Growing up, Jean-Michel Beauchamp attended no ball games with his grandfather. No barbecues, either, or bedtime stories.

Instead, most California policymakers have distracted themselves with relatively minor matters, as with the recent special election.Meanwhile, this state remains vulnerable to devastation that would combine elements of Pakistan’s earthquake and New Orleans’ flood.The conversation turned almost casually to this tragic scenario as I dined recently with two Metropolitan Water District board members, David Farrar, an attorney representing the city of Los Angeles, and fifth-generation rancher Randy Record, who represents eastern Riverside County With us was Ron Gastelum, interim president of the L.A. Chile’s Santa Maria prison closed in the late 1980s, Costa Rica’s Isla San Lucas in 1991 and Brazil’s Isla Grande in 1994. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a decorated Vietnam war hero considered a staunch ally of the armed services, described himself as “very worried” about the stress of repeated deployments on the National Guard and reserves as well as reports that attacks on U.S. But Michel pointed out that they weren’t really that spectacular looking.So he took over. Oak Knoll Ave., Pasadena; (626) 568-3900.Ambience: A formal and just a bit stuffy hotel dining room, but with a lovely outdoor terrace with stone balustrade overlooking the gardens. Delaware State of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference lost by only 11 and Howland said he had been impressed when watching film because, he said, “Duke only led 28-26 with three minutes to go in the first half.”But even with UCLA missing starting point guard Jordan Farmar (sprained right ankle) and last season’s starting center Michael Fey (sprained left shoulder), the Hornets began horribly.Freshman guard Darren Collison got his first start as a Bruin and his team played enthusiastically for the first six minutes. To a nation laid low by the Depression, it was a symbol of hope.”Floating majestically in the sky, the Macon is a sight thrilling to every American and an impressive symbol of our Navy’s airpower,” crackled a newsreel of the day.

has finalized a $325-million settlement of allegations that it deceived borrowers, falsified loan documents and pressured appraisers to overstate home values.A task force of 49 states and the District of Columbia plans to announce Monday that the Orange-based company and two affiliates — all specialists in higher-cost mortgages to borrowers unable to qualify for bank loans — had agreed to overhaul their lending practices.Industry experts say the deal could in effect force rival lenders in the higher-cost loan market to adopt similar standards to avoid legal challenges from both regulators and consumers. A number of independent bookstores are closing because of pressure from larger competitors.But some big retailers say it’s unfair to see the larger companies as pushing the smaller ones out. He said comparisons would probably be favorable because last year’s slump began in the second quarter.Richard Hare, Carmike Cinemas’ incoming chief financial officer, said his company also had “really high expectations for the second quarter.”"We should have a really good April … The arrests came a day after authorities held a news conference in Anaheim, where the alleged spree began, requesting the public’s help in finding suspects.”We’re not discounting the fact that there may be more suspects,” said Anaheim Police Sgt. New campuses are being built to accommodate this 300-student model That’s small Too small?For teachers, it sure can be. regulators Thursday took action to accelerate the transition to digital television by moving up the date by which all new mid-sized TV sets must be able to view the high-quality signals.The Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted to move up by four months, to March 1, 2006, a deadline requiring digital reception by all television sets sold in the United States with 25-inch to 35-inch screens.The Consumer Electronics Assn had asked for the new deadline. “In the first batches, the flavor was so concentrated that it was like chicken stock,” Goldberg says.The process of lining up veterinary specialists and bottle suppliers and navigating the thickets of labeling and bottle-return rules took about a year.

In a letter to yet another gang leader, Rivera boasted about the gang’s legacy of fear and violence.”Wherever the Mara Salvatrucha is, [we are] going to kill, control and rape again,” he wrote. “When we were told that some of the wood was potentially from illegal logging, we were already quite far into the boat project.”International aid agencies say compliance can be difficult, given that timber documents are sometimes forged and officials bribed.Complicating matters further, few aid groups have experts on staff to navigate the Indonesian system and inspect mills to make sure their suppliers are legal, especially when they are rushing to alleviate a disaster.CARE International said it stopped buying from Aceh in May and has suspended construction of 1,400 homes because it hasn’t found a legitimate supplier outside the province.”The international community has to be pragmatic,” CARE’s Rossella Bartoloni said. “Now we’re just drafting the mechanics of how it will work.”Corporate contributions can be hefty. And it’s not even on NBC.That it is narrated by an unseen Bob Saget from 25 years in the future is basically just a cute, dispensable device to make this relationship comedy seem less like other relationship comedies.