Christine Pelisek

Aetna Health Inc. v. Davila By a vote of 9-0, the court this week struck down laws that gave patients the right to sue health plans in state courts, ruling that they were inconsistent with a 30-year-old federal law that administers pensions and benefits. The ruling blocks at least 10......

Photo by Alyssa Nicol Singer-songwriter Mary Mullen is out to teach the world to sing — and make it better at the same time. Now settled back in L.A. after a decade spent touring with her folk-punk duo, the Hesitations, Mullen recently began to teach what she calls “healing song”......

We asked the Army, the Marines and the Air Force for information on vehicles destroyed in the Iraq conflict. The Marines and Air Force ignored our request, but the Army, via a lieutenant colonel, provided the following battle damage info (from May 1, 2003 through April 3, 2004). When we......

A Santa Monica–based Indian tribe’s plan to build Los Angeles’ first slot-machine casino in Compton may be dead. Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally (D-Compton) last week withdrew a bill that would have established a state-recognized reservation on 40 acres in Compton and allowed the Gabrielino/Tongva Tribal Council to enter into a state-sanctioned......

Illustration by P-Jay Fidler Carrying his recently deceased father’s sky-blue retro suitcase as well as a Walkman and a dozen CDs, Joe Bralic cleared U.S. immigration and boarded his flight to Los Angeles. Bralic said the trip was for fun, to celebrate his 22nd birthday, which fell on June 21,......

Photo by Ted Soqui Congresswoman Hilda Solis knew many people opposed her legislation to help a group of Indians in San Gabriel, but she certainly didn’t expect this package. Inside, she found a bullet, with a newspaper article and photo of a Gabrielino Indian named Anthony Morales, his wife and......

Photo by Issa Sharp Claudio Camaione, in a black suit, Converse sneakers and a cappello alla siciliana hat, mixes raspberry Cosmopolitans and smokes cigarettes, while Paolo Cilione, dressed in similar attire except for a Borsalino hat, spins their latest dance remix. Here in their Silver Lake basement music studio, a......

BLOOD AND GUTS As of March 11, U.S. service members killed in Iraq: 556 Number of those killed in hostile action: 380 Number killed since May 1, when President Bush declared major combat operations over: 416 Total U.S. fatalities since December 13, 2003, the day Saddam Hussein was captured: 113......

Photo by Ted Soqui Motorists cruising through Hollywood seem resigned to the 35-foot-tall glass tower surrounded by trash and wire fencing at the triangular wedge where Franklin and Wilcox avenues meet Cahuenga Boulevard. Once hailed as “the next landmark of Hollywood,” the Gateway to Hollywood project was to serve as......

Photo by Marina Chavez LAPD detectives investigating the death of Elliott Smith have asked their supervisor to take a look at the case to see if they made the right determination when they ruled it a suicide. “Detectives believe it is a suicide,” said John Berdin, supervisor of LAPD’s Northeast......