Programming

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve policymakers signaled for the first time that they could "increase or reduce" their controversial efforts to stimulate the economy in the future, but for now they're holding pat. After a two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 11 to 1 to maintain its rock-bottom interest rates and continue its so-called quantitative easing program of purchasing $85 billion of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities...

The three-day Milken Institute Global Conference kicked off Monday in Beverly Hills, with media moguls Barry Diller and Rupert Murdoch among the hundreds of business leaders and politicians slated to speak. The annual event, run by financier and philanthropist Michael Milken, will also host talks by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Vice President Al Gore, Magic Johnson and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. There are close to 4,000 attendees this year watching 600 panelists participating in some 140 sessions.

Union officials representing school cafeteria workers led a noisy rally of parents Tuesday to save a Los Angeles Unified classroom breakfast program that feeds nearly 200,000 children but was in danger of being axed after sharp criticism by teachers. Even as the majority of L.A. Unified school board members indicated they would vote to continue the program, about 100 parents turned out at Hooper Elementary in South L.A., waving noisemakers and signs in Spanish and English to save the breakfasts.

Reggie Theus played in the NBA for more than a decade, covered the league as a broadcaster and coached the Sacramento Kings. So postseason drama at Staples Center draws his attention. "I've been a Lakers fan since I was a kid," said Theus, who starred at Inglewood High in the mid-1970s, "and I know a lot of guys on the Clippers. " But Theus has no time to be immersed in the playoffs. For the last three weeks, Cal State Northridge's new coach has been busy on campus or on the road recruiting, laying the groundwork to turn around a program.

The Obama administration's Home Affordable Refinance Program is at last helping legions of American homeowners with upside-down mortgages. Nearly 1.1 million homeowners with little or no equity were able to refinance last year under HARP, which assists borrowers who are current on their monthly payments. That's nearly as many as in the three previous years combined, and the latest figures show that early this year, the pace of these refis abated only slightly. The program has become a success story after a stumbling start with slack lender participation.

Los Angeles Unified will eliminate a classroom breakfast program serving nearly 200,000 children, reject more school police, cut administrators and scale back new construction projects unless the school board votes to approve them, according to Supt. John Deasy. Heading into a fierce battle over funding priorities, Deasy said this week that he would give "maximum responsibility" to the board to decide between those programs and demands by United Teachers Los Angeles to restore jobs and increase pay. In an April 12 memo obtained by the Times on Friday, Deasy outlined eight items the district would not fund without explicit board approval, including a request for an additional $1.4 million for KLCS-TV public television, small schools that are underenrolled and other unspecified programs.

UCLA football is embracing a high-tech future. The Bruins unveiled a new gizmo Wednesday: the CoachComm Tempo, a system that includes two Led Zeppelin-ready speakers and that can run the clock and scoreboard, simulate crowd noise, play music and be used to amplify the instructions of coaches. "A lot of teams around the country are using this," Coach Jim Mora said. "Oregon uses it; Chip Kelly bought one when he went to [coach] Philadelphia. We talked to five or six coaches and they all said it would help practice efficiency.

Nearly seven years ago, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa launched a program to plant 1 million trees. Since then, the city has planted more than 400,000 trees - in fact, 407,000 and counting. So is the program a success or a failure? As Villaraigosa prepares to leave office, should we be thrilled to have 400,000 trees we otherwise wouldn't have had, or should we be disappointed that his campaign promise has gone less than half fulfilled? And here's another question: Should we care?

Viewers of the Travel Channel have no doubt come across Adam Richman abusing his body by undergoing horrifically unhealthy food challenges on his series "Man v. Food. " But those worried about Richman's health can breathe a little easier. His new series, "Adam Richman's Fandemonium," will keep Richman on the road but away from the deep-fried, batter-dipped, double-stuffed challenges of his youth. The new series, unveiled at Travel Channel's "upfront" presentation to advertisers Tuesday in New York, will follow Richman around the country as he goes in search of the biggest and wildest fan events, including the Daytona 500 and the Kentucky Derby.

SACRAMENTO - California's air quality officials soon may be adding a new phrase to their bureaucratic vocabulary: " le rechauffement climatique . " That's French for global warming. The California Air Resources Board on Friday linked its program for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and curbing climate change with one in the French-speaking, Canadian province of Quebec. The merger starts Jan. 1. On April 8, Gov. Jerry Brown certified the two cap-and-trade systems as compatible.