View Park Los Angeles

A fireplace ember that smoldered on wood shingles and ignited into wind-whipped flames was tentatively blamed by authorities Friday for the devastating fire in the View Park section of Southwest Los Angeles. The Thursday night blaze consumed one luxurious home, heavily damaged two others and scorched a fourth before more than 100 firefighters extinguished it 90 minutes later. There were no injuries.

A 17-year-old boy climbing security bars on a View Park residence was shot and killed by sheriff's deputies Wednesday after he tried to flee, then pointed a gun at an officer, authorities said. Deputies responded to a call about a prowler in the 4600 block of Brynhurst Avenue at 4 a.m. and saw that the suspect was holding a small, semiautomatic pistol, authorities said. Officers talked to the teenager for several minutes, trying to get him to drop the gun.

A 17-year-old boy climbing security bars on a View Park residence was shot and killed by sheriff's deputies Wednesday after he tried to flee, then pointed a gun at an officer, authorities said. Deputies responded to a call about a prowler in the 4600 block of Brynhurst Avenue at 4 a.m. and saw that the suspect was holding a small, semiautomatic pistol, authorities said. Officers talked to the teenager for several minutes, trying to get him to drop the gun.

By her own admission, Bonita Cooper is no activist. The former educator and mother of two, although conversant on topical issues and quick to offer well-informed opinions, has devoted most of her 10 years in View Park to raising her family. But when she realized two weeks ago that the View Park Library was on the county hit list of libraries slated to close because of budget cuts, Cooper snapped into action.

"Who told you to buy a brownstone in my neighborhood, on my block--on my side of the street?" yells Buggin' Out, a character in Spike Lee's latest movie "Do the Right Thing," when a white urban pioneer inadvertently stepped on his brand-new gym shoes. Across the country, black viewers painfully familiar with rampant gentrification nodded in empathy.

By her own admission, Bonita Cooper is no activist. The former educator and mother of two, although conversant on topical issues and quick to offer well-informed opinions, has devoted most of her 10 years in View Park to raising her family. But when she realized two weeks ago that the View Park Library was on the county hit list of libraries slated to close because of budget cuts, Cooper snapped into action.

Boys SOUTHERN SECTION 3AA Los Angeles Price (22-6) vs. La Canada (27-3), 4:45 p.m. at Anaheim Convention Center ? Price is a heavy favorite because of players such as 6-foot-9 Norvel Pelle, 6-8 Skylar Spencer and Colorado-bound guard Askia Booker. But veteran La Canada Coach Tom Hofman is known for having one of the best passing-game offenses in high school. Dario CiVon and Michael McGlashan are 6-2 players who thrive in Hofman's scheme, averaging 15 and 17 points.

The last time Santa Ana Mater Dei played a game at UCLA, the Monarchs lost by six points to Akron (Ohio) St. Vincent-St. Mary's in the 2003 Pango Dream Classic. "Yeah, that team had some guy named LeBron James," Monarchs Coach Gary McKnight said. The top-seeded Monarchs probably will have better memories of Pauley Pavilion after a 70-62 victory over Redondo on Saturday in the Southern California Regional Division II championship game.

A longtime renter with a stellar credit rating and a stable job, Nicolette Janssen lacked two keys she needed to becoming a homeowner: the courage to try and the right financing. The courage was bolstered by her boyfriend, Michael Stackhouse, a 27-year-old art student whose tenacious insistence that she could buy a house led Janssen to find, purchase and fix up a 1923 Craftsman bungalow near View Park in Los Angeles.

Coming off the Rodney G. King-inspired uprising of 1992, L.A. was, for a time, a pretty dismal place. But for African Americans, a bright spot emerged on, of all places, the local bestseller list of July 5 that year, where three novels written by black women jostled for position -- Terry McMillan's "Waiting to Exhale" landed the top spot, Alice Walker's "Possessing the Secret of Joy" hit No. 6 and Toni Morrison's "Jazz" No. 8.

"Who told you to buy a brownstone in my neighborhood, on my block--on my side of the street?" yells Buggin' Out, a character in Spike Lee's latest movie "Do the Right Thing," when a white urban pioneer inadvertently stepped on his brand-new gym shoes. Across the country, black viewers painfully familiar with rampant gentrification nodded in empathy.

A fireplace ember that smoldered on wood shingles and ignited into wind-whipped flames was tentatively blamed by authorities Friday for the devastating fire in the View Park section of Southwest Los Angeles. The Thursday night blaze consumed one luxurious home, heavily damaged two others and scorched a fourth before more than 100 firefighters extinguished it 90 minutes later. There were no injuries.

Summer's here and the living is easy. Make that supposed to be easy. Let's face it--stress rarely takes a holiday, which could mean that your frenetic summer state of mind may need a little help. Meditation gardens--especially the many Japanese-style gardens around the Southland--can provide the setting for rejuvenating those spiritual batteries.