LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp (NasdaqGS:SBUX - News) is testing $1 coffee and free refills in its Seattle outlets as the global gourmet coffee chain grapples with slower consumer spending and rising competition from fast-food rivals...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is testing $1 coffee and free refills in its Seattle outlets as the global gourmet coffee chain grapples with slower consumer spending and rising competition from fast-food...

Carl Karcher, who borrowed $311 to buy a Los Angeles hot dog cart in 1941 and turned it into a fast-food empire with more than 3,000 Carl’s Jr. and Hardees restaurants in 13 countries, has died.

Carl Karcher, who turned a lone hot dog cart in Los Angeles into the Carl's Jr. fast-food chain, died Friday at a Fullerton hospital, five days short of what would have been his 91st birthday.

Thoughts on government control on smoking and the impending fast food ban in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles class is a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines (SSN) that forms the backbone of the United States submarine fleet, and is the most numerous class of nuclear powered submarine in the world. They were preceded by the Sturgeon class and followed by the short-lived Seawolf class and the Virginia class. Usually named after U.S. cities, the LA class broke a long-standing Navy tradition of naming attack submarines after sea creatures. The boats are also colloquially referred to as "688-class" subs, after the hull classification symbol of the first boat, SSN-688.LA-class submarines have a publicly acknowledged top speed in excess of 25 knots (46 km/h, 29 mph); the precise speed is classified. Informed sources estimate the maximum speed of this class of submarine as 30–32 knots. They carry about 25 torpedo-tube launched weapons, and all boats of the class are capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles horizontally (from the torpedo tubes). The last 31 boats of this class also have 12 dedicated vertical launch (VLS) tubes for launching Tomahawks.The final 23 boats in the series, referred to as "688i", are quieter than their predecessors, incorporate a more advanced combat system, and are configured for under-ice operations (with diving planes on the bow and a reinforced sail). The Navy is phasing out older non-VLS Los Angeles-class attack submarines in favor of the Virginia-class attack submarines.Los Angeles-class submarines have been involved in a number of major submarine incidents.BoatsReferencesSubmarines, War Beneath The Waves, From 1776 To The Present Day, By Robert Hutchinson