Pools

Between the brouhaha of the winter holidays and the end of the school year is that coveted halfway point known as spring break. To gear up for that last lap of the academic year, grab the kids and significant others and go recharge at some posh pools. Many Southern California hotels have cerulean gems that allow you to escape from it all without traveling too far or breaking the bank. Seeking pools outside Los Angeles? We have some destinations that may surprise you, but first, perch-worthy pools close to home.

Rihanna tour guitarist Nuno Bettencourt has bought a home in the Hollywood Hills for $2.15 million. The contemporary features a rooftop swimming pool, spa and cabana with 360-degree views that take in the Hollywood sign. There are high ceilings, a bar, a sauna, four bedrooms, five bathrooms and 5,255 square feet of living space. Grandest pool around? Malibu has it The Portuguese guitarist singer-songwriter and producer, 46, gained notice with the hard rock band Extreme, which had the early '90s hits “More Than Words” and “Hole Hearted.” He went on to found numerous bands and has a line of guitars.

A four-inch-thick concrete and steel ceiling collapsed "like a lid" onto three indoor public swimming pools, killing at least 12 people and trapping others, police said today. Rescue workers drained some water from the pools, then used jackhammers and their bare hands to dig a hole through the slab, enabling divers to enter the pool and search for survivors and bodies. Workers at the scene said children and members of a local swim club had been among those trapped.

Here are three tweets I would have sent from my recent stay at Santa Barbara's just-reopened El Encanto hotel if I hadn't been busy behaving like royalty and pretending the Internet didn't exist: - Arriving Encanto. Tab for a 375-sf room w/fireplace and regal bathroom: $575 for 1 night, $35 for pkng, plus tax. Hey, what's with extra stairs? - Sunset on terrace. Ordering abalone. Below: lush grounds, distant sea, SB's red roofs. We're 200 ft above normal life. - Waiting for dinner.

The greater Palms Springs area is a great destination for pool-centric vacations. It's Part 3 in our series on hotels that are opening up pools with special events for non-hotel guests. The Swim Club at the Ace Hotel features an outdoor pool area complete with poolside bar and hammocks. It hosts poolside parties on Saturdays beginning at noon with live music, DJs and other special guests. Daily pool passes for non-hotel guests are $20, or you can purchase a year-round Swim Club membership for $240, both of which will grant you access to poolside events.

Las Vegas is famous for its vibrant casinos, extravagant entertainment and fine dining. But it is also becoming known for something else: swimming pools. Sure, the party pool scene is hot, and there's nothing wrong with a private cabana stocked with Jaegermeister and a poolside dance party. But for some, it's less about the scene and more about the scenery. And after a night out, there's no better way to recover than luxuriating in the sun next to a crystalline pool. Whether it's a lush tropical oasis or a sleek modern infinity pool overlooking the Strip, the city is swimming in luxurious pools.

Las Vegas is heating up -- weather-wise. Temps next week are expected to be in the 90s. Visitors can take the plunge at pools other than the one at their hotel. In fact, even the swanky Mandarin Oriental is allowing those who aren't registered there to enjoy its exclusive pool and first-class amenities (and more on that in a minute). There's generally (but not always) a charge for non-guests, and the fees can change if, for example, a pool is hosting a special event. Some pools welcome families; others are for adults only.

In Los Angeles, the ocean is a leitmotif emblazoned on postcards, and pools of blue water dot backyards across the hills and valleys. Yet despite the stereotypes, not everyone here is a surfer or a lifeguard. In fact, not everyone in Los Angeles knows how to swim. For some, that's due to lack of access. Others fear the water. Some think it's too hard to learn, or unnecessary. As summer arrives, municipal pools open and beckon all to frolic, offering another chance for reluctant kids and fearful adults alike to take the plunge and see what they've been missing.

A coalition of disability rights groups has called for a boycott of just more than 100 hotels across the country to protest the resistance by industry leaders to install equipment to make hotel pools accessible to handicapped guests. The Americans With Disabilities Act calls on owners of public pools, such as hotels and recreation centers, to install permanent lifts or ramps to give easier access to disabled guests. The equipment costs between $2,500 and $6,500 per pool. But the American Hotel & Lodging Assn.

If you're hoping to see the newly opened National September 11 Memorial anytime soon, be patient. Thousands of people have already made reservations in the coming weeks to view the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan that officially opened Sunday during an emotional ceremony. Two reflecting pools -- one in each footprint of the original towers -- two waterfalls, more than 400 trees and of course the names of the nearly 3,000 who perished in the 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks are etched in bronze panels surrounding the pools.  Visiting the memorial is free but advance tickets for a specific time and date are required.

SACRAMENTO - California would allow noncitizens to serve on juries under a proposal being considered by state lawmakers, potentially expanding a fundamental obligation of American life to millions more people. The measure, which would apply only to legal residents, would make California the only state to open the jury box to noncitizens who meet all other requirements of service, according to legal experts. The proposal raises the question of what it means to be judged by peers in a state where more than one in seven residents is not a citizen.

Las Vegas is heating up -- weather-wise. Temps next week are expected to be in the 90s. Visitors can take the plunge at pools other than the one at their hotel. In fact, even the swanky Mandarin Oriental is allowing those who aren't registered there to enjoy its exclusive pool and first-class amenities (and more on that in a minute). There's generally (but not always) a charge for non-guests, and the fees can change if, for example, a pool is hosting a special event. Some pools welcome families; others are for adults only.

When I read the H&M Loves Music pool party invite, I didn't take the "pool party" part literally. H&M, an official Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival sponsor for the fourth consecutive year, threw its first party Saturday. I imagined people dressed in long, sheer maxi dresses and high heels sipping cocktails next to a pool sitting in lounge chairs under umbrellas. When I arrived at the Merv Griffin estate in La Quinta where the party was held, I was in for a surprise. After a short walk up some stairs to the back of the estate, I was greeted by the sound of splashing.

The majestic landscape of Yosemite National Park - carved out of granite and shaped by powerful natural forces over the eons - is timeless and untouchable. Other attractions in the park … not so much. Some of Yosemite's much-loved amenities, including swimming pools, bike, horse and raft rentals, and an ice skating rink, would be jettisoned under a plan to restore the Merced River corridor to a more natural state. The Merced Wild and Scenic River Plan would reconfigure much of the Yosemite Valley by removing or relocating familiar concessions.

"Gimme the Loot" shouldn't be as appealing and exuberant as it is, it really shouldn't. It's set in the Bronx, the grittiest of New York City boroughs. Its larcenous teenage protagonists are introduced stealing spray paint from a hardware store; the world they live in is rife with drug dealing, robbery and all manner of hustles and petty scams. This could be the set-up for a sequel to "The Wire," but in writer-director Adam Leon's hands it is anything but. PHOTOS: Movies Sneaks 2013 In a feature debut that succeeded at Cannes after taking the best narrative prize at last year's SXSW festival, Leon, who himself won Film Independent's Someone to Watch award, has made a small-scale, warm-hearted film that is both upbeat and intimate.

A 72-year-old gardener was found dead in the backyard pool of a Sunland home, and police believe it was a drowning. The renter of the single-family home in the 10900 block of Meseta Drive near Orcas Avenue came home around 6 p.m. Tuesday and saw his gardener's truck parked outside. Around 9 p.m., when he left for the store, he noticed the truck was was still there, but there was no sign of the gardener. He asked neighbors who also use the gardener, and they indicated they had not seen him. Authorities say the gardener's family was called, and his son and daughter rushed over to the house and started searching for him along with neighbors.

Re "1 Boy Drowns, Another Is Injured in Pool Accidents," June 27: Last month, two Orange County children drowned in family swimming pools. These children, 2 and 3, were able to access the swimming pools and fall in without being seen or heard by their caretakers. Drowning is the leading cause of death for Orange County children between 1 and 5. We can avoid these recurrent family and community tragedies by mandating four-sided fencing that isolates the pool or spa from the rest of the property.

As many as 20 states probably will not operate new insurance programs for Americans who have been denied health coverage, forcing the federal government to step in to implement one of the key elements of the healthcare overhaul legislation, according to administration officials. Democrats earmarked $5 billion to create state-based high-risk pools as a way to help sick, uninsured Americans between now and 2014, when new insurance regulations will prohibit insurers from denying coverage to people because of preexisting medical conditions.

Between the brouhaha of the winter holidays and the end of the school year is that coveted halfway point known as spring break. To gear up for that last lap of the academic year, grab the kids and significant others and go recharge at some posh pools. Many Southern California hotels have cerulean gems that allow you to escape from it all without traveling too far or breaking the bank. Seeking pools outside Los Angeles? We have some destinations that may surprise you, but first, perch-worthy pools close to home.

I'd like to offer my thanks to House Budget Committee Chairman Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) for doing so much to validate my list of the five biggest lies about "entitlement" programs published on Sunday. Ryan's proposed federal budget , released Tuesday, uses four of them. As a dividend, he exploits a few that I didn't mention. The ones from my list are: He uses the thoroughly discredited "infinite horizon" projection to claim that Social Security and Medicare are "tens of trillions" of dollars in the hole; he suggests that retirees aren't paying their fair share for their benefits; he suggests that the programs are hammered by benefits going to the wealthy; and he treats Medicare and Social Security as though they're similar programs with similar issues.