Jamie Reno

An Iraq vet adjusts to life without legs.

There are flames all around us. But we're still here—for now.

Hollywood's resident environmentalist is now a reality-TV star. How Ed Begley Jr. is greening Tinseltown, one celebrity home at a time.

Thousands of activists are hoping to convince Al Gore to run for president. Could a Nobel Peace Prize give the reluctant candidate a push?

Now that President Bush has approved a plan to gradually bring home some U.S. troops from Iraq, some of the families of the first unit to ship out are, surprisingly, not happy.

While many promising stem cell therapies are still awaiting approval for use in humans, vets are already using the technology to treat arthritis and tendon ailments in dogs and horses.

Stevie Wonder, one of popular music's most iconic and beloved stars, is also one of its more reclusive. Despite his 25 Grammys and 70 million-plus records sold, Wonder has released only a handful of records in the last 20 years—his last studio album, 2005's "A Time to Love," was his first in 10 years.

Two sites aim to teach you everything you want to know how to do, one video at a time.

Toxic cleaning solvents are being phased out, but it's not clear what will replace them. In the last installment of our small-business series about a San Diego dry cleaner, we follow its proprietor as he searches for the perfect environmentally friendly technology.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy (Lee) Baca has a distinguished record. A popular elected official, Baca, a Republican, has run virtually unopposed since first winning office in 1998.

Dave Winfield played in 12 All Star games, won seven Gold Glove titles and helped power the Toronto Blue Jays to a World Series win during his 22-year career in Major League baseball.

Berkeley Breathed, the reclusive author, illustrator and Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of "Bloom County," the uproarious and endearing sociopolitical 1980s comic strip, has just released a new children's book, "Mars Needs Moms!," in which Breathed, in characteristically smart and whimsical fashion, addresses the powerful love that binds parents to their children.Breathed, who turns 50 next month, has a pretty good track record writing for the grammar school set: he's authored and illustrated...

Though green is hot, marketing can still be a challenge for eco-friendly companies. In the third installment of our small-business series, we find out how a San Diego dry cleaner sells green on its own merits.

A decade ago, when Gordon Shaw first considered making the switch from his successful chemical-based dry-cleaning operation to a more environmentally friendly, pressurized liquid carbon dioxide (C02) cleaning system, virtually everyone told him he was crazy. "I'm a businessman first, but I've always been an environmentalist at heart," he says. "I wanted to do something that would make me feel better about my work, I wanted to make a difference in my lifetime, for both people and the planet.

Whether John Moe has "seen the light" or "gone to the dark side" depends on your politics. Either way, Moe, 38, the NPR host and Seattle writer, is generating buzz with his new book, "Conservatize Me: How I Tried to Become a Righty with the Help of Richard Nixon, Sean Hannity, Toby Keith and Beef Jerky." Spoofing "Super Size Me," Moe put himself on a steady diet of conservative culture for a month.

Duncan Hunter's announcement surprised even his own supporters. On Monday, the California Republican Congressman who chairs the House Armed Services Committee declared his plans to run for president in 2008.

In a last-minute action just before leaving to campaign for the upcoming midterm elections, the Senate passed the Secure Fence Act, which authorizes 700 new miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexico border.

When Deanna Pennington got the news this week that murder charges had been filed against her son, Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington, and seven other members of his unit, she actually felt a sense of relief. "At least now my son has a fight on his hands, now he and the other boys can start preparing for this trial," she says. "We've all been in limbo too long.

Jury selection began in Alexandria, Va., this week in the federal death-penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person in the United States charged in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

San Diegans like to call their seaside paradise "America's Finest City." What else to name a place where city councilmen accept illegal campaign contributions on behalf of a strip-club owner looking to make the town safe for nude lap dancing?

It was the worst setback in the 43-year history of the Navy SEAL program. At least 10 of the elite commandos died when a reconnaissance team came under fire in the mountains of Afghanistan's Kunar province, and a SEAL rescue helicopter crashed trying to save them.

Two beautiful ballparks with dreary corporate names just opened, both hosting teams that hope to turn around miserable legacies. Jamie Reno and Steven Levy scouted San Diego's Petco Park and Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park.OVERALLSan Diego: In downtown East Village area, its sandstone exterior, waterfall stairway and open terraces mirror city's breezy spirit.Philly: Set in sea of parking lots, a sweet variation on Camden Yards retro, with a nod to old Shibe Park.

Steve Peace is on a new mission. The one-time California state senator, movie producer and, most recently, director of finance for former California governor Gray Davis, left Sacramento somewhat chagrined after his boss was recalled last October.

Early this past Sunday, I was awakened by a surreal, pumpkin-orange glow piercing our bedroom sliding glass door. What on earth? When I pulled back the curtain and opened the door, I was overcome by thick smoke and falling ash from the back yard.

It's Super Bowl week in San Diego, which means cash registers here will be ringing as thousands of corporate execs, celebrities, journalists, curiosity seekers and, yes, even some football fans descend on what we locals like to call America's Finest City.

Street racing's been hot since the days of James Dean, but no movie's done more to boost its popularity than last year's "The Fast and the Furious." The movie, a surprise hit thanks to a mostly under-25 viewership, revitalized Generation Y's newest and most extreme of extreme sports, but also may have led to accidents and deaths.

BY JAMIE RENO Brenda and Damon Van Dam hugged and wept as the San Diego Superior Court clerk read the verdict last Wednesday, but the neighbor found guilty of kidnapping and murdering their 7-year-old daughter, Danielle, remained steely and expressionless, even in the face of a possible death sentence.

Amid rampant speculation by legal pundits over what jurors in the David Westerfield trial could possibly have been thinking as their deliberations went on for 10 days, the heavily scrutinized panel came back today with a crystal-clear verdict: guilty on all counts.The six men and six women found Westerfield, a 50-year-old freelance engineer with no known history of child abuse or violence, guilty of kidnapping and murdering his 7-year-old neighbor, Danielle van Dam.

In this post-Enron era, there aren't too many CEOs who will cheerfully volunteer to a reporter, "My company's never made a dime!" But the American Technology Corp.'s Elwood (Woody) Norris isn't your typical CEO.

In an interview with NEWSWEEK today, San Diego civil-rights attorney Randall Hamud revealed that he has been hired by the mother of Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called "20th hijacker."Hamud says Moussaoui's mother, Aicha El-Wafi, called him on May 14 from France and hired him as her attorney.