Problem

When Keith Yaskin and his wife, Loren, rushed their 2-year-old son to the hospital with a dangerous infection in his neck, they weren't thinking about how much his care would cost. After his three-day inpatient stay with nonstop intravenous antibiotics, they were hit with $8,900 in charges. But the toughest lesson for the Scottsdale, Ariz., couple came a month or so later when they began to sort out the hospital bills. Their insurance policy had a $10,000 deductible. So they scrutinized every item, made some calls and had a few surprises.

The beleaguered San Onofre nuclear power plant north of San Diego has been idle since January 2012 after the discovery of unsafe reactor conditions. The operator is now seeking approval to restart one of the plant's two reactors at 70% power for a five-month test. The plant's license expires in less than 10 years. Overlooked in the concerns about the short-term future of San Onofre are the 1,400 tons of spent nuclear fuel stored at the coastal site. Regardless of the immediate dilemma, San Onofre is destined to follow in the footsteps of nine former nuclear power plants (including two in California)

Lena Headey, who plays the scheming Queen Regent Cersei Lannister on HBO's "Game of Thrones," is reportedly claiming she is broke, with "less than $5" in her bank account. Headey's financial situation came to light as a result of husband Peter Loughran's making an emergency court filing in their divorce proceedings, according to TMZ. In July 2012, Headey, 39, filed for divorce from Loughran, an Irish musician, after five years of marriage, citing "irreconcilable differences.

Richard Garcia was busy ticketing a Scion for blocking the street sweeper's path when a neighbor broke in with a question. "Are you allowed to paint your own curb red?" Edsel Ortiz said. Of course not, but Ortiz would have to take it up with headquarters. Another neighbor on Mountain View Street in L.A.'s Westlake neighborhood, however, wouldn't let it go. "She said she's the homeowner and we're just renters," said Tony See, dressed in slip-on rubber sandals and shorts, pointing to a driveway flanked by telltale red. "She's a bad neighbor!

It was a sad moment for many Republicans during the 2008 presidential contest when Arizona Sen. John McCain refused to let his staff use the fiery left-wing sermons of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Yoking Obama to his Chicago pastor's unforgiving views on American imperialism and racism was so tempting that four years later, a Republican strategist came up with a plan to use the material against Obama "to do exactly what John McCain would not let us do. " The plan, criticized as blatantly racist, was scuttled and the strategist later apologized.

The number of Los Angeles County Probation Department employees investigated for serious crimes last year remained roughly the same as in 2011 despite efforts to weed out misconduct through improved training, according to a report released Wednesday. In 2012, 64 employees were either arrested or questioned in crimes ranging from burglary to attempted murder, according to a report by the county's Office of Independent Review. In 2011, 69 probation employees were arrested. "The frequency of off-duty employee misconduct continues to plague the department," according to the report.

J.P. Crawford of Lakewood can create havoc on the base paths with his speed. He tries to get on base any way possible, and one way is with a drag bunt that he pulled off with precision on Tuesday in an opening game of the Boras Classic at Mater Dei. With two outs in the third inning, he got a bunt to fall in front of Anaheim Canyon second baseman Cole Garcia and reached first safely. He moved to second on a steal, went to third on an errant pickoff attempt and soon scored on a two-run single by Jonathan Pasillas.

Electrical problems were to blame for a fire that reportedly killed 13 children at a mosque and religious school in Myanmar, authorities said Tuesday, even as the blaze stirred up suspicions of an attack on Muslims. Yangon regional fire chief Kyi Win told Eleven Media that the children were trapped in the burning building, unable to escape through windows blocked with iron bars. Scores rushed out to safety when firefighters opened the doors, the fire chief said, but others unable to flee were found dead upstairs.

It was a sad moment for many Republicans during the 2008 presidential contest when Arizona Sen. John McCain refused to let his staff use the fiery left-wing sermons of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Yoking Obama to his Chicago pastor's unforgiving views on American imperialism and racism was so tempting that four years later, a Republican strategist came up with a plan to use the material against Obama “to do exactly what John McCain would not let us do.”  The plan, criticized as blatantly racist, was scuttled and the strategist later apologized.

From a distance, the Watts Towers rise as a beacon of pride in a community that has struggled for years with poverty and crime. But up close, tiny cracks are tearing through the historic sculpture. One particularly nasty fissure starts thin at the base of the 99-foot center tower, then widens and snakes over colorful tiles, branching like a network of veins from an artery. Decorative ornaments - pieces of glass, seashells and pottery that artist Simon Rodia painstakingly affixed - are falling off, bit by bit. The towers have been deteriorating for years, prompting quick patch jobs that did little long-term good.