Supervisors tap Social Services chief to lead troubled agency

Philip Browning, director of L.A. County’s Department of Public Social Services, has been tapped to serve as interim head of the child welfare department, the latest in a revolving door of leaders for the embattled agency.

Browning’s name was put forth Friday by county Supervisors Michael D. Antonovich and Zev Yaroslavsky and will be considered at the five-member board’s next meeting on Tuesday.

“Philip's leadership and management skills as a current department head qualify him to lead and manage [the Department of Children and Family Services] with a focus on improving outcomes for children and families while the county completes its search for a permanent director,” Antonovich said.

If approved by the board, Browning will take the interim position Sept. 16, when current director Jackie Contreras steps down. Contreras, who announced her resignation Monday,is the third director to leave DCFS in nine months.

The agency has come under harsh criticism and significant scrutiny after a Times investigation revealed that more than 70 children had died since 2008 of abuse or neglect after coming to the attention of social workers.

Feds bust two Compton drug rings in same block

Federal prosecutors said eight people were arrested and more than a ton of drugs and several vehicles were seized after a lengthy investigation revealed two national drug trafficking groups were working out of the same block in Compton.

A total of 15 defendants were charged with distributing narcotics in two criminal complaints filed last week in U.S. District Court, the result of an investigation that lasted more than two years. Eight people were arrested in Los Angeles on Thursday and Friday morning. Officials also seized more than a ton of marijuana and thousands of prescription pills during the bust.

Prosecutors say one of the drug rings used a Compton house as a meeting location, and the other used the second house as a "notorious" location to sell the drugs.

One of the rings was allegedly headed by Deverick Deshawn "Dog" Mathis, who authorities said is involved in the Compton-based Front Hood Crips. He was arrested Thursday, along with Stephen Carr, 38, of Fontana; Kiison Jordon, 34, of Long Beach; Lakeisha Andrews, 39, of Los Angeles; and Mathis' wife, Shontrice Crine James, 38, of La Habra.

Authorities believe Mathis' ring had strong ties to Ohio and also operated in Arizona.

The second ring was allegedly led by Dion Grim, whom authorities have also linked to the Front Hood Crips. Prosecutors say Grim controlled marijuana sales from a house on West Stockwell Street in Compton and also sold prescription pills in Louisiana. Grim was arrested Friday morning, along with Don Taylor, 32, of Compton, and Chauntay Sharee Rouzan, 32, of Carson.

All 15 defendants named in the complaints are charged with conspiring to distribute narcotics. If convicted, they face 20 years in federal prison.

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Pastor charged with having 14-month affair with girl

4-year-old kidnapped from church shelter; stranger sought

Police administrator suspected of embezzling parking ticket revenue

-- Kate Mather

Norco church leader defends bid for Crystal Cathedral

The leader of a nondenominational Norco church on Friday defended his $50-million bid for the bankrupt Crystal Cathedral, saying he has influential business and religious leaders backing the offer.

Mark A. Thomas, a co-founder of My Father’s House Church International, held a news conference to discuss the bid but then said he could not release the names of those supporters at this time.

On July 28, Thomas filed a $50-million offer in bankruptcy court for the Garden Grove church, founded by the Rev. Robert H. Schuller and his wife, Arvella. The church filed for bankruptcy in October, citing more than $50 million in debt.

Thomas’ plan calls for the "acceptance of" the Schuller family resignations, in addition to a full evaluation of church staff and officials, while maintaining that Schuller will be honored as the founder of the church.

"Crystal Cathedral belongs to God, not man," he said to dozens of supporters in attendance, many of whom wore stickers proclaiming, "Now's the time."

So far, there are various known suitors for the property, despite the church administration’s decision to rely on a faith-based donation effort to exit bankruptcy.

Thomas said his plan was the "right one," but that if the church can raise the money, he will "celebrate with them."

He gave no specifics on where the $50 million would come from and said that a bankruptcy lawyer was "not required at this point."

Jack Ayer, a professor emeritus of law at UC Davis, said it is not common to file a bid in bankruptcy court without representation.

"Nobody does the thing they are trying to do without a lawyer," he said. "You get together with the interested parties."

He added, "You could file a ham sandwich at the clerk’s office, but that doesn’t give you standing."

ALSO:

Murder victim found in desert in 1971 identified

Hockey star Sean Avery arrested on suspicion of battery on cop

Video in Fullerton police death doesn't show entire altercation

-- Nicole Santa Cruz

Pastor charged with having 14-month affair with girl

A Granada Hills youth pastor suspected of having an affair with a 14-year-old girl at his church was charged Friday with several felony counts, including multiple counts of sexual molestation, officials said.

Demetrius Darnell Allen, 28, was charged in San Fernando Superior Court with 10 counts of lewd act on a child, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of contacting a minor for sexual offense.

Prosecutors said Allen allegedly began a sexual relationship with the teenager while he was the youth pastor at the First Baptist Church in Venice. The relationship lasted 14 months, beginning in March 2010 and ending in May of this year.

Police are continuing their investigation into the matter, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said.

ALSO:

Murder victim found in desert in 1971 identified

Hockey star Sean Avery arrested on suspicion of battery on cop

Video in Fullerton police death doesn't show entire altercation

-- Kate Mather

Reader photos: Southern California Moments, Day 217

Crane pose: For the first week of August, we're challenging readers to go mobile. David Gutierrez applies Hipstamatic filters to the Los Angeles River sign in this July 2 photo taken on the Broadway bridge near Elysian Park.

Every day of 2011, we're featuring reader-submitted photos of Southern California Moments. Follow us on Twitter and visit the Southern California Moments homepage for more on this series.

Woman brutally beaten, sexually assaulted near Cedars-Sinai

Police are looking for a man who beat and sexually assaulted a woman who was walking near Cedars-Sinai Medical Center last weekend and are asking for the public's help.

The attack occurred Saturday about 3:30 a.m. when the man approached the woman on Burton Way between South Hamel Road and South Willaman Drive. He brandished a gun and demanded the victim's money and jewelry before he directed her to a secluded area nearby. There, police said, he severely beat and sexually assaulted her before fleeing the scene on foot.

Police have released a composite drawing of the suspect, described as a black man with dark hair in his mid-20s to mid-30s. He is between 5-foot-10 and 6-foot-1 and weighs 180 to 190 pounds. At the time of the attack, he was wearing a black, button-down collared shirt, dark pants and a baseball cap with a flat bill.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Los Angeles Police Department at (213) 486-6910 or 1-877-LAPD-24-7 during non-business hours. Anonymous tips can be made to (800) 222-8477 or by texting 274637 with a cellphone, beginning with the letters "LAPD."

ALSO:

Murder victim found in desert in 1971 identified

D.A.: Man who squeezed baby to death hurt another infant

Facebook spam: Man accused of sending 27 million fake messages

-- Kate Mather

Photo: Composite sketch of suspect in beating, sexual assault of woman walking near Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Credit: Los Angeles Police Department

Democrats seeking to register more Latino voters in Inland Empire

The California Democratic Party has launched a new voter registration drive in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, specifically targeting the region’s fast-growing Latino population.

The state party fired off a breathless announcement on Friday saying that the Democrats will "take the fight into one of the GOP’s final remaining strongholds in California: the Inland Empire."

"Part of the reason the Inland Empire has traditionally been so hostile to Democrats is that, for so long, people have only been hearing about Democrats from what Republicans say," party field director Christopher Guerrero said in the announcement.

Never mind that Democrats already hold a slight edge in voter registration in San Bernardino County as of February -- with 38.9% of registered voters compared to the GOP’s 38.2%. In Riverside County, the GOP holds the lead, 41.6% to the Democrats' 36.4%, state election figures show.

Ken Minesinger, chairman of the Riverside County GOP, said that unlike the Democrats, the Republican Party is well-established in the Inland Empire, which offers his party a clear advantage.

"What they don’t have is an extremely active and strong party organization. We have a very deep bench and farm team," he said. "We also have a very deep and active donor base. Democrats don’t have that."

The Riverside County GOP plans to launch an aggressive voter registration drive this year, focusing  on the Riverside, Moreno Valley and Perris areas, where Democrats hold a slight edge in registration in newly drawn congressional and assembly seats, Minesinger said.

Clearly, the Democrats hope to take advantage of the enormous growth of Latinos, a group that in the past has swayed toward the Democratic Party. The 2010 Census showed that Riverside County's population was 46% Latino, up from 36% a decade ago. San Bernardino County was 49% Latino, compared to 39% a decade ago.

-- Phil Willon in Riverside

450 LAUSD teachers rehired

The cash-strapped Los Angeles school district has hired back 450 elementary school teachers, according to district officials.

The move came after most employee unions agreed to a four-day furlough and district officials conducted a review of campus budgets and vacancies. Some jobs were also saved due to dismissals, retirements and resignations.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second-largest, has struggled to close budget gaps for the last several years. This year, the school board approved nearly 7,000 preliminary layoff notices but has rescinded most of them. About 1,500 employees who received the notices are still without jobs.

ALSO:

Attorney defends Fullerton officers in death of homeless man

Vernon pays $500,000 to ex-official who pleaded guilty to corruption

Metal shanks hidden in cake leads to tighter security at Sacramento murder trial

-- Jason Song

Photo: Students, teachers and others rally outside Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters on May 24, protesting proposed budget cuts that would eliminate many teaching and staff positions and educational programs. Credit: Reed Saxon / Associated Press

Mountain lion spotted among parked cars in Burbank

Burbank police officers on Thursday reported seeing a mountain lion walking between parked cars near Kenneth Road and Brown Drive before it continued up Woodstock Lane and into the hillside, where it disappeared, the city reported Friday.

Mountain lion sightings aren't uncommon in the foothills and hillside areas in the heat of summer, when dry conditions drive some of the cats down into urban areas in search of food and water. They are typically skittish and avoid human contact, but city officials urged residents to keep pet food and water dishes indoors to cut down on temptation.

The mountain lion reportedly jumped an 8-foot high fence on Woodstock Lane before traveling into the brush and out of sight, according to the city.

Officials from California Department of Fish and Game issued several recommendations, including trimming brush, and keeping pets indoors at dawn, dusk at night when mountain lions are most active.

ALSO:

Woman brutally beaten, sexually assaulted near Cedars-Sinai

Video in Fullerton police death doesn't show entire altercation

Vernon pays $500,000 to ex-official who pleaded guilty to corruption

-- Jason Wells

Phonehenge West to be dismantled, but owner may avoid jail

The Acton man who built an ornate maze of structures dubbed Phonehenge West without the proper permits may be spared jail time, a judge said Friday, as workers prepared to destroy large portions of his creation.

Alan Kimble Fahey, a retired phone company technician, faced possible time behind bars for his offenses, but Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Daviann L. Mitchell suggested he may be allowed to perform community service instead.

PHOTO GALLERY: Phonehenge West

Fahey, 59, who spent almost three decades building his creation from discarded power company utility poles and other recycled materials, was convicted in June on a dozen building code violations. He was scheduled to be sentenced last month but the proceedings were delayed after he suffered kidney stones. At Friday's hearing in the Antelope Valley, sentencing was again postponed until Sept. 23.

Fahey's case garnered a groundswell of support from people who share the view that Los Angeles County's code enforcement regulations are excessive, and Friday's hearing was attended by sympathizers.

Fahey was briefly jailed after he ignored Judge Mitchell's initial orders to vacate and tear down all the structures erected without permits. His family posted the $75,000 bail to get him freed. The judge allowed Fahey to remain out of jail until Friday's court date after she learned he had started to comply with her instructions.

Fahey has moved to a rental property in Tehachapi, and has hired a company to start dismantling a 70-foot tower -- the highlight of his life's labor. Fahey said Friday morning the tower would likely come down within hours.

RELATED:

Sentencing delayed for 'Phonehenge West' creator

Phonehenge West builder found guilty of violating building codes

-- Ann M. Simmons

Photo: Alan Kimble "Kim" Fahey has spent more than three decades turning his Acton property into a habitable sculpture he calls Phonehenge, but L.A. County code enforcers want him to tear it down. Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

Facebook spam: Man accused of sending 27 million fake messages

The accused "Spam King" was in the can –- at least briefly.

Sanford Wallace was indicted by a federal grand jury in San Jose on Thursday and turned himself into the FBI. His alleged crime? Sending 27 million bogus messages via Facebook, compromising about 500,000 user accounts in three separate waves, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

This is how the paper described it:

Each time, the 43-year-old Las Vegas resident hacked into then-Palo Alto-based Facebook's computer network and sent spam programs to users of the popular social networking site, the indictment said.

He got past the site's spam filters and infiltrated real accounts, logging on as strangers and posting the spam messages to their friends' walls. That way, people would log onto Facebook and think their friends sent them a link to a website.

Although such messages often look fishy, some users would invariably click on the link -- such as "gayestprofile.com" -- and enter their name and password on the ensuing site. Wallace would log in as a new user and send out more spam, and he would get paid each time he drove traffic to the spam site.

Facebook officials said they spent a lot of time and money fixing the system to prevent future attacks.
The FBI investigated for two years, according to the Mercury News. Wallace was indicted on July 6 and was released on $100,000 bond after a hearing Thursday.

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Suspect charged in "All Ears Bandit" bank robbery case

3 medical marijuana dispensaries close in Newport Beach

Motorist arrested in hit-and-run that killed pregnant woman

-- Maria L. LaGanga in San Francisco

Murder victim found in desert in 1971 identified

The remains of a woman who was murdered and dumped in the Mojave Desert in 1946 have been identified through a DNA match, officials said Friday.

The discovery that scattered, unidentified bones found in 1971 are the remains of 25-year-old Betty Walraven came after years of painstaking work by San Bernardino County coroner investigators and scientists at the state attorney general’s DNA laboratory in Richmond.

“It’s one of the older cases we had that’s been solved with DNA,” said Sandy Fatland, a coroner spokeswoman. “It’s amazing what they can do now … Every day, everything is becoming more refined."

Walraven was reported missing in May 1946. In 1975, a man arrested for an unrelated crime told Santa Ana police he had killed Walraven 29 years before and dumped her body in the Mojave Desert near Baker -– then, as now, a remote expanse that hides secrets well.

It was only recently that authorities had the technology to match the man’s story to the bones. In late 2005, highly degraded biological samples were sent to the state lab where it took five years for scientists to develop a usable DNA profile. Meanwhile, San Bernardino County coroner investigators located two relatives of Walraven in Texas who provided DNA samples that were used for comparison.

“Something from the 1940s -– I’ve never heard or seen anything like that,” said Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, a Santa Ana police spokesman.

Bertagna said homicide investigators were looking Friday for old files that would provide details of the case and whether the man –- now dead -- who confessed to Walraven’s murder was ever charged or convicted.

-- Mike Anton and Phil Willon

Cudahy hires new city manager after firing top executive in March

Cudahy, one of California's poorest and densest cities, has hired a new city manager, a job that has been vacant since March when the council fired its top executive.
 
The city has hired Hector Rodriguez, former director of operations for the bus and rail systems at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Cudahy Mayor Josue Barrios said in a statement Friday. He will start his new job in two weeks.
 
Rodriguez, 49, has spent the last three years overseeing the operation of Metro’s 2,200 buses, more than 200 rail vehicles, 7,300 employees and an annual budget of $1.2 billion.
 
In March, the Cudahy City Council fired its city manager, George Perez, who held the job for more than a decade. The move came amid increased scrutiny into the operations of several cities in southeast Los Angeles County, prompted by The Times’ revelations of enormous salaries paid to officials in neighboring Bell.
 
Perez had been a janitor and maintenance worker for the city when he was elected to the Cudahy City Council in 1994. Later, his fellow council members voted to fire the city manager and hire Perez in his place, though he had no experience or public-administration education.
 
Perez was the target of a conflict-of-interest investigation into his appointment, by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, which later dropped its probe. No charges were filed.
 
In his statement, Barrios emphasized that the council had performed an “intensive search” before hiring Rodriguez, which included “pre-screening, rounds of interviews and in-depth reference checks.”
 
Rodriguez also previously served as the city manager and finance director of the city of Barstow. Before that, he worked for MV, a private van shuttle service.
 
A naturalized American citizen born in Tijuana and raised in Boyle Heights, Rodriguez has a master’s degree in business administration from Pepperdine University and an undergraduate business degree from California State Long Beach.

-- Sam Quinones

Motorist arrested in hit-and-run that killed pregnant woman

An Apple Valley man has been arrested in connection with a hit-and-run incident that killed a 20-year-old pregnant woman and her unborn child and injured the woman's 14-month-old daughter, authorities said Friday.

Brandon Lee McCollough, 36, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of manslaughter and hit-and-run resulting in a death, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Investigators determined that McCollough was the driver of a 200 Ford F-250 truck that struck and killed Dejuan Rene Smith, of Victorville, on July 29, officials said. Smith was walking northbound on the right shoulder of Balsam Road, pulling a stroller with her daughter inside when she was struck and killed, they said.

The force of the collision threw the 14-month old from the stroller, and she was airlifted to Loma Linda Medical Center with minor injuries, officials said.

-- Phil Willon

Costa Mesa plants free trees, but not all residents happy

Many Costa Mesa residents have been surprised recently when contractors hired by the city began showing up at their homes, digging up the edges of their lawns and planting trees.

The residents said they were not notified ahead of time and woke up to find crews digging up the grass next to their yards, the Daily Pilot reported.

Using $100,000 in federal grants to improve medium- to lower-income neighborhoods, the city hired STL Landscaping to plant 654 trees. Workers showed up unannounced to hundreds of homes and planted the trees on the edge of the lawn, which is technically public property.

"We've never done a project like this, a wholesale planting of neighborhoods," said Bruce Hartley, Costa Mesa's maintenance services manager. "It's 654 people, so it was a little bit more of a challenge and, after the fact, well, we should've figured out a way to notify."

The public easement goes about 10 feet onto the property from the curb, Hartley said. Usually, there's a sidewalk separating the homeowner's land from the city's, but in some cases it looks like one big lawn.

Costa Mesa city officials have made a big push this year to increase transparency to the public, but apparently there was no dialogue on this project leading up to the launch.

The city is working to accommodate residents who want the trees removed.

Patsy Latscha, who has lived on Center Street for more than 35 years, was one who wanted nothing to do with the program.

Standing in front of her house, she pointed out the spot where she dug out the tree herself and then put it in the middle of the street after the crews didn't take it away.

"I love that Costa Mesa prides itself on being a city of trees, but this property is not in need of trees," she said.

Indeed, with seven trees blocking the view of her house from the street, and with another eight behind them, Latscha's land is not lacking in foliage. Down the street, workers planted a tree just feet from two towering pine trees, which she said are sure to starve the city's tree of water.

In years past, the city has planted trees on a smaller scale and told residents what was coming, Hartley said.

"The first time they were so accommodating," Latscha said. "This was such a waste of time. I'm sure there are so many people in Costa Mesa that would've wanted a tree."

ALSO:

Raccoons shot to death in Costa Mesa

School's aluminum bleachers stolen from Apple Valley ball field

Hockey star Sean Avery arrested on suspicion of battery on cop

-- Joseph Serna, Times Community News

Photo: Two workers plant a tree along Maple Avenue in Costa Mesa. Credit: Kevin Chang / Daily Pilot

Bubba Smith autopsy completed; toxicology tests still pending

An autopsy of NFL star Bubba Smith was completed Thursday, but Los Angeles County coroner’s officials will not be able to determine the exact cause of his death this week until toxicology tests are completed.

Smith, 66, was found dead by a caretaker at his Baldwin Hills home on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

“At this stage I can say there was no foul play,” said Ed Winter, deputy chief of the Los Angeles County coroner's office. As is often the case in deaths with no obvious cause, Winter said coroner’s experts are conducting complex examination of levels of materials in the body to get a definitive answer.

A 6-foot-7, 280-pound defensive end, Smith was the No. 1 NFL draft pick from Michigan State University when he joined the Baltimore Colts in 1967.

He played five seasons for the Colts, which included their upset loss to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III and a victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V. He spent two seasons with the Oakland Raiders and two more with the Houston Oilers before a knee injury ended his career in 1976.

Smith later turned to acting and starred in the hugely popular "Police Academy" movies.

ALSO:

Report details incident of sheriff's deputy shooting at car

Nursing facility under investigation after patient runs away

Etta James is alive, son says, despite Twitter, Internet reports

-- Richard Winton

Photo: Bubba Smith in a "Police Academy" film. Credit: Warner Bros. / Getty Images

LAPD officers say they were punished for not making ticket quotas

LAPD officers who failed to meet traffic-ticket quotas were berated and punished by supervisors, according to an attorney.

Ten Los Angeles motor officers have sued the city alleging that their supervisors retaliated against them for resisting traffic-ticket quotas.

Attorney Matthew S. McNicholas said the officers would present evidence "that certain officers were prevented from taking their selected vacation despite being more senior officers and were denied overtime."

Officers who failed to meet daily and weekly ticket quotas were regularly berated in a small room known as the "room of doom," he said.

He added that "when one officer began detailing the quota enforcement in the daily log, he was immediately reprimanded and interrogated by supervisors and that this represented a pattern of ongoing conduct."

Attorneys for officers Philip Carr, Timothy Dacus, Kevin Cotter, Peter Landelius, Kevin Ree, Kevin Riley, Josh Sewell, Vincent Stroway, James Wallace and Jason Zapatka -- all of the West Traffic Division -- filed suit a week ago in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The LAPD did not immediately comment on the allegations.

Ticket quotas are illegal under state law because they can pressure police to write spurious tickets to meet the goal. The line between setting a quota and pushing officers to increase their productivity is a delicate problem for field supervisors.

In April, a jury awarded a pair of LAPD officers -- also assigned to West Traffic Division -- $2 million after determining that supervisors had retaliated against the officers for complaining about alleged traffic-ticket quotas.

That case dated back to late 2006, when command of the traffic division was handed over to Capt. Nancy Lauer. Chan and Benioff alleged in their lawsuit that Lauer and her sergeants and lieutenants made it clear to officers that they were expected to write at least 18 tickets each day. The number of tickets an officer wrote was recorded on their performance evaluation, the suit alleged.

The officers said that supervisors ranked them against other officers based on the number of tickets they wrote and cars they impounded, also a violation of state law.

Attorney Shaun Dabbe Jacobs, who argued the case for the city, tried to convince jurors that the department had simply established broad goals rather than specific quotas, and that supervisors were trying to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities.

The officers testified they were ordered to scrap regular patrol assignments and were sent instead to specific streets where they were more likely to catch motorists committing moving violations. Though not illegal, being sent to those "orchards" or "cherry patches," they said, reinforced the belief that hitting ticket targets trumped other aspects of the job.

Attorney Gregory Smith, one of the attorneys representing the 10 officers and who also prevailed in court on behalf of Chan and Benioff, had no immediate comment on the current case.

ALSO:

Raccoons shot to death in Costa Mesa; suspect arrested

Etta James is alive, son says, despite Twitter, Internet reports

Video shows parts of deadly Fullerton police incident, D.A. says

-- Andrew Blankstein
Twitter/@anblanx

Photo: LAPD officers at police headquarters. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Fruit Smoothies Without the Dairy

Depending on how you make it, a smoothie can end up with more milk and yogurt than fruit. This week, Martha Rose Shulman eliminates the dairy and creates five smoothie recipes that are all about the fruit.

Fruit from the market is already ripe, and there are times when I need to use up what I have. Smoothies are a great solution; you can blend a lot of fruit into one drink, more than you’d cut up and stir into your morning yogurt.

This week I tried something different. I didn’t use frozen bananas in these recipes, as I usually do for smoothies, and I decided not to use dairy. Some of this week’s offerings are pure fruit and ice, sweetened with a rose geranium-infused syrup or agave nectar. When I needed to bulk up a smoothie or make it creamier, I used almond milk.

Except for one made with dates and figs, you’ll find these smoothies only moderately sweet. In all of them, you can really taste the fruit.

Here are five new recipes for dairy-free smoothies.

Peach Vanilla Smoothie: This smoothie tastes a bit like peach ice cream, with a hint of vanilla.

Fresh Fig and Date Shake: This thick, date-sweetened smoothie is a great source of energy.

Plum, Red Grape and Almond Smoothie: Red grapes and plums combine to make this smoothie delicious.

Watermelon Mint Smoothie: This smoothie tastes something like sweet mint tea blended with watermelon agua fresca.

Berry and Rose Geranium Smoothie: Fragrant rose geranium is very easy to grow in pots, and a little goes a long way.

Friendly Workplace Linked to Longer Life

Getting along with your colleagues at work may do more than boost your productivity. It may also be a boon to your health.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University found that people who felt that they had the support of their colleagues and generally positive social interactions at work were less likely to die over a 20-year period than those who reported a less friendly work environment. Over all, people who believed they had little or no emotional support in the workplace were 2.4 times more likely to die during the course of the study than the workers who developed stronger bonds with their peers in other cubicles.

To study how office politics influenced health, the researchers recruited 820 adults who visited a local health clinic in 1988 for routine checkups, then interviewed them about their jobs, asking detailed questions that delved into whether they found their supervisors and peers approachable, friendly and helpful to them. The subjects worked in a variety of different fields — like finance, health care, insurance and manufacturing — and ranged in age from 25 to 65. People who were suspected of having physical or mental health problems at the start of the study were excluded.

Over the next 20 years, the researchers were able to follow the participants and monitor their health through their medical records. That gave them the chance to look for risk factors that could influence the results and allowed them to control for things like blood pressure, obesity, drinking habits, smoking, anxiety and depression.

By the time the study ended in 2008, 53 of the workers taking part had died; most of them had cast their work support networks in a negative light. Though it is difficult to tie the causes of those deaths to any specific factor in such a study, the researchers discovered some findings that surprised them.

One thing they noticed was that the risk was only affected by a person’s relationship with his or her peers, and not that person’s supervisors. The way people viewed their relationships with their bosses had no impact on mortality.

The researchers also found that a person’s perceived level of control at work also influenced his or her risk. But it had differing effects for men and women. Men who reported that they were allowed freedom over their daily tasks and could take more initiative at work had a lower risk of dying during the study period. But women who reported more control had an opposite outcome: their risk of death over the course of the study rose by 70 percent.

That may have had something to do with changing gender roles in typical work environments when the study began two decades ago, said Sharon Toker, an author of the study and professor in Tel Aviv University’s organizational behavior department. While many office environments were not exactly the testosterone-fueled boys’ clubs typical of “Mad Men,” women did find themselves in more “masculine social environments at work, especially if their coworkers were men,” Dr. Toker said in an e-mail.

“Women having more control of their work pace and schedule usually hold higher positions,” she said. “They were, and still are, expected to wear several hats — the ‘senior worker,’ the ‘mother.’ Thus, having more control in itself may have been a stressor.”

In an age in which many people only interact with colleagues through electronic communication, Dr. Toker said she believed many companies could foster more socially supportive workplaces by encouraging face to face exchanges. Among the ways of doing that, she said, were holding regular social outings for employees, designating “coffee corners” where people could chat over breaks and creating peer-assistance programs that allow workers to discuss issues or problems in confidence.