In Focus: Staff photos from Sept. 21 - Sept. 27

OPPOSING VIEWS: Vickie McMurchie of the Surfrider Foundation casts a suspicious eye at design engineer and building trades union member Tran Peng Guo at a packed -- and heated -- hearing in Del Mar over a proposed toll road through San Onofre State Beach. Tran said he was at the hearing as a volunteer. A union official said there was no compensation, although a chartered bus brought most of the members from Orange County. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Sept. 16, 2014 7:47 AM PT

‘I AM WISER’: Mohammad Malek works out daily in the pool at Loma Linda’s Drayson Center. Land mines blew off his legs near his family’s home in Kabul, Afghanistan, when he was 15. A benefactor who was moved by the teen’s determination arranged for him to be treated in the United States. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

ON THE ATTACK: Misty May-Treanor spikes the ball past Jennifer Boss at the Manhattan Beach Open. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

CENTER STAGE: At Sunday night’s Emmys, hosts Tom Bergeron and Heidi Klum show how drama is done, one of the skits that may have left some wincing. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

SAYING THEIR GOODBYES: Breanna Sheldon, 18, hugs her mother, Denise, at her UCLA dorm room, where dad Bob is at ready with the camera. The Sheldons were among many families sending kids off to college. The university expects 4,900 freshmen this fall. “She’ll be fine. We’ll be a mess,” Denise Sheldon said. (Mel Melcon/ Los Angeles Times)

DUCK SEASON: Manny Ramirez gets out of the way of a pitch by San Diego‘s Charlie Haeger. Don’t worry, it was a knuckleball. (Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times)

PAWS FOR A CAUSE: Pooch Levi arrives at the Farm of Beverly Hills at the Grove on Wednesday to help kick off the national “Eat With Your Paws for a Good Cause” charity program to benefit Much Love Animal Rescue. (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)