L.A. Times - Sparks

3 Naval Academy football players charged with sexual assault

From the Associated Press — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:46:00 PDT

The suspects, charged with an attack on a female midshipman, have not been identified.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The U.S. Naval Academy on Wednesday charged three football players with sexually assaulting a female midshipman at an off-campus house in Annapolis more than a year ago, a case that has brought renewed focus to how the nation's military academies handle reports of sexual assaults.

Yasiel Puig, Hanley Ramirez make Dodgers' offense go in 6-0 win

By Steve Dilbeck — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:11:00 PDT

And then there was the other side. Not the dark side, the one full of light. Or at least timely hitting, great defense and sterling starting pitching. The team the Dodgers thought they would be.

Chris Brown cites 1st Amendment in fight over murals

By Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:03:00 PDT

Attorney Mark Geragos files an appeal after the singer was cited for 8-foot-tall figures of monsters on the walls of his Hollywood Hills home.

Scary monsters adorning the outside of singer Chris Brown's Hollywood Hills home are his personal art and he isn't about to give up his 1st Amendment right to expression because of a city citation, his attorney said.

Led by Republicans, House passes measure to limit abortions

By Michael A. Memoli — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:37:00 PDT

WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives passed legislation to enact stringent restrictions on abortion Tuesday, acting on an issue championed by social conservatives in the Republican majority and inviting a possible new challenge to constitutional abortion rights.

Spurs have best Manu for job, beat Heat for 3-2 lead in NBA Finals

By Mike Bresnahan — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 22:05:00 PDT

Manu Ginobili, previously averaging 7.5 points in series, scores 24 to fuel 114-104 San Antonio victory that pushes LeBron James and Miami to brink of elimination.

S.F. tenants win a battle over rental conversions

By Lee Romney, Los Angeles Times — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 19:20:00 PDT

New rules will put limits on condo changeovers and the also-dreaded tenancies-in-common.

— They are two of the faces of this city's housing crisis.

Some L.A. County bus drivers say pesticides are making them ill

By Dan Weikel, Los Angeles Times — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 18:06:00 PDT

14 Metropolitan Transportation Authority drivers are pursuing workers' comp claims, and 110 have signed a petition to halt the agency's spraying of the vehicles.

Los Angeles County bus drivers say they are regularly becoming ill — sometimes while behind the wheel — from pesticides sprayed inside their vehicles by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Funding to improve drinking water has come at a slow drip

By Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 17:56:00 PDT

Officials have been slow to spend state and federal funds to address tainted water, snarling small communities in red tape that has delayed fixes for years, advocates say.

LANARE, Calif. — A bright metal drinking fountain is mounted on the wall in the community center of this tiny town west of Fresno. No one pays it any mind: The water is drawn from a well that has been contaminated with arsenic for years.

Legislators' 'hot dog' definition would aid street vendors

By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:00:00 PDT

Hawkers of such cured, cooked sausages would face less-stringent sanitation standards than sellers who cook raw foods.

SACRAMENTO — Americans have been eating hot dogs since at least 1870, when a Coney Island restaurateur started selling sausages on long buns.

North Korea calls for high-level talks with U.S.

By Jung-yoon Choi — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 04:44:00 PDT

SEOUL — The North Korean regime Sunday suggested a high-level meeting with the United States "to ease the tension on the Korean peninsula," less than a week after its scheduled working-level talks with Seoul were called off.