Featured Articles From the Los Angeles Times

Olympic sprint champion Florence Griffith Joyner died after suffering an epileptic seizure, according to autopsy results released Thursday, and her family and friends say they hope the findings will put to rest rumors that drug use contributed to her death. Griffith Joyner died last month in her sleep at age 38. Her husband, Al Joyner, bitterly criticized those who suggested that she took performance-enhancing drugs.

We're at the point where any San Diego Chargers victory can be summarized in two words. This goes back to Nov. 19, when between updates I saw a 24-7 San Diego deficit against Denver turn into a 35-27 Chargers victory and I text-messaged a friend to ask what happened. My buddy's reply: "LT happened." Flash-forward to Sunday, when the Chargers had to deal with a strong Oakland Raiders defensive effort, a shaky performance by quarterback Philip Rivers and a 14-7 Raiders lead in the fourth quarter.

Two 17-year-old girls have been sentenced for torturing and butchering an elderly woman, less than three weeks after a pair of 10-year-olds were charged with murdering a toddler. Again, a troubled nation is asking, how could this happen? Edna Phillips, 70, was throttled with her dog's leash and stabbed or slashed 86 times. The mental images of the crime have shocked the nation just as the video pictures of little James Bulger being led to his death did last month.

Nadia Comaneci confirmed rumors that she tried to kill herself at age 15 by drinking bleach, according to Life magazine's March issue. Comaneci said she was hospitalized for two days and was "glad because I didn't have to go to the gym," according to the magazine. It had been rumored, and the 1984 film "Nadia" indicated, that Comaneci attempted suicide at the height of her fame in 1977 after scoring perfect 10s in the Montreal Olympics in 1976. She had denied the rumors, however.

An identical twin whose plot to kill her sister made headlines around the world sobbed uncontrollably Friday as a judge sentenced her to 26 years to life in prison. Despite her emotional, last-minute protest of innocence, Jeen "Gina" Han, 24, dubbed "the evil twin," received the maximum sentence. "It is obvious Miss Han is a danger to society, particularly her own family," said Orange County Superior Court Judge Eileen C. Moore. "All of her family have been victims of her crimes."

When Greg Louganis hit his head on the diving board and spilled his blood into the pool at the 1988 Olympic Games, did he have an obligation to disclose to doctors who treated him and to other athletes using the pool that he was HIV-positive?

Professional golfer Bob Toski, widely regarded as one of the best teachers of the game, has withdrawn from the PGA Senior Tour after admitting that he may have violated the rules of golf. In a prepared statement released by the PGA, Toski said: "In the late fall of 1985, one of my fellow players brought to my attention that I may have been violating the rules of golf by mismarking my ball.

Victor Davis, Canada's flamboyant Olympic gold-medal swimmer, died Monday from injuries incurred Saturday in an accident that Montreal police still are trying to unravel. Davis, 25, was pronounced dead at 11 a.m. PST, said Jacques Charbonneau, a spokesman for Notre Dame Hospital in Montreal. Doctors gave Davis little chance of surviving after suffering a severe skull fracture, brain and spinal damage and multiple bruises from being hit by a car.

Emerging from the chaos at the start of the Olympic marathon, Polin Belisle of Burbank sprinted to the front of the pack, running shoulder to shoulder with some of the world's best distance runners for nearly a mile. An improbable achievement for Belisle, it all seemed too good to be true. It was. Belisle was not supposed to be in the marathon. He wasn't even supposed to be in the Olympics.

Mary Todd Andrews, 86, an actress and the widow of screen star Dana Andrews, died Jan. 17 in Palm Springs of Alzheimer's disease. Born and reared in Santa Monica, she studied acting and became a leading comedic actress and ingenue at the Pasadena Playhouse in the 1930s. There she met the recently widowed Andrews, who had hitchhiked from Houston and was studying to become an actor. They were married in 1939 at the home of her parents, the J.W.

Medical castration to treat localized prostate tumors does not prolong survival and its side effects far outweigh any potential benefit for most patients, researchers reported today. The technique, which involves using drugs to block the body's production of the male hormone androgen, is a powerful tool when used in conjunction with surgery or radiation for treating aggressive prostate tumors.

Rapper-actor Snoop Dogg will avoid jail time after pleading no contest Wednesday to two felony charges -- but he might be legally allowed to continue smoking marijuana. The entertainer, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, entered the plea to a charge of gun possession by a convicted felon and a marijuana-related drug charge, prosecutors said. Dogg, 35, appeared before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Terry Smerling in Pasadena clad in a leather jacket, black jeans and a T-shirt.

Saying he wanted to do the right thing, the man convicted of killing Bill Cosby's only son, Ennis, has written a letter to the California attorney general's office confessing to the crime and asking that his 1998 appeal be dropped. "It is based on falsehood and deceit. I am guilty and I want to do the right thing," Mikail Markhasev, 22, wrote in the letter. "More than anything, I want to apologize to the victim's family.

The firing of Iowa State football Coach Jim Criner on Wednesday night climaxed a stormy 21-month period that began when he kicked his two starting wide receivers off the team, included the arrest of several players on criminal charges and an NCAA investigation of his program. Criner's troubles started in February of 1985 when he dismissed second-team All-American Tracy Henderson and Robbie Minor from the team for unspecified disciplinary reasons.