L.A. Times - Points West | Steve Lopez

The emergency room bill is enough to make you sick

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

A doctor is flummoxed by the costs when he becomes the patient.

Are you ready to play "How much was that visit to the ER?"

High fashion in the medicinal high business

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Dr. Sona Patel, who worked as a model while going to medical school, is not your ordinary medical marijuana specialist. Her ads and her appearance emphasize glamour.

The physician was wearing high heels, a tight-fitting white lab coat and lots of gold jewelry, which is not quite what you expect to see when you visit a pot doctor. Nor do you expect to see a chandelier the size of a Christmas tree in a waiting room decorated like an Indian palace.

Zuma Jay's righteous choice: clean water

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The incoming mayor of Malibu says it's time to replace the septic tanks that are fouling the Malibu coast.

If Matthew, Mark, Luke or John were alive and still writing, Malibu would definitely get a mention in an updated version of the Bible. There'd be a parable about a blessed place of heavenly natural beauty attracting people who foul their nest, introducing pollution to paradise.

Iraq, Afghanistan veterans need more help at home

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

More resources may be needed to help care-givers cope with a rising caseload of damaged or suicidal veterans in need of counseling.

Floyd Meshad, Vietnam vet, was in a Ralphs supermarket in Westchester when his cellphone rang at 9 o'clock one evening not long ago.

Bangladeshis, Koreans stake out their pieces of L.A.

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

A yearlong border skirmish comes to an end as the two ethnic groups agree to the boundaries of Little Bangladesh, a four-block stretch within Koreatown.

There was no telling how many people would show up Tuesday morning to discuss, one last time, how much of Koreatown should be surrendered to the Bangladeshi community.

A bit player in L.A.'s medical marijuana theater

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Many patients may be scammers and a raft of dispensaries may operate illegally, but it's a murky area. Once you've said it's legal for people in pain, how do you decide whose pain is real?

All right, so I'm a few days late with this update on my medical marijuana adventures. In answer to readers, no, I was not too stoned to write about it earlier.

Can he even get to first base?

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0700

A columnist pitches an offer to a woman of substance.

Dear Jamie McCourt:

A visit to the medical marijuana doctor

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Atop a Glendale high-rise, a physician checks symptoms and determines if marijuana is the right course of treatment. It seems it often is.

Oooh, there's a pinch in my lower back.

Over cigars, getting a handle on Trutanich

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The L.A. city attorney's tough talk has ruffled feathers. Getting things done requires a certain amount of sophistication and nuance, and nobody wants a public servant behaving like a thug.

I was strolling toward the entrance of the Homegirl Cafe when Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich, a San Pedro boy, lumbered toward me like a longshoreman, his fist clenched.

Sculptures at LAPD's new home likened to 'cow splat'

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Police Chief Bratton doesn't care for the cast-bronze pieces, which consist of six large black blobs and two tall, skinny structures. Others have mixed reactions.

As luck would have it, the nearly completed LAPD headquarters is right outside my office window, so I've been bird-dogging the project from Day One to make sure taxpayers don't get ripped off. Which brings me to the $500,000 worth of public art that's just been installed on the west side of the building.