L.A. mayor-elect Eric Garcetti favors low-key over glitz

Garcetti's made few major announcements, his transition team is short on big names and he's forgoing a black-tie inaugural ball. He's also on a city listening tour.

Here's a teacher I'd want for my children

Kaylie Gomez, a rookie teacher in a South L.A. neighborhood, imparts skills that don't show up on achievement tests.

Battery recycler in Vernon allowed to reopen — for now

The state ordered the Exide plant to shut in April, citing arsenic emissions and calling it a public health risk. A judge rules it can restart operations, pending a hearing.

Slain woman had described harassment, threats by husband

Michelle Kane, who was stabbed Saturday, said her husband had 'threatened to slice my throat' and alleged a long history of drug abuse. Michael Kane was arrested Monday in Joshua Tree.

L.A. Mayor-elect Garcetti picks longtime aide as chief of staff

Ana Guerrero, a former community organizer, has been working for Garcetti since 2001, most recently as chief of staff of his City Council office.

L.A. City Council to vote on plastic bag ban

A fine for giving 'single-use' plastic bags to customers would apply to convenience stores, food marts and any large retailer that sells groceries.

Man accused of murder 7 years after ex-wife found dead

Lonnie Kocontes is arraigned in Orange County. Prosecutors say he threw his ex-wife off a ship off the Italian coast to gain more than $1 million.

FBI names former USC professor to list of most wanted fugitives

Walter Lee Williams faces charges of sexual exploitation of children abroad, the agency says. He taught anthropology, gender studies and history.

Funding to improve drinking water has come at a slow drip

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.

S.F. tenants win a battle over rental conversions

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

Lawmakers should close bullet-buying loophole

Santa Monica gunman John Zawahri's stockpile of 1,300 bullets shows the need for legislation to restrict ammunition purchases.

Schools with fewer needy students decry California funding change

California's new funding formula gives more money to districts with more needy students and less to districts with fewer needy students.

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

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.

Neighbors tried to intervene as teacher allegedly killed ex-wife

Residents in a quiet West Hills neighborhood came to the aid Michelle Kane, whose estranged husband, Michael, an elementary school educator, is being sought in her death.

Lawyer ties bid to oust Glendale councilman to gun-show vote

Two Glendale residents say council violated policy by naming outgoing councilman Frank Quintero to a vacant council seat. Quintero had voted to ban gun shows on city property.

Deployment to war doesn't figure in majority of military suicides

Latest stats show 52% who killed themselves in 2008-11 weren't in Iraq or Afghanistan. Some experts say many recruits bring mental health issues with them.

Pasadena considers converting historic YWCA into boutique hotel

Officials are negotiating a deal to restore the 91-year-old vacant building, designed by one of the country's first female architects, in the city's Civic Center.

L.A. business improvement districts' value questioned

The L.A. arts area's improvement district was recently ordered disbanded. Critics say some districts are bloated bureaucracies. Others see benefits.

Gov. Brown targets enterprise-zone tax credits

The program rewards companies for hiring in certain places, but recipients are secret, and Brown says some just move jobs from one part of California to another. He wants a new system.

Human gene patenting is a thing most of us aren't ready for

Few were disappointed in the Supreme Court's ruling that the natural human gene cannot be commercially owned. Just ask Angelina Jolie.

MTA bus driver killed in crash 'looked after everyone else first'

Olivia Gamboa was a devout Catholic who worked the early shift so she could take care of her grandson.

California lawmakers finalize $96.3-billion budget

The budget includes healthcare expansion and financial aid for middle-class college students. Gov. Jerry Brown touted it on Twitter.

'Less liberal' is the new conservative in state Capitol

With Democrats in control, Republicans rely on Gov. Jerry Brown to be their budget voice.

Family files claim in death of man beaten by officers

David Silva died in early May after the beating in Kern County. An autopsy had deemed the death accidental due to hypertensive heart disease.

Still feeling that garden glow

A faded clipping of a prize-winning head of lettuce reminds a columnist just how much she missed gardening. For her, the process is as rewarding as the product.

Eating disorders plague teenage boys, too

A survey shows that L.A. male high school students are about as likely as females to use diet aids or laxatives or vomiting to lose weight. The numbers challenge old assumptions.

Teacher at Catholic school loses job over ex-husband's actions

Diocese of San Diego says it fears that the inmate, serving time for domestic abuse, could pose a threat to those at the El Cajon school after his release.

Residents have Garcetti's ear before he takes office

The mayor-elect is preaching a gospel of civic rebirth and lower expectations in a series of 'Back to Basics' forums in the weeks before he replaces Antonio Villaraigosa.

Remorse, but not hate, in note left by Santa Monica gunman

John Zawahri gave no clue about the motive for his deadly rampage, police say.

Lesbians and gays see a more accepting society

But many in the LGBT community responding to a Pew Research Center survey said they still had faced slurs, rejection or violence.