Featured Articles From the Los Angeles Times

The " Kevin Costner solution" to the worsening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may actually work, and none too soon for the president of Plaquemines Parish. Costner has invested 15 years and about $24 million in a novel way of sifting oil spills that he began working on while making his own maritime film, "Waterworld," released in 1995. Two decades later, BP and the U.S. Coast Guard plan to test six of his massive, stainless steel centrifugal oil separators next week. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser welcomed the effort, even as he and Louisiana officials blasted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for delays in approving an emergency plan to build sand "islands" to protect the bayous of his parish.

Tesla Motors Inc., bolstered by a $50-million investment from Toyota Motor Corp., will start making electric cars next year at a recently closed plant in Northern California. The move disappointed Downey officials who had been wooing the automaker, hoping the company would set up shop in a closed facility that had been used to manufacture the space shuttle. "We are shocked, upset and betrayed. We can see why the public is so upset with corporate America," said Downey City Councilman Mario Guerra, adding that Tesla had told the city it would sign the lease for the Downey plant on Friday.

The Arizona Legislature has narrowed a controversial immigration law in response to allegations that the measure legalized racial profiling and forced police to determine the immigration status of everyone they encountered on the streets. The initial law, signed by Gov. Jan Brewer last week, required police to determine a person's immigration status if officers formed a reasonable suspicion about their legality during any "lawful contact." That led to suggestions by some legal experts that police would be obligated to scrutinize even people who asked for directions.

Reporting from Phoenix -- His tone was measured but the words were strong. They were tinged with enough edge to show that the criticism did sting him. Make that stung. Amare Stoudemire made it past tense with a singular performance against the Lakers on Sunday in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, scoring 42 points and taking 11 rebounds in the Suns' 118-109 victory at US Airways Center. It equaled his career-playoff high, and cut the Lakers' lead in the best-of-seven series to 2-1. This was the Lakers' first loss in nine playoff games, going back to Game 4 of the first-round series against Oklahoma City last month.

Five months before the new 2002 Lexus ES hit showroom floors, the company's U.S. engineers sent a test report to Toyota City in Japan: The luxury sedan shifted gears so roughly that it was "not acceptable for production." The warning was sent to Toyota Executive Vice President Katsuaki Watanabe on May 16, 2001. Days later, another Japanese executive sent an e-mail to top managers saying that despite misgivings among U.S. officials, the 2002 Lexus was "marginally acceptable for production."

Mortgage rates continued their slide toward record lows this week as fallout from the European debt crisis and dormant inflation proved to be boons for Americans buying or refinancing homes. Investor flight to the safety of U.S. government securities has pushed yields down on Treasury bonds. And mortgage rates have followed, with lenders offering an average interest rate of 4.84% on 30-year fixed-rate home loans, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday. That was down from 4.93% a week earlier and the lowest average rate since December.

Reporting from Modesto -- Francesco Chicchi needs his Italian translated into English, but his bike language says Chicchi likes racing in the United States. The 29-year-old, who races for Liquigas-Doimo, beat out Juan Jose Haedo of Saxo Bank and sprint star Mark Cavendish of HTC-Columbia at the finish line to win Stage 4 of the Amgen Tour of California on Wednesday. Chicchi won the 121.5-mile stage in a time of 4 hours 55 minutes 2 seconds. There was no change in the overall standings, with Garmin-Transitions rider Dave Zabriskie keeping his four-second lead over Michael Rogers of HTC-Columbia and his six-second advantage over three-time defending champion Levi Leipheimer of Team RadioShack.

Banking and business lobbyists prepared a last-ditch effort Friday to scale back ambitious new regulations governing the financial industry, hoping to sway congressional leaders who are putting the finishing touches on the legislation. Only a handful of key differences exist between the bill passed by the Senate on Thursday and an earlier version approved by the House, leaving opponents little time to push for changes. "The House and the Senate will have one more opportunity to fix this legislation, and we will be engaged," said David Hirschmann, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness.

It's tough to imagine the end of the world from Steve Kramer's peaceful hilltop home in San Pedro, with its views of lush palm trees and red-tile roofs above a turquoise sea. The 55-year-old respiratory therapist does it anyway. Terror attacks, civil unrest, dirty bombs, earthquakes, 2012 — Kramer believes he must be ready to face them all. That's why he's plunked down $12,500 to reserve spots for himself and his family in an underground concrete shelter near Barstow. "I would hate to give all this up and live in a bunker," said Kramer, glancing at sailboats out on the Pacific with his feet roosted on a glass coffee table.

They might relish becoming parents, but they can also be unprepared for the infant in their lives. They're sleep-deprived, confused and irritable. They're the fathers. Discussions of the connection between mental health and childbirth have long focused on women, but a sizeable portion of men experience prenatal and postpartum depression too, according to research released Tuesday. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., found that 10.4% of men experienced serious depression at some point between his partner's first trimester and one year after childbirth, more than double the depression rate for men in general.

On Google Maps, it looks like a severed limb: Sticking out from the intersection of Highway 134 and Interstate 210 in Pasadena is the stump of a freeway heading south, coming to an abrupt end after about half a mile at Del Mar Boulevard. There's a matching stub 4 1/2 miles away, where the rest of Interstate 710 picks up at Valley Boulevard in Alhambra and runs 23 miles to the port of Long Beach. Closing that gap has been the subject of furious debate since the 1960s, an on-again, off-again contest between homeowners and transportation planners that is suddenly very much on again.

Sergio Garcia stood in the gymnasium and told the senior class at Fairfax High School not to worry: If he was elected, he wouldn't wear a dress. "I will be wearing a suit," Garcia said, "but don't be fooled, deep down inside, I am a queen!" Garcia, 18, spent most of his years at Fairfax openly gay and wanted to be part of the Los Angeles school's prom court -- but not as prom king.

Insurgents early Wednesday launched a bold attack on the largest U.S. installation in Afghanistan, leaving at least seven of the attackers dead. The fighting at the sprawling, heavily fortified Bagram air base, about 30 miles north of Kabul, began at dawn when Taliban fighters attacked with rockets, guns and grenades, the military said. NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement that five Western service members had been wounded, but did not characterize the seriousness of their injuries.

Despite a credit freeze that's stunting renewable-energy projects throughout the country, 2008 was a hot year for solar power in California. Encouraged by state rebates, Golden State residents and businesses last year installed a record 158 megawatts of photovoltaic panels on their rooftops to turn the sun's rays into electricity, the California Public Utilities Commission said Wednesday. That's more than double the 78 megawatts installed in 2007.