Downtown L.A. residents voting on streetcar project

Voting will conclude Monday in a special election on a streetcar proposal in downtown Los Angeles.The proposal before downtown...

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Ricky Martin finds new home on small screen

NEW YORK (AP) — Ricky Martin is saying goodbye to Broadway's "Evita." But don't cry for him.The Latin superstar has a slew of new projects in the works, including two television series and a children's book."It's about growing," said Martin in an interview Friday. "It's a moment in my life where I just need to absorb and be surrounded by amazing actors and musicians and grow as an entertainer. I think...

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Adderall, a Drug of Increased Focus for N.F.L. Players

The first time Anthony Becht heard about Adderall, he was in the Tampa Bay locker room in 2006. A teammate who had a prescription for the drug shook his pill bottle at Becht. “ ‘You’ve got to get some of these,’ ” Becht recalled the player saying. “I was like, ‘What the heck is that?’ He definitely needed it. He said it just locks you in, hones you in. He said, ‘When I have to take...

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Rising sports programming costs could have consumers crying foul

The new owners of the Dodgers are expected to get $6-billion-plus for the TV rights to their team's games.That may be a big...

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Student scores may be used in LAUSD teacher ratings

After months of tense negotiations, leaders of the Los Angeles Unified School District and its teachers union have tentatively...

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Zynga shares slide after privileged status with Facebook ends

(Reuters) – Shares of gaming company Zynga Inc fell as much as 10 percent, a day after the “Farmville” creator reached an agreement with Facebook Inc that reduces its dependence on the social networking giant.The companies reported in regulatory filings on Thursday that they have reached an agreement to amend a 2010 deal that was widely seen as giving Zynga privileged status on the world’s No.1 social...

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Glen Campbell considering more live shows in 2013

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Glen Campbell may be wrapping up a goodbye tour but that doesn't mean he's done with the stage.Campbell is considering scheduling more shows next year after playing more than 120 dates in 2012.The 76-year-old singer has Alzheimer's disease and has begun to lose his memory. He put out his final studio album, "Ghost on the Canvas," in 2011 and embarked on the tour with family...

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Many roads to fuel efficiency on display at L.A. Auto Show

On one stage of the Los Angeles Auto Show, BMW shows off "the cars of tomorrow," concepts powered by electricity. On another,...

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A slick stereotype: L.A. drivers unable to handle the rain

Far removed from the many SigAlerts and traffic accidents caused by the rain, umbrella-toting pedestrians stroll on the...

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Adkins explains Confederate flag earpiece

NEW YORK (AP) — Trace Adkins wore an earpiece decorated like the Confederate flag when he performed for the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting but says he meant no offense by it.Adkins appeared with the earpiece on a nationally televised special for the lighting on Wednesday. Some regard the flag as a racist symbol and criticized Adkins in Twitter postings.But in a statement released Thursday,...

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Medicare Is Faulted in Electronic Medical Records Conversion

The conversion to electronic medical records — a critical piece of the Obama administration’s plan for health care reform — is “vulnerable” to fraud and abuse because of the failure of Medicare officials to develop appropriate safeguards, according to a sharply critical report to be issued Thursday by federal investigators. Mike Spencer/Wilmington Star-News, via Associated PressCeleste...

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Electricity rates to rise for Southern California Edison customers

SACRAMENTO — Almost 5 million Southern California Edison Co. customers in hundreds of cities and communities across the southern,...

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Kuang-hsun Ting dies at 97; bishop led Protestant church in China

Bishop Kuang-hsun Ting, who was one of the most influential Christian figures in China as the longtime leader of the country's...

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Family learns of student’s death on Facebook

ATLANTA (AP) — The parents of a south Georgia college student first learned from Facebook that their daughter had been found dead in a dormitory study room shortly before Thanksgiving. Now, they hope that Facebook and other social media sites can help solve the death of 17-year-old Jasmine Benjamin, which police are investigating as a homicide.The Valdosta State University freshman was found unresponsive...

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Oh, Yoko! Ono's fashion line gropes for Lennon

NEW YORK (AP) — You remember that Beatles classic "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"? Turns out Yoko Ono had other things in mind.Ono's new menswear collection inspired by John Lennon includes pants with large handprints on the crotch, tank tops with nipple cutouts and even a flashing LED bra.The collection of menswear for Opening Ceremony is based on a series of drawings she sketched as a gift for Lennon for...

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Well: Weight Loss Surgery May Not Combat Diabetes Long-Term

Weight loss surgery, which in recent years has been seen as an increasingly attractive option for treating Type 2 diabetes, may not be as effective against the disease as it was initially thought to be, according to a new report. The study found that many obese Type 2 diabetics who undergo gastric bypass surgery do not experience a remission of their disease, and of those that do, about a third redevelop...

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AMC to open dine-in theater in Marina del Rey

AMC, the nation's second-largest cinema chain, is opening its first Southern California dine-in movie theater, taking the concept...

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Top Democrat urges progressives to deal on 'fiscal cliff'

WASHINGTON – A top Democrat pressured fellow progressives Tuesday to support – rather than fight – a far-reaching budget...

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Play Your Wii U Anywhere — Even on a Train

Wii U on a TrainNo need for a TV set. If you plug the Wii U in, you can interact entirely with the GamePad. This is on a Japanese Shinkansen, a high-speed train.Click here to view this gallery.[More from Mashable: Nintendo Unveils Wii Mini for the Canucks]Nintendo’s new Wii U console may have one real advantage over the competition: portability. Since you don’t need a television to play a good portion...

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Football leads NBC to ratings win

NEW YORK (AP) — Two football games that showed the widely divergent paths of New York's pro football teams boosted NBC to its first ratings win of the new season.NBC aired the Jets' embarrassing loss to the New England Patriots on Thanksgiving night, and followed it on Sunday with the Giants' easy victory over the Green Bay Packers.Those two big prime-time audiences on a holiday week enabled NBC to...

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Amid Hurricane Sandy, a Race to Get a Liver Transplant

It was the best possible news, at the worst possible time. The phone call from the hospital brought the message that Dolores and Vin Dreeland had long hoped for, ever since their daughter Natalia, 4, had been put on the waiting list for a liver transplant. The time had come. They bundled her into the car for the 50-mile trip from their home in Long Valley, N.J., to NewYork-Presbyterian...

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Judge orders tobacco companies to say they lied about smoking risk

WASHINGTON — A federal judge ordered tobacco companies to publish corrective statements that say they lied about the dangers of smoking and that disclose smoking's...

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Baseball Hall of Fame voters split on steroid-era candidates

Barry Bonds owns the most cherished record in baseball, and more than twice as many most-valuable-player awards as anyone else....

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Berry's ex says he was threatened before fight

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Halle Berry's ex-boyfriend claims the actress's fiance threatened to kill him during a Thanksgiving confrontation that left him with a broken rib, bruised face and under arrest.Gabriel Aubry's claims are included in court filings that led a judge Monday to grant a restraining order against actor Olivier Martinez, who is engaged to the Oscar-winning actress.Aubry, 37, was arrested...

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