Consumer Confidential: Should a Man Taken to the ER in an Ambulance Against His Will Have to Pay the Bill?
As George Varghese tells it, he was walking along a sidewalk in West Los Angeles when he tripped on a crack and fell to the ground, spraining his wrist. “An ambulance appeared suddenly,” he recalled. “Three men came out, checked my ID, laid me on a cart, pushed me into the van and took me to the emergency room.” That would seem like a model of paramedic perfection, except for one thing. Varghese, 79, said he didn’t want to go to the...
Restaurants Booming Despite Turmoil in Markets
Washington — One part of the U.S. economy is enjoying a surprising boom, and it should prove useful in combating the recent slowdown: Americans are spending more eating out than ever before. The restaurant industry, long a reliable indicator of the underlying economy, has become an economic standout at a time of financial market turmoil and global uncertainty. Sales at food service and drinking places jumped nearly 8 percent last year...
Developers Thinking Inside The Box — the Cargo Box
Los Angeles — Slinging fresh juices and smoothies at two shops in Los Angeles, the owners of The Juice were initially skeptical when approached with an unusual proposition for a new location: a pop-up housed in a shipping container in the city’s Arts District. Elizabeth Halpern and her business partner, Melissa Cronkhite, questioned how many customers they would attract in the downtown Los Angeles neighborhood. What eventually won...
Meditation Turns Ultra-Trendy With New App
Los Angeles — Andy Puddicombe, a trained Buddhist monk, wants to spread health and happiness by teaching our technology-addled minds to slow down and live in the moment. Naturally, he’s doing it through an app. In just a few short minutes a day, users can listen to meditation guides for topics as varied as anxiety and relationships narrated by Puddicombe in his soothing British voice. “This exercise isn’t about getting rid of...
L.A. Students Grow Food at School
Los Angeles — Elizabeth Castro had never tasted beets or kumquats before she joined an after-school gardening program at her inner-city Los Angeles high school. Now, the 15-year-old helps grow the produce on campus in an urban neighborhood filled with auto shops and fast food restaurants — and she’s taken samples for her family to try. “Many things that I experienced here, I had never experienced before,” Castro told U.S. Surgeon...
