Salute

Writer John Fante -- Charles Bukowski's hero and our preeminent chronicler of life in downtown L.A. -- was born 101 years ago Thursday. In his honor, the intersection of Grand Avenue and 5th Street will be renamed John Fante Square . The location is at the foot of the old Bunker Hill neighborhood where Fante gathered inspiration for "Ask the Dust" and other classics. The event includes a dedication, speeches from members of the Fante family, a ride on the Angels Flight Railway and a stop at the King Edward Saloon.

UCLA Film & Television Archive's Celebration of Iranian Cinema showcases the work of such contemporary directors as Bahman Ghobadi ("Rhino Season"), Mani Haghighi ("Modest Reception") and Mohammad Shirvani ("Fat Shaker"), as well as paying homage to the country's veteran filmmakers. "A couple of years back, we decided one of the ways we wanted to grow the series for the long term was to look forward and back," said Shannon Kelley, head of public programs for the archive. So the festival kicks off Saturday at the Billy Wilder Theater on a classic note with Bahram Beyzaie's" Downpour," an acclaimed 1972 drama about a Tehranian schoolteacher.

The Criterion Collection's Eclipse series pays tribute to the Indian-born actor Sabu. At 13, he was discovered by documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty ("Nanook of the North"), who cast him in a role of an elephant driver in the popular 1937 film "Elephant Boy. " Sabu is best known for his role as Abu in Alexander and Zoltan Korda's 1940 film "The Thief of Bagdad. " Sabu became a U.S. citizen in 1944 and served in the armed services during World War II. His postwar career suffered. He died of a heart attack in 1963.

Cecilia Chiang probably doesn't have the name recognition of a lot of chefs and restaurateurs, but the 93-year-old is certainly one of the pioneers of modern California cooking. The long-time owner of the Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco (and, from 1975 to 2007, in Beverly Hills), Chiang was honored last weekend by a culinary who's who at a tribute dinner during the Pebble Beach Food & Wine festival. Among the speakers were chefs Thomas Keller, Gary Danko, Corey Lee and Daniel Boulud.

Giorgos Katidis, a soccer player from Greece, has been banned for life from the Greek national team after his goal celebration Saturday appeared to be a Nazi salute. Katidis, who had scored the go-ahead goal in AEK Athens' 2-1 victory over Veria, said he did not know that throwing his arm forward in a raised position was a Nazi gesture. The governing body of Greek soccer reacted swiftly Sunday in the aftermath, calling the salute "a deep insult to all victims of Nazi brutality.

Louis Zamperini, the 95-year old former Olympic runner, World War II veteran and subject of the 2011 bestseller “Unbroken,” is scheduled to throw out the first pitch Sunday when USC's baseball team plays host to Washington on Salute to the Brave Military Appreciation Day at Dedeaux Field. The event is the brainchild of Ryan Morris, a former USC walk-on baseball player who started a company called Salute the Brave that manufactures and sells baseball caps and garments celebrating the military.

The National Geographic Channel on Aug. 25 will broadcast an encore of the award-winning "Restrepo," the documentary co-directed by photojournalist Tim Hetherington, who was killed Wednesday while covering the conflict in Libya. The 9 p.m. airing of "Resterpo," which chronicles the deployment of U.S. troops in the Korengal Valley, one of the most dangerous outposts in Afghanistan, will be expanded for television and include a special tribute to Hetherington. The documentary was nominated for an Academy Award for documentary feature and was also a Grand Prize Jury winner at the Sundance Film Festival.

The Recording Academy has chosen Barbra Streisand as its MusiCares person of the year in conjunction with the 2011 Grammy Awards and will salute her musical and philanthropic achievements Feb. 11 with an all-star fundraising dinner and concert featuring Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Barry Manilow, Diana Krall, Kristin Chenoweth and others. Along with such pop, jazz and Broadway veterans, the event also will bring in a new generation of singers, with appearances by cast members from Fox TV's hit series "Glee," including Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison and Darren Criss.

We don't know why Dr. Gerald Rosander resigned, but we are losing the most dynamic and most effective educator/administrator our county office of education has ever had. Dr. Rosander became superintendent of the San Diego County Office of Education in the wake of Proposition 13, when school employee moral was at an all time low. Through proactive programs and emphasis on the great good already in our county school systems, he brought state and...

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's salute to Chuck Berry as the 2012 honoree for its "American Masters" series will be capped with a multi-artist concert featuring Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers, Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC, New York Dolls singer David Johansen, roots-rock singer-songwriter-guitarist Rosie Flores, Motorhead front man Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Joe Bonamassa, Oklahoma singer-songwriter John Fullbright and several others, including Berry...

As U.S. and allied forces advanced toward Baghdad 10 years ago, a military public affairs sergeant snapped a photograph of a Marine saluting the flag at sunset at a desert airfield in southern Iraq. Taken on April 3, 2003, it was one of many images released by the Marine Corps during the invasion that launched the Iraq war. IN THE FRAMEWORK BLOG: The story behind a photo The Marine in the photograph was Master Sgt. James E. Valrie of Loxley, Ala. The photographer was his wife, Marine Sgt. Tisha L. Carter-Valrie of Forgan, Okla.

Giorgos Katidis, a soccer player from Greece, has been banned for life from the Greek national team after his goal celebration Saturday appeared to be a Nazi salute. Katidis, who had scored the go-ahead goal in AEK Athens' 2-1 victory over Veria, said he did not know that throwing his arm forward in a raised position was a Nazi gesture. The governing body of Greek soccer reacted swiftly Sunday in the aftermath, calling the salute "a deep insult to all victims of Nazi brutality.

"The Americans" have been given clearance by FX to return for another season. The cable network has renewed the freshman drama about KGB agents posing as a suburban couple living in the Washington, D.C., area with a 13-episode order. The announcement came after the airing of the drama's fourth episode. The premiere of the series, which stars Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys and Noah Emmerich, scored FX's most-watched debut ever for a series, with 5.1 million viewers. ALSO Mel B. of the Spice Girls joins "America's Got Talent" "A Different World's' Lou Myers dies Kristen Wiig, Seth Rogen guest on "Arrested Development"      

"Dear Abby," aka Pauline Phillips, the celebrated advice columnist who died this week at age 94, already had been an American institution for decades when folk singer-songwriter John Prine immortalized her in his 1973 number titled - what else? - “Dear Abby.” The acclaimed Chicago musician and former mailman tapped the everyday sort of gripes that populated her columns, which were syndicated in newspapers across the country including, for many years, the Los Angeles Times. Dear Abby, Dear Abby, My feet are too long My hair's falling out and my rights are all wrong My friends they all tell me that I've no friends at all Won't you write me a letter, Won't you give me a call Signed Bewildered PHOTOS: Pauline Phillips | 1918 - 2013 Prine, naturally, supplied the response as well as the inquiry, answering: Bewildered Bewildered, You have no complaint You are what you are and you ain't what you ain't So listen up Buster and listen up good Stop wishing for bad luck and knockin' on wood Then came three more mock letters - each receiving precisely the same response, Prine's eye-winking acknowledgement of the essence of what Abby was really telling her millions of readers week after week.

When tensions grew high during the last stage of collective bargaining negotiations between the NHL and the players union and the two sides couldn't sit in the same room, federal mediator Scot L. Beckenbaugh kept the talks alive. Beckenbaugh, deputy director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, shuttled back and forth between the offices of the league and the union, helping broker the tentative deal they reached early Sunday morning. Some grateful fans suggested Beckenbaugh be named the league's MVP this season … and one Ducks season ticket holder from Silver Lake took it a step further.

At the Wednesday public memorial service that celebrated her tragically short life, Jenni Rivera was hailed as "the eternal diva," "la gran señora," "mariposa de barrio" (butterfly of the barrio) and other terms of deep affection and respect. But there was another title that Rivera had aspired to and earned: the Latin American Oprah Winfrey. Like Winfrey before her, the Long Beach native, who died with six other people in a Dec. 9 plane crash in northern Mexico, was more than simply a multitalented, multi-tasking woman of a certain age, ethnicity and oversize personality.

NEWTOWN, Conn -- Daniel Barden wanted to be a fireman like his father's cousins in New York City, whom he idolized. So it was only fitting that at Wednesday's funeral for Barden, one of the young victims in the Sandy Hook massacre, dozens of firefighters joined the crowd of mourners. The New York firefighters were clad in dress blue uniforms, many with white gloves, at the Wednesday morning at funeral services for 7-year-old Daniel. PHOTOS:  Mourning after the massacre Twenty children and six adults were killed Friday morning when a gunman, identified by police as Adam Lanza, invaded Sandy Hook Elementary School.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The congratulatory telegram is a historical relic. When Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympic athlete last summer, President Obama congratulated him via Twitter. On Wednesday, when Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants became the fourth player ever to hit three home runs in a World Series game, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez tweeted his congratulations. Sandoval said he got 300 text messages. He cherished this spotlight on his home country, and on its baseball success this season.

NEWTOWN, Conn -- Daniel Barden wanted to be a fireman like his father's cousins in New York City, whom he idolized. So it was only fitting that at Wednesday's funeral for Barden, one of the young victims in the Sandy Hook massacre, dozens of firefighters joined the crowd of mourners. The New York firefighters were clad in dress blue uniforms, many with white gloves, at the Wednesday morning at funeral services for 7-year-old Daniel. PHOTOS:  Mourning after the massacre Twenty children and six adults were killed Friday morning when a gunman, identified by police as Adam Lanza, invaded Sandy Hook Elementary School.

“For the Martian Chronicles,” at L&M Arts, pays homage to Ray Bradbury, who wrote much of his fantastic tale in his clapboard home that once stood at the gallery's address. Organized by Yael Lipschutz, archivist of the Noah Purifoy Foundation, the 30-artist exhibition is a whimsical mishmash of media, methods and styles. It keeps visitors on their toes, thinking quickly to discover connections among objects and images with not much in common except for their love of wide-eyed possibility.