Peter Lee

Rick Call of Marina del Rey chanced upon a newspaper ad promoting "a rare opportunity to be in the powerful presence of a swami (one who is considered to be liberated from material desires)." Well, more or less liberated. Price of admission to hear the swami speak: $35 for students, $65 for others. But who's counting? The remodeling of First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica took a bit longer than expected, reported photographer Loran Smith of Pacific Palisades (see photo).

Peter Lee of Magnolia won both of his matches in the state all-star badminton championships Sunday in San Diego's Balboa Park. Lee defeated Simon Han of Fremont Washington, 17-18, 15-10, 18-16, and Minh Nog of San Jose Independence, 15-3, 15-10. The North squad won, 10-9. The boys' doubles team of The Mai (Katella) and Vuthy Sem (Century) won, 15-0, 15-11, and 15-12, 15-11.

A Los Angeles consumer advocate Tuesday was named head of the Pacific Business Group on Health, a San Francisco nonprofit coalition that negotiates insurance plans for 400,000 workers at 30 major California companies. Peter Lee, who has been executive director of the Center for Health Care Rights in Los Angeles for the last five years, will become chief executive of the Pacific Business Group on Health on June 1, the coalition said.

Rick Call of Marina del Rey chanced upon a newspaper ad promoting "a rare opportunity to be in the powerful presence of a swami (one who is considered to be liberated from material desires)." Well, more or less liberated. Price of admission to hear the swami speak: $35 for students, $65 for others. But who's counting? The remodeling of First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica took a bit longer than expected, reported photographer Loran Smith of Pacific Palisades (see photo).

A Los Angeles consumer advocate Tuesday was named head of the Pacific Business Group on Health, a San Francisco nonprofit coalition that negotiates insurance plans for 400,000 workers at 30 major California companies. Peter Lee, who has been executive director of the Center for Health Care Rights in Los Angeles for the last five years, will become chief executive of the Pacific Business Group on Health on June 1, the coalition said.

Consumers are getting their first glimpse at what health insurance will look like in California as the state prepares to implement the federal healthcare law. On Wednesday, state officials will spell out the details on policies available next year to people buying their own coverage. In January 2014, most Americans will be required to have health insurance or face a penalty. Federal law established four broad plans of coverage - Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze - whose benefits vary based on the level of out-of-pocket expenses that consumers are required to pay. A Platinum plan, the most expensive, would require policyholders to pay about 10% of the cost of care, while the Bronze plan, the least expensive, pegs the patient share at 40%. Document: Details of California's healthcare plans Now for the first time, California is laying out the specific co-pays and deductibles that many policyholders will face when going to see a doctor, get a lab test or visit an emergency room.

California's health insurance exchange said more than 30 plans are expected to vie with one another for spots in the state-run marketplace opening next fall. State officials, and those in other states, are eager to flex their purchasing power under the federal healthcare law by selecting only certain individual and small-business health plans for 19 different regions across California. The exchange, branded Tuesday as Covered California, will negotiate with insurers for the best rates and will assist consumers and small businesses in choosing a plan by separating them into five categories based on cost and level of benefits.

Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange, announced $37 million in grants Tuesday to begin the massive task of educating millions of Californians about the new healthcare law. The grants will go to 48 organizations, including universities, nonprofit groups, health foundations and unions. They will help state officials explain the new benefits, show people how to access insurance, and encourage small businesses to enroll. Covered California's executive director, Peter Lee, said Tuesday that getting the word out will require collaboration and partnership across the state.

When Garth Webb was sent to Napa State Hospital, his parents were relieved. The bellboy and amateur composer from Sebastopol had been in the throes of bipolar disorder when he was charged with threatening the lives of co-workers. His family encouraged him to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, thinking that in a mental hospital he would get the treatment he needed. Instead, Webb and his parents say, he was repeatedly brutalized. His main tormentor, a patient in the room next door, assaulted him several times, wrapping him in a headlock and sexually abusing him. Soon after, the same man strangled a psychiatric worker on the hospital grounds.

Peter Lee of Magnolia won both of his matches in the state all-star badminton championships Sunday in San Diego's Balboa Park. Lee defeated Simon Han of Fremont Washington, 17-18, 15-10, 18-16, and Minh Nog of San Jose Independence, 15-3, 15-10. The North squad won, 10-9. The boys' doubles team of The Mai (Katella) and Vuthy Sem (Century) won, 15-0, 15-11, and 15-12, 15-11.

A Manhattan Beach scientist convicted of passing classified information that may have aided China's nuclear weapons program was sentenced Thursday to 12 months in a halfway house and three years' probation. Peter H. Lee, 58, was also ordered to pay $20,000 in fines and perform 3,000 hours of community service. U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter gave Lee five years in prison--half the maximum--but suspended that sentence in lieu of a year confined to a halfway house.

Derrick Bean filed his income taxes at an H&R Block office in Los Angeles this month, and the 26-year-old left with something unexpected: a price quote on federally subsidized health insurance. Using the information from his 2012 return, a tax advisor told the actor and waiter that he would qualify for significant government help and pay only about $65 a month in premiums under the federal healthcare law. If he skips coverage, H&R Block warned him, he faces a $95 tax penalty next year and $356 the following year.