Victor

Andre Ward just became the WBA world super-middleweight boxing champion. Outfielder Marlon Byrd doubled his season-high home run total this year for the Texas Rangers. In March, British sprinter Dwain Chambers ran one of the five fastest 60-meter times in history. Each has been assisted by a man who earlier this decade orchestrated one of the darkest scams committed in sports history: Victor Conte. Conte, founder and head of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), distributed then-undetectable steroids to some of the world's most talented athletes, including Olympic star Marion Jones, the personal trainer of baseball's all-time home run king Barry Bonds, boxer Shane Mosley, baseball sluggers Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield and some NFL players.

SAN DIEGO - Alleged drug kingpin Victor Emilio Cazares, among the most wanted trafficking suspects in the United States, has been arrested in Mexico, U.S. and Mexican officials say, despite having changed his appearance through plastic surgery. A senior U.S. law enforcement official in Mexico confirmed this week that Cazares was captured April 8 at a highway checkpoint near the western city of Guadalajara. Mexican authorities on Friday confirmed Cazares was in custody. Mexican authorities did not make the arrest public at the time, and it has not been previously reported.

Victor Ortiz is less than a year removed from winning six of seven bouts by knockout or technical knockout in five rounds or fewer. It's those memories Ortiz wants to build from, not that messy upset loss to Argentina's Marcos Maidana at Staples Center last June. A one-sided performance like that on Thursday night is what the 23-year-old from Ventura needed to maintain enthusiasm among those who believe Ortiz has a world junior-welterweight title in his future. Ortiz (26-2-1, 21 KOs)

Fans tuning in late to the Angels-Twins game Wednesday night on Fox Sports West might not have known Angels pitcher Jered Weaver was throwing a no-hitter. They might have noticed had they been paying close enough attention to study the line score or other graphic, but anyone waiting for the verbal cue of hearing the words "no" and "hitter" uttered in a sequence would have to wait until after a fly ball had settled into the glove of right fielder Torii Hunter for the final out. Victor Rojas, the Angels' television play-by-play announcer, and analyst Mark Gubicza decided to stick to the unwritten baseball code that a mere mention of a no-hitter might jinx it. Rojas, whose father, Cookie, played big league baseball for 15 years, said Weaver's was the third no-hitter he's called without actually saying the words.

I disagree with Laurie Winer's review of "Victor/Victoria" (" 'Victor' Drags in Broadway Staging," Oct. 26). I thought it was great fun. And if you look as young as Julie Andrews and can sing and dance as well, you're not too old for the part, as Winer says. And what is this unisex nonsense? Julie Andrews is a very attractive, even alluring, female, as her string of hit movies over the years prove. More mention of Tony Roberts and his very funny portrayal of the aging homosexual should have been made.

St. Monica High School center Brian Williams lay face down at midcourt of the Sports Arena floor, his 6-foot 10-inch body seemingly stretching from here to the University of Maryland, which he will attend next season. Williams had just missed a free throw with five seconds remaining that would have tied Mater Dei and almost certainly sent the Southern Section 5-A division semifinal game into overtime. Instead, it was elimination time for Williams and his teammates.

'Happiness Runs' Writer-director Adam Sherman's haunting early years growing up on a hippie commune inspired his semi-autobiographical "Happiness Runs," an astoundingly bad memory piece that blows its potential dramatic heft at every turn. Certainly, how the peace-and-love generation's experiment with group living may have turned rancid is a topic ripe for narrative dissection, but Sherman never finds a safe enough distance from his traumatic past to tell an effective story.

First, the good news: The recession is over! Now, the bad news: It became a depression! VICTOR C. BROWN, Palos Verdes Estates

Read about the "late Victor Mature" in Hot Property (Nov. 4). If I'm dead, I'm the only dead actor who ever made four double bogeys on the back nine. VICTOR MATURE Editor's note: The former film star is indeed alive--and golfing--in Rancho Santa Fe.

The Democrats could win the White House in 1992 if they can find a candidate who would make the U.S. the most-favored nation. VICTOR KENYON BROWN, Los Angeles

Spring might be a good time to visit Hotel Victor in Miami's South Beach. The oceanfront Art Deco hotel that opened in 1936 and was refurbished in 2004 has a special that saves on room rates and offers a few extras too. The deal: The Spring Package at Hotel Victor, now operated by Thompson Hotels, comes with discounted room prices, two cocktails, a 15% discount on spa services and free Wi-Fi. Use the code "SPRING" when making a reservation. When: The deal is good for stays through June 30, subject to availability.

Mitt Romney left his native Michigan behind 46 years ago. He has returned repeatedly during a presidential pursuit that is now in its sixth year, but rarely with the desperation evinced now. "Michigan's been my home, and this is personal," Romney says in a new TV ad that features vintage black-and-white photos, including one of a teen-aged Mitt and his square-jawed father, the state's late governor, George Romney. The candidate was speaking of the state's economic distress, but might as well have been addressing his presidential campaign, whose fate could rest on whether he beats back a strong challenge by his newest chief opponent, Rick Santorum, in the state's Feb. 28 primary.

Reporting from New York -- They stood so close there was barely room to breathe, their cellphone cameras raised and at the ready. Hundreds of New York Giants fans crammed into a Times Square sporting goods store last week, some waiting for three hours, hoping to catch a glimpse of the city's newest Super Bowl-bound sensation. Some fans wore crisp Victor Cruz jerseys, while others sported newly minted T-shirts reading "Cruuuuuuuz" on the front - the Giants cheer that sounds like booing - with a diagram of salsa steps on the back, the star receiver's touchdown celebration of choice.

Prince Fielder's landing in Detroit was a big surprise, but it turns out the Tigers were not the most unexpected entrant in the sweepstakes. The Dodgers were secretly in at the end too, losing out only when the Tigers upped the ante after learning last week that Victor Martinez had severely injured a knee and probably will sit out the upcoming season. Needing a middle-of-the-lineup bat to protect Miguel Cabrera, the Tigers ponied up a nine-year, $214-million contract and on Thursday introduced Fielder as their newest member.

A former official of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles and two of his brothers have been charged with engaging in an elaborate scheme to enrich themselves by steering contracts for construction projects at the city's housing projects. Federal prosecutors allege that Victor Taracena, who supervised construction projects at the housing authority from 2003 to 2007, arranged for numerous contracts to be awarded to companies controlled by his brothers, Bennett A. Taracena and Diego L. Taracena.

After last year's frightening box office results, 2012 began on a more positive note with the surprise success of a low-budget horror flick. "The Devil Inside" far exceeded industry expectations upon its debut this weekend, collecting $34.5 million, according to an estimate from distributor Paramount Pictures. Heading into the weekend, pre-release audience surveys had indicated that the movie would gross no more than $15 million domestically. Instead, the movie — the only new release to hit theaters nationwide this weekend — easily unseated "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol" from the No. 1 spot.

We want to thank NBC for bringing back "Highway to Heaven." It's been our favorite for years. Michael Landon and Victor French are excellent. Ben and Shirley Bernstein, Palm Springs

"Highway to Heaven" constantly pulls at our heartstrings, especially the recent episode with Dick Van Dyke. Thanks to Michael Landon and Victor French for making Wednesday nights so very special. Sandi Kantor, Woodland Hills

Talk about a quarterback sneak. San Francisco's Alex Smith has become a pretty reliable quarterback, right under our noses. The former No. 1 pick, who many times looked to be on his way out the door, has done a very respectable job for the 49ers, who at 6-1 have the NFL's second-best record to the 7-0 Green Bay Packers. With the midway point of the season approaching, Smith is one of several players around the league who have stepped up in a big way, either emerging from the shadows or — in the case of Smith — redefining how people think of them.

Tunisia's moderate Islamist party was seeking to form a unity government Tuesday amid indications that it would win more than 40% of the seats in an assembly that will write a new constitution and test the cooperation between Islamists and secularists in building a democracy. Tunisia, which inspired the so-called Arab Spring uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, is moving beyond decades of autocracy in an effort to put together a government based on the revolution that overthrew President Zine el Abidine ben Ali in January.