Angeles Times

In the midst of an industrywide downturn in newspaper profits, Times Mirror Co., owner of The Sun and The Evening Sun, reported yesterday a sharp drop in fourth-quarter earnings last year and warned of further problems in the current period.The Los Angeles-based company said profits fell more than 38 percent in the final three months, to $45.6 million, or 35 cents a share, from $74.1 million, or 57 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue changed little, increasing slightly more than 2 percent, to $956 million.

Call it the ultimate advertising coup or simple serendipity.Whatever it was, it sold mattresses.When the calls rolled in to the Laurel office of Dial-A-Mattress last Saturday, the question was the same: "What is the answer to the clue for 1 Down in today's crossword puzzle?"Sales staff members were a bit puzzled. All except one, who was doing The Sun's crossword puzzle and found this clue: Order for 1-800-Mattres. He knew the answer. Serta, of course.But thousands of people were stumped. So they called the number and were connected with Dial-A-Mattress.

Los Angeles -- ASK ME IF he did it. Go ahead. It's not as if everyone has not already picked my brain for even the tiniest morsel of insider information that I may have concerning the case.Since moving here in June, friends, relatives, even total strangers have regarded me as the official Los Angeles-to-Baltimore pipeline for any information regarding the O.J. Simpson case.The brutal murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, outside her Brentwood condominium raised many questions, and I feel as if I've been asked practically every one of them.

Times Mirror Co.'s new chief executive yesterday said the company has no intentions of selling its East Coast newspapers, which include The Sun.Times Mirror's newspapers and magazines are "wonderful companies," said Mark H. Willes, who became president and CEO of Times Mirror last month. "They have tremendous potential. Our intention is to improve the performance of what we've got, not sell them off to other people."He spoke to reporters in a conference call on the same day the Los Angeles-based company announced its second-quarter earnings.

LOS ANGELES -- A mentally disturbed man who was killed last month by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies was shot nine times in the back, with several of the bullets apparently striking his body as he lay "against the pavement or concrete in a face-down position," according to a copy of the sealed autopsy report obtained yesterday by the Los Angeles Times.The county coroner's report also shows that 33-year-old Keith Hamilton suffered head, mouth, elbow, and knee injuries, indicating deputies struck Mr. Hamilton with batons, his family's attorney says.

A headline on an obituary of actor William Byrd in yesterday's editions erroneously gave his age as 35. In fact, he was 27.The Sun regrets the errors.LOS ANGELES -- William Byrd, a deaf actor best known for his role as the disc jockey Danny in "Children of a Lesser God," died of heart failure July 21 in Inglewood, Calif., Paramount Pictures publicist Allison Jackson announced Thursday.Despite his role in the highly acclaimed 1986 film about deaf youth, the 27-year-old actor had trouble finding work.

LOS ANGELES -- While expressing disappointment over his winless streak in the Democratic presidential contest, former Sen. Bill Bradley said yesterday that he has no intention of abandoning his challenge to Vice President Al Gore. Rumors that Bradley might be quitting the race after losing badly on Tuesday in Washington, a state where he invested money and almost a week of his time, overshadowed last night's televised debate between the two Democrats. But their 90-minute joint appearance, the ninth and possibly last of the campaign, might have been the clearest indication yet that the contest for the Democratic nomination has effectively ended.

Analysts enthusiastically greeted the proposed acquisition of Times Mirror Co. by the Tribune Co., combining two of the country's oldest newspaper publishers, saying the deal announced yesterday would create a national media firm reaching more than half of the nation's top 30 markets and propel it into the multimedia world of the 21st century. Yesterday, directors of the two companies approved the sale -- valued at $8 billion in cash, stock and debt -- although it is subject to shareholder and federal regulatory approvals.

Loyola Capital reports a profit of $5.7 million in first quarterThe parent of Loyola Federal Savings Bank reported sharply higher earnings in the first quarter, resulting partly from the sale of securities. The $5.7 million profit for the quarter, which included a $2.9 million pretax gain on the sale of securities, was up 150 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. The company also subtracted nearly $300,000 from income because of a new accounting regulation.Without the accounting change and securities sale, the company's quarterly earnings would have been nearly 7 percent higher than last year's.

LOS ANGELES -- Now that all four active presidential candidates -- Democrats Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown and Republicans George Bush and Patrick Buchanan -- have paid their mandatory visits to the sites of the Los Angeles riots, the question is: How will the tragedy affect the approaching June 2 California primary?The answer, somewhat surprisingly, is probably not in any substantial way. The reason, on the Democratic side, is that there is little basic difference between Clinton and Brown on what the Democratic response should be: more federal aid to urban America, both short- and long-term.