Sears

A St. Petersburg, Fla., woman was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant Saturday after being photographed two months ago riding a manatee. Florida's Manatee Sanctuary Act protects the endangered sea mammal and says in part, “It is unlawful for any person at any time, by any means, or in any manner intentionally or negligently to annoy, molest, harass, or disturb or attempt to molest, harass, or disturb any manatee.” Ana Gloria Garcia Gutierrez, 53,...

Two Arleta men were arrested Saturday after they stole women's clothing from Sears in Burbank and returned to the store, police said. The men -- Richard Munje, 46, and Paul Rey, 30 -- stuffed a yellow plastic bag with women's shorts, pants and a denim top, and left the store to place the bag in their Buick sedan, Burbank Police Sgt. Darin Ryburn said. The pair then returned to the store at 111 East Magnolia Blvd. just before 8 p.m., where they were met by police in the lingerie department.

-- Boston-based Kynetic, which operates designer discount website Rue La La, underwent major layoffs and intends to close its SmartBargains.com site, a report says. The Boston Business Journal reported that Kynetic laid off 11% of its 550 workers as part of a restructuring designed to allow the company to "double down" on its core business. Part of the shake-up involves outsourcing the sales force for Rue La La's city-specific portals called Rue Local. "These moves unfortunately resulted in the elimination of some staff positions," the company said.

Portrait studios at Sears and some Wal-Mart stores - the scenes of innumerable family photos - have unexpectedly closed as their operator, CPI Corp., goes out of business. The portrait provider said in a statement on its website that all of its U.S. locations have shut down “after many years of providing family portrait photography.” The St. Louis company has been making photo keepsakes for more than 60 years and offered its services at more than 3,000 North American locations, mostly in Sears and Wal-Mart stores.

CHICAGO - It took a trio of famous sisters - Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian - and their namesake jeans to draw Sajde Kerimi back into Sears. The 29-year-old mother of two usually heads to Nordstrom Rack and H&M to shop, but on a recent weekend Kerimi was in Sears at Woodfield Mall, mulling several pairs of $68 Kardashian jeans. "Normally I wouldn't shop at Sears at all," said Kerimi, who was passing through on her way into the mall. A $38.99 black jumpsuit looked particularly promising.

Two Arleta men were arrested Saturday after they stole women's clothing from Sears in Burbank and returned to the store, police said. The men -- Richard Munje, 46, and Paul Rey, 30 -- stuffed a yellow plastic bag with women's shorts, pants and a denim top, and left the store to place the bag in their Buick sedan, Burbank Police Sgt. Darin Ryburn said. The pair then returned to the store at 111 East Magnolia Blvd. just before 8 p.m., where they were met by police in the lingerie department.

I couldn't believe the comment by John Sears ("GOP Again Confronts Divisive Abortion Issue," Opinion, May 12) that the proper time for a woman to exercise control over her body is "just before you let some man you have little interest in impregnate you." What a quaint concept! Is he trying to say only loose women get pregnant? Apparently, a woman in a loving, committed relationship isn't allowed the male luxury of being caught up in passion. If someone forgets the condoms, why blame her?

In regard to the article "Sears Strikes Back" (by Donald R. Katz, Sept. 27): I feel that the downfall and dissolution of the Sears stores was caused and is being caused by inconvenience. Chain stores, like hardware stores and home-improvement centers, are more common and more convenient than the widely spaced Sears stores. Theresa Gayer Inglewood

Vinessa Shaw, age 23, states with authority that "Sears was the Barneys of the '70s" ("Fictional Flashback: NBC Re-Creates the Disco Decade," by Victoria Looseleaf, April 26). Hmmm. Perhaps she doesn't remember Barneys' memorable ads from that era, back when Barneys was the Men's Wearhouse of the '70s. The only constant is Bloomingdale's--Bloomingdale's was the Bloomingdale's of the '70s! CYNTHIA A. SMITH Venice

Sears, Roebuck & Co. formally entered into a $290-million nationwide settlement stemming from the retailer's illegal debt collection practices. The settlement with all 50 states, filed in Boston's U.S. Bankruptcy Court, affect an estimated 146,000 consumers nationwide. Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears took a pretax $475-million charge in the second quarter in anticipation of the settlements, spokesman Jan Drummond said.

Troubled Sears Holdings Corp. said Chief Executive Louis D'Ambrosio is stepping down and will be succeeded by Chairman Edward Lampert. D'Ambrosio is resigning because of "family health matters," effective Feb. 2, the end of the retailer's fiscal year, Sears said Monday. Lampert -- who also is majority shareholder of the company, which controls the Sears and Kmart chains -- will temporarily continue as chairman when he steps into the CEO position. "In light of Lou's decision to step down, the board feels it is important that there is continuity of leadership during this important period of transformation and improvement at Sears," Lampert said in a statement.

Twenty years ago this month, Rage Against the Machine released its self-titled debut album, a searing collision of hip-hop, funk and hard rock mixed with a pointed political invective. In a bit of timing that was maybe part coincidence and part destiny, it arrived in the wake of the L.A. riots. But even before Florence and Normandie erupted in April 1992, the local band was warning of the conditions that would give birth to the riots, not unlike the socially minded hip-hop of the time.

A St. Petersburg, Fla., woman was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant Saturday after being photographed two months ago riding a manatee. Florida's Manatee Sanctuary Act protects the endangered sea mammal and says in part, “It is unlawful for any person at any time, by any means, or in any manner intentionally or negligently to annoy, molest, harass, or disturb or attempt to molest, harass, or disturb any manatee.” Ana Gloria Garcia Gutierrez, 53,...

Julie Hewett, makeup department head for "Hitchcock," can take 50 years off any face. And that's precisely what she did when she created 1959-to-'61-era looks for Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, James D'Arcy, Helen Mirren and more than 200 extras in the film, released by Fox Searchlight, that explores the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville, during the "Psycho" shoot. Raised in Pacific Palisades, Hewett, 56, grew up watching classic movies. Her father, a child psychologist, would tell her how as a little boy he used to stand outside Paramount Studios with this autograph book, waiting for Bette Davis and other golden age stars.

Miguel "Kaleidoscope Dream" (RCA) Sounding both fresh and classic, R&B singer-guitarist Miguel's searing "Kaleidoscope Dream" offers further evidence of a genre being reborn in 2012. Along with artists such as Frank Ocean and the Weeknd pushing for an open-door policy when it comes to influence, sound and lyrical themes, the San Pedro-born Miguel's second album is as thick and varied as they come. "Don't Look Back," for example, features as its rhythm a sample from the Zombies classic "Time of the Season" that near the end devolves into a slow drawl of analog synthesizer and warbles like it's being chopped and screwed.

Thick albacore steaks are dressed up in this recipe, served with a rich warm sauce of pumpkin and sesame seeds flavored with toasted chiles, garlic and a touch of vinegar. Top the dish with fresh pickled red onion for a little tang and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro. This recipe takes a little advance preparation (to give those homemade pickled onions time to marinate), but the results are well worth it, and much of the work can be done in advance. As for those tuna steaks, they cook up in minutes!

It's almost the end of an era with the announcement (May 14) that Sears is selling off its Coldwell Banker residential real estate business. The 1980s business school MBA graduates mesmerized industry leaders with smoke and mirrors about the potential synergism of a financial empire wherein home buyers would buy Sears refrigerators, Allstate insurance, Dean Witter stocks, ad infinitum. This class of MBAs had literally no experience in the real world of business, yet it convinced corporate executives with words they wanted to hear.

Battered retailer Sears Holdings Corp. posted its largest quarterly loss Thursday since Sears and Kmart combined three years ago, providing surprising results far below Wall Street forecasts. The company said it lost $56 million, or 43 cents a share, in its first quarter as it fought for shoppers and cut prices to clear merchandise from store floors. That is a dramatic reversal from the retailer's year-earlier profit of $223 million, or $1.45 a share. "It was a pretty ugly quarter," said Morningstar analyst Kim Picciola.

Sears Holdings Corp., in an effort to control its healthcare costs, has joined a private insurance exchange and will provide employees with a fixed allowance to buy insurance. The retailer, which has more than 90,000 workers eligible for coverage, becomes one of the largest U.S. employers to move away from traditional defined benefit health plans in favor of an approach that effectively shifts the choice of health insurance from companies to workers. Sears said it was optimistic that more choice and competition would drive down healthcare costs.

Sears Holdings Corp., one of the earliest members of the S&P 500, is being kicked out of the stock index next week and replaced by a Dutch chemicals company. The retailer, which trades on Nasdaq, will be dropped from the index when the market closes Sept. 4. LyondellBasell Industries in the Netherlands will take its place. Sears has struggled with falling sales, store closures, brand spinoffs and consumer skepticism. But its retail problems didn't cause its expulsion from the S&P 500. Instead, the number of shares Sears made available to the public, known as the "public float," "has been well below the 50% threshold for inclusion for an extended period of time and is no longer considered representative of the index," according to a statement from S&P Dow Jones Indices.