L.A. Times - Points West | Steve Lopez

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.

L.A. or Tahoe? Both can feel like home

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Ron Roth and his wife, native Angelenos, left the city for the alpine quiet of Tahoe City. Paradise? Perhaps it's simply a case of different dreams and degrees of compromise.

Do you ever think about other places you might move to if you could, or if you had to?

And my World Series tickets go to . . .

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Fans responding to my offer submitted a Manny-copia of thoughts for the Dodger star, who missed 50 games because of a suspension and has played far below his $18-million payday.

OK, I've read through hundreds of 50-word essays by readers who had some words of wisdom for Dodger star Manny Ramirez, and I've decided who gets my two World Series tickets.

She's called to serve -- and to surf

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York is no surfer's paradise but Mary Setterholm isn't discouraged. The clergy abuse survivor catches quick, meager waves in between divinity school classes.

There's a blue-and-white sticker on the door of Room 513 in the dormitory at Union Theological Seminary, an imposing institution of Gothic design.