A.M. News: Smoke in a Park; Get a Fine

The New Downtown Ralphs: "They went — loft-dwelling yuppies, SRO dwellers, office workers and even some homeless people — for a chance to browse the aisles of the long-awaited, 50,000-square-foot Ralphs on 9th Street."

Not Putting in Crosswalks Near Schools: "'Our Department of Transportation is one of the slowest, most bureaucratic departments in the city,' said City Councilman Greig Smith. 'I am constantly banging my head against the wall to get them to do what I want them to do.'"

Oh, Pooh: "Shirley Slesinger Lasswell, who inherited the licensing rights to Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore the donkey and Tigger the tiger, too, then expanded the market for a panoply of children’s products based on these and other fun-loving denizens of A. A. Milne’s Hundred Acre Wood, died Thursday [in Beverly Hills]."

New Rules for C.I.A.: "President Bush signed an order Friday that clears the way for the CIA to resume some of the harsh interrogation methods it has used against terrorism suspects, but the order prohibits techniques that had caused an international outcry, including sexual humiliation and the denigration of religious symbols."

Smoking in Parks No More: "The City Council has tentatively agreed to ban smoking in all city parks, aiming to lower the risk of wildfires during extremely dry conditions."