Service Cutbacks

In a cheery classroom decorated with posters exhorting students to "Dive into a Good Book," four first-graders, who are struggling to read, recited words ending with the "ang" sound -- bang, rang, sang, fang, gang. The Foothill Ranch Elementary School students used their index fingers to trace the letters into squares of felt and carpet, imprinting the connection between the letters and the sound into their minds.

The Los Angeles Unified School District announced Thursday it is canceling the bulk of its summer school programs, the latest in a statewide wave of cutbacks expected to leave hundreds of thousands of students struggling for classes. The reductions, which will force many parents to scramble for child care, are the most tangible effect of the multibillion-dollar state financial cuts to education. Community colleges also have announced summer program cancellations.

Even as President-elect Barack Obama plans an ambitious push to expand health coverage nationwide, states are slashing health services to their poorest residents amid the economic downturn. The unprecedented cuts in public assistance come as millions of Americans are losing their jobs and health insurance.

University of California officials on Friday proposed reducing freshman enrollment for next fall by 2,300 students, or about 6%, to cope with what they said is insufficient state funding. Enrollment would not be cut at UCLA and UC Berkeley, the most popular campuses, and expansion would continue at UC Merced, the newest school, according to the plan that is to be reviewed by the UC regents next week.

Since the cancellation of virtually all public summer school in Los Angeles, Yolanda Murrieta has been scrambling to find alternatives to keep her three children busy and academically engaged. Tutoring, which would cost hundreds of dollars a month, is not an option. Instead, Murrieta is cobbling together a schedule that includes regular library visits and trips to the Boys & Girls Club.

US Airways Group Inc., shrinking its fleet and cutting jobs to blunt record fuel prices, will drop flights to four cities in Oklahoma, Oregon and Florida. Service will end Sept. 3 to Oklahoma City; Medford, Ore.; and Panama City, Fla.; and service to Eugene, Ore., will end Oct. 1, spokesman Philip Gee said Friday in an e-mail. The reductions are part of the plan disclosed June 13 by Tempe, Ariz.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles is eliminating its Saturday operating hours this month, another victim of the state budget battle. Ordinarily, 53 DMV offices are open one Saturday morning every month, which would have fallen on Aug. 16. But the DMV has been grappling with service cuts since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on July 31 ordered the layoff of thousands of part-time employees, limited overtime and imposed a hiring freeze.

Facing declining enrollment, which means less money for Orange County's largest school district, Santa Ana Unified will eliminate 60 teaching positions and cut $15 million from its upcoming budget, according to the district. Santa Ana has cut $58 million from its budgets since 2004. "The last few years, we've hacked. The effort has always been to keep it out of the classroom," said district spokeswoman Susan Brandt. This year "we may wind up getting to things like the music and arts program.

Four months into a radical overhaul of the former Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center near Watts, the long-troubled hospital shrinks to its smallest size today. The restructured medical center, renamed Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, has been scaled down to just 48 beds, including six for obstetrics. Plans call for the hospital to grow to 120 beds -- far fewer than the 233 it once had.

About 5 p.m. Friday, the signs went up at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, in Spanish and English: "Emergency Department Closed. No Emergency Services." Later, under a setting sun, a small group of protesters arrived with their own signs. They were joined briefly by Frankie Boyett, a patient receiving treatment for a heart condition, who ambled outside in his light blue hospital gown.