Power Surge

Nearly 200 South Los Angeles residents whose appliances were ruined in December when a bullet struck a main power line and triggered a surge will not be compensated by the Department of Water and Power, a City Council committee decided Tuesday. Deputy City Atty. Thomas Hokinson said the city had rejected claims by 190 residents because the random act of vandalism was not the DWP's fault. Some residents have since filed a class-action suit against the city.

Trevor Lewis, the mellowest of the low-key Kings, is hardly given to outsized statements or outlandish proclamations. You can understand why he was out of sorts after his game-winning goal in the Kings' 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks, a blow that completed a dizzying comeback. The Kings scored two late power-play goals within 22 seconds to steal Game 2 on Thursday night at Staples Center and take a 2-0 series lead. "I think I almost passed out in the celebration," Lewis said.

Howie Kendrick isn't sure why he even hits home runs, so asking the Angels second baseman to explain why they've come in such bunches this season can be a fruitless exercise. "You probably know the answer to that question better than me," Kendrick told a reporter. "My home runs, for sure, are accidents. " To the Angels, they are flukes of fortune. Through Thursday night, Kendrick hit seven homers in 56 at-bats in 14 games for a career-high 15 for the season. His previous high was 10. "I'm not trying to hit home runs," says Kendrick, who has always been more of a line-drive, gap-to-gap hitter.

The Dodgers have gotten more offense out of their pitchers than their third basemen. That makes any news about Chase Headley pertinent to the Dodgers. The new ownership group of the San Diego Padres had been practically invisible all season, until Executive Chairman Ron Fowler popped up Wednesday to tell U-T San Diego the team soon would offer Headley a contract that would make him the richest player in franchise history. "Indentured servitude went out a long time ago, so we can't force him to stay here," Fowler said.

Andre Dawson, George Bell and Wade Boggs are among 28 players who have already surpassed or tied their career high in home runs this season. The list, compiled through Saturday, includes players with at least 300 at-bats in a season and have played more than one season. Home runs are up more than 20% over last season's record rate, with sluggers and formerly light hitters taking part. Boggs and Howard Johnson are among those showing big increases.

Trevor Lewis, the mellowest of the low-key Kings, is hardly given to outsized statements or outlandish proclamations. You can understand why he was out of sorts after his game-winning goal in the Kings' 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks, a blow that completed a dizzying comeback. The Kings scored two late power-play goals within 22 seconds to steal Game 2 on Thursday night at Staples Center and take a 2-0 series lead. "I think I almost passed out in the celebration," Lewis said.

Shane Andrews is on quite the wild ride, and he's going to enjoy it as long as he can. Andrews homered twice Wednesday, including his second three-run homer in as many at-bats, as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Atlanta Braves, 11-4, at Chicago. The homers gave Andrews five for the season and 12 runs batted in, putting him--for a few hours, at least--among the National League leaders. "I'm feeling good at the plate. I just want to keep it rolling," he said. "It's awful early, though."

As many as 210 Anaheim residents were evacuated from their homes Sunday night after a power surge caused small fires in their neighborhood. No one was hurt, but the residents of 39 homes in a three-block area near Elder Street and State College Boulevard were asked to leave their homes, said Tim Butler, Anaheim fire battalion chief. Three hours after the problem was reported, the residents remained on the streets in front of their homes, waiting to see if they could reenter, Butler said.

Natalie Williams scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Portland Power defeated the Seattle Reign, 65-45, Thursday night in the teams' season-opening game of the American Basketball League's second season at Portland, Ore. Portland led, 22-20, at halftime, but the Power went on an 11-4 run in the second half as Williams scored six of her total.

An electricity surge that sparked small fires, caused appliances to go haywire and temporarily displaced hundreds of residents was caused when a line to overhead transformers snapped, fire authorities said Monday. "I can't remember a line coming down like that, just snapping off," said fire Capt. Earl Stokes, a 30-year veteran of the department. "These lines are super strong, meant to stay up there for a decade."

Beyonce shut it down during the Super Bowl halftime show  - literally. Only a few minutes after the pop superstar's electrifying performance, which included a Destiny's Child reunion, dazzling visual effects and light displays, and a medley of solo hits such as “Single Ladies” and “Crazy in Love,” about half of the lights at the 73,000-seat Superdome suddenly went out. New Orleans is nothing if not a city used to running on generators, and...

NEW ORLEANS - The Baltimore Ravens were almost done in Sunday by a reign delay. A power outage at the Superdome halted Super Bowl XLVII for 34 minutes, casting the stadium into a twilight-like darkness and allowing the reeling San Francisco 49ers to regroup with almost a full half remaining. Despite an impressive power surge by the 49ers, however, the Ravens were able to hang on for a 34-31 victory, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy for the second time in their history. "It's never pretty, it's never perfect, but it's us," said Baltimore Coach John Harbaugh, whose team had lost four of its last five regular-season games before going on a marvelous run that included knocking off Indianapolis, Denver and New England to reach the biggest stage.

CHICAGO - There was another bullpen glitch Saturday night, one that nearly led to another gut-wrenching loss, but what happened on the mound before and after LaTroy Hawkins' seventh-inning meltdown was enough for the Angels to eke out a 6-5, 10-inning victory over the Chicago White Sox inU.S. Cellular Field. Alberto Callaspo hit a two-out double against Matt Thornton in the 10th inning, and Howie Kendrick, who grounded into rally-killing double plays in key spots Friday and Saturday night, stroked a single to right field for the winning hit, as the Angels ended a losing streak at three games.

The Angels on Saturday reached agreement with second baseman Howie Kendrick on a four-year deal pending a physical, according to a person who is familiar with negotiations but could not speak publicly about them. With the new contract, which is thought to be worth $33.5 million, the Angels will avoid Kendrick's final year of arbitration and lock him up through his first three years of free agency. General Manager Jerry Dipoto said last week that he had begun preliminary discussions with the agents for Kendrick and shortstop Erick Aybar about multiyear deals, and those negotiations obviously moved quickly with Larry Reynolds, Kendrick's agent.

A judge last week ruled in favor of a man who filed a claim against Burbank for a second incident in which a squirrel chewed on aluminum wiring, causing a power surge that damaged electrical equipment. After a hearing Wednesday at the Glendale courthouse, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Laura Matz granted Jon Buxer his entire claim: $1,745, plus $50 for additional costs incurred. On April 14, 2010, a squirrel chomped through an electrical grounding wire that runs from a power pole to the house, which triggered a power surge that damaged electrical equipment in the Lincoln Street house owned by Buxer.

Howie Kendrick isn't sure why he even hits home runs, so asking the Angels second baseman to explain why they've come in such bunches this season can be a fruitless exercise. "You probably know the answer to that question better than me," Kendrick told a reporter. "My home runs, for sure, are accidents. " To the Angels, they are flukes of fortune. Through Thursday night, Kendrick hit seven homers in 56 at-bats in 14 games for a career-high 15 for the season. His previous high was 10. "I'm not trying to hit home runs," says Kendrick, who has always been more of a line-drive, gap-to-gap hitter.

The search for what touched off the blast that downed TWA Flight 800 last year is focusing increasingly on the electrical wiring for sensors that measured how much fuel was in the center tank. National Transportation Safety Board investigators have conceded they may never pinpoint the precise ignition source. But they said Wednesday that a power surge in one of those wires that had somehow been stripped of its protective insulation might have caused a spark that triggered the explosion.

Torii Hunter turned the high school graduation of his son, Cameron , in Little Rock, Ark., on Tuesday into a surprise party. "I didn't tell him I was coming," said the Angels center fielder, who missed Tuesday night's 8-3 victory over the Blue Jays. "He was shocked. When he saw me, he almost burst into tears. It was nice to see him walk across the stage [and get his diploma]." Hunter, who received permission from the Angels to attend the ceremony, returned Wednesday morning and was back in the cleanup spot for Wednesday's game against Toronto.