CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
July 25, 2010 | Evan Halper
California taxpayers are on the hook when the state's giant public pension system — lately plagued by corruption scandals and huge losses — makes a bad investment. Yet they are permitted to see little of what goes into its investment decisions. Officials at the California Public Employees' Retirement System have shrouded many of their multimillion-dollar transactions in secrecy, refusing to release analyses of potential investments, meeting materials and correspondence relating to venture capital, real estate and other private equity holdings.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
July 18, 2010 | By Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times
Muslims throughout Temecula and Murrieta have saved up for years to build a mosque to replace the plain white industrial building, tucked between a pipeline company and packaging warehouse, where they now gather to pray. But as the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley moves ahead with plans to build on a four-acre plot of vacant land near Temecula's gentle hills and invading housing developments, plans for the new mosque have stirred hostility in this mostly conservative community in southwest Riverside County.
BUSINESS
July 19, 2010 | From Reuters
Boeing Co's new 787 Dreamliner touched down in Britain on Sunday on its first trip outside the United States, thrilling hordes of eager planespotters who came out to see the breakthrough carbon-composite plane. A media circus ensued as Boeing executives, including CEO Jim McNerney, emerged smiling from the plane, though McNerney did not actually fly to England with the plane, instead getting on board after landing. Social media was active with blow-by-blow coverage of the arrival, pointing to the intense interest in the plane not only within the business but also in the flight-enthusiast community.
WORLD
July 19, 2010 | By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times
When an airport that symbolized the sweep of 20th century German history shut down in the capital of this industrious nation two years ago, everyone had an idea about what to do with the colossal piece of prime real estate. Turn it into a shopping center and amusement park, one famous architect urged. Nonsense, others scoffed — we need more affordable housing. Or how about a scientific research center with giant satellite dishes connecting Berlin to the heavens? Or maybe a giant artificial lake with a beach at one end?
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
July 20, 2010 | John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times
Oakland could approve a plan Tuesday to set up four marijuana factory farms, a step that could usher in the era of Big Pot. The proposal is a testament to just how fast the marijuana counterculture is transforming into a corporate culture. And it has ignited a contentious debate in Oakland that could spread as cities face pressure to regulate marijuana cultivation and find ways to tax it. "Everybody knows it's going bigger and big money is moving in," said Dale Gieringer, an Oakland resident and prominent marijuana activist.
ENTERTAINMENT
July 18, 2010 | By Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times
David Perel's celebrity news and gossip website, RadarOnline.com, was so overrun with Internet traffic Friday morning that it temporarily crashed. "It was the longest 20 minutes of my life. The tech people were telling me not to pull my own Mel Gibson," joked Perel, the site's executive vice president. He was, of course, referring to Gibson's angry language in a series of audio tapes released by Radar, in which the actor loudly berates his former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva and spews racial slurs.
OPINION
July 22, 2010 | By William J. Astore
When I was a kid in the 1970s, I loved reading accounts of American bravery during World War II. And I was proud that my uncle had earned a Bronze Star for his service on Guadalcanal. So it came as something of a shock when, in 1980, I first heard Yoda's summary of warriors and war in "The Empire Strikes Back." Luke Skywalker, if you remember, tells the wizened Jedi master that he seeks "a great warrior." "Wars not make one great," Yoda replies. I was struck by the truth of that statement even then, as I was preparing for a career in the military.
NATIONAL
July 23, 2010 | By Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times
He was the local weatherman, sending up weather balloons twice a day above this remote community of 450 full-time residents near Bristol Bay and preparing short-term forecasts for pilots and fishermen. She was a stay-at-home mom who drove their 4-year-old to preschool, sang in the town choir and picked berries with her girlfriends. She took part in the community play, in which she portrayed a fairy godmother who acted as a prosecutor in court, confronting the Big Bad Wolf for his crimes against Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Little Pigs and the Boy Who Cried Wolf.
HEALTH
July 5, 2010 | By Karen Ravn, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Pain. It stabs. It burns. It aches. It throbs. It gnaws at you. It knocks you for a loop. But, sooner or later, it goes away. Unless it doesn't. That's a nightmare come true for millions of Americans who spend every day in a world of hurt. And the problem will get only bigger. "As our demographics change, and we live longer, more people will experience chronic pain," says Dr. Lynn Webster, medical director of the Lifetree Clinical Research and Pain Clinic in Salt Lake City.
BUSINESS
July 18, 2010 | By Alex Pham and David Sarno, Los Angeles Times
Emma Teitgen, 12, thought the chemistry book her teacher recommended would make perfect bedside reading. Perfect because it might help her fall asleep. Then she downloaded "The Elements: A Visual Exploration" to her iPad. Instead of making her drowsy, it blossomed in her hands. The 118 chemical elements, from hydrogen to ununoctium, came alive in vivid images that could be rotated with a swipe of the finger. Tapping on link after link, Teitgen was soon engrossed in a world of atomic weights and crystal structures.