Good morning - here's what's happening 7.16.08

A busy day for convicted murderers yesterday, what with a jury delivering a verdict of life in prison -- not death -- for Metrolink killer Juan Manuel Alvarez, a judge sentencing the two women who preyed on homeless men to life in prison, and a panel deciding Charles Manson follower Susan Atkins, who has terminal brain cancer, doesn't deserve compassionate release.

The IndyMac mess gets messier as customers get antsy, fights break out and the police get called in.

Think your money's not going as far? You're not imagining it -- consumer (that's you and me) prices jumped 1.1% last month, the fastest pace in 26 years.

Sixteen people with criminal histories, including rape, who still managed to get jobs at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital's outpatient clinic have been suspended. Want details? Good luck. Despite promises to come clean, officials aren't talking yet.

Why do Asian kids do so much better in school than Latinos? Kids, parents and teachers at Lincoln High take on the ticklish topic and quickly find some answers.

A week after losing Elton Brand, the Clippers bring in 6-foot-11, 235-pound Marcus Camby.

Actors standing on 13-foot poles to tell love stories. That's Strange Fruit, left, an Australian performance troupe in town through the weekend.

Steve Lopez gets passionate about the L.A. Times.

--Veronique de Turenne

Photos: Los Angeles Times