California lenders agree to freeze rates -- In an unprecedented move designed to save thousands of California homeowners from foreclosure, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a deal Tuesday with four mortgage lenders to freeze adjustable interest rates for some of the state's highest-risk borrowers. Kevin Yamamura and Jim Wasserman in the Sacramento Bee ALEX VEIGA AP -- 11/20/07

New class-action lawsuit in San Francisco Bay spill -- Two commercial fishermen have filed a class-action lawsuit over the oil spill that fouled San Francisco Bay. John Tarantino of Corte Madera and Steven Fitz of San Mateo filed the suit on behalf of fishermen who claim they've suffered economic injury as a result of the spill. The state banned commercial and sport fishing in areas affected by the slick. SCOTT LINDLAW AP -- 11/20/07

Biotech, pharma firms react cooly to new stem cell research -- Despite excitement among scientists - and at the White House - about a new embryo-free technique for creating human stem cells, reactions from many companies that might someday turn the lab research into actual medical treatments ranged from muted to downright blase. MARCUS WOHLSEN AP -- 11/20/07

AARP, ACLU say workers' comp law hurts women, older workers -- The ACLU, AARP and other groups are urging a state appeals court to strike down a portion of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's workers' compensation reforms. Opponents say the three-year-old reforms lead to discrimination against older workers and women. STEVE LAWRENCE AP -- 11/20/07

Arnold's trifecta -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may be struggling in overtime to get the Legislature to approve sweeping health and water plans, but he's on the cover of U.S. News and World Report this week as one of "America's best leaders" in 2007. Ed Mendel San Diego Union-Trib weblog -- 11/20/07

Woman refused to hand over children -- After losing sole custody of her three sons last week, a Diamond Bar woman and her husband fled with the boys rather than turn them over Sunday to their grandfather - Rep. Gary Miller - family members and officials said Tuesday. Frank C. Girardot in the San Gabriel Tribune -- 11/20/07

Congressman Gary Miller's grandchildren missing -- Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives were searching today for three grandchildren of Rep. Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar) who were believed to have been kidnapped by their mother. Francisco Vara-Orta in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/07

Vallejo vice mayor wins mayor's race by four votes -- Openly gay Vallejo City Councilman Gary Cloutier won the mayor's race by four votes, elections officials said this afternoon, just hours after the councilman apologized for his weekend arrest for public intoxication after drinking too much at a bar in Palm Springs. Christopher Heredia, Marisa Lagos in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/07

San Francisco Sues Over Voting Machines, Too -- The San Francisco case touches on similar issues as the state lawsuit-- namely, accusations that last year ES&S shipped out to six California counties voting machines that had not yet been certified by state elections officials. SF received more of the machines in dispute -- 565 -- than any of the other five counties in question. John Myers Capitol Notes weblog -- 11/20/07

$10 billion water bond may reach February ballot -- A long-stalled attempt to place an unprecedented water bond before California voters on Feb. 5 is making new progress, with a proposed $10 billion plan that would include money for both groundwater and surface storage. A final agreement could be reached by the end of this week, with floor votes in the Senate and Assembly by next week. John Howard in Capitol Weekly -- 11/20/07

Political Turkeys -- It's that time of year again. As we enter another season of thanks and forgiveness, let us pause to bestow the political Turkeys of the Year Awards. Sherry Bebitch Jeffe Political Perspective -- 11/20/07

Former Aide Blames Bush for Leak Deceit -- Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan blames President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for efforts to mislead the public about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity of a CIA operative. MATT APUZZO AP -- 11/20/07

O'Connell goes for compacts -- The campaign against the four Indian gambling referendums on the Feb. 5 ballot announced the endorsement of Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. Shane Goldmacher SacBee Capitol Alert -- 11/20/07

A stem cell 'milestone' -- Scientists reprogram human skin cells to behave like embryonic stem cells, a breakthrough that would eliminate ethical concerns. Karen Kaplan in the Los Angeles Times GINA KOLATA in the New York Times Rick Weiss in the Washington Post -- 11/20/07

Tutoring perk ends for kids of legislators -- A little-known political perk has offered free online tutoring in mathematics, science, English and social studies to the children of legislators and their staffs for the past two years. A hidden link on the California State Library Web site has provided access to the service, which will be discontinued Wednesday, largely because the secret has leaked and soaring usage by students with no connection to the Legislature is forcing the tutoring firm to pay the site's ever-larger tab. Jim Sanders in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/20/07

Efforts to rein in casinos gain -- The game is now officially on in what is already a costly and vitriolic political battle over a major expansion of Indian casino gambling in California. Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced Monday that all four referendums seeking to stop four of the Golden State's richest tribes from adding up to 17,000 new slot machines have qualified for the Feb. 5 ballot. Peter Hecht in the Sacramento Bee Jake Henshaw in the Desert Sun -- 11/20/07

California suing Nebraska voting machine maker for $15 million -- California Secretary of State Debra Bowen sued a Nebraska voting machine company on Monday, seeking fines and reimbursements of nearly $15 million from the firm for allegedly selling nearly 1,000 uncertified machines to San Francisco and four other counties. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle Lisa Vorderbrueggen in the Contra Costa Times -- 11/20/07

L.A. County wants state OK for vote-count system -- With the presidential primary less than three months away, Los Angeles County supervisors will ask California's secretary of state today to allow the county to use a vote-counting system that has not yet been reviewed by the state. The request - with just 77 days to go before voters head to the polls - comes after vendor Premier Election Solutions failed earlier this year to submit its vote-counting equipment and software quickly enough for a statewide review of election systems. Troy Anderson Troy Anderson -- 11/20/07

California sues 20 companies for toys with unlawful amounts of lead -- California Attorney General Jerry Brown has sued 20 companies, including Mattel Inc. and Toys R Us, accusing them of selling toys that contain unlawful amounts of lead and failing to warn the public of the health dangers. Jane Kay in the San Francisco Chronicle Steven Harmon in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/20/07

Legislators to seek Homeland Security probe of spill -- A House subcommittee grilled the federal and state commanders in charge of handling the oil spill in San Francisco Bay and, unhappy with the responses, announced Monday they would seek a new probe by the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/20/07

California's high court seeks death penalty fix -- The California Supreme Court on Monday called for a constitutional amendment to ease the backlog in the state's death penalty system, which takes an average of 17 years to execute a condemned convict -- twice the national average. Henry Weinstein in the Los Angeles Times Matthew Yi in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/07

Schwarzenegger surpasses Davis' fundraising record -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has become the most prolific campaign fundraiser in California history, taking in more than $125 million for his various political committees, according to an Associated Press review of fundraising records. In doing so, he has surpassed Gray Davis, the governor he ousted four years ago in a recall election that focused in large part on Davis' seemingly incessant fundraising. Steve Lawrence AP -- 11/20/07

Vallejo mayoral candidate held after stumbling from Palm Springs bar -- Vallejo's vice mayor, who is locked in a tight race for mayor of the Bay Area city, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of public intoxication in Palm Springs after he allegedly stumbled out of a bar and attempted to drive away, police said Monday. Marisa Lagos, Christopher Heredia in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/07

GOP could call for Carona to resign -- The Orange County Republican Party has launched a process to determine whether it will ask indicted Sheriff Mike Carona to resign, but the party stopped short Monday night of issuing any immediate pronouncement to the GOP endorsee. MARTIN WISCKOL in the Orange County Register -- 11/20/07

Weintraub: Face it, Governor: Response to fires was flawed -- When Southern Californians questioned the state's handling of the wildfires that burned 2,000 homes and scorched more than 700 square miles of brush land last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was defensive. The firefighters, he said, were heroes, and everything that could have been done to save land and homes was done. Daniel Weintraub in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/20/07

Walters: Big Daddy's biography falls short -- The first chapters of Bill Boyarsky's new book about legendary California politician Jesse Unruh are terrific – a detailed account of how a sharecropper's son from rural Texas overcame his childhood to achieve power in Sacramento. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/20/07

Politicians go begging for cash -- Legislators do more than just pass laws: They wield influence, both at the capital and in their home districts. New reports made available for the first time online reveal the workings of one powerful method some officials use to bolster or cement that influence - hitting up corporations or major nonprofits for contributions directed to charities of the lawmaker's choosing. Hank Shaw in the Stockton Record -- 11/20/07

English-only workplace rules spur debate -- The House and Senate disagree on a law that bars employers from firing people who don't speak English on the job. AP -- 11/20/07

A gap in GOP candidates' healthcare proposals -- Giuliani, McCain and Thompson are offering plans to help the uninsured -- but their aversion to regulations would mean that many of their fellow cancer survivors would be left out. Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/07

Wealthy Nations In Gulf Rethink Peg to Dollar -- For many years, oil-rich Persian Gulf states have pegged their currencies to the dollar. Now that link is stoking a bad bout of inflation in their red-hot economies and putting policy makers in a dilemma: Break the dollar peg and risk undermining the U.S. currency, or keep it and face growing local discontent. JOANNA SLATER and CHIP CUMMINS in the Wall Street Journal -- 11/20/07

UC will expand ethnic categories for applicants -- The University of California will revamp its undergraduate application to find out more about the Pacific Rim students who have become UC's dominant face. Matt Krupnick in the Contra Costa Times -- 11/20/07

Faulty fire alarms at Santa Ana College put thousands at potential risk -- Seven buildings at Santa Ana College, including the administration offices and the library, have faulty fire alarms, placing thousands of students, faculty and staff in potential danger. Tony Barboza in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/07

Fundraising poses a challenge for UCI's law school -- Just as incoming Dean Erwin Chemerinsky finally gets his post locked in, a new obstacle awaits: raising millions of dollars to open the institution, without an alumni base. Mike Anton and Garrett Therolf in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/07

Occidental president decides to step down -- After only 17 months in the post, Susan Westerberg Prager announced her resignation Monday as president of Occidental College amid reports at the Eagle Rock campus that she had clashed with the school's board of trustees over not being an aggressive-enough leader. Larry Gordon in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/07

L.A. Unified wins eminent domain claim -- Judge approves district officials' right to take Glassell Park property for a new high school. How much they'll have to pay for it has yet to be determined. Evelyn Larrubia in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/07

Misuse found in UCD funds -- A federal program aimed at teaching the poorest Californians how to eat right was misused by the UC Davis nutrition department, paying for computers, remodeling and unrelated research, campus auditors said in a report released Monday. Carrie Peyton Dahlberg in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/20/07

No easy fix for valley health crunch -- The medical system for the more than 300,000 people who rely on Medi-Cal in the Northern San Joaquin Valley suffers from a multitude of problems that add up to a dysfunctional system: a shortage of doctors, low payments for physicians treating Medi-Cal patients, a high incidence of chronic diseases, poverty and low education rates. TIM MORAN and KEN CARLSON in the Modesto Bee -- 11/20/07

Mountain View startup offers DNA scans online -- The Google Inc.-backed company 23andMe on Monday started a Web-based genetic testing service offering customers a $999 scan of their DNA, including hints about their disease risks, clues to their ethnic ancestry and possible explanations for habits that annoy their relatives. Bernadette Tansey in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/07

Donda West's doctor discusses her death -- The plastic surgeon who operated on the mother of rap star Kanye West says she likely died of a heart attack, embolism or accidental overdose. Scott Glover in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/07

Global estimate of HIV infections falls sharply as counting changes -- With a wave of the statistical wand today, international epidemiologists will roll back by 6.3 million the number of people worldwide believed to be infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Sabin Russell in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/07

Auto industry asks court to slam brakes on state's tough emission standards -- The legal battle over global warming moved Monday to the Central Valley, where the auto industry tried to convince a federal judge that California's attempt to limit car emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases is beyond its authority. Lawyers for car manufacturers, dealers and trade associations said California's 2002 law, the model for statutes in 11 other states, amounted to a requirement for higher gas mileage, a subject that only the federal government can regulate. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/20/07

Gasoline prices continue climb in California -- The Energy Department says the national average cost could rise 20 cents in the coming weeks as oil nears $100 a barrel. The item is in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/07

Soaring gas prices won't deter travelers -- The drive to Grandmother's house for Thanksgiving this year is likely to be the most expensive ever as gasoline prices continue climbing near the record level posted last spring. Motorists in San Diego paid an average of $3.42 per gallon for regular yesterday, up 89 cents over the same time last year, according to the Auto Club of Southern California. Craig D. Rose in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 11/20/07

Gas price protester dies while on hunger strike -- Mehdi Shahbazi, the owner of several gas stations along the California coast who dedicated the last years of his life to fighting a passionate and at times eccentric battle in the name of consumer rights, has died. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/07

San Francisco program recycles restaurants' cooking oil for use as fuel -- San Francisco officials are giving the city's old grease a new career - one that should mean cleaner air, cleaner sewers and Muni buses that smell like fried zucchini one day and fried chicken the next. Charles Burress in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/07

E-mailers send a message: Please don't leave paper trail -- Stephanie Fessler doesn't drive a hybrid car, compost her orange peels or bring her own reusable cloth bags to the supermarket. But two months ago, Fessler joined countless other businesspeople in doing one environmental good deed daily. At the bottom of every e-mail she sends, she includes this message: "Save Trees. Print only when necessary." Abigail Goldman in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/07

Bay Area real estate symposium forecasts more gloom -- A real estate symposium on Monday - featuring panels titled "catastrophic risk," "subprime crisis" and "economy on the edge," among others - predicted more gloom in the Bay Area housing market over the next year or so. Kelly Zito in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/07

Worsening housing market seen for the state -- Home foreclosures in California rose 600 percent over the last year and the situation "is likely to get much worse before it gets better," the state director for the Center for Responsible Lending told legislative staff members Monday. Timm Herdt in the Ventura Star -- 11/20/07

Less waste, more fees -- San Diego's latest attempts to dramatically boost recycling could cost residents millions of dollars next year. Mike Lee in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 11/20/07

Drivers say tollway is on road to success -- They came, they saw, they slipped into high gear. The county's first toll road debuted yesterday, offering South Bay drivers an alternative to the rush-hour tangle on Interstate 805 and other major roads. Steve Schmidt in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 11/20/07

Hate crimes decline in L.A. and state -- California and Los Angeles bucked a national trend last year by reporting a slight drop in hate crimes, while law enforcement agencies throughout the nation reported an 8% increase, according to data released Monday. Tina Marie Macias and Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/07

Hate crimes dropped in San Francisco last year -- The FBI defines hate crimes as crimes that are motivated by biases based on race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin, and disability. The agency reported a total of 7,722 hate crimes in 2006 nationally, the bulk of them - 52 percent - motivated by racial bias. Marisa Lagos in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/07

Grieving father, lawmaker aim for skier safety -- A legislator and a grieving Bay Area father jointly announced formation Monday of a private group to address what they called the government's failure to oversee unmarked dangers on ski slopes. Steve Geissinger in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/20/07

Judge OKs curbs on 2 Orange County gangs -- Preliminary injunctions target more than 200 alleged members in San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente. Officials say the groups terrorize their communities. H.G. Reza in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/07

Carona stripped of national security clearance -- The Orange County sheriff, who is facing corruption charges, has also been forced to give up his seat on Homeland Security's advisory council. Christine Hanley, Stuart Pfeifer and Garrett Therolf in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/07