BUSINESS
March 11, 2010 | By P.J. Huffstutter
For 40 years, farmer Todd Leake and his family have battled bitter cold, hungry pests and a short growing season to coax soybeans out of their fields in eastern North Dakota. The one thing they never had to fight for, though, was their seeds. A decade ago, salesmen from as many as 50 seed companies would compete for their dollars. Each would promise healthier plants, richer yields or a better discount. Today the Leakes have little choice: There are four seed companies in their area, and all sell seeds that include genetic traits patented and licensed by Monsanto Co., the world's largest seed firm.
OPINION
March 17, 2007
Re "Joining the Valley do-gooders," So-Cal Life, March 12 I thank Eryn Brown for writing about her realization that there is an organized "small army" of people willing to invest the time and energy to preserve and protect neighborhoods and communities in the San Fernando Valley from overdevelopment and traffic. Teaching "How to Be a Community Activist" is akin to a gardener planting seeds with the hope that they all will sprout under the right conditions. That's my planting plan for those in my class that day. ELLEN VUKOVICH Sherman Oaks
SPORTS
March 20, 2001
Schools seeded ninth or lower in the NCAA basketball tournament that have advanced to the regional semifinals since 1979 when the NCAA began seeding all teams: *--* 1979 Pennsylvania (9**), St. John's (10*) 1980 Lamar (10) 1981 St.
ENTERTAINMENT
August 8, 2010 | By Richard Rayner, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Baked A Novel Mark Haskell Smith Black Cat Press: 352 pp., $14 paper The first sentence of "Baked," the new thriller by Mark Haskell Smith, features a four-letter profanity. The second sentence goes: "He walked out of his house and into the white-light white heat of a bullet exploding out of a handgun…" — and the reader rests secure in the certainty that, whatever else it may or may not achieve, this narrative won't dither. Although "Baked" features odes to the virtues and variety of marijuana and not just murder and mayhem, its effect is rarely mellow.
SCIENCE
June 13, 2008 | Wendy Hansen, Times Staff Writer
Scientists using radiocarbon dating have confirmed that an ancient Judean date palm seed among those found in the ruins of Masada in present-day Israel and planted three years ago is 2,000 years old -- the oldest seed ever to germinate. The seed has grown into a healthy, 4-foot-tall seedling, surpassing the previous record for oldest germinated seed -- a 1,300-year-old Chinese lotus, researchers reported Thursday in the journal Science.
FOOD
February 26, 2003
When my husband and I moved into our new home in the East Bay in 1984, we built raised beds for our first vegetable garden. We ordered seeds from Renee Shepherd's catalog ("Seeds: A Starter Set for Epicures," Feb. 12), which made us even more enthusiastic about gardening because it was beautifully illustrated and packed with information and good recipes. After the seeds were planted, our seedlings were promptly eaten by garden pests. I wrote to Renee for pest control advice, and she took the time to send me a handwritten note with recommendations for safely ridding the garden of certain pests.