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LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal judge has allowed the county to continue with its plans to close the trauma center at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center by denying a temporary restraining order sought by doctors and residents. The motion by Friends of King/Drew argued that the court needed to intervene immediately so community members would not be deprived of emergency medical services. The court filing rejected Thursday is part of a civil rights lawsuit alleging that closing the trauma unit would have a disproportionate affect South Los Angeles residents. Health department officials have said they need to close...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A day after hundreds of protesters objected to closing the trauma center at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, the county released findings that treatment at the center is "poor to marginal." The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, which runs King/Drew, released a one-page executive summary Tuesday that described the findings by two trauma experts. A full report is due in about two weeks. The timing of the findings was questioned by some supporters of the trauma center, which serves a poor stretch of South Los Angeles and serves victims of gunshot wounds, stabbings...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The proposed closure of a busy hospital trauma unit serving a poor, violence-plagued neighborhood drew politicians, celebrities and hundreds of protesters at a rally and public meeting Monday. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., actress Angela Bassett and Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters joined nearly 1,000 people gathered near the Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, where protesters waved signs and chanted slogans against the closure. Afterward, the crowd jammed into a meeting where the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took public comment. "I know that I am on the...