Halbertsam killed in Bay Area crash -- Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist David Halberstam was killed in a car crash early Monday, a county coroner said. He was 73. LISA LEFF AP -- 4/23/07

Rep. Millender-McDonald dies of cancer -- Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (news, bio, voting record), a seven-term congresswoman from Southern California described as a trailblazer and a leader in election reform, died late Saturday of cancer. She was 68. Millender-McDonald died at her home in Carson, said her chief of staff, Bandele McQueen. PETER PRENGAMAN AP Joe Holley in the Washington Post Nicole Gaouette in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/23/07

Prognosis For SchwarzCare -- So, what to make of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s push for a comprehensive health care program? It’s April, he doesn’t have a legislative author, and some Democrats say they are moving on. Republicans, too, but they’ve never been into this issue. Bill Bradley NWN weblog -- 4/23/07

Fixing aged tax system is a job no one wants -- Californians last week poured billions more into a warped state tax system that badly needs restructuring but leery political leaders won't touch. Democrats are afraid to go near the apparatus for fear of being labeled tax-and-spenders. Republicans are prone to pander to the populace by advocating tax cuts, even while the state is spending billions more than it's taking in. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/23/07

Rancor Rises Over Santa Barbara Newspaper -- An ugly conflict involving a wealthy local publisher turned even uglier Sunday as The Santa Barbara News-Press published a front-page article suggesting that the paper’s former editor had kept child pornography on his work computer, a claim that the editor promptly denounced as “malicious.” SHARON WAXMAN in the New York Times Catherine Saillant and Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times Demian Bulwa in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/23/07

State is sued over hospital staffing crisis -- Lawyers for mentally ill prisoners will ask a federal judge today to force the state to take drastic action to stem a staff exodus from California's mental hospitals that has jeopardized patient safety and left psychotic inmates to languish in jails and prisons without proper treatment. Lee Romney and Scott Gold in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/23/07

Prisons benefit from tough advocate -- One of the most powerful figures in state government is a 64-year-old cranky authoritarian who can spend unlimited amounts of taxpayer money, overrule high-ranking bureaucrats and sidestep longstanding laws. Edwin Garcia in the San Jose Mercury -- 4/23/07

From addict to physician -- a determined life -- Donald Kurth beat his heroin addiction to become a doctor and now is also Rancho Cucamonga's mayor. Jonathan Abrams in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/23/07

Politicians' funds for legal woes grow -- A little-known provision in California's campaign financing law allows candidates to collect unlimited amounts of money for legal defense funds without having to reveal the nature of their legal troubles. Judy Lin in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/23/07

CHP union tired of its labor pact 'shadow' -- The California Highway Patrol union says it is virtually carrying the state correctional officers on its back every time it negotiates a new labor contract, and it wants the practice to stop. Andy Furillo in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/23/07

Southern California grocery conflict rooted in previous strike -- The wage deal of three years ago still rankles workers, and greater competition since then is squeezing the stores. Jerry Hirsch in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/23/07

Big-city airports near limit -- California sorely neglected infrastructure investment decade after decade -- with congested highways, deteriorating and overcrowded schools, and overused parks among the consequences -- but the state's locally operated airports were a shining exception. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/23/07

LAX risks losing its high profile if it can't get modernization off the ground -- Nothing may be more symbolic of the challenges facing LAX than the half-ton chunk of plaster that fell recently from its iconic theme restaurant, revealing layers of rust damage caused by years of neglect. RICK ORLOV in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 4/23/07

Capital is 'hot' business city -- Sacramento ranks 15th on Inc. magazine's "Hottest Places To Do Business" list of top 20 large cities. The River City is California's only representative on the list, sandwiched between No. 14, Nashville, Tenn., and 16th-place Austin, Texas. Las Vegas finished first. Jon Ortiz in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/23/07

Animals get Legislature's attention -- Every dog will have its day in the Capitol this year. And so, too, will ordinary house cats, condors, circus elephants, bucking broncos, exotic kangaroos and pesky raccoons. Michael Gardner in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 4/23/07

Crisis alerts under review -- Whether it's a college campus or a business complex, in the dreaded case of a gunman showing up, getting the word out to everyone on site can be crucial. Clint Swett in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/23/07

49ers financing for Santa Clara site a tricky play -- The San Francisco 49ers will lay out a financing plan for their $800 million stadium in Santa Clara on Tuesday that calls for a $180 million subsidy from that city but steers clear of telling officials just where that money should come from, according to sources close to the team. Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/23/07

San Francisco staying in game to keep 49ers -- In a city where politicians are often as unified as a bag of cats, Aaron Peskin thought just a few months ago that plans to rebuild San Francisco's southeast bayfront around a new 49ers stadium were pretty much dead. Not anymore. Mike Swift and Julie Patel in the San Jose Mercury -- 4/23/07

Newsom says San Francisco won't help with raids / Mayor pledges to discourage feds' immigration sweeps -- Mayor Gavin Newsom vowed Sunday to maintain San Francisco as a sanctuary for immigrants and do everything he can to discourage federal authorities from conducting immigration raids. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/23/07

Spotlight increases on port security -- When Mexican President Felipe Calderón launched his sweeping campaign against narcotrafficking late last year, he sent navy ships and thousands of troops to the port of Lázaro Cárdenas to clamp down on the reputed hub for smuggling drugs to the United States. Diane Lindquist in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 4/23/07

Body turf wars: Massage therapists want to be regulated -- Massage therapists don't want to be seen as sex workers. Chiropractors want to defend their sovereignty over human joints. And the Governor doesn't want to add any new boards or commissions to state government. Malcolm Maclachlan in Capitol Weekly -- 4/23/07

The Buzz: Candidates strike gold in state -- Someone in the Bakersfield metropolitan area has given $500 to Jim Gilmore. As political junkies, and at least one person in or around Bakersfield know, Gilmore is the former governor of Virginia and current Republican presidential candidate. And as of the end of March, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, he had raised a grand total of $500 -- or about 0.245 percent of his total poke -- in the Golden State. Steve Wiegand in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/23/07

Democrats Craft New Tax Rules, New Image -- House Democrats, aiming to seize taxes from Republicans as a political issue, have come up with a plan to shift the burden of the hated alternative minimum tax onto the shoulders of the nation's richest households. Lori Montgomery in the Washington Post -- 4/23/07

Abortion aside, conservative Christians like Giuliani for 2008 -- A poll finds the liberal leaning former New York mayor to be the top choice of white GOP evangelicals. Michael Finnegan in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/23/07

Gonzales remains in the spotlight -- Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales faced more criticism Sunday as a senior Republican lawmaker said President Bush's longtime aide had hurt the administration, the Justice Department and his own standing in his latest effort to explain the firings of eight U.S. attorneys. Nicole Gaouette in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/23/07

Hedge-Fund Ties Help Edwards Campaign -- Two years ago, former senator John Edwards of North Carolina, gearing up for his second run at the Democratic presidential nomination, gave a speech decrying the "two different economies in this country: one for wealthy insiders and then one for everybody else." Four months later, he began working for the kind of firm that to many Wall Street critics embodies the economy of wealthy insiders -- a hedge fund. John Solomon and Alec MacGillis in the Washington Post -- 4/23/07

L.A. charter schools scramble for space -- For students at Synergy Academy, Friday afternoons bring a lesson in nomadic teaching. Classroom rugs are rolled up and pushed against the wall. Collapsible bookshelves are folded down and a mobile computer lab is whisked away. Cleaning supplies get tucked into one corner, a portable nursing station into another. That's life when you're a charter school renting from a Catholic Church that needs the space for weekend catechism classes. Joel Rubin and Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times NAUSH BOGHOSSIAN in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 4/23/07

Orange County school enrollment falls third straight year -- In just three years, the enrollment in 19 Orange County school districts has dropped by a combined 17,725 students. That's enough students to fill about 10 high schools, or 30 elementary schools. FERMIN LEAL in the Orange County Register -- 4/23/07

3 lawsuits over E. coli deaths settled -- The California farm that grew the spinach linked to last year's nationwide E. coli outbreak, and the two companies that processed and marketed it, have settled lawsuits with the families of three women who died, two of whom had not been included in the official death toll. Mary Engel in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/23/07

Distributor says slaughterhouse caused E. coli -- An official of the Merced company that distributed hamburger patties consumed by three Napa County children who fell ill earlier this month after being infected with E. coli bacteria blamed the contamination on the slaughterhouse that first processed the meat. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/23/07

Climate Change Adds Twist to Debate Over Dams -- The power company that owns four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River says the dams provide a crucial source of so-called clean energy at a time when carbon emissions have become one of the world’s foremost environmental concerns. WILLIAM YARDLEY in the New York Times -- 4/23/07

Earth the new star as green fills screen -- If "Wall Street" were made today, Gordon Gekko might be a television executive who would shrewdly say: "Green is good." Green is now officially big business in Hollywood. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/23/07

A new urgency on Earth Day -- Fears of global warming help put attention on the planet's future. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/23/07

Rove and celebrities get feisty on global warming -- Karl Rove's debate with singer Sheryl Crow and producer Laurie David about global warming heated the atmosphere at a black-tie Washington dinner. AP -- 4/23/07

Wastes of War: Out in open -- Former military facilities have been devoted to a wide range of uses -- but environmental risks remain. Russell Carollo in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/23/07

Wastes of War: Raley Field includes ex-military site -- Corps of Engineers gave site second look after GAO challenged its claim that no danger was present. Russell Carollo in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/23/07

Anaheim expects fireworks over housing development -- A plan to build 1,500 homes on the outskirts of Anaheim's resort district began quietly last June at a weekday planning meeting at City Hall. Three people attended, two of them representing the developer. Things have gotten much noisier since then. Dave McKibben in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/23/07

Flying lab to test Pacific skies for dust from Asia / Researchers seeking to discover its effect on weather, global warming -- Vast plumes of fine-grained desert sand and pollution sweep constantly from Asia across the Pacific and over North America, darkening skies along the way and affecting the weather and global warming, but scientists don't yet know to what extent. David Perlman in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/23/07

Fueling an empire -- Pacific Ethanol Inc. has just one production plant in operation, in Madera. But it has enough facilities under construction or on the drawing board to create an ethanol empire stretching from Idaho to the Imperial Valley. Its plan is to increase its production capacity tenfold by 2010. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/23/07

Millions sought to build 'surf reef' in Ventura County -- Californians have created plenty of surf spots by accident with harbor jetties, power plant outflows and even drainage pipes. Creating one on purpose is proving more difficult. NOAKI SCHWARTZ AP -- 4/23/07

Groundwater under Santa Clara County eases strain of drought -- As California experiences one of the driest years in recent history - and federal officials warn of a spreading drought - a disparity in water supplies is emerging throughout the Bay Area. Julie Sevrens Lyons in the San Jose Mercury -- 4/23/07

Bill would create new wilderness -- Conservationists say U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer's plan to designate 2.4 million acres of California mountains as wilderness ---- including areas in San Diego and Riverside counties ---- would preserve a back-country treasure for future generations. But off-road enthusiasts say Boxer's new wilderness bill would lock up that treasure forever so that only a privileged few could use it. DAVE DOWNEY in the North County Times -- 4/23/07

Cities peddle parking for bicycles -- Pity the cyclist with the $4,000 titanium road bike attempting to park at the Sunday farmers market in Santa Monica. After 10:30 a.m., the meters and street signs were already claimed by early rising cyclists who chained their bike frames to the poles, and that hefty, pricey Kryptonite lock simply wouldn't fit around the nearest fence post. Now, cyclists in search of heirloom tomatoes and organic cilantro can enjoy valet parking of the sort offered to BMW-driving diners at Ivy at the Shore or Chinois on Main, handing over their wheels to polite attendants who park them at a nearby bicycle stand. In California bicycle circles, this kind of service is the coming thing. Deborah Schoch in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/23/07

Entitlement with bicyclists and drivers is a 2-way street -- A 3-foot halo, the theme of last Monday's sermon, fired up a choir that's by no means celestial. The same day the column appeared, Tom Fudge, a KPBS radio host, was injured when he was struck by a car on Montezuma Road. Another bicyclist bites the asphalt. LOGAN JENKINS in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 4/23/07

Nonprofit wheels out bicycles, repairs, too -- At around p.m. Sunday, Emma Tate arrived to pick up a bicycle she had dropped off earlier in the day to get a flat tire repaired. Somebody found the bike, took it off a rack and gave it to her. "Thanks," she said. The flat was fixed. There was no charge. Kelly Rayburn in the Oakland Tribune -- 4/23/07

Southland Muslims promote code of unity -- As the conflict deepens between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in Iraq, Muslim leaders in Southern California have launched what they hope will be a nationwide movement to promote unity among different branches of the faith in this country and help prevent acts of violence here. Rebecca Trounson in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/23/07

L.A. sees rising fire risk on Caltrans' land -- Los Angeles' most dangerous fire hazards this summer could be stirred up not by homeowners living on scrubby hillsides but by another culprit: Caltrans. City fire inspectors say the state agency has failed to clear jungles of brush along at least six freeways passing through mountainous areas of Los Angeles despite repeated pleas to address the growing hazard. Duke Helfand in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/23/07

Fleet Week plans hinge on findings -- Organizers of San Francisco's annual Fleet Week festivities said Sunday that results of an investigation into a fatal crash at a Blue Angels air show in South Carolina would help determine whether the Navy fliers would roar through Bay Area skies again in October. Demian Bulwa in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/23/07

4th abalone hunter in 5 days dies -- An Oakland man who had been diving for abalone died Sunday near Fort Bragg -- the fourth abalone hunter to die off the Mendocino County coast in five days. RANDI ROSSMANN in the Santa Rosa Press -- 4/23/07