The main function of the Civil Grand Jury is to investigate county, city, and joint - power agencies. This is a significant civil function. The Grand Jury acts in a watchdog capacity by examining carefully and completely the operations of various government agencies with in Los Angeles County. The Civil Grand Jury cannot investigate state or federal agencies, which lie outside their jurisdiction. Part of the investigation of governmental agencies includes the ability to audit operations, accounts, and records of officers and departments within the agency under investigation. The Civil Grand Jury is further charged with investigating individual complaints from citizens. By statute the Grand Jury is required to inquire regarding the conditions and management of all public prisons within the County of Los Angeles.

Six years ago, lawyer-banker-scholar Charles Morris wrote a prophetic book - 'Two-Trillion-Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High-Rollers and the Great Credit Crunch' - that foresaw the 2008 Great Recession before it clobbered America and the world. Now Morris has reversed course and sees good times ahead. His forthcoming book, 'Comeback,' predicts that surging U.S. energy independence will bring a buoyant rise in American manufacturing and jobs.

USS Gilliam (APA-57), named for Gilliam County in Oregon, was the lead ship in the her class of attack transports serving in the United States Navy during World War II. She was launched 28 March 1944 under a Maritime Commission contract by the Consolidated Steel Corporation, Wilmington, California; sponsored by Mrs. A. O. Williams of Wilmington; acquired 31 July 1944; and commissioned 1 August 1944, Comdr. H. B. Olsen in command.

The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (ACC) is one of the largest and most progressive animal control agencies in the United States. The ACC operates six animal shelters serving all unincorporated County areas and 50 contract cities. The ACC covers more than 3,200 square miles of cities, deserts, beaches, and mountains; from the Antelope Valley in the north to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the south; as far east as the border of San Bernardino County and west all the way to Thousand Oaks. The ACC provides animal control and rescue services 24 hours a day, seven days a week in our service area.

On Monday, after a long quarter-century, West Virginians said goodbye to their state's 6 percent food tax. Now to see what, if any, business we've been missing. In 1989, retailers warned that sales in West Virginia would go down if legislators imposed a 6 percent tax on food. "Whatever they put on would be passed on to the consumer," Charles Forth, who owned supermarkets in both West Virginia and Ohio, told the newspaper in February 1989. "Six percent is $6 on $100. That will make a difference when people are already hurting and trying to make ends meet." It's a lot easier to drive customers away than to win them back, a fact legislators should bear in mind when it comes to taxation.