A laurel for his bravery

Two-story stucco homes? In Southern California, they’re pretty standard.

In Fallouja, they can be pretty scary.

In November 2004, Marines in the Iraqi city were given the heart-thumping task of going door-to-door to look for insurgents. Three servicemen found some and got pinned down in a house. That’s when 1st Sgt. Brad Kasal and others raced in to help. Kasal was wounded by seven AK-47 rounds and struck by more than 40 pieces of grenade shrapnel, but he kept fighting, and his actions are credited with saving several lives.

Today at Camp Pendleton, Kasal will be promoted and be awarded the Navy Cross for combat bravery, second only to the Medal of Honor. Only nine others have received the Navy Cross for service in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Kasal’s fighting days aren’t over. He’s undergone 21 surgeries and months of painful rehabilitation to repair his injuries -- and his goal is to go back to Iraq. Page B3

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Iraq’s president says he’s talking

Could the insurgency in Iraq be quelled by negotiations?

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says he and U.S. officials have met with leaders of seven of the country’s armed insurgent groups and believe that those guerrillas can be persuaded to end their rebellion.

Talabani does not suggest that a deal would end the violence plaguing Iraq. But many observers believe that the bloodshed could be reduced if nationalist Sunni insurgents can be turned away from foreign Islamic radicals such as Abu Musab Zarqawi. Page A12

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Traffic alert: street closures

Streets will be closed and bus routes altered today because of the immigration marches in Los Angeles. For a look at what transit planners have prepared, see Page A8

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The walkouts and education

Bob Sipchen kicks off his new column, School Me, with a question: How much responsibility does a student have for his or her education?

Today’s planned walkouts are over immigration -- a political issue. The Chicano student protests nearly 40 years ago were over educational matters, and one of the leaders of that movement says that while she applauds activism, she would have hoped that walkouts would be over high dropout rates and low college admissions for Latinos. Page B1

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He gave copters a jump-start

At age 8, Stanley Hiller Jr. borrowed parts from the family washing machine and used them to power a homemade go-cart.

At 12, he invented a die-casting machine with his father. At 16, he was a freshman at UC Berkeley with a novel idea for a helicopter design, and in 1944, at age 19, he tested the craft on the campus football field.

Hiller, who died a few weeks ago at age 81, went on to guide Palo Alto-based Hiller Aircraft Co., a helicopter manufacturer. Later in life he became a corporate rescue artist, working to salvage firms such as Bekins movers and York International, an air-conditioner manufacturer.

That early helicopter? It’s in the Smithsonian. Page B9

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Finding a legend in Santa Maria

Jane Russell starred in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” hung out with Howard Hughes, married a quarterback for the L.A. Rams and starred on Broadway. So why, at age 84, is she singing on a stage at the Radisson in Santa Maria?

Because she enjoys it. And the locals like it too.

“When I moved up here, there wasn’t a lot for seniors to do,” she says. “And we were all so sick of today’s music.” Thus was born a show called “The Swinging Forties.” Page B1

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Spotlight on Sudan

More than 180,000 people have died as a result of fighting in the Darfur region of Sudan since 2003, and more than 2 million are homeless. Sunday, thousands of activists, including actor George Clooney, joined a rally in Washington to urge the Bush administration to take stronger steps to stop the violence. At the same time, though, rebels in Darfur rejected a truce proposal. Page A13

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CALENDAR

Open ears under open skies

Saturday’s opening day of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival demonstrated a new spirit of openness in contemporary music, reviewer Richard Cromelin says. The audience embraced rappers Kanye West, above, and Common plus more typical Coachella acts such as Depeche Mode. Even some power-trio rock straight out of the ‘60s and ‘70s -- from the band Wolfmother -- won fans. Page E1

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HEALTH

Not your typical geeky sport

The game of pingpong has not changed markedly since it was introduced in late 19th century England and called, then, whiff-whaff, flim-flam or gossima.

According to adherents, the creaky artifact of the 1970s, when Pingpong Diplomacy opened China to Western contacts, has now become cool. This is because its weaknesses -- its less-than-taxing physical demands and everyone-has-a-chance underpinnings -- have now become strengths in the eyes of fans.

Tables and competitions are springing up all over, and even ESPN2 is televising the back-and-forth action. Page F1

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Chocolate fights the blues, or not

You know how you eat chocolate and you feel so good as it melts slowly on your tongue and you want some more of it? Now!

Now, they’ve done a comprehensive study of chocolate’s antidepressant qualities. There is a temporary lift, scientists found, but no evidence the effect is any more lasting than eating any carbohydrate.

These same researchers also found no evidence that people become addicted to chocolate. Page F2

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Asthma medicines need care

Asthma attacks are responsible for more than 1.5 million emergency visits annually and more than half a million hospitalizations. They cost the nation some $11.3 billion each year.

Research indicates that many asthma sufferers overestimate the control they have over the condition. A major problem is misuse of drugs. Many with asthma rely too heavily on rescue medications and not on control drugs, which address the underlying causes. Page F3

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SPORTS

Keeping score on the NFL draft

Times NFL writer Sam Farmer looks back at the football draft and picks some winners and losers, including Norm Chow (loser), Marcedes Lewis (winner), Matt Leinart (both), D’Brickashaw Ferguson (winner, because Jet fans actually didn’t boo his selection), and the Houston Texan general manager, whose boss decided the team should pass on Reggie Bush.

Farmer also salutes the acumen of three NFL scouts who, before last November’s UCLA-USC game, gave him some darned good predictions on the draft prospects of several players in that matchup. Page D4

And on the second day of the draft, where did those players go? Look here for a roadmap. Page D4

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BUSINESS

Rains leave a cloud over farmers

If it seemed that we got a lot of late-season rain in Southern California this year, consider that Central and Northern California got even more. That’s bad news for farmers, and it could raise consumer prices a bit.

Tomato farmers had to delay planting this spring because of wet conditions. Down the line, that’ll cause a backup at canneries. The extra rain -- Fresno has received 40% more than average -- is even stinging growers whose products hang high above the mud. An official with the state’s fruit tree organization says February’s rain was ill-timed for a key component of the workforce.

“The bees couldn’t get out and do their work, so some varieties did not get good pollination,” he says. Page C1

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THE WEEK AHEAD

MONDAY

Nationwide protests planned

Hundreds of thousands of people in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere are expected to march and participate in a national boycott of work and consumer spending in a show of support for immigration reform. Los Angeles police have predicted that more than 500,000 people will turn out.

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TUESDAY

Show and tell for the NFL

Los Angeles and Anaheim will make formal presentations to a group of National Football League owners in Dallas, a prelude to a full ownership meeting May 21 when the league could vote to return the NFL to the L.A. area. The Rams and Raiders left Southern California after the 1994 season.

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THURSDAY

Interior nominee faces committee

A Senate committee will hold a confirmation hearing on President Bush’s nomination of Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne to succeed Gale A. Norton as Interior secretary. Kempthorne, a former senator, is expected to clear the committee. But in light of rising gasoline prices, questions may be raised on energy policy.

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FRIDAY

‘M:I-3’ cruises into theaters

The calendar may say it’s the first week of May, but movie theater marquees around the country will be proclaiming the arrival of summer with the premiere of “Mission: Impossible III,” the first of the year’s blockbusters. The remake from the popular TV series stars new papa Tom Cruise.

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ON LATIMES.COM

Attention, earthlings

They have landed: The Retro UFO Spaceship Convention landed this weekend in the Mojave desert. Check out our video report of the other-worldly highlights, including a tinfoil hat contest, guest “expert” speakers and spaced-out entertainment.

latimes.com/ufo

125th Real Estate: The Times continues its 125th anniversary coverage with a look at Southern California real estate. With prices reaching all-time highs, check out photo galleries of building trends, celebrity homes and historic areas in and around Los Angeles, including an interactive map of 27 lesser-known real estate hot spots.

latimes.com/125home

Hot L.A. hoops: Find Times coverage of the Lakers and Clippers, complete with photos, blogs, polls, stats and more.latimes.com/nbaplayoffs