Front page: Los Angeles Times | Sunday, October 26, 2014

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Family members beat the odds in winning prized firefighting jobs

Paul Pringle, who specializes in investigating corruption, writes, "Department officials say the hiring of firefighters is based purely on merit, with the best candidates selected through an exacting regimen of testing and interviews. But a Times investigation has found that the process favors one particular type of applicant: sons of L.A. County firefighters." Read the story

Steve Ballmer opens a new window as Clippers' enthusiastic owner

James Rainey, who covers politics, government and the media, reports, "At 58 and less than a year after stepping down as head of one of the world's largest corporations, the inveterate basketball gym rat, conjurer of manic YouTube moments and erstwhile pal of Microsoft founder Bill Gates arrives this week in Los Angeles to begin his own reinvention. Call it Ballmer2014." Read the story

Suspect in shooting rampage had been deported twice, officials say

Alan Zarembo, projects and investigative reporter with a focus on medicine, science and the military, and Harriet Ryan, who covers legal affairs, write that 34-year-old Luis Enrique Monroy Bracamonte was the shooter in a rampage that left two Northern California sheriff's deputies dead, according to authorities. Monroy, who is in the country illegally, was deported to Mexico for possession of narcotics for sale, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was arrested and sent back to Mexico a second time in 2001. Read the story

U.S. again turns to Syria's FSA rebels, despite known problems

Patrick J. McDonnell, who covers the Middle East, and Nabih Bulos, special correspondent, write that Washington appears to be turning to the FSA, despite the group's well-documented shortcomings, including a lack of unity, uneven battlefield and human rights records and alliances with Islamist radicals. Read the story

In key election states, conservative groups build a ground game

Maeve Reston, political reporter, writes that in Colorado and other states, the two national parties and their allies are sweeping through the suburbs with the dedication of advancing armies. The conservative nonprofit group Americans for Prosperity alone has knocked on 140,000 doors since June. Read the story