SOURCE: Associated Press
With Black Friday and Monday behind them, the feds are once again cracking down on websites dealing in bootleg goods.
The Department of Justice said Monday that it moved to seize 82 domain names of websites “engaged in the illegal sale and distribution of counterfeit goods and copyright works.”
The illegal goods include sports equipment, shoes, handbags and sunglasses, [...]

SOURCE: Associated Press
How small can you go and still live comfortably?
As Americans downsize in the aftermath of a colossal real estate bust, at least one tiny corner of the housing market appears to be thriving. To save money or simplify their lives, a small but growing number of Americans are buying or building homes that [...]

SOURCE: Associated Press

Job-based health care benefits could be in danger if Republicans and President Obama have their way,
Budget proposals from leaders in both parties have urged shrinking or eliminating tax breaks that help make employer health insurance the leading source of coverage in the nation and a middle-class mainstay.
The idea isn’t to just raise revenue, [...]

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles jaywalkers face a $191 fine now if they break the law in downtown Los Angeles.
During the busy holiday shopping season, the Los Angeles Police Department is ramping up a zero-tolerance policy for jaywalkers downtown, particularly the Historic Core area, as part of an effort to reduce accidents and prevent [...]

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
President Obama is moving forward on plans announced this month to freeze pay for federal employees for the next two years, a move his team cabinet says could save more than $5 billion through 2012.
“The hard truth is, getting this budget under control is going to require some broad sacrifice, and that [...]

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
Leslie Nielsen, the comedic actor from “Airplane!” and the “Naked Gun” comedies, died this month in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 84.
Nielson died of complications from pneumonia at a hospital near his home, surrounded by his wife, Barbaree, and friends, his agent, John S. Kelly, said in a statement.
In “Airplane!,” the 1980 [...]

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
Paper or plastic has a whole new meaning for workers these days, and it’s not about what to put your groceries in. Now some employers are asking this question of their workers when figuring out the most efficient way to pay them.
These companies are trying to eliminate paper paychecks for employees who [...]

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
Beginning in March, consumers will for the first time be able to check a government database that will compile safety complaints about a wide array of products such as toys and electrical appliances.
The public database, approved Wednesday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is almost unprecedented for a government agency.
Companies will be [...]

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
On a day of plenty, there are still many in need.
As the nation attempts to recover from recession, many remain out of work, or are struggling to get by on part-time jobs. In Los Angeles County alone, more than 1.56 million residents lived below the poverty level last year, according to the [...]

SOURCE: Associated PressAn Idaho judge has set bond at $100,000 for a Boise woman police say posed as a physician and duped at least two other women into having their breasts examined by her at Boise-area nightclubs.
Kristina Ross, 37, remains in Ada County Jail in Boise on two felony counts of practicing medicine without a [...]