the half-cent. Inflation has reduced the value of the U.S. dollar by about a factor of 20 since the 19th century, so we should be able to get by now with no coin less than the dime. That way, one digit could be eliminated from all prices, and we wouldn't have to carry bulky nickels of very little value.

The title of “Abraham Lincoln in Two Miles a Penny” refers to the legendary account of the 16th president of the United States walking six miles to return a three-cent overcharge to a customer. Writer-performer Ed Trotta's acclaimed one-man show about the Great Emancipator plies its modest wares to fairly engaging effect. After an aural prologue of historical events ending with a gun shot, Trotta enters from the lobby, looking eerily like Lincoln. His jovial greeting makes it immediately clear that this particular dead president knows the score: “I never thought I'd set foot in a theater again.” It turns out that Lincoln has received a dispensation “from belonging to the ages” to address 21st century audiences, primarily to dispel his “legend,” which “is sticking in my craw.” Opening at the Lincoln Memorial, Trotta's text merges biographical overview and self-assessment with the celebrated wit. Much of the material is familiar  -- self-educated lawyer,  his courtship of Mary Todd, the Cabinet of political rivals, Gettysburg, and so forth.

Why is it a good idea to go to London in February? If you're not a frequent flier, can you still play the mileage game? And when is it a mistake to be focused on the price? Those are some of the questions that will be answered today and Sunday at the L.A. Times Travel Show at a panel titled “More For Your Money: Budget Tips for Savvy Travelers.” As moderator of the panel (and as a very budget-minded traveler), I'm lucky to have my dream team of bottom-line guys:  John DiScala, a.k.a.

PennyMac Financial Services Inc., the 5-year-old mortgage company founded by former Countrywide Financial Corp. President Stanford L. Kurland, plans to go public on the New York Stock Exchange.  PennyMac , which makes, buys, sells and services residential loans, intends to raise up to $287.5 million in a public offering, the Moorpark-based company said in a prospectus filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  ...

"I am 10 years older than I was a year ago. " We believe that's a line Abraham Lincoln said to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the end of "Lincoln. " Or it could be something "Lincoln" lead Daniel Day-Lewis wearily muttered during one of the endless Q&As he's done during a long campaign of an altogether different sort than the one fought for the Union. What can we say? The lines are blurring at this point, though we're still fairly confident that the great Day-Lewis will put his own stamp on history next month, becoming the first actor to win three Oscars for a lead performance.

The title of “Abraham Lincoln in Two Miles a Penny” refers to the legendary account of the 16th president of the United States walking six miles to return a three-cent overcharge to a customer. Writer-performer Ed Trotta's acclaimed one-man show about the Great Emancipator plies its modest wares to fairly engaging effect. After an aural prologue of historical events ending with a gun shot, Trotta enters from the lobby, looking eerily like Lincoln. His jovial greeting makes it immediately clear that this particular dead president knows the score: “I never thought I'd set foot in a theater again.” It turns out that Lincoln has received a dispensation “from belonging to the ages” to address 21st century audiences, primarily to dispel his “legend,” which “is sticking in my craw.” Opening at the Lincoln Memorial, Trotta's text merges biographical overview and self-assessment with the celebrated wit. Much of the material is familiar  -- self-educated lawyer,  his courtship of Mary Todd, the Cabinet of political rivals, Gettysburg, and so forth.

Within three weeks of its launch at Barneys in New York and Los Angeles in October, more than 30 jars of 3LAB's new Super Cream had sold - this despite its $875 price tag. Elsewhere in the beauty market, demand is soaring for a $560 Bee Venom Mask newly introduced to the U.S. from British brand Heaven Skin Care. And Carita's $600 Diamond Cream, the brand's signature product, was reformulated and relaunched this year because of customer demand. In what may be an indicator that consumer confidence is on the rebound, there is a resurgence in the market for high-end creams and serums - priced $125 and up - and, according to retailers, there's no shortage of people to buy them.

For the fourth day in the row, California broke the state's record on gasoline prices, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. The only good news, analysts said, was that the rise continued to lose momentum Tuesday. According to the AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in California reached $4.671. That was an increase of just 0.3 cent overnight. The AAA price averages use-sales receipts collected daily from more than 100,000 retail outlets. "It's not over yet," said fuel price specialist Bob van der Valk about the unusual surge that left gasoline prices 48.9 cents higher than they were a week ago. California had the highest prices for gas in the nation, by far. Second place went to Hawaii, whose average for a gallon of regular was 26.4 cents less.

Accor Hotels, which operate Novotel, Ibis, Pullman and other brands in India , is offering a 15% discount on rooms this summer as well as breakfast for two for just 1 rupee (roughly a penny). The sale is good at 15 hotels, including properties in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The deal: You might recognize the name Accor because the company operates Motel 6 and other properties in the U.S. The Early Breaks offer requires reservations at least three days in advance to receive 15% off the standard room rate and breakfast for two for the equivalent of a penny.

When Curiosity went to Mars, it took a penny along with it. The coin -- a 1909 Lincoln penny -- was a nod to geologists' habit of using a penny in photos of rocks to provide an idea of the object's size. That penny, embedded in the rover, is now coated in the dust of Mars. Rather than provide scale, however, the coin was used on this expedition to help calibrate the Curiosity's camera. "We've just spent a week testing out our 7-foot robotic arm and the camera and spectrometer it holds," Ashwin Vasavada, deputy project scientist for Curiosity, told the Los Angeles Times in an interview Tuesday morning.

When actress-director-producer Penny Marshall was a child, she wanted nothing more than to go outside and play with the neighborhood kids. A tomboy, she envisioned becoming an athlete one day. Her mother had something else in mind. With a dance school in the cellar of her Bronx apartment building, Marjorie Marshall tried to fashion young Penny into a tap dancer. It didn't take. What did stick was a little of the craziness and humor that filled their household, which included big brother, and now filmmaker, Garry Marshall ("Pretty Woman")

Click here to download TV listings for the week of Sept. 23 - 29 in PDF format This week's TV Movies     CBS This Morning Dwight Yoakam. (N) 7 a.m. KCBS Today Justin Kirk; Kimberly Schlapman. (N) 7 a.m. KNBC Good Morning America Julie Bowen; Scott Speedman; J.K. Rowling. (N) 7 a.m. KABC Rachael Ray Kevin Jonas and wife, Danielle. (N) 8 a.m. KCAL Live With Kelly and Michael Ty Burrell; Terry O'Quinn. (N) 9 a.m. KABC The View Julie Bowen; Ann Coulter; Dwight Yoakam performs.