Swimming Pools

The wife of actor William Shatner was discovered dead on the bottom of the couple's swimming pool after an apparent drowning, police said Tuesday. Nerine Shatner, a model by trade, an actress by aspiration, accidentally drowned while swimming alone Monday evening, police said. The Shatners had been married nearly two years, although William Shatner had filed for divorce last fall, according to court records.

At least two children in a pool in La Cañada Flintridge got the scare of a lifetime Monday afternoon when a bear lumbered over the backyard fence, sending them scurrying indoors. Paradise Canyon Elementary School was put on lockdown as television news footage from overhead helicopters showed the bear moving from yard to yard. The animal was spotted about 2 p.m. near Viro Road and Crown Avenue, said Lt. Brian Fitch of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station. Flintridge Prep was also put on lockdown, an official there said.

Does the bottom of your swimming pool feel pitted and rough, scratching the feet of unwary swimmers? Does keeping your pool full mean running the water day and night? Has your pool plaster suddenly turned a bizarre new color?

The majestic landscape of Yosemite National Park - carved out of granite and shaped by powerful natural forces over the eons - is timeless and untouchable. Other attractions in the park … not so much. Some of Yosemite's much-loved amenities, including swimming pools, bike, horse and raft rentals, and an ice skating rink, would be jettisoned under a plan to restore the Merced River corridor to a more natural state. The Merced Wild and Scenic River Plan would reconfigure much of the Yosemite Valley by removing or relocating familiar concessions.

Delores Jackson, the ex-wife of Michael Jackson's brother Tito, accidentally drowned in a swimming pool while visiting the Ladera Heights home of her boyfriend, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reported Sunday. Jackson, 39, had been swimming with her boyfriend, Donald Bohana, 58, at his home on Holt Avenue about 4 a.m. Saturday. Bohana got out of the pool and left briefly. When he returned, he found Jackson at the bottom of the pool, Sheriff's Deputy Rich Erickson said.

At least three small children have drowned in backyard swimming pools in the Bay Area during the last few weeks, prompting experts to warn parents to be more careful. Nationwide, nearly 400 toddlers drown in residential pools each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Consumer Products Safety Commission. About 5,000 children are hospitalized annually because of near-drowning episodes. More than half suffer irreversible brain damage.

New swimming pools could soon be safer. The City Council on Tuesday plans to require that new swimming pools be protected with safety covers and doors with exit alarms and self-latching devices. The intention is to keep unsupervised children from straying near pools. City attorneys suggest that the council repeal existing codes and adopt the Swimming Pool Safety Act, which took effect statewide Jan. 1 in response to a growing number of deaths.

A Huntington Beach woman drowned Monday in her backyard swimming pool, police said. Estelle Clark, 53, was pronounced dead when paramedics arrived at the house on Hopetown Lane. Her husband, Jack Clark, told police he found her floating face-down in the water, fully clothed, and tried to resuscitate her before calling for help. Paramedics arrived shortly after 11 a.m. Police Lt.

The Hubert Humphrey Park swimming pool in Pacoima was dedicated Thursday as the San Fernando Valley's only year-round public pool. The pool, however, will not be open to the public during its new winter hours. Instead, it will be used to train three north Valley high school swimming teams. Although several Los Angeles pools stay open year-round, the Valley operates no swimming pools for the public during the winter.

Twenty-seven of the city's 56 public swimming pools, closed for the season on Tuesday, will reopen today because of a lingering--albeit weakening--heat wave that has choked Southern California since the weekend. In an emergency measure, the Los Angeles City Council allocated $100,000 on Tuesday to reopen the pools until school starts next week. The 12-week pool season ended on Labor Day, when temperatures at the Civic Center topped 100 degrees for the third straight day.

According to a survey conducted by the Bertelsmann Religion Foundation Monitor, the United States is the most religious nation in the industrialized world. The Pew Forum's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey found that 88% of the Americans it surveyed are fairly or absolutely certain that God exists, and that more than half of them say religion is "very important" in their lives. Personally, I've always had a tenuous relationship with organized religion, especially Christianity. As it was for most African Americans of my generation, the church was a powerful force in my childhood.

Between the brouhaha of the winter holidays and the end of the school year is that coveted halfway point known as spring break. To gear up for that last lap of the academic year, grab the kids and significant others and go recharge at some posh pools. Many Southern California hotels have cerulean gems that allow you to escape from it all without traveling too far or breaking the bank. Seeking pools outside Los Angeles? We have some destinations that may surprise you, but first, perch-worthy pools close to home.

This 1920s Spanish-style house had its beginnings in old Hollywood. The villa, which features a rotunda entry, stenciled ceilings and a tower room, was built for early film producer William Sistrom and designed by art director Harry McAfee. Location: 7475 Hillside Ave., Los Angeles 90046 Asking price: $4.995 million Year built: 1926 House size: Seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, 5,500 square feet Lot size: 17,432 square feet Features: Courtyard with fountain, inlaid wood floors, stone fireplace, French doors, den, two-room staff wing, guest apartment, swimming pool, terrace with pergola About the area: Last year, 290 single-family homes sold in the 90046 ZIP Code at a median price of $1.025 million, according to DataQuick.

Faye Resnick of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" has purchased a home in the Hollywood Hills for $1.605 million. The traditional-style house is surrounded by mature landscaping and sits on slightly more than half an acre with fruit trees, patios and a swimming pool. Features include an open floor plan, with hardwood floors, a living room fireplace and a wall of French doors in the dining room that open to a balcony with treetop views. There are three bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and 2,567 square feet of living space.

Actress Brooke Mueller , a.k.a. a former Mrs. Charlie Sheen, has sold her compound in Tarzana for $3.15 million. She bought the property less than a year ago from Scary Spice, a.k.a. singer Melanie J. Brown , for $3 million, public records show. The main house, a guesthouse, a detached movie theater and a swimming pool sit on more than half an acre. Outdoor living spaces include a dining room with chandeliers, a living room, a kitchen and a cabana. There are four bedrooms, six bathrooms and 9,200 square feet of living space.

Yosemite Valley would have more camp sites and parking spaces - and the number of daily visitors would not be reduced - under a National Park Service plan intended to ease congestion in one of the country's most scenic spots. The proposal is the agency's third attempt to produce a legally acceptable management plan for the Merced River and the ever popular valley that it flows through. Environmental groups have twice sued the agency, winning court orders that compelled the park service to draw up new blueprints.

Builders of new swimming pools and hot tubs in the city could be required to install barriers or alarms between the home and the water under proposed rules that will go before a public hearing later this month. The City Council will hold a hearing April 28 to consider a proposed law endorsed last week by the Planning Commission. The commission asked the council to adopt the law to help prevent swimming pool drowning deaths. The U.S.

A young child was being treated late Saturday at Children's Hospital of Orange County after nearly drowning at a Rancho Santa Margarita community pool. About 12 adults and 40 children were celebrating at the pool after a Little League game when the child was found submerged in the pool. Lifeguards, with the assistance of two nurses who happened to be present, performed CPR. When paramedics arrived, the child had labored breathing and was semiconscious.

Madonna has put her mansion in Beverly Hills up for sale in the Multiple Listing Service at $22.5 million. During her nearly decade of ownership, the pop icon has extensively remodeled and expanded the estate, which sits behind gates on 1.25 acres of landscaped grounds. The compound includes a 500-foot tree-lined driveway, a nine-bedroom main house, two guesthouses, a resort-size swimming pool and a tennis court. There is a two-story dining room, a gym, a theater/screening room and 17,000 square feet of living space.

Actor Matt Damon may have been a neighbor to "Good Will Hunting" pal Ben Affleck for several months now, but his purchase of an estate in Pacific Palisades for $15 million just appeared on the Multiple Listing Service after the first of the year. Damon's contemporary three-level house features 35-foot vaulted mahogany ceilings, an atrium, a floating stairway, an office and a gym. Including staff quarters, there are seven bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and 13,508 square feet of living space.