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LOS ANGELES FROM the moment that Jim Halpert, the clean-cut everyman of the Dunder Mifflin paper company played by John Krasinski, stepped into the regional manager's office here on an isolated Van Nuys soundstage, everything seemed off -- more off than usual. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Los Angeles County supervisors approved a measure on Tuesday that bars stores in the unincorporated parts of the county from handing out single-use plastic bags. An estimated 1.1. million people live in those areas. The ordinance, which does not include Los Angeles and other cities in the county, also requires stores to charge 10 cents for each paper bag given to customers. It goes into effect next year. The California cities of Fairfax, Malibu, Palo Alto and San Francisco have also enacted such bans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LOS ANGELES -- Variety, the show business bible, was born nearly 105 years ago when young Sime Silverman, by his own account, was fired by The Morning Telegraph for a review in which he declared a new theatrical sketch by a performer who happened to be one of the paper's advertisers ''N. G. (No Good).'' Mr. Silverman started a paper of his own. Its first issue promised notices ''that will not be influenced by advertising.'' Thus began a feisty tradition of entertainment trade reporting and criticism that has been so severely tested in recent weeks that some wonder whether the entire era is drawing to a close. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

LOS ANGELES -- The Hollywood Reporter has been dying a slow death for a decade, bleeding from layoffs, vanishing advertisers and diminished relevance in a news cycle now dominated by cutthroat entertainment blogs. Its top editors and executives all agreed: to save The Reporter, a mere refocusing of the business model would not do; they needed to eviscerate it. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lethal levels of a powerful anesthetic caused Michael Jackson's death, according to preliminary coroner findings cited in Texas court documents unsealed Monday. The documents, a pair of search warrants and affidavits filed by the police in July to search the Houston office and storage unit of Dr. Conrad Murray, Mr. Jackson's private doctor, provide the most detailed evidence against Dr. Murray by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reports the purchase of the literary archives of author Susan Sontag by the University of California Library in Los Angeles, California.

Reports that Jerry Ceppos, the editor of `The San Jose Mercury News,' on May 11, 1997, acknowledged that a series of articles in 1996 on the rise of crack cocaine in urban America was marred by shortcomings. The publication of the series, `Dark Alliance,' provoking a furor among Afro-American leaders, and prompting federal investigations involving the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). INSET: Excerpts from letter by San Jose editor..

ON May 23, the Los Angeles City Council passed a ban on plastic bags at supermarkets, making the city the latest -- and largest -- to partake in California's concerted effort to rid its businesses of the environmental offenders. Over the next 16 months an estimated 7,500 stores in that county will be required to drop plastic from their checkout counters and offer paper only, for a 10-cent fee. In celebration (and preparation), T went looking for the best totes to take to market. Left, from Hunter, easy-to-clean yellow rubber, ideal for fruits and vegetables ($195, go to hunter-boot.com). Right, from Apolis, a collaboration with FrenchTrotters that folds flat and looks built for baguettes ($68, go to apolisglobal.com). Top left, Hansel from Basel's graphic zigzag and extra-deep bucket ($32, go to hanselfrombasel.com). And from Anya Hindmarch, an open weave carryall, top right, that stretches to make room for more groceries ($495, go to anyahindmarch.com). Spacious, cheerful and made of durable fabrics, all of these totes call plastic out for what it is -- cheap, inefficient and awfully unchic. L.A. residency not required for use. JANE HERMAN [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports that "The Los Angeles Times"--after winning five Pulitzer Prizes this year--has been forced by the newspaper's owners, the Tribune Company, to cut newsroom staff. Claim that Tribune executives Jack Fuller and Dennis J. Fitzsimmons told "Times" editor James S. Carroll and managing editor Dean P. Baquet in a recent meeting that the paper must trim staff due to a shortfall in the paper's advertising revenue; Reasons for the fall in ad revenues at the "Times;" Details of the financial performance of the Tribune Company, compared with competitors such as Gannett and E.W. Scripps.

The article focuses on David D. Hiller, publisher of "The Los Angeles Times" newspaper. Since his appointment in 2006, Hiller has been a controversial figure at the newspaper who has replaced two different editors due to disputes about staff cuts Hiller insists are necessary to improve the paper's profit margins. Hiller is ridiculed by many employees for his fondness for playing a major role in the city's social scene.

The article reports on disputes between "Los Angeles Times" publisher Jeffrey M. Johnson and the Tribune Company, which owns the paper, over his refusal to follow demands that he layoff employees. Johnson and editor Dean Baquet remain employed and have the support of a petition signed by 400 members of the newspaper's staff. Complaints against the central office's management have been expressed by business officials at the "Los Angeles Times" and by the Chandler family, top Tribune investors.

A former chief executive of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles has called for the removal of its current director, Jeffrey Deitch, a month into a roiling controversy over the direction of the museum, The Los Angeles Times reported. Charles E. Young, who ran the museum from 2008 to 2010, made his argument to Eli Broad, the museum's largest donor and most influential board member, in an e-mail which was obtained by the paper. The museum's round of troubles began in June with the resignation of its longtime chief curator, Paul Schimmel, who was known to have a difficult relationship with Mr. Deitch, a former New York gallery owner. Mr. Schimmel's departure was followed by the resignation of four prominent artists from the board: John Baldessari, Catherine Opie, Barbara Kruger and Ed Ruscha. In his e-mail to Mr. Broad, as quoted in The Times, Mr. Young wrote of Mr. Deitch, ''I hope that the four-alarm fire now enveloping MOCA has at least given you pause for thought about his appointment and your continued attempts to try to save him for a job for which many (including myself) believe he is unqualified.'' He added, ''The resignation of dedicated, long-term trustees, and especially four highly respected artists of international acclaim should bother you, David [Johnson], Maria [Bell] and the other continuing members of the Board. The question is 'What is now to be done?''' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GARDENA, Calif. THE studio of the sculptor De Wain Valentine sits here anonymously amid 1970s-era shopping strips deep in the suburban savannah south of Los Angeles, sharing a parking lot with a dental ceramics manufacturer. On a recent walk around the property Mr. Valentine, 75, peered in at some of his dental neighbors, laboring silently in lab coats and paper face masks, and told a visitor: ''I like to see those guys. Maybe they'll let me trade one of my pieces for some bridgework if I ever need it.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For generations, newspapers have tried to cut the time between printing and delivery, giving readers the latest news -- especially on big stories that often land on the front page. The Los Angeles Times is about to take a big step in the other direction. The Times is moving the printing schedule for its weekday front section forward -- to about 6 p.m. from 11 p.m. -- while creating an inside section just for late-breaking news, to go to press at 11:30 p.m. or later. Defying long-standing convention, a result will be that the Times's front page cannot have the newest material in the paper. The page could be more dated than the front pages of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal that are delivered to Los Angeles readers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The estate of Stephen Slesinger, the producer who acquired licensing rights to the Winnie-the-Pooh works and characters from A. A. Milne in 1930, has been suing Disney for rights infringement since 1991, and isn't stopping now, according to BBC News. After a Los Angeles judge dismissed a case brought by the estate in 2004 (on the grounds that its legal team illegally obtained documents by trespassing on Disney property) and a federal judge dismissed another this September (ruling that Mr. Slesinger had transferred all rights to Disney), lawyers filed papers in Los Angeles last week arguing that Disney owes the estate hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties. The suit says that Disney combined profits from Pooh and Mickey Mouse merchandise, thereby concealing revenues owed to the estate. Describing the lawsuit as ''baffling,'' a Disney spokeswoman said that the issues had been settled with the September ruling. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Los Angeles businessman and art collector Richard L. Weisman, who said last month that 11 silk-screen paintings, right, by Andy Warhol had been stolen from his home, has waived the $25 million insurance policy that would reimburse him for the paintings, The Seattle Times reported. The Los Angeles police have described the case as puzzling, saying that there were no signs of a break-in and that the Warhol works were the only valuable items missing from the home. Mr. Weisman, 69, said that he had waived the insurance policy because he did not want insurance investigators searching through his private papers as part of an inquiry, according to the Seattle newspaper. ''That's the only reason, and it's a good enough reason,'' Mr. Weisman said. The Los Angeles Times reported that detectives assigned to the case said that they had found Mr. Weisman's decision curious and planned to question him about it. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

If your business depends on free publicity from newspapers, what do you do when the papers can no longer afford to send reporters to cover you? In professional sports, the answer, increasingly, is hire your own. The Los Angeles Kings hockey team last week hired Rich Hammond, who had covered the Kings for The Los Angeles Daily News, to write about the team for its Web site, kings.nhl.com. Michael Altieri, a Kings spokesman, said the team had given Mr. Hammond a multiyear commitment and complete autonomy to post reporting or commentary. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

When Lisa Leslie was growing up in the Los Angeles suburb of Compton, she had an idea that she was destined to be special. She kept signing ''Lisa Leslie'' on paper all around her family's house from the time she was 7. ''My mom would always ask me, Why am I signing my name everywhere?'' said Leslie, who was 6 feet tall in sixth grade. ''I said, 'Because I want to give out autographs.' I just told her I was going to be famous.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Woody Allen has fired back at the clothing maker American Apparel, which he is suing for using his image in advertisements without his permission, The Associated Press reported. In court papers filed Wednesday, lawyers for Mr. Allen said that American Apparel had ''adopted a 'scorched earth' approach'' in its defense, employing excessive subpoenas and requests for documents from him and engaging in a ''despicable effort'' to intimidate him, according to The A.P. On Tuesday a lawyer for American Apparel said that at the trial in May, he intended to bring up details of Mr. Allen's personal history, including his affair with Soon-Yi Previn, now his wife. The billboards, above, which appeared in New York and Los Angeles, used an image of him dressed as a rabbi in ''Annie Hall.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Samantha Geimer, the victim of the director Roman Polanski's illegal sexual acts when she was 13, has formally asked the Los Angeles County Superior Court to dismiss his case, citing wrongdoing by the original judge and a member of the district attorney's office who has since retired. The Los Angeles County district attorney has argued that Mr. Polanski has no right to seek dismissal himself because after pleading guilty, he fled the country in 1978 on the eve of his sentencing and remains a fugitive. But Ms. Geimer, in Monday's filing, argues that she, as the victim in the case, does have the right to seek dismissal. She contends that the district attorney's office subjected her to unwanted scrutiny last week by including in new court papers the details of the sexual encounter, which occurred in 1977. ''It is clear to me that because the district attorney's office has been accused of wrongdoing, it has recited lurid details of the case to distract attention from the wrongful conduct of the district attorney,'' Ms. Geimer said in her filing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Oscar nominating ballots were mailed to 5,810 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday. They are due back 17 days later, on Jan. 12. Meanwhile, everybody in Hollywood is off for the holidays. So what's an awards publicist to do? The annual scramble to impress academy voters while the ballots are in hand, but the voters are not, is now in full swing. Expensive trade paper ads don't mean much if nobody's in the office. But that doesn't mean Hollywood's wilier players are without stratagems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The upheaval at the Tribune Company continued Monday as the publisher of The Los Angeles Times and the top editor of The Chicago Tribune stepped down, both at a time when their papers were preparing for major redesigns and deep cuts in their newsroom staffs. Several high-ranking officers at Tribune have already left or been forced out since the new management led by the real estate magnate Samuel Zell took control in December; they include the top editor of The Los Angeles Times and the publisher of The Tribune. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A federal district court judge in Los Angeles reinstated a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of the rapper Notorious B.I.G., reversing an earlier decision to dismiss the case, The Associated Press reported. Judge Florence-Marie Cooper threw out the lawsuit on March 21, ruling that the family had missed a California deadline for bringing a claim against the city and two former police officers. The family appealed, and the judge ruled that federal claims in the case can proceed, according to court papers obtained Thursday. The rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was gunned down in Los Angeles in 1997, at age 24. His killing remains unsolved, and two wrongful-death suits have been filed against the city, claiming that rogue police officers conspired to commit the murder. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the acquisitions of the Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Culture Center, Los Angeles, California. It states that director Ann Philbin, chief curator Gary Garrels and their team are working to build a contemporary art collection which focus on drawings, photographs and works on paper. The museum's annual acquisition budget of $600,000 was obtained from the sale of a 72 page scientific manuscript covered with musings and drawings by artist Leonardo da Vinci.

Focuses on a lawsuit filed by Spanish-language television broadcaster Univision Communications in Los Angeles Superior Court to stop Nielsen Media Research from making changes in the way it measures television ratings in Los Angeles, California. Complaint against the switch to the local people meters from the current system of using paper diaries along with meters; Concern about the possible undercounting of black and Hispanic viewers; Urban markets where Nielsen already made the changes.

Reports on the ballot difficulties facing Los Angeles voters in the California gubernatorial recall election. Eight page paper ballot with names in semi-random order; Assignation of numbers to identify candidates and a stylus to punch out the correct chad; Voting procedure in other counties; Record number of voters who registered for the recall election; How the voters will fare with the complications of the ballots.

Focuses on 'The Los Angeles Times,' a newspaper in Los Angeles, California. Changes made to the newspaper after its parent company, Times Mirror, was acquired by the Tribune Company; Decline in readership when paper was divided into different regional editions; Decision of Tribune to abandon the regional operations and return to one edition; Role of John S. Carroll as editor and John Puerner as publisher.

Talks about a deal by `The Los Angeles Times' with the Staples Center to share profits from a magazine about the arena. Reaction of the newspaper's employees to the deal; Details on the protest of the employees; Other issues that troubled editors; Profile of Kathryn Downing, publisher of the paper; Information on a letter of apology written by Downing for the staff.

Focuses on the effects of a bomb threat in Los Angeles International Airport and other airports in California by a self-described anarchist in a letter to the paper, San Francisco Chronicle on June 27, 1995. Denial of the intention in a letter on June 28, 1995; Disruption of flight and mail due to tightened security; Stand of Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Opinion. Discusses the series of articles that were published in The San Jose Mercury News, claiming that the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in the distributing of crack cocaine in Los Angeles, California. Absence of evidence to support allegations made against the CIA; Importance of the CIA to the American government; When editor of the paper made a public apology for the articles which were proven to be false.