Which Way, L.A.?

Wal-Mart Goes on the Warpath

The world's biggest retailer has taken so much heat that it's set up a war room at its Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters of veteran political pros from last year's Bush and Kerry campaigns to spruce up its image. Unions that have not been able to organize Wal-Mart workers are using political pros of their own. It's a high-stakes battle for a company that wants to build new super-stores full of new customers. Discounts to low-income customers have made Wal-Mart the world's biggest retailer. What's Wal-Mart's impact on its neighbors, on smaller competitors and its own workers? We hear about two films that show two different pictures of Wal-Mart's impact on urban neighborhoods, smaller competitors and its own workers. Making News: The Orange Line or the Orange Crush?The Orange Line busway across the San Fernando Valley opened this week with more riders than had been expected, but after 17 people were injured in two collisions yesterday, State Senator Richard Alarc-n says it ought to be shut down as "unsafe at any speed." MTA officials met this afternoon to talk about what to do next. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is one of the Orange Line's most energetic supporters.