By John Rogers The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Father Jim Sichko has a 50-state congregation and a simple mandate from the pope: Go forth and do good deeds.

LOS ANGELES — It started out modestly enough: David Hertz, having learned that under the right conditions you really can make your own water out of thin air, put a little contraption on the roof of his office and began cranking out free bottles of H2O for anyone who wanted one.

LOS ANGELES — Charles Manson, the hippie cult leader who became the hypnotic-eyed face of evil across America after orchestrating the gruesome murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others in Los Angeles during the summer of 1969, died Sunday after nearly a half-century in prison. He was 83.

LOS ANGELES — Visitors to the University of Southern California might well be muttering, “What fools these mortals be” as they stroll past a statue of the legendary queen of Troy and notice William Shakespeare’s name seemingly misspelled at its base.

To USC officials, it’s much ado about nothing.

LOS ANGELES — A doctor who saved Syrian lives and a man who cooked thousands of meals for American soldiers in Iraq were among those who saw their lives thrown into limbo when President Donald Trump’s executive order barred travellers from seven Muslim countries from entering the U.S.

LOS ANGELES — Long before he was president of the United States or even governor of California, Ronald Reagan had an army of star-struck movie fans who wrote him letters and who to their surprise often got a personal reply.

LOS ANGELES President Barack Obama is granting national monument status to nearly 1.8 million acres of scenic Southern California desert, a move the White House says will maintain in perpetuity the region’s fragile ecosystem and natural resources, as well as provide recreational opportunities for hikers, campers, hunters and others.

LOS ANGELES The music publishing company that has been collecting royalties on the song “Happy Birthday To You” for years does not hold a valid copyright on the lyrics to the tune that is one of the mostly widely sung in the world, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.