The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq or who died at a U.S. hospital of their injuries:

L.A. pension boards invest millions in real estate companies that rely on city funds and planning choices.

As deaths increase, drill instructors and chaplains are teaching warning signs and prevention strategies.

The land once slated for the Belmont Learning Center features trails, playgrounds and education programs. It's downtown L.A.'s first new public park since 1895.

Escondido City Councilman Sam Abed said sure, he'd be happy to meet with me and explain how an immigrant became such an immigration hard-liner.

The $147-million project that reconnected the Orange County tidal basin with the ocean has brought an explosion of sea life.

The Aoyama tree, named for the founder of the Koyasan Buddhist Temple, is now formally designated a historic-cultural monument.

A federal judge this week postponed the corruption trial of former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona until October, agreeing with the defense team's request for additional time to prepare.

After he couldn't find its mother, the injured animal he dubbed Lil' Smokey was taken to a wildlife care center in South Lake Tahoe.

Sherman E. Lee, a former longtime director of the Cleveland Museum of Art whose keen-eyed collecting of old European and Asian masterpieces gave it international prestige, died of natural causes July 9 in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was 90.

In a report on the death, his commanders and colleagues express surprise and regret. 'I will always wish there was something else we could have done to let him know we cared and were there for him.'

The Nickerson Gardens housing project used to be a tight-knit complex where neighbors knew one another. Residents hope a festive family event will help restore lost ties.

Big subsidies, big profits

Anatoly Pristavkin, a writer who headed the Russian president's pardons commission throughout the 1990s, died July 11 in Moscow. He was 76.

War casualties

Total U.S. deaths*:

A public memorial tribute to jazz pianist Gerald Wiggins is scheduled for 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. July 28 at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, 4718 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles. Wiggins died July 13 at age 86.