Hot off the Press: Ukranian wrestling edition

A lethal strain of fungus that is spreading southward from British Columbia has the attention of health officials in both Canada and the US: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-fungus-20100423,0,7750399.story. I wonder if the higher mortality rate in the US can be attributed to a lack of health coverage. BURN!

Ripples from the Goldman Sachs fraud accusations are rocking campaign boats in two of California's major political races: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-0425-week25-20100425,0,4157288.story.

Apparently, Ira Glass spent most of this last week's version of "This American Life" dismantling Steve Poizner's book, saying the whole thing is untrue: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/04/ira-glass-steve-poizner-book-mount-pleasant.html.

A death row inmate in Utah has chosen to be executed by a firing squad, an option the state offers condemned prisoners who were sentenced before 1996: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/24death.html.

Thanks to a $900,000 donation from Hugh Hefner, the Trust for Public Land is now able to buy Cahuenga Peak, the location of the famed Hollywood sign, protecting it from development. The peak will now become part of Griffith Park: http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/topofthetimes/topstories/la-me-hollywood-sign-20100427,0,2732870.story. How the land around the Hollywood sign could be developed, or even why, is beyond me. This just goes to show there is nothing sacred in the west.

Another proposal to cap an LA freeway with a park has sprouted, this time for the 101 through parts of downtown: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/04/la-considers-building-a-park-atop-101-freeway-in-downtown.html. I would much prefer green and park space than the brutal and unsightly concrete desolation of a freeway, but is this even possible? Is it even a good idea? Remember what happened on the Nimitz Freeway in Oakland in 1989?

Qataris are gorging themselves on fast food and marrying their sisters and cousins. Unhealthy? Why, it's the very definition!: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/middleeast/27qatar.html.