Substance-abuse counselor charged with murder

The substance-abuse counselor accused of killing a Torrance man while driving drunk was charged with murder and faces life in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.

Sherri Wilkins, 51, appeared in court Tuesday but postponed her arraignment until next month on felony charges of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI causing injury, drunken driving while causing injury and leaving the scene of an accident, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Wilkins has two prior burglary convictions and is a third-striker, prosecutors said. She is being held on $2.25-million bail.

Police said Wilkins' car hit Phillip Moreno, 31, as he tried to cross Torrance Boulevard on Saturday night and kept driving more than two miles with the man embedded in her car's windshield. Other motorists managed to stop her at 182nd Street and Crenshaw Boulevard and grab her keys, Torrance police Sgt. Robert Watt said.

Moreno had a pulse when officers arrived but was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Watt said Wilkins had a blood-alcohol level more than double the 0.08 legal limit.

Wilkins had a certification in drug and alcohol counseling and worked at a Torrance treatment center, where she led small group classes six evenings a week. She wrote in an undated Myspace profile that she "used to be into drugs very heavy" and "with that came terrible choices," but that she had been sober for 11 years.

In 2010, Wilkins faced charges of driving under the influence, hit and run and being under the influence of a controlled substance after she allegedly hit a power pole at the intersection of 182nd Street and Hawthorne Boulevard — less than two miles from where Moreno was pulled from her windshield.

Wilkins dragged the pole into the road, where a few other cars struck it and were damaged, said Patrick Sullivan, assistant city attorney for Torrance.

That case, however, was eventually dismissed. Sullivan said Wilkins' blood-alcohol level came back at zero and the levels of drugs were "so low" an expert couldn't testify there was an impairment. Wilkins reached a civil compromise with the other drivers.

kate.mather@latimes.com

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Competing immigration reform efforts begin

WASHINGTON — Even as Republicans in the House and Senate begin efforts to pass narrow immigration bills in the lame-duck session, closed-door negotiations have begun over how to accomplish a much broader package of immigration reforms next year.

Three Republican senators introduced an alternative to the Dream Act on Tuesday that would give legal status to young immigrants brought to the U.S. unlawfully as children.

Later this week, the House is expected to vote on a bill that would increase the number of visas for technology jobs, while reducing other legal immigration.

But these efforts are unlikely to become law and amount to little more than political showboating.

In the background, however, a group of House members is preparing to reconvene after two years of inaction. The bipartisan group includes Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.). Its members drafted parts of immigration legislation as recently as 2010, but had disbanded because of strong political head winds.

The House Republican leadership has tacitly blessed the effort. Republican members have been told that although House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) can't guarantee he will bring an agreement to a vote in the next Congress, the leadership won't stand in the way of the negotiations.

"There are confidential discussions that are occurring," said Lofgren, who participated in closed-door legislative drafting sessions in 2007 and 2009. "If I talked about them, they wouldn't be confidential." She said she was "cautiously optimistic" about the chances for a broad immigration bill coming to a vote next year.

But at the moment, the two camps are far apart. Republicans are reluctant to support a path to citizenship for immigrants here illegally. On Wednesday, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will lay out what is essentially the Democratic leadership's framework for the legislation, which includes steps to keep families together, create a legal status for a majority of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, and create a special avenue to citizenship for young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.

"Piecemeal parts are better than nothing but [don't] solve the overall problem," said Diaz-Balart, who says he has had dozens of conversations with Democrats and Republicans about how to push a comprehensive immigration bill through the GOP-controlled House.

"We have a very narrow window of opportunity for that to happen," said Diaz-Balart, who would not confirm that he was part of the closed-door group. Diaz-Balart thinks any immigration bill would have to be passed in 2013 — before the campaign frenzy of the midterm election begins.

Exit polls from the Nov. 6 election showed widespread disenchantment with the GOP among Latino voters. Since then, some Republicans have indicated that they would be willing to discuss a more comprehensive package of immigration bills.

Retiring Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) introduced the Achieve Act on Tuesday. The bill, also sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), appeared to be an attempt to take some heat off Republicans on immigration.

In a news conference, Hutchison said she believed it would be better to tackle small pieces of immigration reform one at a time because agreement on a large package had proven too difficult.

Fewer young immigrants would qualify under her proposal than would have been eligible under the Dream Act. Unlike the Dream Act, the GOP bill would not guarantee a pathway to citizenship.

Under the Republican proposal, applicants who were brought to the U.S. before age 14 could apply for student visas if they are under 29 and enrolled in a college-degree program in the U.S. Applicants under 32 would qualify if they already held a degree from an American college.

After college graduation, immigrants could apply for work visas that would be renewable every four years for the rest of their lives. Unlike the Dream Act, the bill doesn't guarantee permanent residency. If an employer or a family member sponsored them, they could get in line for a green card and eventually apply for citizenship.

Hutchison said the bill was an attempt to "get the ball rolling" to create a permanent, legal solution for young immigrants brought here by their parents.

"We think the best thing that we can do to utilize their talents and the education they have received is to give them a legal status," Hutchison said at a news conference in the Capitol.

But Democrats plan to block the bill from coming to a vote.

"The Achieve Act doesn't achieve the dream of young people who only know America as their home and want a chance to earn their way to permanent residency," said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).

Some young immigrants who qualify for the Obama administration's new deferred-action program would not be eligible for the Republican proposal, including high-school students and those with high school diplomas. President Obama's program, which took effect in August, allows some young immigrants to obtain work permits and renewable deportation deferments.

But Kyl said the bill would address what he sees as an abuse of executive authority. Obama was "taking the law into his own hands" and "violating the oath of office" when he started the program, Kyl said.

"If you don't like the law, change it," he said. "Don't violate it."

The Achieve Act is similar to an idea for an alternative Dream Act floated by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) this year. Rubio was involved in drafting the current bill, Kyl said, but decided not to sign on until he had consulted with a wider range of groups.

Rubio, who is widely seen as having presidential ambitions, could be an important player in negotiating a possible comprehensive immigration bill next year.

brian.bennett@latimes.com

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Most L.A. County youths held for prostitution come from foster care

A majority of juveniles arrested on prostitution charges in Los Angeles County come from the county's foster care system, and, in some cases, pimps use underage sex workers to recruit fellow group home residents, county officials said.

Until now, foster youth caught in the sex trade have largely been the responsibility of the county Probation Department.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to launch a multiagency task force to address the ongoing issue of sex trafficking involving youth in the foster care system. The move was spurred in part by this month's passage of an anti-sex-trafficking ballot measure, which county officials said will shift much of the responsibility for juvenile prostitutes from the criminal justice system to the foster care system.

Of the 174 juveniles arrested on prostitution-related charges in Los Angeles County in 2010, 59% were in the foster care system, according to Probation Department statistics. The department has launched initiatives to address the issue of sex trafficking, including running prevention workshops in juvenile halls.

But underage sex workers may no longer fall under the Probation Department's jurisdiction.

Proposition 35, which imposes tougher penalties on pimps, also includes language that decriminalizes prostitution for minors caught up in the trade — although there is debate about the effects of that change. But officials fear that greater numbers of young people involved in prostitution will become the responsibility of the county Department of Children and Family Services. Department director Philip Browning said his agency is "really unprepared at this point" to handle such an influx.

Browning and others said the department is not empowered to keep children in group homes and other placements against their will, and can't prevent them from running away. Emilio I. Mendoza, a children services' program manager, said many young sex workers fear they will be punished by their pimps if they don't leave foster homes when they have an opportunity do so.

"These kids see themselves as having no way out unless they're in a secure setting," he said.

Probation camps and juvenile halls provide that security. But advocates say the criminal justice system is not the proper setting for young victims of abuse and coercion.

"They should not be treated as the criminal. They are a victim. The pimps should be treated as the criminal and given long prison sentences," said county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who proposed the task force. Antonovich said during Tuesday's meeting that the trafficking issue came to the county board's attention early this year, when they learned that young girls were serving as prostitutes around Staples Center after Lakers games.

The task force includes county children's services, probation and mental health workers as well as law enforcement officials. It will examine the scope of the foster youth prostitution problem and report back with recommendations in six months.

But Lois Lee, founder of a Los Angeles-based, 24-bed shelter for child sex workers called Children of the Night, said she is skeptical of the claim that kids in the foster system are particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking. The majority of the shelter's clients were under the legal guardianship of their parents when they arrived, according to the organization's 2011 annual report.

"They're kids that [the Department of Children and Family Services] left behind in the first place," Lee said.

abby.sewell@latimes.com

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SEC facing deadlock after chief Mary Schapiro quits

WASHINGTON — Mary L. Schapiro's departure as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission will leave the agency — at least temporarily — deadlocked as it continues to try to enact tough reforms on Wall Street.

Schapiro, 57, said Monday that she will resign effective Dec. 14. President Obama quickly designated SEC Commissioner Elisse B. Walter as the agency's new chairwoman.

Walter is not expected to radically change the regulator's agenda. But her move will leave the five-member SEC commission one person short — and effectively deadlocked on controversial issues such as Dodd-Frank financial reform, new regulations for money market mutual funds and a push to rein in high-speed trading.

"With the resignation of Schapiro, we have two Republicans, two Democrats, and they won't agree on anything," said John Coffee, a securities law expert at Columbia Law School.

Walter, a former executive at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the National Assn. of Securities Dealers, has been a commissioner since 2008. She served as chairwoman for a short period in January 2009 after the departure of former Chairman Christopher Cox, before Schapiro was sworn in.

Since she already serves on the SEC commission, Walter could serve without Senate confirmation until the end of next year. But she would need Senate approval to stay longer as chairwoman, as would a nominee from outside the SEC. Obama has had difficulty getting nominees through the Senate, so the agency could remain one person short for a while.

The 62-year-old Walter said she was "deeply honored and humbled" to be the SEC's next chairwoman and praised Schapiro for doing "an exceptional job." She is mentioned as a possible long-term replacement. Other names floated are Mary J. Miller, assistant Treasury secretary for domestic finance, Sallie Krawcheck, a former executive at Bank of America and Citigroup, and Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC's enforcement division.

It's rare for SEC leaders to serve more than four years, and Schapiro's departure had been widely expected. The first woman to serve as a non-interim chief of the agency, Schapiro served longer than 24 of the previous 28 heads, the SEC said.

Schapiro, who has served as chairwoman since January 2009, took over an agency under pressure to repair financial markets damaged by the financial crisis and facing criticism for failing to spot the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme. She then dealt with the fallout from the 2010 stock market flash crash, a contentious Republican House majority and the huge task of implementing complex regulations mandated by Dodd-Frank.

"She probably had the worst luck of any commissioner in history," said former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt.

Levitt lauded her performance as Wall Street's top watchdog during one of the agency's most difficult periods.

Schapiro took office a little more than a month after federal authorities arrested Madoff on charges of operating a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme for years. The SEC was sharply criticized, including by its own inspector general, for failing to uncover the largest such scheme despite repeated tips about Madoff's activities.

"I think in many ways she saved the commission, which at the time she took over was in a real state of disarray and badly demoralized," Levitt said. "Mary instilled a sort of sense of spirit and discipline that it lacked for the prior number of years."

Obama said Schapiro knew the difficulties facing the SEC when she took the job, "but she accepted the challenge, and today, the SEC is stronger and our financial system is safer and better able to serve the American people."

Schapiro cited a record number of enforcement actions by the agency during her tenure and improvements in its ability to pursue tips about market wrongdoing. The SEC brought 735 enforcement actions in the 2011 fiscal year, the most ever by the agency, and 734 actions in 2012.

"It has been an incredibly rewarding experience to work with so many dedicated SEC staff who strive every day to protect investors and ensure our markets operate with integrity," she said.

But Schapiro had a rocky tenure, including battles with industry and Republicans in Congress, highlighted by her recent failure to gain SEC approval for new money market fund regulations.

"I think that she clearly came into the job with an agenda of things she wanted to accomplish that would have been beneficial to investors," said Barbara Roper, director of investor protection for the Consumer Federation of America. "Unfortunately, much of that work is left undone and much of the Dodd-Frank rule-making is still undone."

Walter's priorities as a commissioner — tighter regulations of registered investment advisors and the municipal bond market, for example — could provide insight into her agenda as chairwoman of the SEC, said Kenneth Bentsen, executive vice president for public policy and advocacy for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Assn. in Washington.

But a divided SEC, with only four commissioners after Schapiro's departure, could create problems for the agency, Bentsen said.

"If you've got paralysis in the agency, that can be problematic," he said. "They have a lot to do on their agenda."

Walter is viewed as a loyal ally to Schapiro, though at times has pushed for tougher regulations. Experts don't expect major shifts at the SEC under Walter, who might face an even tougher time dealing with Congress than Schapiro did.

"I have a lot of respect for the integrity and ability of Elisse Walter, but I'm not sure she has the political skill or clout of Mary Schapiro, who really did understand Washington," Coffee said.

Despite that understanding, Schapiro had trouble getting lawmakers to significantly increase the agency's budget, he said. Roper said she hoped for a more combative SEC chief than Schapiro turned out to be.

"Under the circumstances, the job demanded someone with a thicker hide than she has, someone more willing to stand up to pressure from people who frankly don't want the agency to succeed," Roper said. "She's someone who is inclined to get along and find consensus.… It's a very good quality in a friend or family member, but it's not a good quality in an SEC chairman at this time."

Puzzanghera reported from Washington, and Tangel from New York.

jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com

andrew.tangel@latimes.com

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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. No pitcher has as many Cy Young awards as Roger Clemens.

Under ordinary circumstances, the Hall of Fame debate would involve whether Bonds or Clemens might become the first player to get 99% of the votes in his election.

However, with the residue of the steroid era sprinkled over ballots on their way this week to about 650 voting members of the Baseball Writers' Assn. of America, the debate involves whether Bonds or Clemens might be elected at all.

The results will be announced in January. A player must get 75% of the votes for election.

In a Los Angeles Times survey of a small group of BBWAA members, 10 said they planned to vote for Bonds and Clemens and eight said they did not. Others declined to reveal their votes.

The survey, while not a statistically valid sample, foreshadows a polarizing election with one side leaning toward recognizing the dominant players of the era and another side leaning toward barring any player tainted by allegations of steroid use, even if that player never failed a drug test.

As voters consider their decisions on the current class of candidates, they also wrestle with the long-term implications of slamming the Cooperstown door to a decade or two of stars.

"I'm troubled by the idea that we will wipe out close to an entire generation," Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports said. "So, I'm constantly looking at this, trying to stay open-minded."

Bonds, who hit a record 762 home runs, was cleared last year of charges he lied to a grand jury when he testified he had not knowingly used steroids. He was convicted of obstruction of justice; he is appealing the conviction.

Clemens was acquitted in June on charges he lied to Congress when he testified he never had used steroids or human growth hormone.

Although candidates linked to steroid use have been rejected in previous votes — most notably Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro — there is no rule against their election.

The Hall of Fame ballot entrusts voters to evaluate "the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played."

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle said he has distilled his criteria to on-field accomplishments.

"I've decided to vote based purely on statistics," Ortiz said. "Despite what some consider a mountain of evidence against some guys, I refuse to pretend I can determine which guys accomplished their feats without the help of performance-enhancing drugs.

"My experience tells me that some of the guys people assume are clean actually weren't, so why would I punish others?"

Danny Knobler of CBS Sports said he has decided, for now, not to vote for any player if there is "reasonable belief" of his steroid use.

"If I'm withholding my vote, it's because I believe there's a belief that you cheated the game," Knobler said. "If you did, I'm not voting for you for the Hall of Fame."

This year's ballot also includes Mike Piazza and Sammy Sosa, not the incomparable players that Bonds and Clemens were but strong candidates nonetheless. Piazza might be the best hitting catcher in baseball history; Sosa ranks eighth all-time with 609 home runs.

Piazza told the New York Times in 2002 that he had briefly used androstenedione earlier in his career — baseball did not ban the substance until 2004 — but had not used steroids. The New York Times reported that Sosa tested positive for steroids in 2003, though he has denied using performance-enhancing substances.

Yet, the 2003 tests were intended to be anonymous, with no penalties attached. Baseball did not hold players accountable for using performance-enhancing drugs until 2004. Bonds, Clemens, Piazza and Sosa failed no tests under the MLB protocol.

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Egypt president meets judges, fails to 'contain crisis'

CAIRO — President Mohamed Morsi suggested Monday that he would scale back broad powers he assumed last week but failed to appease Egypt's judiciary, which would still lack oversight of some institutions including the Islamist-led assembly drafting a new constitution.

Morsi and senior judges met for nearly five hours to discuss differences resulting from the president's declaration that his office was free from judicial review. Morsi told judges that the decree was meant to be temporary, and mainly aimed at shielding the long-troubled constitutional assembly from any judicial attempt to disband it.

Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali said after the meeting that Morsi's decree was not designed to "infringe" on the judiciary, suggesting not all of the president's actions would be immune from court review. The Supreme Judicial Council on Saturday condemned Morsi's expanded powers as an "unprecedented attack" on the courts. And Monday's talks did not seem to soften the sentiment of some council members.

"Our meeting with the president has failed to contain the crisis," Abdelrahman Bahloul, a member of the judicial council, told the newspaper Al Masry al Youm. "The statement issued by the presidency is frail and does not represent the members of the council."

The Judges Club, a separate legal organization, also was not satisfied that Morsi had scaled back enough of his authority. It called on its members to continue a partial strike in Alexandria and other cities. Ziad Akl, a political analyst, said Morsi's negotiations with the judges were a move to show the public he's not a dictator, "but, in reality, his declaration has not changed."

The talks in the presidential palace did not stop anti-Morsi demonstrations in Tahrir Square on Monday. But in a sign tensions may be easing, the Muslim Brotherhood, which Morsi helped lead until his inauguration in June, announced it was canceling a scheduled demonstration Tuesday to avoid bloodshed and possible clashes with Morsi opponents.

The consequences of the nation's restiveness played out as Morsi and the judges met Monday, with mourners turning out to bury two boys from opposite political sides who were killed in recent clashes: a 16-year-old antigovernment protester reportedly shot with a rubber bullet near Tahrir Square and a 15-year-old struck by a stone when a crowd attacked an office of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party in the Nile Delta.

"The presidency mourns two of the nation's finest young men," Morsi said in a statement.

But the images of two funerals made it clear that Morsi and the Brotherhood, although still Egypt's dominant political forces, miscalculated the depth of public anger that has bristled since last year's overthrow of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak and subsequent government setbacks, including judicial action disbanding the Islamist-led parliament.

Last month, Morsi, who for months has held wide executive and legislative powers, attempted to fire Prosecutor-General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, only to retreat after a backlash from judges. His most recent decree to hold his office above judicial oversight struck many as another ill-conceived bid to consolidate his authority and advance an Islamist agenda.

Morsi contended that his intent was to prevent Mubarak-era judges from disrupting the country's political transition. Many Egyptians, including opposition figures, are suspicious of the courts, Mahmoud in particular. But Morsi's unilateral decree echoed the strongman tactics of his predecessor.

One of the president's biggest challenges is to protect the assembly drafting the constitution, which will open the way for new parliamentary elections. In June, the Supreme Constitutional Court, made up mostly of Mubarak-appointed judges, dissolved parliament. The court has since been deciding the fate of the Islamist-led assembly, which Morsi feared would also be disbanded.

Activists, liberals, women and non-Muslims have boycotted the assembly, saying that it is too focused on sharia, or Islamic law, which could limit civil rights. Protesters in Tahrir Square said they will continue their demonstrations until Morsi retracts more of his power.

Jaber Nassar, a legal expert quoted on state TV, said Morsi's meeting with the judges showed that he remains adamant on keeping broad authority. He called Morsi's announcement Monday "simply a political statement meant to curb protests against" his decree.

jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com

Abdellatif is a special correspondent.

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For two L.A. schools, sharing a campus is starting to chafe

Three years ago, Logan Street Elementary looked like the perfect spot for high-performing, growing Gabriella Charter School. Logan, a low-performing neighborhood school with declining enrollment, had room to spare.

But Logan has begun to rebound, opening up a language program with teaching in both Spanish and English and adding middle-school grades. And its test scores have risen.

Now the Echo Park campus is becoming too small for two burgeoning operations: an improving traditional school and an exemplary charter. Neither intends to surrender its hold on the campus.

The situation exemplifies issues that arise when schools must share campuses. Across the Los Angeles Unified School District, 58 charters operate alongside neighborhood schools. Charters have fit in comfortably on new campuses, such as Synergy Kinetic Academy at the Nava Learning Center in South Los Angeles. There are more logistical hurdles and resistance at older schools.

The California Charter Schools Assn. is battling L.A. Unified in court over access to campuses. For many charters, which are publicly funded and independently operated, locating and paying for real estate is a persistent challenge. Charters argue that the district should provide more classrooms, given that L.A. Unified has declining enrollment and about 1 in 8 of its students attend charters.

Under state law, charters have a right to district facilities that are "reasonably equivalent" to regular district schools'. But these arrangements cover only one year at a time; charters risk having to change locations frequently.

The Gabriella deal was an attempt to prevent such a disruption. L.A. Unified agreed to let Gabriella, which operated about two miles away near MacArthur Park, move to Logan starting in the 2009-10 school year. The district this month renewed Gabriella's charter for five years, which, under the deal, automatically included letting it stay at Logan. The renewal never was in doubt — Gabriella has some of the highest test scores in the state, with an enrollment that is 90% low-income, minority students.

L.A. Unified also spent $2 million in voter-approved construction bonds to convert a portion of a Logan classroom building into two fully outfitted dance studios that opened in 2010. The charter's most distinctive feature is a comprehensive, daily dance program for all students. After school, the studios are used by a community dance program, run by Gabriella's founders, that is offered for $7 a month.

The studios are emblematic of the uneasy coexistence. They are the major recent upgrade to the well-worn campus and off limits to Logan students during the school day. A handful take dance after school, but the program serves a broad area, and vacancies are filled by lottery.

Only Logan uses the cafeteria for meals. Gabriella students eat outside at tables — or in classrooms when it rains.

The asphalt playground is split by orange cones, which are shifted to allow each school rotating access to different play areas.

Logan's expansion through eighth grade has added complications. Given the smaller, divided playground, Logan doesn't let its middle-schoolers use the playground during their morning break and lunch. And one day a week, eighth-graders remain in classrooms for physical education because Gabriella has the entire playground at that time.

Gabriella forbids its students from using the playground before school, dissatisfied with the level of supervision.

The charter school, which also runs through eighth grade, has stretched beyond its original bungalows into two other buildings.

When needed classroom space wasn't forthcoming last year, Gabriella converted its office into a classroom and occupied the auditorium as an ad hoc office and storage space. L.A. Unified officials ordered them out — but quickly provided the needed classroom.

Logan's low point in enrollment was two years ago, when it had 475 students. It's now up to 550. Gabriella has 436. The campus is now as packed as it was in 2000, when Logan was considered overcrowded.

Logan supporters insist it's unfair for Gabriella students to crowd their campus when about two-thirds live outside the attendance area; Gabriella insists that about two-thirds come from "greater Echo Park." Anyone can apply; admission is by lottery when oversubscribed.

Some of the resistance to Gabriella is born of the area's traditionally liberal, pro-union roots; activists have opposed all charter schools in the neighborhood, at least partly because most are non-union.

There's also resentment over Gabriella providing smaller classes and more frequent maintenance.

The campus lacks science labs for the middle school students, not to mention a gym, a functioning library and a playground with green space.

"I think all the students at both schools are getting hurt," said Tad Yenawine, a parent on Logan's leadership council. "It's pretty clear a solution needs to be found. The only way this really works is that Gabriella moves."

Gabriella administrators said they intend to make do as things are.

"Being charter people, we're used to being creative with space," Principal Lisa Rooney said. "We can make it work with what we have."

Mollie Jones, a Gabriella parent, agreed.

"We have different buildings and entrances," she said. "The layout is a little random, but the focus here is on learning. The fact that we share the campus with another school is probably the least interesting thing about the school."

howard.blume@latimes.com

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School's no-running policy is making mom gain weight

If I gain a few pounds this holiday season, I'm going to blame the anti-obesity program at my children's school.

Does that sound like the worst dieting excuse ever? I submit that such (deep fried) pretzel logic comes with being a parent in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

My children attend a Spanish immersion program in Highland Park. It's a good school, with caring teachers and a committed principal.

But like a lot of campuses in Los Angeles, Aldama Elementary has paved blacktop instead of a grassy playing field. With that comes a vexing rule: For safety's sake, children are discouraged from running free during recess, regardless of the obesity epidemic or the wealth of studies showing that exercise helps children focus.

Four years ago, some parents — aghast at their children's tales of being benched for running, and in despair at the havoc that children pent up all day could inflict when they got home — begged school officials to let the children run. But they were immovable (pun intended) and the rule stayed.

Then, a solution presented itself, although it was a solution dripping with saturated fat. The PTA partnered with Playworks, a nonprofit dedicated to improving play and physical fitness, to raise money for a coach to conduct running games at recess. The catch: Parents pay for it, in part, by buying, selling and, alas, eating cheesecake. A lot of cheesecake, $14,000 worth of it this fall alone.

"The irony ... is not lost on me," said Janelle McGlothlin, a member of the PTA's grants committee. But healthier fundraisers, like jog-a-thons and read-a-thons, failed to raise much cash. "The cheesecake sale makes way more money than anything else," she said.

So the parents sell cheesecake. But some also fume. What does it say about how we educate children that school officials would frown on running in a state where officials recently announced that only one in three kids are physically fit? What does it say that we would urge them to take time away from reading and playing to sell cheesecake, when one in five elementary school-age children in L.A. County is overweight?

Getting to the bottom of why the rule existed — or even what the rule actually was — was exercise in itself.

I spoke with Christopher Ortiz, the district's director of school operations, who said that LAUSD does not prohibit running. But it does set guidelines for safety, which, he acknowledged, can result in de facto limits on running, especially on campuses where there is no grass. (Why they have no grass is another story. Still another one is why so many campuses are locked up like Fort Knox on weekends and evenings in communities where there are few parks.)

"Many of our schools … have very limited space," Ortiz said. "The play areas are very narrow ... so as a principal you have to determine what can children do in terms of physical activity that will be safe."

At many campuses, school officials have come up with rules that permit running during organized, supervised games, such as kickball, but discourage wild games of tag or spontaneous free-for-alls where kids run wild.

But by the time it trickles down to children, the nuance can get lost.

One morning, I asked my son, who is in kindergarten, what the purpose of school was. The answer I was going for was something along the lines of "learning" or even "having fun."

He thought for a minute, then said soberly: "No running."

Ortiz, who was a principal himself for years, said he's never had a parent complain. "Would you have wanted me to permit wholesale running during recess?" Ortiz asked. "Or would you want me to make sure your kid is safe?"

I thought about this. Of course I want my kids to be safe. And I'm not oblivious to the risks of hundreds of kids blasting like maniacs across a small paved area. My daughter is only in second grade, but already, two of her friends have hurt themselves at school; one broke a bone, the other required stitches after a fall.

So, yes, the rules make sense. Until you remember how kids play. They don't always favor organized, supervised rounds of kickball. They like to hurl their little bodies through space, devising their own games, making up their own characters and scenarios, changing the rules every 45 seconds and, it is true, smashing into each other and falling down. That is one of the ways they explore the world, one of the ways they learn.

When I was about my daughter's age, my friends and I used to race across my school's grassy playing field at recess, and — in violation of numerous rules — we'd sneak through the woods, scramble over an old log, and run down a muddy hill onto a vacant field where no one could see us.

I can still recall how free we felt on that field, as if it were our own private fairyland, even though all we did was stand there. And I remember too the joyful exhilaration of our blood pumping through our bodies as we ran back to class when the bell rang, our legs carrying us so fast we were almost flying. That has stayed with me more vividly than anything I might have learned in second grade.

Still, now that I'm a parent, I'm less thrilled at the idea of my own children scrambling around alone in the woods. And the recess coach our PTA hired with the cheesecake money knows his job: The kids love his games.

So next time my kids come home with yet more pamphlets, hawking yet more overpriced sugary treats that I will be powerless to resist, I'll do my bit. But the taste is bittersweet.

jessica.garrison@latimes.com

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Survey finds lots of unused vacation time

As an information technology supervisor at Pitzer College in Claremont, Dennis Crowley had so much work to do last year that he finished 2011 without using nearly five days of paid vacation.

"And to be frank, I was too busy to even realize I was losing time," he said.

Crowley's situation is not unusual. A survey by Harris Interactive Inc. found that by the end of 2012, Americans will leave an average of 9.2 days of vacation unused, up from the average of 6.2 days in 2011.

Nearly 90% of those questioned said they would take more leisure trips on their vacation if they had the time and money to do so, according to the survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults that was commissioned by travel website Hotwire.

Hotwire has a selfish reason for pointing out the survey results: The travel website says vacationers can save lots of money by traveling between Thanksgiving and Christmas. During the holiday gap, hotel rates drop 33% in Boston, 28% in San Francisco and 26% in Seattle, compared with the peak summer travel season, according to the website.

Crowley has learned his lesson. He said he is keeping closer tabs on his vacation time this year. But instead of using his accrued vacation time to travel, he said is spending more time with his children.

Airline food getting more healthful

On the nation's airlines, the days of free lunch are long over. That also goes for breakfast, dinner and snacks. Once complimentary, most airline food now comes with a price tag.

But there is some good news about what you get to eat on commercial airlines: It is getting more healthful.

That's the assessment of Charles Platkin, a professor of nutrition at the City University of New York's Hunter College who has tested and ranked airline foods off and on since 2000. With few exceptions, Platkin said most airlines now offer at least one healthful meal alternative on their menu.

"It's actually moving in a good direction," he said. "It's been an ebb and flow, but the overall trend is positive."

Platkin gave the top ranking this year to Virgin America, noting that the airline based in California offers low-calorie options such as roasted pear and arugula salad, a "protein plate" with hummus and whole wheat pita bread, plus oatmeal for breakfast. He gave the airline 41/4 stars out of a maximum of five stars.

At the bottom of the list was Allegiant Air, with a rating of only one and a half stars. Platkin said the Las Vegas airline "made it clear that their foods were not healthy. It shows."

The airline's snacks include M&Ms, Oreo Brownies and Pringles chips.

Air Canada and Alaska Airlines came in second and third, respectively, in Platkin's ranking. The other big airlines — including United, American, Delta and US Airways — ranked in the middle of the list.

Platkin does not eat the food on every airline. "I don't have that kind of time," he said. "I have classes to teach."

Instead, he collects and reviews lists of food items, including the ingredients and calorie numbers, from the airlines.

TSA defends stopping traveler over watch

A traveler was stopped by federal security officers at the Oakland International Airport this month because of an unusual wristwatch he was wearing.

When word got out about the incident, critics of the Transportation Security Administration blasted the agency, saying it was another example of the TSA overreacting.

In hopes of stifling the uproar, the TSA released a photo of the watch last week. This is no ordinary timepiece. It includes a toggle switch, wires and what look like tiny fuses attached to the wristband.

A TSA explosives detection team determined that the watch was not an explosive device. Still, the Alameda County sheriff's deputies, who were called by the TSA to investigate, arrested the watch owner, Geoffrey McGann, a teacher and artist from Rancho Palos Verdes. He was jailed on suspicion of possession of components to make a destructive device, according to news reports.

The Alameda County district attorney's office declined last week to file charges against McGann.

McGann's attorney accused the TSA of being "hyper-vigilant."

The TSA responded in its blog last week, saying, "Terrorists take everyday items and attempt to manipulate them to make improvised explosive devices. Our officers are trained to look for anomalies such as this one."

hugo.martin@latimes.com

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Yasser Arafat's body to be exhumed as cause of death is sought

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian Authority announced Saturday that it would exhume the body of Yasser Arafat within days in a bid to determine the cause of his death eight years ago. Many Palestinians believe he was poisoned by Israel.

Arafat, 75, died in a French military hospital near Paris on Nov. 11, 2004, after his health deteriorated suddenly during an Israeli military siege of his Ramallah headquarters.

French hospital reports attributed his death to a massive brain hemorrhage, but gave no details on what caused a related blood condition called disseminated intravascular coagulation, fueling Palestinian suspicion of an Israeli role.

The body will be exhumed Tuesday in Ramallah, Palestinian officials told reporters. Swiss, French and Russian forensic experts will analyze tissue samples to see whether they match July tests by the Swiss Institute for Radiation Physics. Those tests found traces of radioactive polonium on Arafat's toothbrush, fur hat and other belongings he used in his final days.

Journalists will be kept away from the concrete-encased grave in Arafat's former Ramallah compound, which has been obscured by blue industrial sheeting since digging started in mid-November. The body will be immediately reburied at a depth of 12 feet.

Testing will be done in Switzerland, France and Russia, officials said, with the results expected in a few months.

No autopsy was done at the time of Arafat's death, at the request of his wife, Suha. But she later filed a lawsuit, spurring a French investigation. French medical teams ruled out poisoning, and an eight-year Palestinian investigation found no conclusive evidence of foul play.

Many here have already made up their minds.

"Regardless of the results of the tests, whether they will be positive or negative, we are convinced and have all the evidence to prove that Israel has assassinated him," Tawfik Tirawi, head of the Palestinian committee investigating Arafat's death, said at the news conference Saturday in the Ramallah offices of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

But Mahdi Abdul Hadi, an analyst with the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, said Palestinians were more concerned about the possibility that collaborators helped Israel kill Arafat.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the Palestinians were free to take all the samples they wanted.

"We have nothing to fear," he said. "All the accusations against Israel are completely ridiculous and not based on the slightest bit of evidence."

Amir Rapaport, publisher and editor of Israel Defense magazine, said it was possible but unlikely that Israel had a role. Although Israel's prime minister at the time, Ariel Sharon, expressed "satisfaction" on learning of Arafat's death, Rapaport said he had been privy to the debate among top Israeli government and military leaders, and this idea wasn't part of the discussion.

Furthermore, he said, the way Arafat died — an initial deterioration, temporary improvement, then a final collapse — bears none of the hallmarks of Israeli assassinations, which tend to be quick and decisive. "It's too complicated," he said.

Conspiracy theories are rife in countries around Israel's periphery, said Boaz Ganor, executive director of Israel's International Institute for Counter-Terrorism.

"The fact that most Palestinians believe Israel was responsible, I'm not surprised," Ganor said. "They probably believe Israel is responsible for global warming as well."

The French team recently has sought to question Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said Palestinian officials, who requested anonymity, but they were rejected.

"We will not allow any action that would infringe on our sovereignty," Tirawi said, an apparent reference to the French request. Tirawi said reports that Arafat's corpse had been damaged by tons of concrete poured over the grave site at the 2004 burial were false.

mark.magnier@latimes.com

Times staff writer Magnier reported from Jerusalem and special correspondent Abukhater from Ramallah.

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