Receives

Vietnam veteran John Otte did his best to forget the war. He got married, raised two sons and made a career working at credit unions. But as Otte neared retirement, memories of combat flooded back. Starting in 2005, he filed a series of claims with Veterans Affairs for disability compensation, contending that many of his health problems stemmed from the war. The VA agreed, and now the 65-year-old with two Purple Hearts receives $1,900 a month for post-traumatic stress disorder and diabetes - and for having shrapnel scars on his arms.

Some of the most powerful labor organizations in Los Angeles placed huge bets on mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel that went bust. All their spending and prodigious organization failed to ignite Greuel's campaign and allowed her opponent, Eric Garcetti, to turn the deep pockets against them, persuading many voters that they were trying to buy the election. Losses by Greuel and two other union-backed candidates in Tuesday's municipal election cost big labor its aura of near-invincibility in Los Angeles politics.

UCLA has played eight games this season and still the Bruins are looking for a tailback to take some of the load off Johnathan Franklin . That need has become more urgent as Franklin deals with nagging injuries. Franklin leads the team with 506 yards rushing, but his playing time may be consolidated to keep him fresh. Who is backing him up has been a game of roulette each week. Milton Knox may be the candidate this week, as he received more reps in practice Tuesday.

In a report Wednesday to federal judges, the official overseeing prison medical care said Gov. Jerry Brown's public opposition to crowding reductions, and his corrections officials' refusal to move inmates at risk of a deadly disease, show California is unready to run its own prisons. The immediate focus of J. Clark Kelso's ire is California's refusal to implement his May 1 directive requiring the state to move nearly half the inmates from two Central Valley prisons afflicted with valley fever.

The Chicago Bears and quarterback Jay Cutler have agreed on a two-year contract extension that runs through the 2013 season. A person familiar with the negotiations said the deal includes approximately $20 million guaranteed and roughly $30 million in new money. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the terms were not released. Acquired in a blockbuster trade from Denver in the off-season, the Pro Bowl quarterback has completed 110 of 172 passes for 1,201 yards and 10 touchdowns, with seven interceptions, while leading Chicago to a 3-2 record.

Lottery revenue: An article in Sunday's California section about efforts to reinvigorate the state lottery incorrectly reported that South Dakota receives half of its general fund revenue from video lottery machines. In 2008, the machines provided about one-eighth of that state's general fund revenue.

Does the fact that Karla Stecker misspelled receives speak more about the education she received in secular schools or the education she's passing on to her children? SHELLEY WILLIAMS Los Angeles

How can kids avoid being rude today ("Out of the Mouths of Babes," Aug. 6) when Circuit City keeps running an ad on TV in which a young boy receives a purchase exchange from a sympathetic clerk and his reaction? "Cool!" You're welcome. BILL WOLFE Los Angeles

Wary of angering constituents during the recession, members of Congress will turn down the automatic pay raise they are due next year. Rank-and-file members of the House and Senate now get $174,000 a year. Leaders get somewhat more; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) receives $223,500. The move does not affect the $4,700 cost of living adjustment that senators and representatives received Jan. 1.

I don't understand the heat Terry Donahue received in Viewpoint last week. Yes, it's true the Bruins took a terrible beating from Tennessee. And it's true this may be a long year. But let's have some perspective. The man has won seven consecutive bowl games. He had a 10-2 record in each of the last two seasons, and he may soon become the winningest coach in Pac-10 history. Surely, The Times receives letters that are more intuitive and insightful than the narrow-minded and short-sighted garbage that was printed last week.

Retired Marine Brig. Gen. Gordon Gayle, who received the Navy Cross for leadership and bravery during the assault on Peleliu, one of the bloodiest and most complex and controversial battles fought by Marines during World War II, has died. He was 95. Gayle died April 21 at an assisted-living facility in Farnham, Va., after suffering a stroke, according to the U.S. Marine Corps. As an officer with the 1st Marine Division, Gayle led troops in five key battles in World War II, starting with Guadalcanal in 1942, where Marines, after weeks of fierce jungle fighting, stopped the advance of Japanese troops toward Australia.

Vietnam veteran John Otte did his best to forget the war. He got married, raised two sons and made a career working at credit unions. But as Otte neared retirement, memories of combat flooded back. Starting in 2005, he filed a series of claims with Veterans Affairs for disability compensation, contending that many of his health problems stemmed from the war. The VA agreed, and now the 65-year-old with two Purple Hearts receives $1,900 a month for post-traumatic stress disorder and diabetes - and for having shrapnel scars on his arms.

LeBron James is getting his fourth Most Valuable Player award - and the only mystery left is whether the vote was unanimous. The Miami Heat star will be introduced Sunday as the award winner, according to a person familiar with the results and who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the league has not publicly announced this year's recipient. James will become the fifth player with at least four MVP awards, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.

The task the Clippers face in trying to deal with a tough Memphis Grizzlies team has become even more daunting. There is Blake Griffin's sprained right ankle that limited the All-Star forward to about 20 minutes in the Clippers' Game 5 loss Tuesday in the Western Conference playoffs. His X-rays were negative and an MRI showed no structural damage Wednesday. But the Clippers, who trail the Grizzlies, 3-2, have listed Griffin as a game-time decision for their win-or-go-home Game 6 at Memphis on Friday.

USC receiver Robert Woods became the first Trojans player selected in the 2013 NFL draft when the Buffalo Bills chose him in the second round with the 41st overall pick. Woods, who grew up in Carson and played at Gardena Serra High, was an All-American and Biletnikoff Award finalist in 2011, when he caught a school-record 111 passes. Last season, Coach Lane Kiffin shifted the focus to receiver Marqise Lee -- the 2012 Biletnikoff Award winner -- and Woods caught 76 passes, 11 for touchdowns.

Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings received about $5.5 million in total compensation last year, a 40% drop from 2011, when his package was valued at $9.3 million. But Hastings' salary -- like the company's image -- is on the rebound. He is set to receive $2 million in pay this year, four times what he collected in 2012. His stock option allowance will increase to $2 million; up from $1.5 million last year. Hastings also realized a gain of about $8.4 million last year from the exercise of prior years' option grants, according to regulatory filings.

On one hand, Ecuador flouts a mural at the inauguration of its leftist leader, which is ignorant in its pro-centralism and hostile in its anti-Americanism. On the other hand, Ecuador already receives "at least $60 million in direct U.S. aid" and is looking to receive "additional support including help in easing its debt repayment load." The proverbial adage against biting the hand that feeds you obviously presupposes that the hand so bitten will not continue to extend itself.

Marriage, family and child counselors constitute a fourth kind of therapist who receives training similar to that of the three types of practitioners mentioned. MFCCs are usually specifically trained in understanding the relationships between the family system and the individual child with difficulties. In California, more children with psychological problems--and their families--receive treatment from MFCCs than from any other category of licensed mental health professional. The people doing this job deserve recognition.

Good Ben Hunting! Ben Affleck is getting an honorary degree from Brown University. Is this life imitating art? The Academy Award-winning producer and philanthropist, 40, is set to receive the honorary degree from the Providence, R.I.-based university along with five others at the institution's commencement ceremony May 26, according to Brown. The Ivy League university will be giving the "Argo" actor/producer/director a doctorate of fine arts. The other honorary doctorates will be awarded to MIT professor Junot Diaz, Brown bacteriologist Stanley Falkow, Brown's Tougaloo College President Beverly Wade Hogan, physician Risa Lavizzo-Mourey and Miami Dade College President Eduardo Padron.

WASHINGTON - Investigators said the two Boston Marathon bombs were triggered by long-range remote controls for toy cars - a more sophisticated design than originally believed - bolstering a theory that the older suspect received bomb-making guidance on his six-month trip to Russia last year. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died in a shootout with police last week, "more than likely got some instruction in Dagestan," a federal law enforcement official said Wednesday. The official said investigators continued to believe that Tsarnaev, 26, and his brother, Dzhokhar, 19, were radicalized in the U.S., and that no foreign terrorist group orchestrated the plot.