News

• Orphanage is built and a teen's wish comes true
  A year to the day after she buried her son, Joanie Halgrim rode in a minivan down a rocky dirt road not far from the airport in Nairobi, Kenya.
• Students, teachers exchange notes
  WINNETKA - The pressure to meet state academic standards at Sunnybrae Elementary means the school day is jam-packed with reading lessons, test preparation and quizzes.
• Thousands gather for menorah lighting
  UNIVERSAL CITY - Thousands gathered Sunday night at Universal CityWalk for an electrifying experience: lighting a 15-foot-tall menorah to observe the first of eight days of Hanukkah.
• City looks for guidance on services
  Like the state of California, the city of Los Angeles is involved in a seemingly endless game of budget balancing as it looks once again at what appears to be a built-in shortfall.
• Big bucks for bank bosses
  Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year, an Associated Press analysis reveals.
• NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL MEETINGS
  NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL MEETINGS Here is a list of this week's neighborhood council meetings.
• Load rising for `safety net' health providers
  Community clinics, already faced with shrinking state and private funding, expect patient loads to expand next year as more unemployed workers lose health insurance.
• Economy forces owners to give up pets
  A growing number of Americans are giving up their dogs and cats to animal shelters as the emotional bonds between people and pets are tested by economic ones.
• Biden will lead team boosting middle class
  KAILUA, Hawaii - President-elect Barack Obama on Sunday announced the creation of a task force to bolster the standard of living of middle-class and working families in America, tapping Vice President-elect Joe Biden to lead the effort with four members of the Cabinet.
• More Israeli cities in rocket range
  JERUSALEM - Israel's top security official warned Sunday that Gaza militants can hit more Israeli cities with longer-range rockets, on a day when rockets exploded in border towns and a coastal city after an Israel-Hamas truce expired.
• Top U.S. general in Iraq plans to quell post-election violence
  BASRA, Iraq - The top U.S. general in Iraq said he will make a decision about the future role of American troops in early spring, to allow enough time to address any violence that may arise from January's provincial elections.
• Shoe-thrower claims torture
  BAGHDAD - The television reporter who threw his shoes at President Bush was burned by a cigarette in the hours after his arrest on Dec. 14 and was beaten so badly by Iraqi security personnel that one of his teeth was knocked out, the reporter's brother said Sunday after a visit to the jail.
• Executives covet their corporate jets
  NEW YORK - Crisscrossing the country in corporate jets may no longer fly in Detroit after car executives got a dressing down from Congress.
• Firms try saving jobs by cutting other ways
  Even as layoffs are reaching historic levels, some employers have found an alternative to slashing their work force. They're nipping and tucking it instead.
• Wind blowing health hazards from old mines
  RANDSBURG - Heaps of toxic mine waste rise like church steeples over this wind-swept desert town, threatening the health of residents and of thousands of off-road bikers.
• Victims of recent wildfires gather for a holiday party
  SYLMAR - There were sandwiches and sweet rolls, and Hannah Montana dolls galore. Carolers a-caroling and Santa Claus ho-ho-ho-ing and everywhere presents for children and adults who needed them the most.
• Some L.A. County commissions seen as useless
  At least 14 of Los Angeles County's 201 commissions are ineffective or dormant and should be eliminated, according to a new draft audit obtained by the Daily News.
• Seized puppies at LAX wag way into homes
  When Liz Walker of Pasadena woke up Saturday morning, she had no idea she'd come home with a cute Maltese puppy named Noel.
• Toy store buying spree shows compassion still thrives amid recession
  It's a beautiful sight to see - 35 excited high-school leaders stampeding through a toy store at 7:30 a.m. with $27,242.52 to spend.
• Jet veers off runway in Denver; 38 people hurt
  DENVER - A Continental Airlines jet taking off from Denver veered off the runway into a ravine Saturday night, forcing passengers to evacuate on emergency slides as the plane burned, officials said.
• Ho-Ho-Ho, You're on stage ... at airport karaoke
  HOUSTON - Tis the season for red-capped Santas and red-nosed reindeers. Sleigh bells ringing and snowflakes glistening. Stockings carefully hung and yuletide carols being sung ... in an airport terminal. With a karaoke machine.
• Hanukkah begins at sundown
  Adding a little bit of light to the longest night of the year, Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, arrives at sundown today on the winter solstice.
• Storms to spend the week in Southland
  Start dreaming of a wet Christmas, as a pair of winter storms are lining up to hit Southern California on Monday and again on Christmas Eve, forecasters said Saturday.
• Some move on after tiger attack at San Francisco Zoo
  Tanya Peterson had been acting director of the San Francisco Zoo for little more than a month when she stood in the zoo's Great Hall in August and addressed the employees who were still - she was surprised to find - traumatized by the Christmas Day tiger attack.
• Rock groups cash in on popularity of music video games
  "This song is dedicated to Debbie Harry," flinty-eyed Lisa Hsuan purrs into a microphone on the red-lit stage of Hyperion Tavern. It's a cozy dive where patrons drink Coke and beer from bottles and a fading chandelier dangles overhead.
• A look at spending on classroom help
  To learn about what U.S. colleges and universities are spending on academic support for student-athletes, The Associated Press requested information from 65 schools in the six conferences that participate in football's Bowl Championship Series plus independent Notre Dame.
• Colleges invest heaviliy in pushing athletes to graduate
  OXFORD, Miss. - From the moment he arrived on campus, 320-pound tackle Michael Oher seemed destined to be a star on the University of Mississippi's football team and a failure in its classrooms.
• Book details creation of "Sesame Street" children's show
  NEW YORK - How to get to "Sesame Street" is child's play, as the chirpy theme song has assured kids daily for 39 years.
• Charitable giving grows as way to spread cheer
  NEW YORK - The motivations may vary, but the goal is the same: to spread holiday cheer and have a positive impact at the same time by making donations to charity instead of wrapping up presents.
• Afghanistan may get 30,000 more U.S. troops
  KABUL, Afghanistan - The top U.S. military officer said Saturday that the Pentagon could double the number of American forces in Afghanistan by next summer to 60,000 - the largest estimate of potential reinforcements ever publicly suggested.
• Pakistani militants kill three in attack on supply line
  PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Militants in Pakistan launched rockets at two trucks returning from delivering fuel to Western forces in Afghanistan, killing three people, an official said Saturday - the latest in a string of attacks targeting a supply route critical to the U.S. fight against