Sparks

Today, electricity is so inextricably woven into the fabric of our lives that we don't even think about it: We flick a switch and a light comes on - until, as millions in the Northeast discovered during Hurricane Sandy, it doesn't, and you learn that it can take days or even weeks to restore the complex electric grid inaugurated more than a hundred years ago. One of the many pleasures of "Age of Edison," Ernest Freeberg's engaging history of the spread...

A phone company whose equipment on a top-heavy pole was partly to blame for the 2007 Malibu Canyon fire has agreed to pay $14.5 million under a proposed settlement, according to legal documents. NextG Networks of California Inc., now owned by Crown Castle NG West Inc., will pay $8.5 million into California's general fund and $6 million to hire independent engineers to inspect each of the company's attachments on tens of thousands of poles in California. Any pole found to be overloaded or decayed would be replaced, with co-owners sharing the cost.

The other L.A. pro sports teams have been sent their thoughts and condolences after the death Monday of Lakers owner Jerry Buss. Clippers: "Jerry Buss was a visionary, a winner and a dear friend. Our city will miss him, our league will miss him and the Sterling family will truly miss him. " Dodgers: "The Dodgers extend our deepest sympathies to the Buss family and the Lakerson the passing of one of the greatest owners in NBA history. " Angels: "A sad day for Southern California sports.

TEMPE, Ariz. - New Angels slugger Josh Hamilton ruffled some feathers in Texas on Monday when he told a television reporter that the Dallas-Fort Worth area isn't “a true baseball town,” a statement that is sure to earn him even more boos when the Angels play the Rangers in Texas on April 5. “Texas, especially Dallas, has always been a football town,” Hamilton, a five-time All-Star with the Rangers, said in an interview with Gina Miller...

A recent report saying Facebook will receive $429 million in tax refunds has sparked outrage on the Web, given that the company made more than $1 billion in profits in 2012. Facebook is getting the refund in large part because of a $1.03-billion tax break, according to the report released by Citizens for Tax Justice, a tax research and advocacy group. That tax break was a result of stock Facebook awarded its employees in 2012, when the company went public. QUIZ: How much do you know about Facebook?

In “A Heap of Livin',” playwright Elliot Shoenman surveys the minefield of family interactions, in this case between a widowed folksinger and his two very different daughters. In that, this undemanding comedy-drama recalls such populist crowd-pleasers as “On Golden Pond” and “Marvin's Room,” at least in intent. Ramblin' Harry Roe (Lawrence Pressman) has seen his share of Pete Seeger-esque trials and travails, but now he's declining. His two children, both whimsically named after John Steinbeck novels -- longtime caregiver Pearl (Didi Conn)

During her four seasons gliding through "Dancing With the Stars" in skin-tight, bedazzled body suits and spray tans, professional ballroom dancer Julianne Hough confidently guided an Olympic gold medalist and an Indianapolis 500 champion to victory. Getting Hollywood directors to consider her a true leading lady, however, hasn't been easy. "When people's primary association with you is dancing around in a sequin costume being sweet and happy, that sophistication doesn't always come through," said Diablo Cody, the writer of films including "Juno" and "Young Adult" who encountered Hough when looking for stars for her directorial debut, "Paradise," due out later this year.

"Safe Haven," the latest weepie from a Nicholas Sparks novel, takes close to two hours to get where it's going - the intersection of Lovers Lane and nowhere. Starring Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel, this sloppy sentimental journey is long on beauty shots, short on depth and seriously intent on tugging your heartstrings. Indeed, it demands you reach for those tissues. Sob. The real cause for tears is that Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallstrom finds himself in the Nicholas Sparks business these days.

Rihanna wore lots and lots of rings at the 55th Grammy Awards on Sunday, but the one on the third finger of her left hand set off alarm bells in some quarters. That and the fact that she was snuggling with Chris Brown. Could she be engaged to Brown, her sometime boyfriend and one-time abuser? No, apparently this ring was just a ring, part of more than $2 million worth of baubles on loan from jeweler Neil Lane for the occasion. [E!] Energetic fashion designer Betsey Johnson is known for performing cartwheels at the end of her shows.

New research is raising doubts about a popular form of stroke therapy that aims to snatch a blood clot from a patient's brain and restore vital blood flow before serious damage is done. In clinical trials presented this week at the American Heart Assn.'s International Stroke Conference, researchers found that use of these devices did not improve health outcomes for stroke patients who made it to the hospital in time to use a clot-busting medication called tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA. The devices, first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2005, have taken the stroke community by storm and are widely used in stroke centers across the country to clear clots that have cut off blood to the brain.