Which Way, L.A.?

A New Publisher for the Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is getting a new publisher. Late yesterday, John Puerner, who's been on the job since the Chicago Tribune bought the Times five years ago, said he is leaving for a "self-imposed career break." He's been on the job since the Chicago Tribune bought the Times five years ago. During Puerner's tenure, the paper has won 11 Pulitzer prizes, but circulation has dropped, and hes been under pressure to cut expenses and expand revenue. What will be the focus of his successor? Will Jeffrey Johnson be more business oriented? We hear from some old hands who evaluate the future of the LA Times. Making News: Action Continues in Florida on the Terri Schiavo Case Just hours after a three-judge panel refused to reinstate Terri Schiavo's feeding tube today, the full federal appellate court in Atlanta turned down the case. Since then, the Florida Senate has refused to pass new legislation. Governor Jeb Bush announced there's evidence Schiavo was mistreated at the hospice where she's living and that she may have been misdiagnosed. We get an update from Linda Kleindienst of the South Florida Sun Sentinel and Mark Skoneki with the Orlando Sentinel. Reporters Notebook: Graduation Rate Crisis for California Students Because high school statistics are inaccurately reported, Californians are unaware of a crisis in graduation rates. The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University says that, while the official rate is 87%, the real rate is 71%. Among blacks and Latinos in the LA Unified School District, only 48% of ninth graders ever get their diplomas, compared to 78% of whites. Julie Mendoza, a post-graduate fellow at UCLA, explains.