The Press-Enterprise

A 340-ton boulder that has come to be known simply as "the rock" is being readied for an epic, nine-day move to a Los Angeles museum, requiring a specially built trailer and clearances from utilities and cities along the route.

PASADENA, Calif. -- Before it happened, seismologists didn't believe the faults off of Sendai, Japan, were capable of generating anything much larger than a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. But the March 11 quake that spawned a disastrous tsunami measured 9.0.

LOS ANGELES -- It didn't take Dallas long.

One night into it, the Mavericks sold the idea that they are ready to push the Lo Angeles Lakers in this Western Conference semifinals, despite an historical void in the Beat LA Department.

Wispy white jet contrails are a familiar sight, a sign of today's considerable air traffic and, to some people, a visible reminder of environmental threat.

The trails -- formed when moisture condenses around aircraft engine exhaust -- create cirrus clouds that block solar energy from above and trap heat below. They may be contributing to warming of the Earth's surface temperature, NASA studies show.

It's a green home-building feature particularly fitting for Southern California: a concrete tile roof that neutralizes the smog-forming nitrogen oxides spewed by automobiles.

Hoping to attract environmentally concerned homebuyers, KB Home, based in Los Angeles, has joined forces with Boral Roofing, the Irvine, Calif., manufacturer of what is being called "smog-eating tile."

KB Home, a national homebuilder, in January began offering the tile in all of its housing developments in Southern California. In a few communities, the roof comes standard, but in most it's an upgrade available for an extra $800 or so.

"Obviously, in California pollution from cars is a concern. This is the right thing to do. It is cutting edge," said Steve Ruffner, president of KB Home's Southern California division.

According to the manufacturer, the concrete tile roof on a typical 2,000-square-foot house can annually break down the same amount of nitrogen oxides as a car's engine typically produces during 10,800 miles of driving.

Teenagers should get vaccinated to protect against the bacteria that causes meningococcal meningitis, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends in a report published Thursday.

Publication in the Jan. 27 issue of "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" formalizes the recommendations made this fall by the federal agency's advisory committee on immunization practices.

The committee's guidelines call for "routine vaccination of adolescents, preferably at age 11 or 12 years, with a booster dose at age 16," the report says of the meningococcal conjugate vaccine.

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Superstar golfers and former presidents may not be here, but that doesn't stop Alice Cooper from showing up every year to thrill at least one loyalist.