The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 10

LAT XTRA LATIMES.COM/LANOW AA Advertisement COMMUNITY TOWN HALL MEETING WITH CONGRESSMAN HOWARD BERMAN Robert A. Millikan Middle School Burrill Hall 5041 Sunnyslope Avenue Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 Wednesday, January 4, 2012 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. See www.house.gov/berman for details ADVERTISEMENT The frescoes encapsulate Depression-era California: Scenes depicting idyllic farm and factory life roll out beside those of grueling economic hardship. Urban shoppers browse for toys. A small boy witnesses a mugging.

No one disputes their historical value. But the works with their iconic Art Deco home, San fluted Coit Tower are in trouble. Mineral blooms on the concrete interior walls, a byproduct of this legendary fog, have marred the earth- and jewel- toned images. Their surfaces bear chips and scratches from the indis- creethands of countless visitors. The ceiling plaster is peeling.

The lighting is dim. Francisco cannot continue to position itself as agreat city of arts and culture when it behaves this former state librarian and California historian Kevin Starr said after admiring the frescoes during a re- cent tour with friends. if we treated Rockefeller Center like voice is the latest in a rising chorus of concern over conditions at Coit Tower. Faced with complaints from neighborhood groups, docents and even one of the descendants, the city has stepped up efforts to restore the tower and its murals. The San Francisco Arts Commission has retained a preservationist to assess the damage and hopes to raise enough money to restore the works while improving lighting and other aspects of the visitor experience Recreation and parks officials have promised to channel annually from the Coit Tower earnings into Photographs by Dave Getzschman For The Times YUJUNG CHO of Seoul photographs herself in front of Victor mural at Coit Tower in San Francisco.

Mineral blooms on the interior walls have marred the Depression-era frescoes. Hard times for Coit Tower S.F. steps up efforts to restore the landmark and its murals THE TOWER atop Telegraph Hill was built in 1933, thanks to a vague bequest from Lillie Hitchcock Coit. Lee Romney reporting from san francisco Coit, Despite a slow start, push to extend health coverage to those with preexisting medical conditions a three-year stopgap effort until federal healthcare reform fully kicks in has enrolled more than 6,000 patients. California now ranks second only to Pennsylvania with the highest number of enrollees in the temporary federallyfunded insurance plan.

The interim coverage helps people with cancer, heart disease and other long-term disorders pay for doctorvisits, hospital stays and medications. was really a said Catalina Island resident Doug Lord, 64, who has kidney disease and prostate cancer. one would insure Lord, a boat captain and former Avalon city councilman, said he seek cancer treatment after being diagnosed because he was uninsured and afford it. like I had nowhere to go and had no one to take care of me was pretty he said. California was the last state to offer the coverage.

But the number of applicants jumped after an aggressive marketing campaign and a drop in premiums. Now, with a higher- than-expected influx of federal dollars for 2012, the state plans to continue publicizing the plan. To be eligible, applicants must be U.S. citizens who have been uninsured for six months and have been denied coverage because of a preexistingcon- dition. are going full speed until the federal government tells us to said Janette director of Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board.

The program is scheduled to end in January 2014, State widens coverage on health plan More than 6,000 Californians with preexisting conditions are now in medical insurance program. Anna Gorman Insurance, Hollywood made a big splash here when it sank the movie replica of the in an enormous water tank built specifically for the cinematic spectacle. The films and and followed, with the cannon shots and explosions from those productions rattling high-rise condos and palapa bars up and down the craggy Baja California coast. But fears of drug wars and incentives from rival production facilities all but shut down film-making at Baja Studios, a 35-acre facility on a bluff overlooking the Pacific. Also closed was the Titanic-inspired theme film studio in Baja rises again Richard Marosi reporting from rosarito beach, mexico Studio, their service and sacrifice, and that of other U.S.

military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Veterans Day, a retired Navy chaplain who served with Zurheide, Austin, Zembiec and Mendoza with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment led a small group of Ma- In the early days of the U.S. battle with the Sunni insurgency in Iraq, the four Marines from Camp Pendleton were among those troops on the front lines in Anbar province. The two enlisted Marines would not survive those violent days in the spring of2004 in Fallouja: One was killed by when a mortar round went awryand one was mortally wounded while hurling a grenade to repel an enemy assault, bravery for which he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. The two officers survived, only later to be killed in other battles in other parts of the country: one by gunfire while leading a raid in Baghdad to kill or capture a target in 2007and one by stepping on a buried bomb while scouting an attack position near the Syrian border in 2005.

Now the four Lance Cpls. Robert Zurheideand Aaron Austin, and Majs. Douglas Zembiecand Ray Mendoza are the focal point of a legal dispute about how best to honor rines and family members up a steep, rugged hill at Camp Pendleton to plant a 13-foot tall cross in their memory. No one informed the chain of command or asked for permission. Zurheide, Zembiec and Mendoza Dispute spotlights fallen Marines Hilltop memorial honors men who helped erect a cross before going to Iraq.

Rick Loomis Los Angeles Times MEN SECURE across honoring fallen Marines. A legal scholar says that since the crosses are visible only from Camp Pendleton they could be seen as memorials with no religious purpose. Cross, Tony Perry reporting from san diego Atroubled veteran of the war in Iraq suspected in the fatal shooting of a park ranger was found dead Monday near a steep, snowy slope not far from Mt. Rainier, ending an intense, 24-hour manhunt that left tourists locked down in fear at a visitors center while 200 law enforcement officers combed the wilderness with dogs and planes. believe it was one person, and that one person has been found dead.

So as far as that goes, Mt. Rainier National Park spokeswoman Lee Snook said. The dramatic standoff during the height of the busy holiday ski season concluded when authorities confirmed that Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, whose abandoned car was found near the scene of fatal shooting of park RANGER SLAYING SUSPECT IS DEAD A 24-hour manhunt near Mt. Rainier turns up the body of the Iraq war veteran. Kim Murphy reporting from seattle Ranger, Lesbian custody fight Though they split up, both have parental rights, court says.

AA2 Seller of exotic fruits dies at 91 Jerry Dimitman grew old and rare Asian specimens locally. AA5 Complete index AA2 Lottery AA2 California AA3 Obituaries AA5 Weather: Mostly sunny. Downtown L.A.: AA6 CMYK.