Deasy wants 30% of teacher evaluations based on test scores

L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy announced Friday that as much as 30% of a teacher's evaluation will be based on student test scores, setting off more contention in the nation's second-largest school system in the weeks before a critical Board of Education election.

Leaders of the teachers union have insisted that there should be no fixed percentage or expectation for how much standardized tests should count — and that test results should serve almost entirely as just one measure to improve instruction. Deasy, in contrast, has insisted that test scores should play a significant role in a teacher's evaluation and that poor scores could contribute directly to dismissal.

In a Friday memo explaining the evaluation process, Deasy set 30% as the goal and the maximum for how much test scores and other data should count.

In an interview, he emphasized that the underlying thrust is to develop an evaluation that improves the teaching corps and that data is part of the effort.

"The public has been demanding a better evaluation system for at least a decade. And teachers have repeatedly said to me what they need is a balanced way forward to help them get better and help them be accountable," Deasy said. "We do this for students every day. Now it's time to do this for teachers."

Deasy also reiterated that test scores would not be a "primary or controlling" factor in an evaluation, in keeping with the language of an agreement reached in December between L.A. Unified and its teachers union. Classroom observations and other factors also are part of the evaluation process.

But United Teachers Los Angeles President Warren Fletcher expressed immediate concern about Deasy's move. During negotiations, he said, the superintendent had proposed allotting 30% to test scores but the union rejected the plan. Deasy then pulled the idea off the table, which allowed the two sides to come to an agreement, Fletcher said. Teachers approved the pact last month.

"To see this percentage now being floated again is unacceptable," the union said in a statement.

Fletcher described the pact as allowing flexibility for principals, in collaboration with teachers, first to set individual goals and then to look at various measures to determine student achievement and overall teacher performance.

"The superintendent doesn't get to sign binding agreements and then pretend they're not binding," Fletcher said.

When Deasy settled on 30%, his decision was in line with research findings of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has examined teacher quality issues across the country. Some experts have challenged that work.

The test score component would include a rating for the school based on an analysis of all students' standardized test scores. Those "value-added" formulas, known within L.A. Unified as Academic Growth Over Time, can be used to rate a school or a teacher's effectiveness by comparing students' test scores with past performance. The method takes into account such factors as family income and ethnicity.

After an aggressive push by the Obama administration, individual value-added ratings for teachers have been added to reviews in many districts. They make up 40% of evaluations in Washington, D.C., 35% in Tennessee and 30% in Chicago.

But Los Angeles will use a different approach. The district will rely on raw test scores. A teacher's evaluation also may incorporate pass rates on the high school exit exam and graduation, attendance and suspension data.

Deasy's action was met Friday with reactions ranging from guarded to enthusiastic approval within a coalition of outside groups that have pushed for a new evaluation system. This coalition also has sought to counter union influence.

Elise Buik, chief executive of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, said weighing test scores 30% "is a reasonable number that everyone can be happy with."

The union and the district were under pressure to include student test data in evaluations after L.A. County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant ruled last year that the system was violating state law by not using test scores in teacher performance reviews.

A lawsuit to enforce the law was brought by parents in Los Angeles, with support from the Sacramento-based EdVoice advocacy organization.

If the "actual progress" of students is taken into account under Deasy's plan, "it's a historic day for LAUSD," said Bill Lucia, the group's chief executive.

All of this is playing out against the backdrop of the upcoming March 5 election. The campaign for three school board seats has turned substantially into a contest between candidates who strongly back Deasy's policies and those more sympathetic toward the teachers union. Deasy supporters praise the superintendent for measures they say will improve the quality of teaching. The union has faulted Deasy for limiting job protections and said he has imposed unwise or unproven reforms.

In the upcoming election, the union and pro-Deasy forces are matched head to head in District 4, with several employee unions behind incumbent Steve Zimmer and a coalition of donors behind challenger Kate Anderson.

Anderson had high praise for Deasy's directive, saying it struck the right balance and that teachers and students would benefit.

Zimmer said that although he understands that principals need guidance, "I worry about anything that would cause resistance or delay in going forward. I hope this use of a percentage won't disrupt what had been a collaborative process."

howard.blume@latimes.com

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Judge sets May trial date for Kardashian divorce

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kim Kardashian has a due date for her baby and now a trial date for her divorce from NBA player Kris Humphries.

A judge on Friday set a May 6 trial for the reality TV star who wants to end her marriage before July, when her child with Kanye West is due.

Kardashian filed for divorce on Oct. 31, 2011, after she and Humphries had been married just 72 days. Their lavish, star-studded nuptials were recorded and broadcast by E! Entertainment Television.

The trial is expected to last three to five days and could reveal details about Kardashian's reality show empire, which includes "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and several spinoffs.

Two judges determined Friday that Humphries' lawyers had adequate time to prepare for the trial.

Humphries wants the marriage annulled based on his claim that Kardashian only married him for the sake of her show.

She denies that allegation and says the case should be resolved through what would be her second divorce.

Humphries' attorney Marshall Waller asked for a delay until basketball season is over.

But Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon refused, saying firefighters, police officers, truck drivers and others have to miss work for trials, and Humphries must do the same if necessary.

Waller filed paperwork Thursday to withdraw from the case but didn't mention that development in court and refused to answer any questions about the document on Friday.

Waller said he was still hoping to obtain and review 13,000 hours of footage from Kardashian's reality shows to try to prove the fraud claim but noted he does not yet have an agreement to receive the footage.

Kardashian's lawyer said her client was ready for trial.

"Let's get this case dispensed with," attorney Laura Wasser said.

Humphries has provided a deposition in the case, as have West and Kardashian family matriarch Kris Jenner.

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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

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Livestrong Tattoos as Reminder of Personal Connections, Not Tarnished Brand

As Jax Mariash went under the tattoo needle to have “Livestrong” emblazoned on her wrist in bold black letters, she did not think about Lance Armstrong or doping allegations, but rather the 10 people affected by cancer she wanted to commemorate in ink. It was Jan. 22, 2010, exactly a year since the disease had taken the life of her stepfather. After years of wearing yellow Livestrong wristbands, she wanted something permanent.

A lifelong runner, Mariash got the tattoo to mark her 10-10-10 goal to run the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 10, 2010, and fund-raising efforts for Livestrong. Less than three years later, antidoping officials laid out their case against Armstrong — a lengthy account of his practice of doping and bullying. He did not contest the charges and was barred for life from competing in Olympic sports.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Mariash, of Wilson, Wyo., said of the antidoping officials’ report, released in October, and Armstrong’s subsequent confession to Oprah Winfrey. “When I look at the tattoo now, I just think of living strong, and it’s more connected to the cancer fight and optimal health than Lance.”

Mariash is among those dealing with the fallout from Armstrong’s descent. She is not alone in having Livestrong permanently emblazoned on her skin.

Now the tattoos are a complicated, internationally recognized symbol of both an epic crusade against cancer and a cyclist who stood defiant in the face of accusations for years but ultimately admitted to lying.

The Internet abounds with epidermal reminders of the power of the Armstrong and Livestrong brands: the iconic yellow bracelet permanently wrapped around a wrist; block letters stretching along a rib cage; a heart on a foot bearing the word Livestrong; a mural on a back depicting Armstrong with the years of his now-stripped seven Tour de France victories and the phrase “ride with pride.”

While history has provided numerous examples of ill-fated tattoos to commemorate lovers, sports teams, gang membership and bands that break up, the Livestrong image is a complex one, said Michael Atkinson, a sociologist at the University of Toronto who has studied tattoos.

“People often regret the pop culture tattoos, the mass commodified tattoos,” said Atkinson, who has a Guns N’ Roses tattoo as a marker of his younger days. “A lot of people can’t divorce the movement from Lance Armstrong, and the Livestrong movement is a social movement. It’s very real and visceral and embodied in narrative survivorship. But we’re still not at a place where we look at a tattoo on the body and say that it’s a meaningful thing to someone.”

Geoff Livingston, a 40-year-old marketing professional in Washington, D.C., said that since Armstrong’s confession to Winfrey, he has received taunts on Twitter and inquiries at the gym regarding the yellow Livestrong armband tattoo that curls around his right bicep.

“People see it and go, ‘Wow,’ ” he said, “But I’m not going to get rid of it, and I’m not going to stop wearing short sleeves because of it. It’s about my family, not Lance Armstrong.”

Livingston got the tattoo in 2010 to commemorate his brother-in-law, who was told he had cancer and embarked on a fund-raising campaign for the charity. If he could raise $5,000, he agreed to get a tattoo. Within four days, the goal was exceeded, and Livingston went to a tattoo parlor to get his seventh tattoo.

“It’s actually grown in emotional significance for me,” Livingston said of the tattoo. “It brought me closer to my sister. It was a big statement of support.”

For Eddie Bonds, co-owner of Rabbit Bicycle in Hill City, S.D., getting a Livestrong tattoo was also a reflection of the growth of the sport of cycling. His wife, Joey, operates a tattoo parlor in front of their store, and in 2006 she designed a yellow Livestrong band that wraps around his right calf, topped off with a series of small cyclists.

“He kept breaking the Livestrong bands,” Joey Bonds said. “So it made more sense to tattoo it on him.”

“It’s about the cancer, not Lance,” Eddie Bonds said.

That was also the case for Jeremy Nienhouse, a 37-year old in Denver, Colo., who used a Livestrong tattoo to commemorate his own triumph over testicular cancer.

Given the diagnosis in 2004, Nienhouse had three rounds of chemotherapy, which ended on March 15, 2005, the date he had tattooed on his left arm the day after his five-year anniversary of being cancer free in 2010. It reads: “3-15-05” and “LIVESTRONG” on the image of a yellow band.

Nienhouse said he had heard about Livestrong and Armstrong’s own battle with the cancer around the time he learned he had cancer, which alerted him to the fact that even though he was young and healthy, he, too, could have cancer.

“On a personal level,” Nienhouse said, “he sounds like kind of a jerk. But if he hadn’t been in the public eye, I don’t know if I would have been diagnosed when I had been.”

Nienhouse said he had no plans to have the tattoo removed.

As for Mariash, she said she read every page of the antidoping officials’ report. She soon donated her Livestrong shirts, shorts and running gear. She watched Armstrong’s confession to Winfrey and wondered if his apology was an effort to reduce his ban from the sport or a genuine appeal to those who showed their support to him and now wear a visible sign of it.

“People called me ‘Miss Livestrong,’ ” Mariash said. “It was part of my identity.”

She also said she did not plan to have her tattoo removed.

“I wanted to show it’s forever,” she said. “Cancer isn’t something that just goes away from people. I wanted to show this is permanent and keep people remembering the fight.”

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L.A.'s 'Urban Outlaw' selling his custom Porsche 911 accessories

Magnus Walker steps between the scarred carcasses of Porsche 911s lining his garage wall. He pauses and points to a gaping hole where the car's front hood should be.

"Cars in here have to die," he says, "so others can live."

With a chest-length beard and finger-thick dreadlocks, the 45-year-old English immigrant doesn't look like a prototypical buttoned-down Porsche collector. But for more than a decade, Walker has worked in downtown L.A.'s arts district, transforming scrap heaps into one-off custom 911s, earning him the nickname "Urban Outlaw."

"I don't build white glove, Pebble Beach show cars," he says. "I'm building cars for myself."

What once was an expensive obsession may now become a lucrative profession. Already a successful businessman, Walker has started a new company to sell merchandise and the accessories that have become his signature 911 modifications to a cult of followers.

Each of his 911s still has Porsche's trademark large oval headlights, low front hood and sloping teardrop roofline that give the car its legendary silhouette. But Walker's custom touches — drilled-out door handles, trunk lids with horizontal slats cut into the metal — give them a hot rod edge.

His handiwork is on display across the street from the "chop shop" in a showroom-like garage filled with classic Porsche advertisements, rows of vintage license plates and oil-smeared car parts. About a dozen candy-colored 911s from 1964 through 1973 sit parked and ready for the road.

Look closely. No two cars are the same.

There's a 1966 Irish green 911 with wooden interior accents and black vinyl interior. A few steps away is a 1965 silver 911 with a houndstooth interior and Porsche black side stripe. Front and center is a 1972 911 STR decked out in white with red and blue accents and gold wheels.

"I've got to make the next car better than the last one," he said. "I don't chase originality, but if I stumble upon it, I don't turn away."

Walker has never wanted to build 911s to sell them. He's received requests, but he prefers to build them the way he sees fit, in his own time. He sells them when he feels like it, and they fetch $40,000 to $130,000, depending on the rarity of the car.

Some, he can't imagine ever selling.

His innovation has won the admiration of Porsche executives, several of whom visited his shop in November during the Los Angeles Auto Show. Walker now has an open invitation to tour the company's factory in Stuttgart, Germany.

It's high praise from the company, which is known for its strict adherence to the 911's timeless styling. The two-door, rear-engine car is renowned for its simplicity. Its shape has remained virtually unchanged since the first model rolled off assembly lines more than half a century ago.

"We can't go as far as to say we endorse his work. That's pretty hard for a company like ours to say," said Nick Twork, a Porsche spokesman. "But his cars have a unique style, and we have taken notice."

Walker's real skill with modifying 911s doesn't have anything to do with shoehorning in a new engine or gaudy paint jobs. Rather, it's something known as "backdating" to Porsche connoisseurs.

As Porsche's popularity increased after the first 911 in 1964, so did the company's car production. Many of the hand-made or accessory detailing began to disappear.

So Walker applies subtle changes to the cars, such as swapping out a glue-on plastic rearview mirror with a chrome one, or taking out dashboard gauges and recalibrating them.

"You can only look at a stock car so many times," said Manny Alban, president of Porsche Club of America. "What he does is very tasteful. As long as he doesn't stick a Chevy V-8 in the back, we'll be OK with it."

Walker lightens the cars, lowers them closer to the ground and installs a stiffer suspension for aggressive handling — basically building a street version of a 911 race car.

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Former Bell official says he voted for pay raise out of fear

One of the former Bell city leaders accused of plundering the town's treasury by taking oversized salaries testified Thursday that the fat paychecks and other extraordinary benefits that came with the job were all but forced on him.

George Cole, a former steelworker, returned to the witness stand for a second day and testified that he voted for a 12% annual pay raise for a City Council board in 2008 only because he feared retribution from then-City Manager Robert Rizzo.

"He had shown himself to be very vindictive if you crossed him at that time," Cole said. "I was worried that if I didn't vote for this, if I voted against it, he would do whatever he could to destroy the work that was important to me and the community. I knew that was his character."

Cole said it was the most difficult decision he ever made while on the council but was in the best interest of Bell — a city, he said, where he had devoted decades to advocating for new schools and programs for at-risk youths and senior citizens.

Cole, along with Luis Artiga, Victor Bello, Oscar Hernandez, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal, is accused of drawing an inflated salary from boards and authorities that rarely met and did little work.

The pay increases for the authorities were placed on the consent calendar — a place for routine and non-controversial items that are voted on without discussion. Cole defended the practice and said the agendas, minutes and staff reports were always available to the public at City Hall and at the library.

"I never tried to hide what we were doing," Cole said.

He also testified that the minutes did not reflect work done for those authorities.

Cole justified his vote for previous City Council pay raises to allow for a more diverse pool of council candidates who could use the money. And when he voted for a council salary increase in 2005, Cole noted that Bell was in a "very strong financial position."

The 63-year-old also told jurors that when he discovered $15,500 had been deposited into a 401(k)-style account for him, he complained. Cole said Rizzo refused to remove the money.

Initially, Cole said, Rizzo was a first-rate city administrator, making improvements such as repairing and keeping streets clean and erecting a protective fence around the city's largest park.

"From the time he started, he was able to accomplish things other managers previous to him said couldn't be done or were unable to do," Cole said.

Cole said the two would sometimes meet for breakfast to discuss city matters. "It was business," he said. "It wasn't two chums getting together."

But when Cole decided to give up his salary during his last year in office, he said it fractured his relationship with Rizzo. When he learned about Rizzo's near-$800,000 salary from a story published in The Times in 2010, he said he felt sick.

"I just felt like the dumbest person in the world that this guy had just pulled one of the biggest cons I've ever seen on, not just me, but on the city of Bell," Cole testified.

Rizzo faces 69 felony corruption charges. He and his former assistant, Angela Spaccia, are expected to go on trial later this year.

Cole's top annual salary was $67,000, his attorney said. At the time, he was earning nearly $95,000 a year as chief executive of the Steelworkers Old Timers Foundation.

In 2004, the city paid the state pension system $36,648 to buy Cole an additional five years of service time. Cole was one of 11 Bell administrators for whom the city bought service time.

CalPERS — the state's largest public pension program — has disallowed the service time the city bought, saying the buy-ins were not council-approved and that a municipality cannot pay for them.

Cole also was among the 40 or so Bell employees who were scheduled to receive additional payments through Bell's own supplemental retirement plan, established in 2003. In combination with the CalPERS pension, the payout was among the best retirement plans for non-safety employees in the state. The council never approved the plan.

jeff.gottlieb@latimes.com

corina.knoll@latimes.com

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Kim Kardashian makes another bid to end marriage

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kim Kardashian's divorce case is returning to court Friday with her attorney urging a speedy end to her marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries.

Lawyers for the pregnant reality star and the Brooklyn Nets power forward disagree over a timetable for a trial to end the marriage, which Humphries wants annulled.

Kardashian is asking a judge to order a trial as soon as possible. Humphries wants the case to remain on hold until the basketball season ends.

Setting a trial date may be complicated by a filing Thursday by one of Humphries' attorneys to leave the case, citing "irreconcilable differences" with Humphries. The attorney, Marshall Waller, had stated in recent court filings that he was still seeking evidence from several companies that produce Kardashian's reality shows to try to prove their fraud claims.

Kardashian's attorney Laura Wasser has repeatedly sought a trial date so that the marriage can be ended and denies that the couple's televised marriage was based on false pretenses.

The model is due to give birth in July to a child conceived with her boyfriend Kanye West. Each side accuses the other of trying to use Kardashian's pregnancy for a legal advantage.

"It appears from (Kardashisan's) moving papers that what is really going on here is that an 'urgency' in the form of an apparently unplanned pregnancy ... is perceived by (Kardashian) as an opportunity to gain a litigation advantage by trying to force this court to prematurely set this matter for trial," Waller wrote in a court filing earlier this month.

"(Humphries) to his great discredit thinks that because (Kardashian) is now pregnant he can exert some leverage over (her) knowing that she wants to be divorced," Wasser wrote.

Kardashian filed for divorce on Dec. 31, 2011 after 72 days of marriage. The pair was married in a star-studded ceremony that was televised by E! Entertainment Television.

The case has already drawn in West, the producers of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," and Kardashian family matriarch Kris Jenner.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Moloney will determine Friday how the case will proceed. He has previously said the case should be ready for trial early this year.

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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

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Fat Dad: Baking for Love

Fat Dad

Dawn Lerman writes about growing up with a fat dad.

My grandmother Beauty always told me that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, and by the look of pure delight on my dad’s face when he ate a piece of warm, homemade chocolate cake, or bit into a just-baked crispy cookie, I grew to believe this was true. I had no doubt that when the time came, and I liked a boy, that a batch of my gooey, rich, chocolaty brownies would cast him under a magic spell, and we would live happily ever.

But when Hank Thomas walked into Miss Seawall’s ninth grade algebra class on a rainy, September day and smiled at me with his amazing grin, long brown hair, big green eyes and Jimi Hendrix T-shirt, I was completely unprepared for the avalanche of emotions that invaded every fiber of my being. Shivers, a pounding heart, and heat overcame me when he asked if I knew the value of 1,000 to the 25th power. The only answer I could think of, as I fumbled over my words, was “love me, love me,” but I managed to blurt out “1E+75.” I wanted to come across as smart and aloof, but every time he looked at me, I started stuttering and sweating as my face turned bright red. No one had ever looked at me like that: as if he knew me, as if he knew how lost I was and how badly I needed to be loved.

Hank, who was a year older than me, was very popular and accomplished. Unlike other boys who were popular for their looks or athletic skills, Hank was smart and talented. He played piano and guitar, and composed the most beautiful classical and rock concertos that left both teachers and students in awe.

Unlike Hank, I had not quite come into my own yet. I was shy, had raggedy messy hair that I tied back into braids, and my clothes were far from stylish. My mother and sister had been on the road touring for the past year with the Broadway show “Annie.” My sister had been cast as a principal orphan, and I stayed home with my dad to attend high school. My dad was always busy with work and martini dinners that lasted late into the night. I spent most of my evenings at home alone baking and making care packages for my sister instead of coercing my parents to buy me the latest selection of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans — the rich colored bluejeans with the swan stitched on the back pocket that you had to lay on your bed to zip up. It was the icon of cool for the popular and pretty girls. I was neither, but Hank picked me to be his math partner anyway.

With every equation we solved, my love for Hank became more desperate. After several months of exchanging smiles, I decided to make Hank a batch of my homemade chocolate brownies for Valentine’s Day — the brownies that my dad said were like his own personal nirvana. My dad named them “closet” brownies, because when I was a little girl and used to make them for the family, he said that as soon as he smelled them coming out of the oven, he could imagine dashing away with them into the closet and devouring the whole batch.

After debating for hours if I should make the brownies for Hank with walnuts or chips, or fill the centers with peanut butter or caramel, I got to work. I had made brownies hundreds of times before, but this time felt different. With each ingredient I carefully stirred into the bowl, my heart began beating harder. I felt like I was going to burst from excitement. Surely, after Hank tasted these, he would love me as much as I loved him. I was not just making him brownies. I was l showing him who I was, and what mattered to me. After the brownies cooled, I sprinkled them with a touch of powdered sugar and wrapped them with foil and red tissue paper. The next day I placed them in Hank’s locker, with a note saying, “Call me.”

After seven excruciating days with no call, some smiles and the usual small talk in math class, I conjured up the nerve to ask Hank if he liked my brownies.

“The brownies were from you?” he asked. “They were delicious.”

Then Hank invited me to a party at his house the following weekend. Without hesitation, I responded that I would love to come. I pleaded with my friend Sarah to accompany me.

As the day grew closer, I made my grandmother Beauty’s homemade fudge — the chocolate fudge she made for Papa the night before he proposed to her. Stirring the milk, butter and sugar together eased my nerves. I had never been to a high school party before, and I didn’t know what to expect. Sarah advised me to ditch the braids as she styled my hair, used a violet eyeliner and lent me her favorite V-neck sweater and a pair of her best Gloria Vanderbilt jeans.

When we walked in the door, fudge in hand, Hank was nowhere to be found. Thinking I had made a mistake for coming and getting ready to leave, I felt a hand on my back. It was Hank’s. He hugged me and told me he was glad I finally arrived. When Hank put his arm around me, nothing else existed. With a little help from Cupid or the magic of Beauty’s recipes, I found love.

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Fat Dad’s ‘Closet’ Brownies

These brownies are more like fudge than cake and contain a fraction of the flour found in traditional brownie recipes. My father called them “closet” brownies, because when he smelled them coming out of the oven he could imagine hiding in the closet to eat the whole batch. I baked them in the ninth grade for a boy that I had a crush on, and they were more effective than Cupid’s arrow at winning his heart.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the pan
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs at room temperature, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Fresh berries or powdered sugar for garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish.

3. In a double boiler, melt chocolate. Then add butter, melt and stir to blend. Remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla and mix well.

4. Add flour. Mix well until very smooth. Add chopped walnuts if desired. Pour batter into greased baking pan.

5. Bake for 35 minutes, or until set and barely firm in the middle. Allow to cool on a rack before removing from pan. Optional: garnish with powdered sugar, or berries, or both.

Yield: 16 brownies

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Dawn Lerman is a New York-based health and nutrition consultant and founder of Magnificent Mommies, which provides school lectures, cooking classes and workshops. Her series on growing up with a fat father appears occasionally on Well.

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The trendy descend as British fashion royalty lands at the Grove

Star sightings are common at the Grove, but on Thursday the breathless anticipation was for the grand opening of fashion retailer Topshop and its men's brand, Topman.

The long-awaited debut marked the British brands' first West Coast store and brought out hordes of shoppers, some of whom stood in line for hours.

"I'm pumped. We've been waiting for so long and now it's finally getting close," said Sydney Nassiri, 17, who arrived at the Grove at 9 a.m. with her friend Laurel Bylin.

It was a retail mob scene at the shopping center in L.A.'s Fairfax district as people angled to be among the first to snatch up crochet and lace camis, bold floral high-low dresses and color-block tops.

Shoppers stood in a two-pronged line that flanked the main path of the shopping center; the earliest arrived at 5 a.m. At its height, Grove officials estimated, the crowd numbered 10,000, making it the center's biggest store opening ever.

Adding to the circus atmosphere was the faux British street fair staged as the line to get into the store grew. Executives from Topshop and Topman chatted with Grove owner Rick Caruso, while pop singer Demi Lovato performed before the doors opened shortly after 4 p.m.

The opening followed a Wednesday night launch party in West Hollywood that brought out Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Brown, Paris Hilton and two of the Jonas Brothers.

Despite the thousands in line, only a few dozen were allowed in at a time. Among them was 19-year-old Karina Aldana, who made a beeline for the accessories section.

"I shop a lot, and this is pretty high up on my list," the Glendale nursing student said. "I've gone to Chicago for Topshop and I thought I knew what to expect, but this is even better."

Topshop started in Britain in 1964 and now has hundreds of stores in 37 countries. Its Oxford Circus flagship is among the largest fashion stores in the world.

The brand, which sells clothes, shoes, makeup and accessories, is known as a trendsetter. It was an early proponent of partnering with celebrities, such as supermodel Kate Moss, to create exclusive collections. Its fashion show this weekend in London will feature an industry novelty: full access for the public via an app, streamed video and Google+ Hangouts.

Video: The scene at the Grove

Topman was opened as a separate chain for men in 1978, but the stores often cohabitate with Topshop locations. Both are subsidiaries of Arcadia Group, Britain's largest private clothing retailer, which is run by Sir Philip Green.

Topshop and Topman entered the U.S. market four years ago in New York and have since expanded to Chicago, Las Vegas and more than a dozen boutiques in Nordstrom stores.

In New York, the chain's revenue and profit are up by double digits from a year ago, said Topman Managing Director David Shepherd. But there was a need to bring the brands to California shoppers, who make up about 25% of Topshop and Topman's online traffic, he said.

Several Southern California locations were considered, including the Third Street Promenade, Beverly Hills, Glendale Galleria and the Americana at Brand in Glendale, but the Grove "was absolute top of the short list," said Robert Cohen, a real estate broker who represented Topshop and Topman.

The two-story, 30,000-square-foot store, which previously housed a Banana Republic, features clothing matched to Southern California's warmer weather. Its wooden panels and flooring distinguish the decor from the cooler tile and chrome in the other U.S. stores.

Caruso, founder and chief executive of Caruso Affiliated, said he had been in talks with Green for about two years and had campaigned hard for a Topshop location. The brands now expect the Grove store to be the second-most profitable U.S. outpost, after New York.

"It's a coup for us," Caruso said. The Grove last year recorded a huge $1,900 per square foot in retail sales, and with the addition of Topshop and Topman, "we're just going to exceed that in the coming year."

The Grove and neighboring Farmers Market are home to several major apparel retailers, including Forever 21 and Zara, which, like Topshop, focus on fashion-forward young adults. Topshop will also vie against H&M, American Apparel, Foreign Exchange and Angl, but a tight market doesn't seem to be a concern.

"Los Angeles is obviously a fashion capital," Shepherd said. "But when looking at the competition here, we have the same situation in New York and Chicago and we're performing well in those areas."

Not everyone showed up Thursday just for the retail opportunities.

Makaela Glancy, 13, arrived at the Grove at 6 a.m. from San Diego. Although she was excited to shop for Topshop clothes and accessories, she came mainly to see Demi Lovato and passed out homemade paper hearts to other shoppers in line.

"She's already cried once today because Demi did a sound check and waved at her," her mom, Bobbi Kohler, said.

andrea.chang@latimes.com

tiffany.hsu@latimes.com

Times staff writer Frank Shyong contributed to this report.

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Oscar Pistorius arrested in slaying of model Reeva Steenkamp

Paralympian Oscar Pistorius charged with murder

By Houston Mitchell

February 14, 2013, 6:35 a.m.

South African police Thursday arrested double amputee Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius and said he would be charged with murder after his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, was shot and killed at his home earlier in the morning.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Denise Beukes said that Pistorius was at his home after the death of the victim and that "there is no other suspect involved."

"There are witnesses and they have been interviewed this morning. We are talking about neighbors and people that heard things earlier in the evening and when the shooting took place," Beukes said.

Pistorius' court hearing was originally scheduled for Thursday afternoon but has been postponed until Friday to give forensic investigators time to carry out their work.

The athlete's father, Henke Pistorius, told South Africa's SABC radio news that he didn't know the facts. "If anyone makes a statement, it will have to be Oscar. He's sad at the moment."

Media in South Africa are reporting that Steenkamp was surprising Pistorius for Valentine's Day when he mistook her for a burglar and shot her. Steenkamp was shot in the arm and head and a 9-mm pistol was recovered at the scene.

"We have also taken cognizance of the media reports during the morning of an alleged break-in or that the young lady was mistaken to be a burglar," Beukes said. "Obviously our forensic investigation is still ongoing and we're not sure where this report came from.... Our detectives have been on the scene, our forensic investigators have been on the scene and the investigation is ongoing."

South African police said that there had been "previous incidents" of a domestic nature reported at Pistorius' home.

Pistorius, 26, was born without the fibula bone in both legs. He was known as the "Blade Runner" for his use of carbon fiber prosthetic blades. He was the first double amputee to run in the Olympics and reached the 400 meter semifinals in London 2012.

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Hugh Bonneville presides on 'Downton Abbey' finale

NEW YORK (AP) — The third season of "Downton Abbey" ends this Sunday with a bang.

Exactly what that bang is, we're not going to say, in deference to the maybe half-dozen "Downton" fans who still don't know the shocking truth.

The larger point remains that after Sunday's "Masterpiece Classic" (airing at 9 p.m. Eastern on PBS), viewers must suffer "Downton" withdrawal until next season.

But until then, we'll have our memories.

And what a season this has been! The beloved valet Mr. Bates was sprung from jail and a trumped-up murder charge to begin married life with his bride, the plucky lady's maid Anna. Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, has gotten Downton Abbey back on its feet financially with an able assist from his son-in-law and presumptive heir, Matthew Crawley. Matthew wed his true love, Lady Mary Crawley. But another of Robert's daughters, Lady Sybil, died tragically during childbirth.

Through it all, Robert's mother Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham (played by the sublimely scene-stealing, Emmy- and Golden-Globe-winning Maggie Smith) delivered a barrage of withering, hilarious rejoinders to virtually every narrative twist.

"I remember my very first scene with her in Season One," says Hugh Bonneville, who plays Robert, lord of the manor. "She's complaining about the new electric lights, and suddenly she put her fan up to her face to shield herself from 'the glare,' and spent the entire scene like that. It was so funny, and I was just, 'All right! There's no point in my even being here. She's just marched off with the scene!'"

Now, as then, "Downton" is a plush, penetrating peek into the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their household servants in an English castle of a century ago. With a cast that also includes Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Dan Stevens, Jim Carter and Brendan Coyle, the series this season has drawn an average 11 million viewers each week while spurring another surge of "Downton"-mania, even from first lady Michelle Obama, who pulled strings to get episodes of the new season before it premiered.

"Downton" has even been parsed for its political underpinnings. Last month, Fox News host (and native Brit) Stuart Varney declared that "Downton" celebrates rich people, who "in America today are reviled. They're dismissed as fat cats who don't pay their fair share." Yet on "Downton" the rich people are "generous," ''nice," ''classy" and "they've got style," he said, "which poses a threat to the left, doesn't it?"

It is rare when public television is accused of threatening left-wing orthodoxy, especially on "Fox & Friends" (whose co-hosts Gretchen Carlson and Brian Kilmeade expressed surprise to learn the show isn't called "Downtown Abbey"). But "Downton" has a way of engaging people, both the 99 percent and the 1 percent alike.

And, yes, as the wealthy, patriarchal Lord Grantham, Bonneville does indeed exude classiness and, at crucial moments, generosity.

But that's not the whole picture. Robert Crawley is also confounded by the modern world of post-World War I as it upsets the social hierarchy. Meanwhile, despite his indulgence of underbutler Thomas Barrow's shame (it seems Thomas is gay!), Robert isn't always the most tolerant of men.

"I don't want thumbscrews or the rack, but there always seems to be something of Johnny Foreigner about the Catholics," he sniffs to one of his kind during an exchange about religion.

"I don't think I'd have a huge amount in common with Robert if I met him at a dinner party," Bonneville says. "But I like the guy. I like the fact that while he does bluster and he's pompous sometimes, and he makes mistakes, there's a decency and a love for his family underneath it all."

Impeccably clad in a three-piece gray suit and pink tie for this recent interview, the 49-year-old Bonneville, even firmly planted in a 21st-century Manhattan hotel, looks to the manor born. Nonetheless, he brands himself a member of the British middle class — the son of a surgeon and a nurse who once imagined becoming a lawyer — and his roles have strayed some distance from the lofty likes of Robert Crawley. For instance, Bonneville has been affable and bumbling in "Notting Hill" and "Mansfield Park," and downright villainous in "The Commander."

And coinciding with his "Downton" duties, he also played the addled Head of Deliverance for the Olympics commission in "Twenty Twelve," a riotous BBC miniseries that spoofed preparations for the London Olympics.

"There are people who think I've been doing nothing for 25 years, and then suddenly I get this role on 'Downton Abbey,'" Bonneville says with a laugh. "But I've had a really lovely time for 25 years! I've played everything from Shakespeare to sitcoms to period dramas to modern serial killers. I consider myself a character actor, and I do love playing different instruments in the orchestra when I get the chance."

Of course, Bonneville realizes that "Downton" is a good bet for the lead citation in his obituary. He has finally acknowledged it: This show is a cultural phenomenon, not just a fleeting fad. And he has many theories why.

First, the savory writing by series creator Julian Fellowes. Besides, the cast is splendid. The production values are luxurious. And the premise remains rich with possibility.

"This is one of the few settings, alongside a hospital and a police station, where you can legitimately find a real cross-section of society under one roof," notes Bonneville. "But underneath it all, this series is about romance rather than sex, it's about tension rather than violence, and it's about family — both the literal family and the staff as family. It explores the minutiae of those social structures, the nuances of the system as to whether someone's in or out."

Not that he would want to be part of it. He doesn't sentimentalize that long-ago era any more than "Downton" does. And yet ...

"These days," says Bonneville, "we have relationships that are forged, consummated and brought to an end within 24 hours. Back then, the pace of life was slower, and I think we like to breathe out and enjoy that world — albeit for only an hour or so, on a Sunday night."

Just one more Sunday night, for now.

___

Online:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/classic

___

Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier

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