In Focus: Staff photos from Dec. 14-20
Shovel in hand, Mike Cerrato walks up an onramp to the southbound 14 Freeway in Palmdale, one of three major highways closed for a spell by an arctic storm that dumped snow and rain across Southern California. Heading home to Santa Clarita from a boarding trip in Mammoth, Cerrato was stranded overnight and decided to shovel snow to relieve boredom and work off some of the fast food he had been eating. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Meghan Brooks enshrines the moment as she and Alaina Flad stop in Gorman near Tejon Pass. The pair were making their way home to
William Lucas of Arrowbear in the San Bernardino Mountains digs out from fresh snowfall. Ski run operators in nearby Big Bear were jubilant about the storm and the snow it brought to the area’s slopes. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Tommy Fynn of Brisbane, Australia, is covered in mineral-laced mud from the bottom of Wild Willy’s hot spring near Mammoth Lakes. The spring is on Bureau of Land Management land and a favorite of campers looking for relatively cheap alternatives to more expensive vacation options in the tourist area. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, left, who helped Bettie Page with legal issues late in life, attended funeral services for the famed pinup queen at Pierce Bros. Westwood Village Memorial Park. The Rev. Robert Schuller, right, conducted the rite. Page, most famous for the 20,000 photos taken of her by amateur photographers between 1949 and 1957, died Dec. 11 at 85. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Quarterback Barry Heads Jr. shares a joyous moment with dad Barry Sr. after leading San Pedro to a co-City Section Championship Division title with a last-second, game-tying touchdown pass against Narbonne at the Coliseum. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love, left, has a run-in with the Lakers’ Andrew Bynum at Staples Center. Love, the rookie from UCLA, had an unsuccessful return to town, as his team fell to L.A., 98 to 86. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Adam Morales, Andrew Guiding Young Cloud and Matthew Lovio, from left, of the Gabrielino-Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians line up for a public intertribal procession. The event near the Westchester bluffs followed private ceremonies at which Native Americans witnessed the reburial of the remains of Gabrielino Tongvas that had been discovered during construction of the Playa Vista luxury housing development. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
Ballerinas perform in the Kirov Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The holiday classic, renowned for Tchaikovsky’s masterful score, was created for the St. Petersburg troupe in 1892. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)
Skipper Peter Barbour prepares the dinghy with which he hopes to win the grand prize in this year’s Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade. “I go all out,” Barbour says. “My friends tell me, ‘Peter, you are out of control.’ ” He equips his boat -- D25, short for Dec. 25 -- with about 6,125 colored lights, a speaker system and half a ton of generators, cables and other equipment. (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)