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Distancing himself from Republicans on housing issues, President Obama pitched a $5-billion to $10-billion plan to help a key segment of struggling homeowners — those still making monthly payments, but on underwater mortgages. Obama proposed Wednesday to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages. He argued that those homeowners — and the country — couldn't afford to let the housing market bottom out, as many Republicans, including presidential candidate Mitt Romney, have advocated.

STAGE "Where the Great Ones Run" follows a country singer back to his hometown, where the wreckage of his old life remains and comes back to haunt and change him. Early buzz is promising for this project — Mark Roberts wrote the book and Mark L. Taylor directs. Rogue Machine, 8 p.m. Sat., through July 13. $29.99. roguemachinetheater.com.

PHOENIX — As hockey fever grips Los Angeles, Dodgers President Stan Kasten said he plans to explore whether the Kings could play in an NHL Winter Classic game at Dodger Stadium. "Facility-wise, we could certainly handle it," Kasten said. The NHL has yet to award its New Year's Day showcase to a warm-weather city. The Dodgers could offer baseball's largest stadium and the iconic backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains. Kasten, former president of the NHL Atlanta Thrashers, said technology would allow ice to remain playable for an outdoor hockey game at Dodger Stadium but said he was unsure if the league would be interested.

Tickets for "The Book of Mormon" at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood will go on sale to the general public starting June 10, the show's producers announced Wednesday. A daily lottery for discount tickets will also be held during the show's L.A. run. Producers of "Mormon" said that tickets for the L.A. engagement will go on sale at 7 a.m. on June 10 at the Pantages box office.

Often film sequels are slam dunks at the box office, a seamless continuation from where a previous hit left off. But as the new installment of the 15-year-old franchise "Men in Black" proves, getting to the big screen isn't always a cakewalk. One of the most troubled productions in recent Hollywood memory, Sony Pictures' latest movie in the Will Smith-Tommy Lee Jones sci-fi-comedy franchise encountered multiple script rewrites, a discontented star and a three-month production shutdown as writers and studio executives scrambled to fix a project that nearly fell apart . By the time it was over, the studio had run up a tab of nearly $250 million - making "Men in Black 3" one of the most expensive releases of the summer.

washington -- Mitt Romney twice emphasized his unique business background when he and eight other Republican presidential candidates faced off in a debate last week in Iowa. "I've spent the last, as I've told you, 25 years in the private sector," former Massachusetts Gov. Romney declared at one point. "I understand why jobs come and why jobs go. I've done business in 20 countries."

The wait for tables is getting longer at Buck's, a popular breakfast spot for the tech elite and a weather vane for the Silicon Valley economy. Here, like everywhere else, Facebook is the talk of the town. "Charles Schwab was in the restaurant the other day, and I asked him to hook me up with some Facebook shares," said Jamis MacNiven, owner of Buck's, in the wealthy suburban enclave of Woodside. "He told me even he can't get Facebook shares. " The new tech boom officially gets underway Friday when Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg rings Nasdaq's opening bell remotely from the company's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, launching the largest initial public offering of stock in Silicon Valley history.

The alarm over potential bank runs in Greece and Spain this week has highlighted an often-overlooked fact: Europe's debt crisis is also, in many ways, a major banking crisis. In capitals such as Athens, Madrid and Rome, large portions of the sovereign debt racked up by spendthrift governments are owed to the countries' own banks, locking governments and the banks in an embrace so tight that disaster for one would almost certainly spell doom for the other. International bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal have helped to keep not just their governments but also their banks afloat, as well as financial institutions in other parts of Europe with large exposure to those nations' debts.

The most ambitious federal mortgage program to date aimed at millions of underwater homeowners is poised to take off in the coming two weeks, yet some key issues could hinder borrower participation. One of them involves something most owners know nothing about: Who was your mortgage insurer on your underwater loan? Though it was announced by the Obama administration late last year, "HARP 2.0" — the second version of the Home Affordable Refinance Program — will finally hit full stride around the middle of this month, when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac finish tweaking their automated underwriting systems to accept applications, and lenders and mortgage insurance companies start handling large volumes of requests.

CINCINNATI - The Rev. Chris Beard is a theological conservative, make no mistake about it. He believes the Bible is the word of God. He believes the Holy Spirit speaks to him directly. He believes, as an article of faith, that abortion and same-sex marriage are wrong. Still, when a group of religious leaders in Ohio held two days of meetings in Cincinnati recently to talk about economic and racial justice, issues usually associated with the political left, there was Beard, a fourth-generation Pentecostal preacher with a disarming smile, a shaved head and a set of convictions that knock holes in the stereotypes about white evangelical Protestants.

PHOENIX — As hockey fever grips Los Angeles, Dodgers President Stan Kasten said he plans to explore whether the Kings could play in an NHL Winter Classic game at Dodger Stadium. "Facility-wise, we could certainly handle it," Kasten said. The NHL has yet to award its New Year's Day showcase to a warm-weather city. The Dodgers could offer baseball's largest stadium and the iconic backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains. Kasten, former president of the NHL Atlanta Thrashers, said technology would allow ice to remain playable for an outdoor hockey game at Dodger Stadium but said he was unsure if the league would be interested.

OAKLAND — Mike Scioscia won't declare that Ernesto Frieri is his new closer — he'd still like the option of using veteran left-hander Scott Downs at the end of games — but the Angels manager's actions and Frieri's performance suggest the 26-year-old right-hander has assumed that key role. Frieri struck out three of four batters in the 11th inning Wednesday for his first big league save, nailing down the Angels' 3-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics that featured Alberto Callaspo's clutch two-out, two-run double in the top of the inning.

The voice on the phone was animated, a Kings fan talking about the team's run to the Stanley Cup Final with the passion typical of their loyal, long-suffering audience. "It's been unreal what they've done and what they've accomplished so far," Wayne Gretzky said Wednesday. "It's been unreal for the organization and it's been great for hockey in California and L.A. We live in L.A., so we're seeing it first-hand how fans are rallying around the Kings and hoping that they bring home the Stanley Cup. "It's been fun to watch.

OAKLAND - For the 11th time since 2010, Angels ace Jered Weaver threw at least seven innings and allowed one earned run or less, only to receive a loss or no-decision. Easing the sting for the right-hander Wednesday was Alberto Callaspo's two-out, two-run double to left field in the top of the 11th, a clutch hit that pushed the Angels to a 3-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics. Kendrys Morales drew a one-out walk off A's reliever Jordan Norberto in the 11th, and pinch-runner Peter Bourjos took third on Howie Kendrick's two-out single to center field.

It is a ritual of the vice presidential audition: A contender for the role of running mate tries to profess just enough interest, but not too much. On Tuesday evening at the Reagan Presidential Library, it was Paul D. Ryan's turn to play coy when the Wisconsin congressman was asked whether he would say yes to Mitt Romney. "You know, that's somebody else's decision, months away, and that's a conversation I need to have with my wife before I have it all with you," Ryan told a crowd that filled an auditorium at the hilltop library in Simi Valley.

PHOENIX — Those were quite the exciting games Tuesday, two rowdy Arizona crowds on the edge of their seats and at the top of their lungs in creating a hostile environment for the visiting team from Los Angeles. Beat L.A.? Maybe another year. The NHL's Coyotes? Done, thanks to the Kings. The Diamondbacks? They might be just about done, thanks to the Dodgers, and to an increasingly unlikely cast of characters. "I've got to go clean my hair now," Ivan De Jesus said.

Brian Price, once a wrecking ball on UCLA's defensive line, has beaten long odds to return to the NFL after two off-season surgeries aimed at keeping his hamstrings attached to his pelvis, rather than breaking loose and coiling down the backs of his thighs. For Price, who will start at defensive tackle Sunday for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his excruciating recovery was a 10-step process. Meaning just two months ago, he could run only 10 steps. "You have these doubts in your head at times," said Price, a second-round pick of the Buccaneers in 2010 who, because of his congenitally malformed pelvis, spent the last half of his rookie season on injured reserve.

Bob Brickman spent months fighting a ticket he got last fall from a red-light traffic camera at Wilshire and Sepulveda boulevards in West Los Angeles. The 61-year-old from Playa Vista eventually decided to give up the fight and fork over the $476 fine. Now he's regretting paying every penny. City officials this week spotlighted a surprising revelation involving red-light camera tickets: Authorities cannot force violators who simply don't respond to pay them. For a variety of reasons, including the way the law was written, Los Angeles officials say the fines for ticketed motorists are essentially "voluntary" and there are virtually no tangible consequences for those who refuse to pay. The disclosure comes as the city is considering whether to drop the controversial photo enforcement program, with the City Council scheduled to vote on the matter Wednesday.

Good thing the Dodgers keep calling up minor leaguers, because they are running out of candidates for their little “Hero of the Night” club. On Monday they reached down for their backup catcher, Matt Treanor, who happily provided an early two-run homer to spark the Dodgers to a 6-1 victory over the Diamondbacks in Phoenix. It was the Dodgers’ fifth consecutive victory and 10th in 12 games, and it pushed their record to 29-13, best in the major leagues.

PHOENIX -- For the second time in a major league career that has lasted all of two weeks, Scott Van Slyke found his name in the Dodgers' starting lineup. The first time, he batted third. On Monday, he batted fourth. "Necessity is a good word," Manager Don Mattingly said. "I'd feel better if he were back there hitting sixth or seventh and not in the heart of the order. "I don't mean that in a bad way toward him. " The Dodgers had 10 home runs in their injury-depleted starting lineup Monday - eight from Andre Ethier , one from Justin Sellers and one from Van Slyke.