CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
February 13, 2008 | David Zahniser, Times Staff Writer
Former construction worker John Dutchover found his own tiny piece of Brentwood last year, staking out a space on San Vicente Boulevard for the recreational vehicle that -- with a bed, refrigerator and microwave -- also serves as his home. The Gulf War veteran said he picked the spot largely because it was close to the leafy Veterans Affairs campus, where he receives medical treatment.
TRAVEL
March 7, 2010
Baggage complaints hit the right note Dave Carroll, the Canadian musician who won worldwide acclaim with his cutting, catchy song about baggage mishandling at United Airlines, last week released the third in his music video trilogy of rants. "United Breaks Guitars: Song 3: United We Stand…" is a bluegrass arrangement that includes moonshine-swilling hillbillies, fake beards, dorky square-dancing, extended mockery of United customer service, and a wicked solo by dobro master Jerry Douglas.
BUSINESS
April 16, 2010 | Bloomberg News
Builders broke ground on more homes in March than anticipated and took out permits at the fastest pace in more than a year, a sign of growing confidence that sales will stabilize. Housing starts climbed to an annual rate of 626,000 last month, up 1.6 percent from February's revised 616,000 pace, which was higher than initially estimated, Commerce Department figures showed Friday. Building permits, a sign of future construction, climbed to the highest level since October 2008. Builders took advantage of milder weather following the February blizzards as they rushed to have properties available for buyers seeking to qualify for a government tax credit that expires at the end of June.
BUSINESS
July 20, 2010 | Reuters
U.S. housing starts hit their lowest level in eight months in June, further evidence the economy lost momentum in the second quarter, but a rise in permits offered hope that homebuilding was poised to pick up. The Commerce Department said Tuesday housing starts dropped 5.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 549,000 units, the lowest since October. It was the second straight month of declines in groundbreaking activity and was well below market expectations for a 580,000-unit rate.
NATIONAL
March 25, 2009 | Associated Press
The Environmental Protection Agency put hundreds of mountaintop coal-mining permits on hold Tuesday to evaluate the projects' impact on streams and wetlands. The decision by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson targets a controversial practice that allows coal mining companies to dump waste from mountaintop mining into streams and wetlands. Between 150 and 200 applications for new or expanded surface coal mines, many of them mountaintop removal operations, are pending before the federal government.
NEWS
May 23, 2012 | By Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times Daily Travel & Deal blogger
The cables that allow hikers to ascend Yosemite National Park's iconic Half Dome will open for the season Friday. But all the permits required to use them from May through mid-October have been given out by lottery already, right? Not quite. The National Park Service on Tuesday announced a new daily lottery that will issue 50 hiking permits a day for the popular and strenuous 17 miles to the top and back. The lottery will be held two days before a desired hiking date.