Does Eric Garcetti keep his word? Accounts vary

Santiago Perez and his neighbors went straight to Councilman Eric Garcetti when they heard that a developer planned to build a 62-unit housing and retail development on their quiet street in Echo Park.

Worried that the four-story complex would tower over homes and bring excess traffic, the group emerged from their meeting at Los Angeles City Hall feeling relieved. "He told us that, yes, he's with us and he will do everything possible to reject the plan," Perez said.

But months later in front of the citywide Planning Commission, a Garcetti representative offered the lawmaker's tacit support for the project, saying it was "designed well" and would bring needed jobs and housing to the area.

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Perez and his neighbors felt blindsided. "He said one thing and then he did another," Perez said. One of his neighbors fired off an angry message via Twitter: "Eric Garcetti went back on his word."

If Garcetti succeeds in his bid to become L.A.'s next mayor, he will face new pressure to take decisive action on hotly contested issues. A number of colleagues and constituents say he has not always been a steadfast ally and decision maker.

Another mayoral front runner, Wendy Greuel, alluded to that allegation in a recent appearance before city workers, saying they need someone who will "be true to their word."

FULL COVERAGE: L.A.'s race for mayor

Garcetti insists he never wavers from a promise. In nearly 12 years in office, he has made decisions that have upset some people, he acknowledged. But the vast majority of people he has worked with have had positive experiences, he said.

He said that he never committed to fighting the Echo Park development and that he "reserves the right" to take his time forming a position on an issue. "I listen to a lot of people to make sure I'm as well-informed as possible up until the last hour," he said.

Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who has served alongside Garcetti for more than a decade, said Garcetti too often tests the political winds before taking a stand. Parks, who is backing Councilwoman Jan Perry's bid for mayor, alleges that Garcetti misled him last year by voting for a controversial redistricting plan after indicating he opposed it. Garcetti also undermined the city's efforts to hold down costs of employee union contracts, Parks said.

INTERACTIVE MAP: How Los Angeles voted

"I think he doesn't want to make an enemy of anyone," Parks said.

Garcetti said that he never told Parks he would oppose the redistricting plan and that the tough stance he took with the unions is "the reason I don't have [them] lining up behind me."

Questions of Garcetti's reliability arose for Marc Galucci, who went to the councilman for support in turning his Echo Park cafe into a restaurant serving beer and wine.

Galucci assembled neighbors to back his application for a liquor license for Fix Coffee, but parents of some children at a nearby school opposed it.

Galucci said Garcetti told him that he would remain neutral but offered suggestions on how to gain community support. Then, at 10 p.m. the night before the liquor license hearing, a Garcetti representative phoned. "Tomorrow at the hearing we're going to oppose this," she said.

"I was just flabbergasted," said Galucci. He later learned that Monica Garcia, president of the Board of the Los Angeles Unified School District, had asked Garcetti to oppose the request.

In the end, Galucci got the license, but he said the situation left him with a bad taste.

Garcetti acknowledged that the issue had been "a contentious one," but he said he had not pledged to remain neutral. He said that he initially liked the idea of a liquor permit for Fix but that community opposition "continued to grow and grow."

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Skepticism Surrounds Resumption of Nuclear Talks With Iran

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Talks between Iran and six world powers over its nuclear program resume here on Tuesday after a break of eight months, but there is a general atmosphere of gloom about their prospects for success, even if narrowly defined.

Since talks in Moscow last June, Iran has continued to increase its stockpile of uranium enriched to 20 percent purity, has begun to install a new generation of centrifuges and has not yet completed an agreement on inspection of suspect military sites with the International Atomic Energy Agency, a deal originally advertised as all but done last May.

With presidential elections in Iran scheduled for June, senior Western diplomats involved with these talks expressed skepticism that Tehran’s chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili, would be willing to make compromises that could be portrayed as weakness at home.

Mr. Jalili is the personal representative of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, considered the dominant voice on the nuclear issue. Ayatollah Khamenei has recently expressed continued mistrust of the United States and its intentions, saying that he would not allow the kind of bilateral talks between Washington and Tehran that most analysts think would be crucial to any resolution.

At the same time, Iran has taken some of its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium and converted it into reactor fuel, which cannot easily be turned back. The conversion means that Iran now has less of the uranium needed to make a bomb, reducing the sense of urgency among the six powers, and Israel, that its nuclear program needs to be slowed.

But the total Iranian stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium has nonetheless grown since November to 167 kilograms from 135 kilograms, according to the most recent I.A.E.A. report — closer to, if still significantly below, the 240 kilograms or 250 kilograms many experts consider necessary, once enriched further, to produce a nuclear weapon.

Iran denies that its nuclear program has any military aim. The six world powers, the so-called P5-plus-1 group, which are the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — and Germany, want Iran to obey Security Council resolutions ordering it to suspend enrichment and open itself up fully to I.A.E.A. inspectors, to ensure that there is no effort to build a nuclear weapon.

To press Iran to comply, the Security Council, the United States and the European Union have created an increasingly painful set of economic sanctions on Iran, as part of a dual-track strategy — negotiations and sanctions. Iran has for its part insisted that as a precondition for serious negotiations, the world should lift all the sanctions and recognize Iran’s “right to enrich,” which Iran asserts it has as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The negotiations have been tedious, with Iran appearing to be playing for time, diplomats say. The six powers had asked for a resumption of these talks as early as December, but Iran rejected dates and sites before finally suggesting and agreeing upon Almaty. The choice pleased Western diplomats for its symbolic value, since Kazakhstan, when it became independent of the Soviet Union, freely relinquished the nuclear weapons it had inherited from Moscow. American officials are holding up Kazakhstan, one of the world’s largest producers of uranium and a maker of nuclear fuel, as an example to Iran of the benefits of peaceful nuclear energy and compliance with the I.A.E.A.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan appealed to Tehran in a New York Times Op-Ed article in March 2012 to abandon what he suggested was its pursuit of nuclear power status. “Kazakhstan’s experience shows that nations can reap huge benefits from turning their backs on nuclear weapons,” he wrote.

While expectations are low, the six hope to leave here with some momentum and signs of Iranian willingness to engage in what all have agreed should be a reciprocal and step-by-step process of lifting sanctions in return for Iranian actions to comply.

“Iran needs to understand that there is an urgent need to make concrete and tangible progress” in these talks, said Michael Mann, the spokesman for Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief and chairwoman of the P5-plus-1 group.

Mr. Mann said that the six powers have together “prepared a good and updated offer for the talks which we believe is balanced and a fair basis for constructive talks” and that is “also responsive to Iranian ideas.”

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Oscar Gowns: The 12 Best Dresses of the Night

02/25/2013 at 05:50 PM EST

Jason Merritt/Getty; John Shearer/AP; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

In order to earn a spot in the PEOPLE.com Oscars Best Dressed gallery, a gown must do one of two things: get the unanimous approval of the entire PEOPLE.com style staff…or wow one editor so much that she's prompted to start a campaign to get that star's look on the list (cough, Kerry Washington, cough).

Most of the names you see below fall under the former category, but there might be one or two fashion-forward looks that landed on the list because an editor was able to convince the team. Take a look and see if you can guess which those are.

1. JENNIFER LAWRENCE
We don't want to brag … okay, yes we do. We totally called this Dior Haute Couture number for the Best Actress nominee. She outdoes our expectations, though, pairing it with a Roger Vivier clutch and zillions of carats of Chopard jewels, including a dazzling necklace worn down her back.
• See the photo here.

2. JESSICA CHASTAIN
"It was a very tough decision," the Oscar nominee says of her copper embellished custom Giorgio Armani gown, accessorized with Harry Winston diamonds, soft waves and the perfect red lip. Maybe so, but it was certainly the right decision.
• See the photo here.

3. REESE WITHERSPOON
We might have selected Jennifer's dress, but it was Reese's daughter who helped pick out this two-tone Louis Vuitton creation, worn with gorgeous cascading waves. "She's 13, she really weighs in," the actress revealed of her young stylist.
• See the photo here.

4. AMY ADAMS
The nominee shows off her tiny waist (and penchant for dramatic dresses) in a silver-gray Oscar de la Renta gown with a beaded bodice and a massive, tulle-embellished skirt. She finishes the look with delicate jewelry and what just may be the night's prettiest undo.
• See the photo here.

5. CHARLIZE THERON
Who needs a statue when you look this statuesque? Charlize makes the most dramatic entrance of the evening thanks to her edgy crop, Harry Winston jewels and this pristine white peplum Dior Haute Couture, which prompted her to say, "I sometimes just really feel like a princess."
• See the photo here.

6. NAOMI WATTS
It'll be tough to out-dazzle the Impossible actress, whose fully sequined gunmetal Armani Privé gown features an asymmetric neckline and easily won over the PEOPLE.com editors. (Oh, and for those of you keeping count: She's also wearing $1.5 million of Neil Lane diamonds.)
• See the photo here.

7. KERRY WASHINGTON
"It's a coral-y, red, hot pink thing. I can't put a name on the color, which I love," the Django Unchained star explains of the reason she picked her simple Miu Miu gown with its bejeweled bodice. She also knocks it out of the park with her accessories: a Prada clutch, Chopard earrings, a Fred Leighton ring and Christian Louboutin heels.
• See the photo here.

8. STACY KEIBLER
Also predicting Oscar gowns accurately? Designer Naeem Khan, who guessed that we'd see this elegant beaded confection (paired with earrings and a bracelet by Lorraine Schwartz) on the red carpet tonight. Though we think he may have had a little insider info we didn't.
• See the photo here.

9. NICOLE KIDMAN
Major props to the Aussie actress for taking this fashion risk – it definitely paid off! She stuns in a L'Wren Scott gown that looks practically liquid, hugging her curves and ending in golden swirls, then tops it all off with Fred Leighton jewelry.
• See the photo here.

10. SANDRA BULLOCK
Though she's there to present, the star looks ready for center stage in her cap-sleeve Elie Saab gown with a sheer skirt, worn with Harry Winston jewels from her hair to her fingers, plus a vintage Daniel Swarovski clutch and Jimmy Choo heels.
• See the photo here.

11. JENNIFER GARNER
Affleck's arm candy fills the role beautifully yet again in a rich plum strapless Gucci gown with a dramatic back ruffle, plus $2.5 million worth of Neil Lane jewels including a 200 carat necklace, plus a Roger Vivier clutch.
• See the photo here.

12. KRISTEN STEWART
Despite having one of the night's most surprising accessories (a crutch), the actress looks poised and pretty in what could be a wedding gown – check out that cream lace and the tulle skirt on her Reem Acra creation – plus vintage Fred Leighton diamonds and Jimmy Choo heels.
• See the photo here.

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Koop, who transformed surgeon general post, dies

With his long silver beard and uniform with braided trim, former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop became one of the most recognizable figures of the Reagan era — and one of the most unexpectedly enduring.

His nomination in 1981 met a wall of opposition from women's groups and liberal politicians, who complained President Ronald Reagan selected Koop, a pediatric surgeon and evangelical Christian from Philadelphia, only because of his conservative views, especially his staunch opposition to abortion.

Soon, though, he was a hero to AIDS activists, who chanted "Koop, Koop" at his appearances but booed other officials. And when he left his post in 1989, he left behind a landscape where AIDS was a top research and educational priority, smoking was considered a public health hazard, and access to abortion remained largely intact.

Koop, who turned his once-obscure post into a bully pulpit for seven years during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and who surprised both ends of the political spectrum by setting aside his conservative personal views on issues such as homosexuality and abortion to keep his focus sharply medical, died Monday at his home in Hanover, N.H. He was 96.

An assistant at Koop's Dartmouth College institute, Susan Wills, confirmed his death but didn't disclose its cause.

Although the surgeon general has no real authority to set government policy, Koop described himself as "the health conscience of the country" and said modestly just before leaving his post that "my only influence was through moral suasion."

A former pipe smoker, Koop carried out a crusade to end smoking in the United States; his goal had been to do so by 2000. He said cigarettes were as addictive as heroin and cocaine. And he shocked his conservative supporters when he endorsed condoms and sex education to stop the spread of AIDS.

"A lot of people don't realize what an important role he played in the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. At the time, he really changed the national conversation, and he showed real courage in pursuing the duties of his job," said Chris Collins, a vice president of amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.

Even after leaving office, Koop continued to promote public health causes, from preventing childhood accidents to better training for doctors.

"I will use the written word, the spoken word and whatever I can in the electronic media to deliver health messages to this country as long as people will listen," he promised.

In 1996, he rapped Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole for suggesting that tobacco was not invariably addictive, saying Dole's comments "either exposed his abysmal lack of knowledge of nicotine addiction or his blind support of the tobacco industry."

Although Koop eventually won wide respect with his blend of old-fashioned values, pragmatism and empathy, his nomination met staunch opposition.

Foes noted that Koop traveled the country in 1979 and 1980 giving speeches that predicted a progression "from liberalized abortion to infanticide to passive euthanasia to active euthanasia, indeed to the very beginnings of the political climate that led to Auschwitz, Dachau and Belsen."

But Koop, a devout Presbyterian, was confirmed after he told a Senate panel he would not use the surgeon general's post to promote his religious ideology. He kept his word.

In 1986, he issued a frank report on AIDS, urging the use of condoms for "safe sex" and advocating sex education as early as third grade.

He also maneuvered around uncooperative Reagan administration officials in 1988 to send an educational AIDS pamphlet to more than 100 million U.S. households, the largest public health mailing ever.

Koop personally opposed homosexuality and believed sex should be saved for marriage. But he insisted that Americans, especially young people, must not die because they were deprived of explicit information about how HIV was transmitted.

Koop further angered conservatives by refusing to issue a report requested by the Reagan White House, saying he could not find enough scientific evidence to determine whether abortion has harmful psychological effects on women.

Koop maintained his personal opposition to abortion, however. After he left office, he told medical students it violated their Hippocratic oath. In 2009, he wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, urging that health care legislation include a provision to ensure doctors and medical students would not be forced to perform abortions. The letter briefly set off a security scare because it was hand delivered.

Koop served as chairman of the National Safe Kids Campaign and as an adviser to President Bill Clinton's health care reform plan.

At a congressional hearing in 2007, Koop spoke about political pressure on the surgeon general post. He said Reagan was pressed to fire him every day, but Reagan would not interfere.

Koop, worried that medicine had lost old-fashioned caring and personal relationships between doctors and patients, opened his institute at Dartmouth to teach medical students basic values and ethics. He also was a part-owner of a short-lived venture, drkoop.com, to provide consumer health care information via the Internet.

Koop was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, the only son of a Manhattan banker and the nephew of a doctor. He said by age 5 he knew he wanted to be a surgeon and at age 13 he practiced his skills on neighborhood cats.

He attended Dartmouth, where he received the nickname Chick, short for "chicken Koop." It stuck for life.

Koop received his medical degree at Cornell Medical College, choosing pediatric surgery because so few surgeons practiced it.

In 1938, he married Elizabeth Flanagan, the daughter of a Connecticut doctor. They had four children — Allen, Norman, David and Elizabeth. David, their youngest son, was killed in a mountain climbing accident when he was 20.

Koop was appointed surgeon-in-chief at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and served as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

He pioneered surgery on newborns and successfully separated three sets of conjoined twins. He won national acclaim by reconstructing the chest of a baby born with the heart outside the body.

Although raised as a Baptist, he was drawn to a Presbyterian church near the hospital, where he developed an abiding faith. He began praying at the bedside of his young patients — ignoring the snickers of some of his colleagues.

Koop's wife died in 2007, and he married Cora Hogue in 2010.

He was by far the best-known surgeon general, and for decades afterward was still a recognized personality.

"I was walking down the street with him one time" about five years ago, recalled Dr. George Wohlreich, director of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, a medical society with which Koop had longstanding ties. "People were yelling out, 'There goes Dr. Koop!' You'd have thought he was a rock star."

___

Ring reported from Montpelier, Vt. Cass reported from Washington. AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard in Washington contributed to this report.

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Cops wear face masks due to TB outbreak in downtown L.A.

Los Angeles police over the weekend warned officers who patrol the skid row area to wear protective masks and minimize face-to-face contact with suspects or the public if there is reason to believe that they are infected with tuberculosis.

The warning, contained in an internal communication to officers and employees in the department's Central Division, comes after The Times reported that public health officials have launched a new, coordinated effort to contain what they are calling the largest TB outbreak in a decade.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have dispatched scientists to
Los Angeles to help local health officials gain a better understanding why TB is
spreading and strategies on how to stop it.

Public health officials are searching for more than 4,500 people who may have been exposed to
the disease. In all, nearly 80 tuberculosis cases have been identified and 11 people have died since
2007, most of them homeless people who live in and around skid row.

Scientists have recently linked the outbreak to a tuberculosis strain
that is unique to Los Angeles, with a few isolated cases outside the
area.

Tuberculosis is easily passed along. It is contracted by inhaling droplets
from infected patients when they sneeze, cough or laugh. When left untreated,
the disease can be deadly. The skid row strain can be treated by all anti-TB
medications. Treatment lasts six to nine months. 

LAPD officers who patrol the area have long been warned to be on the lookout for people on the street who exhibit symptoms of communicable diseases which include Hepatitis to HIV and staph infections to drug-resistant TB. Officers must also contend with individuals who have parasitic conditions like scabies and lice.

While noting that risk to law enforcement from TB is "very small," the internal communique nonetheless warns employees to take precautions to reduce the chance of exposure.

"If you have reason to believe that you have been exposed to
a person with TB, notify a supervisor immediately," the email from Capt. Michael Oreb said. "MSD [The City's Medical Services Division] will test any
employee who has been occupationally exposed."

The email also recommends that officers carry protective masks them with them into the field and don them "if officers have reason to believe an individual is infected with TB."

Capt. Horace Frank, commanding officer of Central Division, would not comment specifically on the email but said the issue had been brought up in roll calls.

"Keep in mind that we’ve always stressed to our officers the importance of proper hygiene and conducting business in a safe and healthy manner," Frank said. "This is just a reminder for us to continue exercising the same precautions which we’ve exercised in the past. The key is
that we continue to go about doing the job we have sworn to do, which is to protect and
serve the public."

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 -- Andrew Blankstein

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World Briefing | Middle East: Iran: News Agency Clarifies Drone Report

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had conducted tests aimed at bringing down a “hypothetical” foreign surveillance drone during a military exercise, the official Fars news agency said late Saturday, and did not actually shoot down or capture a foreign drone. The Islamic Republic News Agency, another official news agency, also reported on the exercise, but omitted the word hypothetical, giving the impression that a real drone had been downed. Other official Iranian media outlets later referred to the downing of a “hypothetical” aircraft after the initial erroneous accounts.

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Channing Tatum & Jenna Dewan-Tatum Show Off Baby Bump at Oscars

By Maggie Coughlan

02/24/2013 at 06:45 PM EST

Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan-Tatum

Jason Merritt/Getty

Who is your bump wearing?

Parents-to-be Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan-Tatum brought a very special guest to Sunday night's 85th Annual Academy Awards – wearing a black lace, backless dress, Dewan-Tatum, 32, showed off her new curves, while husband Tatum revealed where their baby will be born.

"I'm walking the carpet, trying to keep it together tonight but we're good!" a radiant Dewan-Tatum told Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet Sunday night.

When asked by Seacrest if the couple had any plans to slow down for some "family time," Tatum, 32, replied: "We're gonna actually have the baby in London while I'm shooting so there will be no downtime whatsoever after that."

Tatum – who was named PEOPLE's 2012 Sexiest Man Alive – recently told PEOPLE that he's doing his homework before the baby arrives.

"I have never changed a diaper before, so I may need some help learning," the actor said at the time. "I don't have friends who have kids, so it's going to be an interesting experience to learn how to change a diaper."

The couple's first child is due this summer.

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FDA approves new targeted breast cancer drug

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-a-kind breast cancer medication that targets tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.

The drug Kadcyla from Roche combines the established drug Herceptin with a powerful chemotherapy drug and a third chemical linking the medicines together. The chemical keeps the cocktail intact until it binds to a cancer cell, delivering a potent dose of anti-tumor poison.

Cancer researchers say the drug is an important step forward because it delivers more medication while reducing the unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy.

"This antibody goes seeking out the tumor cells, gets internalized and then explodes them from within. So it's very kind and gentle on the patients — there's no hair loss, no nausea, no vomiting," said Dr. Melody Cobleigh of Rush University Medical Center. "It's a revolutionary way of treating cancer."

Cobleigh helped conduct the key studies of the drug at the Chicago facility.

The FDA approved the new treatment for about 20 percent of breast cancer patients with a form of the disease that is typically more aggressive and less responsive to hormone therapy. These patients have tumors that overproduce a protein known as HER-2. Breast cancer is the second most deadly form of cancer in U.S. women, and is expected to kill more than 39,000 Americans this year, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The approval will help Roche's Genentech unit build on the blockbuster success of Herceptin, which has long dominated the breast cancer marketplace. The drug had sales of roughly $6 billion last year.

Genentech said Friday that Kadcyla will cost $9,800 per month, compared to $4,500 per month for regular Herceptin. The company estimates a full course of Kadcyla, about nine months of medicine, will cost $94,000.

FDA scientists said they approved the drug based on company studies showing Kadcyla delayed the progression of breast cancer by several months. Researchers reported last year that patients treated with the drug lived 9.6 months before death or the spread of their disease, compared with a little more than six months for patients treated with two other standard drugs, Tykerb and Xeloda.

Overall, patients taking Kadcyla lived about 2.6 years, compared with 2 years for patients taking the other drugs.

FDA specifically approved the drug for patients with advanced breast cancer who have already been treated with Herceptin and taxane, a widely used chemotherapy drug. Doctors are not required to follow FDA prescribing guidelines, and cancer researchers say the drug could have great potential in patients with earlier forms of breast cancer

Kadcyla will carry a boxed warning, the most severe type, alerting doctors and patients that the drug can cause liver toxicity, heart problems and potentially death. The drug can also cause severe birth defects and should not be used by pregnant women.

Kadcyla was developed by South San Francisco-based Genentech using drug-binding technology licensed from Waltham, Mass.-based ImmunoGen. The company developed the chemical that keeps the drug cocktail together and is scheduled to receive a $10.5 million payment from Genentech on the FDA decision. The company will also receive additional royalties on the drug's sales.

Shares of ImmunoGen Inc. rose 2 cents to $14.32 in afternoon trading. The stock has ttraded in a 52-wek range of $10.85 to $18.10.

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LAPD snipers with 50-caliber rifles, undercover cops in tuxedos at Oscars

The Los Angeles Police Department will be on high alert during the Academy Awards, and numerous streets around the show's Hollywood venue will be closed Sunday.

The LAPD has not released any details of its security plans. A law enforcement source told The Times Sunday that security will be heavy but that there are no extra precautions being taken this year. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the security measures were ongoing.

The Oscars are being held Sunday evening at the Dolby Theatre in the Hollywood & Highland Center. 

FULL COVERAGE: Oscars 2013 | Top nominees

Typically, the LAPD has snipers with 50-caliber
rifle on roofs and a robotic
forklift known as "Batcat" capable of lifting a bomb-filled
truck. Even
the way the limousines enter the area has been designed to slow their passage by
forcing them to weave around concrete barriers.

Several
hundred officers in uniform will staff checkpoints and road blocks while a
couple hundred are working as private security, donning tuxedos to provide
personal and red-carpet protection.

Hollywood Boulevard was to be closed between
Highland Avenue and Orange Drive starting at 10 a.m. Sunday. Public buses were to be rerouted, according to the Oscars' website.

Additionally, the Highland Avenue offramps from the 101 Freeway will close.

Here are some of the other planned closures, according to the website:

-- Orchid Street from 60 feet south of Franklin Boulevard to Orchid
Alley until 6 a.m. Monday, except for residents, emergency vehicles and
hotel loading.

-- Orange Drive from Orchid Alley to Hollywood Boulevard until 6 a.m.
Monday, except for residents, local business access and emergency
vehicles.

-- North and south sidewalk of Hawthorn Avenue from Highland Avenue to Orange Drive to 6 a.m. Monday.

-- North sidewalk of Hollywood Boulevard from Highland Avenue to
Orange Drive from 10 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Monday. MTA station to be
bypassed by the last regularly scheduled
train on Saturday until the first scheduled train after 6 a.m. Monday.
Pedestrian traffic rerouted to south sidewalk.

-- West sidewalk of Highland from Johnny Grant Way south to Hollywood Boulevard from
10 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Monday.

-- Johnny Grant Way from Highland to Orchid Street from 10 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Monday.

-- Remainder of Hawthorn Alley from Orange Drive to Highland Avenue from 12:01 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday.

-- Orange Drive from Hawthorn Avenue to Hollywood Boulevard from 12:01 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday.

-- North sidewalk of Hollywood Boulevard from Highland to 300 feet east
in front of closed businesses from 12:01 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday. 

-- South sidewalk of Hollywood Boulevard from Highland to 300 feet east
from 12:01 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday, except for 8-foot pedestrian
access. 

-- South sidewalk of Hollywood Boulevard directly in front of the
north-south-running Hawthorn Alley from 12:01 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m.
Monday. No pedestrian access to
cross alley.

-- East sidewalk of Highland from Hollywood Boulevard to Hawthorn from
12:01 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday, except for 8-foot pedestrian access. 

-- West sidewalk of Highland from Hollywood Boulevard south to Hawthorn
from 12:01 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday, except for 8-foot pedestrian
access.

-- East sidewalk of Highland from Yucca Street south to the alley from
12:01 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday, except for 8-foot pedestrian access.

-- North and south crosswalks on Hollywood Boulevard at the Highland intersection from 4 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday.

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Photo: Oscar statues are moved into place for the Academy Awards. Credit: Al Seib/ Los Angeles Times

Read More..

Papal Conclave Accompanied by Reports of Scandals and Intrigue

Osservatore Romano/Reuters

Pope Benedict XVI, right, spoke to cardinals at the Vatican on Saturday.

VATICAN CITY — As cardinals from around the world begin arriving in Rome for a conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI, new shadows have fallen over the delicate transition, which the Vatican fears might influence the vote and with it the direction of the Roman Catholic Church.

In recent days, often speculative reports in the Italian news media — some even alleging gay sex scandals in the Vatican, others focusing on particular cardinals stung by the child sex abuse crisis — have dominated headlines, suggesting fierce internal struggles as prelates scramble to consolidate power and attack enemies in the dying days of a troubled papacy.

The reports, which the Vatican has vehemently denied, touch on some of the most vexing issues of Benedict’s reign, including the child sex abuse crisis and international criticisms of the Vatican Bank’s opaque record-keeping. The recent explosion of bad press — which some Vatican experts say is fed by carefully orchestrated leaks meant to weaken some papal contenders — also speak to Benedict’s own difficulties governing, which analysts say he is trying to address, albeit belatedly, with several high-profile personnel changes.

The drumbeat of scandal has reached such a fever pitch that on Saturday, the Vatican Secretariat of State issued a rare pointed rebuke, calling it “deplorable” that ahead of the conclave there was “a widespread distribution of often unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories, that cause serious damage to persons and institutions.”

The Vatican compared the news reports to past attempts by foreign states to exert pressure on the papal election, saying the latest efforts to skew the choice of the next pope by trying to shape public opinion were “based on judgments that do not typically capture the spiritual aspect of the moment that the Church is living.”

Benedict had hoped to address at least one scandal with the Feb. 15 appointment of a new head of the Vatican Bank. It is less clear why he reassigned a powerful Vatican diplomatic official to a posting outside Rome, though experts say it diminishes the official’s role in helping steer Vatican policy.

On Feb. 11, Benedict made history by announcing that he would step down by month’s end. He said he was worn down by age and was resigning “in full liberty and for the good of the Church.” The volley of news reports since appeared to underscore the backbiting in the Vatican that Benedict was unable to control, and provided a hint of why he might have decided that someone younger and stronger should lead the church.

At the conclusion of the Vatican’s Lenten spiritual retreat, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the director of the Pontifical Council for Culture and a papal contender, spoke darkly of the “divisions, dissent, careerism, jealousies” that he said plagued the Vatican hierarchy.

The recent spate of news reports were linked to an earlier scandal in which the pope’s butler stole confidential documents that was considered one of the gravest security breaches in the modern history of the church.

Last week, largely unsourced articles in the center-left daily La Repubblica and the center-right weekly Panorama reported that three cardinals whom Benedict had asked last summer to investigate the leaking of the documents, known as the “VatiLeaks” scandal, had found evidence of Vatican officials who had been put in compromising positions.

The newspapers reported that, after interviewing dozens of people inside and outside the Vatican, the cardinals produced a hefty dossier. “The report is explicit. Some high prelates are subject to ‘external influence’ — we would call it blackmail — by nonchurch men to whom they are bound by ‘worldly’ ties,” La Repubblica wrote.

Vatican experts speculated that prelates eager to undermine opponents during the conclave were behind the leaks to the news media over the last week.

“The conclave is a mechanism that serves to create a dynasty in a monarchy without children, so it’s a complicated operation,” said Alberto Melloni, the director of the John XXIII Center in Bologna and the author of a book on conclaves.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 23, 2013

An earlier version of this article misspelled the last name of a cardinal. His name is Roger M. Mahony, not Roger M. Mahoney.

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