In Focus: Staff photos from Nov. 9 to Nov. 15

IN PROTEST: A crowd estimated by police at 12,500 gathers in Silver Lake for one of several mostly peaceful demonstrations that sprang up throughout the state after passage of Proposition 8, a ban on gay marriage.  (Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times)

FALL GUY: USC running back Joe McKnight tries to avoid a Cal defender and tumbling official Dennis Angel in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Cal-USC matchup. McKnight fumbled at the end of a 16-yard run, but the Trojan’s went on to win the game 17-3.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

BACK HOME: Yolanda Montiel, with grandson Michael, grieves during services for her brother, Marine Lance Cpl. Luis Fernando Palacios, who was killed 40 years ago, at age 19, when his helicopter crashed during the Vietnam War. A U.S. search team recently recovered his remains, which were recently buried in Cypress.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

BEACHED:The Carmina Mare, a 46-foot sloop from Marina del Rey, is stranded Monday after washing ashore on Dockweiler State Beach.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

ON THE MEND: Marine Gunnery Sgt. Blaine Scott, with son Blaine, was wounded when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006. Doctors at UCLA helped reconstruct his face and foot, which were badly damaged.  (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

CATCH-UP: San Diego‘s Vincent Jackson hauls in a pass over Kansas City’s Maurice Leggett in the first quarter of Sunday’s game. The Chargers went on to win the game 20-19 over the Chiefs.  (Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times)

GAMERS: Crowds cheer for a television crew while awaiting the release of the latest big World of Warcraft expansion pack, Wrath of the Lich King, at the Fry’s store in Anaheim on Wednesday. The line of customers wrapped around the building. Some customers camped out for two days to be at the front of the line.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)