Lawmakers deadlocked over car tax, budget cuts -- Not even fiscal crisis trumps partisan politics in California, where lawmakers remained sharply divided on a budget rescue plan Friday with time running out in this year's session. Jim Sanders in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/22/08

McClintock's 4th District lead widens to 1,800 votes -- State Sen. Tom McClintock on Friday surged to nearly a 1,800-vote lead in the tight congressional battle against Democrat Charlie Brown, perhaps sealing victory in the foothill 4th District. Dan Smith in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/22/08

Prop. 8 divides Bay Area Catholics -- Catholics played a pivotal role in the success of Proposition 8, from pulpits down to the pews. Bishops lobbied for its passage, priests preached about it, and laypeople overwhelmingly voted for it. Yet not all have been joyful in Bay Area parishes. Matthai Kuruvila in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/22/08

Both sides in California's Prop. 8 battle look ahead to 2010 -- The gay-marriage ban issue could be back on the ballot in two years. Regardless, backers and foes are organizing supporters, waging a fierce public relations campaign and considering their next moves. Jessica Garrison in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/22/08

'Hate' accusations keep flying in same-sex marriage debate; protest planned today at Capitol -- With another Proposition 8 protest expected to bring thousands to the Capitol in Sacramento today, both sides continue to accuse each other of a four-letter word in the same-sex marriage debate, and it isn't "love." It's about the polar opposite — hate. Mike Swift in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/22/08

Ruling extends California execution moratorium -- California's revised procedures for lethal injections are invalid because they were never submitted to the public for comment, a state appeals court ruled Friday in a decision that will prolong the court-imposed moratorium on executions at San Quentin State Prison. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle Carol J. Williams in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/22/08

California jobless rate soars to 8. 2% -- California's unemployment rate jumped to 8.2 percent in October, and employers cut 26,400 nonfarm payroll jobs, as the global financial crisis punished the state, exacting its heaviest toll on the struggling Central Valley. Tom Abate in the San Francisco Chronicle Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/22/08

L.A. County's jobless rate up to 8.4% -- The picture was even gloomier in Los Angeles County, which saw its October jobless rate jump to 8.4 percent, up from 7.7 percent in September and 5.2 percent a year earlier. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 11/22/08

Silicon Valley unemployment rate jumps to 6.9 percent -- There are now 63,400 people seeking employment in the valley, a 46 percent increase from a year ago, according to state Employment Development Department figures released Friday. Pete Carey in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/22/08

Ventura County jobless rate is at 7.2% -- While only slightly higher than the 7 percent rate in September, the jobless rate was sharply up from 5.2 percent for the same month a year ago, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday. Allison Bruce in the Ventura Star -- 11/22/08

Every valley community sees increase -- Riverside County's unemployment rate hit 10 percent in October, marking the first time in 12 years that the percentage of those out of work has reached double-digits. Figures released by the state Friday also show unemployment is on the rise in every Coachella Valley community. Erica Solvig in the Desert Sun -- 11/22/08

Economy affects local restaurants -- After its launch in June 2005, Calitalia Restaurant & Lounge made a culinary splash in Calabasas, as diners responded enthusiastically to its California-Italian comfort food made with ingredients that were fresh, organic, grass-fed and wild. But an ominous trend developed during the summer: What had been a healthy stream of guests suddenly slowed to a trickle. Eric Noland in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 11/22/08

The mathematics of layoffs -- Why are jobs cuts rippling through the economy? One reason may be a drop in revenue per employee, a measure of productivity and, ultimately, profitability. Tom Abate in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/22/08

Lockyer, local officials urge Fed to pump cash into municipal bond markets -- Treasurer Bill Lockyer joined Sacramento County and 18 other municipal bond issuers Friday to lobby federal lawmakers and the Federal Reserve to shore up battered municipal bond markets. Andrew McIntosh in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/22/08

State gets federal grants for job training -- Competition for jobs in California will grow with Friday's report that the unemployment rate is its highest in 14 years, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced job training grants this week for regions hard hit by the downturn and programs for veterans, many of them returning from war in Iran and Afghanistan. George Raine in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/22/08

Shallit: The cookie crumbles for Uncle Jer's -- Is he another victim of the economy? Nope. Was he just ready for retirement? Absolutely not, says the 60-year-old. "We went broke because they changed the law," he says. He's referring to "healthy snacks" legislation that went into effect last year. Before that, Jerry and his wife, Ellen, had a "wonderful gig" selling cookies to schools. Bob Shallit in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/22/08

Gottschalks sells stock to Chinese -- Gottschalks Inc. has inked a deal giving the retail chain a transfusion of up to $30 million and placing majority ownership into Chinese hands. Tim Sheehan in the Fresno Bee -- 11/22/08

Downey Savings, PFF Bank seized by federal regulators -- The Southern California thrifts are the latest to fail in the mortgage meltdown. U.S. officials say the banks' branches will continue operating as usual under Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank. E. Scott Reckard and Tiffany Hsu in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/22/08

Bankruptcy Is Option to GM Board -- Members of General Motors Corp.'s board of directors are willing to consider "all options" for the ailing auto maker, including an eventual filing for bankruptcy protection, a stance that puts them in rare disagreement with Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, people familiar with the matter said. JOHN D. STOLL in the Wall Street Journal -- 11/22/08

Obama Vows Swift Action on Vast Economic Stimulus Plan -- President-elect Barack Obama said Saturday that he had started work on a sustained, two-year economic stimulus plan designed to create or save 2.5 million jobs, funnel money toward public works programs to repair the country’s failing infrastructure and invest in alternative energy programs. JEFF ZELENY and JACKIE CALMES in the New York Times -- 11/22/08

Feds close 2 big thrifts in Southern California -- The failures of Downey Savings and Loan Association, based in Newport Beach (Orange County), and PFF Bank & Trust of Pomona (Los Angeles County) brought the number of U.S. bank failures this year to 22. AP -- 11/22/08

Wells Fargo briefly holds top spot among banks -- Wells Fargo & Co., the San Francisco financial institution with few branches east of the Mississippi River, was briefly the largest U.S. bank by market value on Friday, passing JPMorgan Chase & Co. as financial stocks fell. James Temple in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/22/08

1,500 new homes, repos offered -- More than 1,500 new and foreclosed homes will go on the auction block in coming weeks in Northern California, as banks and builders try to clear inventory by year's end. Jim Wasserman in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/22/08

L.A. City Council votes to draft law barring evictions of renters of foreclosed properties -- The council asks City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo to draft an ordinance that would prohibit evictions in foreclosed buildings where the city's rent-control law does not apply. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/22/08

In Housing Slump, Elderly Forgo Assisted Living -- The housing crisis has kept thousands of older Americans who need support and care from moving into retirement communities or assisted-living centers, effectively stranding them in their own homes. JACK HEALY in the New York Times -- 11/22/08

Lazarus: Utilities' surcharge proposal arrives at wrong time -- Southern California Gas, San Diego Gas & Electric and Pacific Gas & Electric want businesses to pay less and households to pay more to help low-income customers. David Lazarus in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/22/08

Lean times a boost for Spam, other cheaper chow -- Call it cheap eats chic. Or, perhaps more accurately, hard times grub. From Kool-Aid to Spam, many of the iconic working stiffs of American food are enjoying a resurgence as the U.S. economy slips further into decline. Penni Crabtree in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 11/22/08

Buck buys food for thought -- Christopher Greenslate and Kerri Leonard wanted to see if they could eat on $1 a day – a generally accepted measure of extreme poverty globally – and the challenge led to a discussion about food among their friends and people around the world. Tanya Mannes in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 11/22/08

Obama economic plan aims for 2.5 million new jobs by 2011 -- President-elect Barack Obama signaled this morning that he would push for a bigger economic stimulus package than he previously discussed, pledging to create 2.5 million jobs in the effort to combat what he called a "crisis of historic proportions." Christi Parsons in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/22/08

Obama taps experienced hands for Cabinet -- Stock markets surged on news that New York Federal Reserve President Tim Geithner would probably be President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Treasury secretary, now the most high-profile post in the new Cabinet as the economy appears headed into its deepest recession since the early 1980s. Carolyn Lochhead in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/22/08

Stanford professor leads Obama transition team -- It's been a busy week for Linda Darling-Hammond, a Stanford University education professor who heads back to Washington, D.C., on Sunday to preside over the start of what she hopes will be a new - and better funded - era for public schools. Darling-Hammond, a teacher-friendly educator, has been tapped by President-elect Barack Obama to head his transition team on education policy. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/22/08

Google.org exec works with transition team -- Sonal Shah, an executive at Google.org in Mountain View, has been selected to help run a policy team looking at technology, innovation and government reform for President-elect Barack Obama's transition. Tyche Hendricks in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/22/08

Psychiatric care's peril and profits -- Psychiatric Solutions Inc. was on its way to becoming the nation's leading provider of private psychiatric care when it snapped up Sierra Vista Hospital in Sacramento in mid-2005. The company put its well-honed business formula into action: Staffing fell. Beds filled up. Profits soared. It was a winning strategy for investors. But for some patients, federal records show, checking into Sierra Vista proved dangerous -- at times deadly. Christina Jewett and Robin Fields in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/22/08

A grueling search for bone marrow donor -- Amy has completed chemotherapy, but to help prevent relapse she needs a bone marrow transplant, a situation complicated by her mixed ethnicity. She is Latina and Filipina, and minorities remain drastically underrepresented on the list of potential marrow donors. Jennifer Torres in the Stockton Record -- 11/22/08

State's college commitment hanging in the balance -- A week of unfortunate firsts has left California on the verge of pulling away from a nearly half-century college commitment to high school graduates. Matt Krupnick in the Oakland Tribune -- 11/22/08

LAUSD school payroll errors fall but still hurt some -- In the past six weeks, janitor Felix Munoz has been underpaid, overpaid or not paid by the Los Angeles Unified School District. George B. Sanchez in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 11/22/08

SDSU punishes 2 fraternities -- One San Diego State University fraternity has been expelled and another suspended in the wake of Operation Sudden Fall, the yearlong undercover investigation into campus drug sales that culminated in May with nearly 100 arrests. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 11/22/08

BART backers pop open champagne, celebrate vision for San Jose's Grand Central Station -- San Jose's Diridon Station — Grand Central Station of the West? Let the comparisons begin. With only about a hundred votes left to be counted, a sales tax measure to bring BART to the South Bay has now definitely passed, backers announced Friday. And with voters also approving a bond measure to connect California's major cities by high-speed rail, San Jose's sleepy Diridon Station is on track for a mind-boggling upgrade. Gary Richards in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/22/08

Solar boom -- Palm Desert's loan program giving contractors seeds to grow their businesses. K Kaufmann in the Desert Sun -- 11/22/08

Experts fear 3rd straight dry winter likely -- Dodging a disastrous third year of drought in California could take the kind of winter mega-storms that leave almost as much ruin as they do rain. Kelly Zito in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/22/08

Weak water pressure blamed for loss of 3 to 5 homes in Yorba Linda -- Orange County fire officials today blamed lack of water pressure for the loss of three to five homes when a blaze ripped through the Hidden Hills Estates area of Yorba Linda on Saturday. Tony Barboza in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/22/08

With rains coming, mudslide fears in Orange County fire zone -- The National Weather Service issued a special weather statement this morning warning of several storm systems expected to hit Southern California with rain beginning early next week. And that forecast is particularly concerning in the fire burn areas. My-Thuan Tran and Shelby Grad in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/22/08

Companies that hauled fire debris in hot seat -- The company the city of San Diego is investigating for possibly overcharging to clear rubble after last fall's wildfires is also in the middle of a dispute between county officials and the contractor they hired to clear fire-ravaged properties. Brooke Williams and Craig Gustafson in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 11/22/08

Bridge district OKs $75 million for Doyle Drive -- A controversial and previously rejected plan to allow the display of corporate logos near Golden Gate Bridge will be reconsidered as a way to raise $75 million for the reconstruction of Doyle Drive. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/22/08

Federal plans for coastal sanctuaries readied -- New federal protection plans along California's coast will expand the huge sanctuary off Monterey and include the Davidson Seamount, an undersea volcano that holds a rich variety of corals and rare marine life. David Perlman in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/22/08

Sacramento City manager pushes waste-to-energy proposal; county cautious -- Same trip, very different impressions. When Sacramento city officials recently traveled to Japan to tour a plant that disintegrates garbage with superheated plasma, they came away eager to push forward with a proposal to build a similar plant back home. Yet county officials on the same study mission concluded there were too little data and too many warning signs. Terri Hardy in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/22/08

Rock threat danger closes part of Yosemite lodging -- About one-third of the lodging units available at Curry Village,will close permanently, park officials say. AP -- 11/22/08

Riders on Metrolink route remain unsettled -- The couple of dozen passengers on board paid little notice as the 306 passed a siding just west of the Rialto station where just a day before the train running the route collided with a 102-car freight train pulling into that siding. DARRELL R. SANTSCHI in the Riverside Press -- 11/22/08

San Jose's Worm Dude is wiggling his way to a small fortune -- Jerry Gach likes to say there have been five great moments in his life: the births of his two sons, his wedding, graduation from college and the day he got his first batch of Alabama Jumpers. If you're wondering, Alabama jumpers are earthworms. Linda Goldston in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/22/08

Palo Alto's soul-searching over profiling -- David Dunnell won't easily forget the time he was questioned by police in a library. Two years ago, he said, he was reading magazines in Palo Alto's main branch when two officers approached, asked him about a rash of burglaries and demanded proof that he lived in the city. It wouldn't have happened, he concluded, if he weren't black. Demian Bulwa in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/22/08

Haidl sidesteps questions about reimbursing donations in other campaigns -- Witness in trial of former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona says he doesn't recall donations or didn't know about them. 'I'm not saying it never happened,' he testifies. Christine Hanley in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/22/08

Lengthy terms in medical pot case -- An aspiring hip-hop artist and his business partner in a lucrative Modesto medical-marijuana operation were given lengthy prison terms Friday for violating federal drug laws. Luke Scarmazzo was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger to 21 years and eight months in prison, and Ricardo Ruiz Montes was given 20 years. John Ellis in the Fresno Bee -- 11/22/08

Villaraigosa calls for 'emergency overhaul' of L.A.'s budget -- The mayor wants most city departments to cut 3% of their costs through the end of the fiscal year because of a $110-million shortfall. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/22/08

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa poised to host a `day of service' in Valley -- Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will hold a "day of service" in the San Fernando Valley today, joining with local officials and volunteers including special donations to benefit families from last week's Sayre Fire in Sylmar. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 11/22/08

San Diego Fire pits latest to go on the city's chopping block -- This is not the kind of city budget cut that brings out the big “D” words – devastating or draconian. But San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders' proposal to snuff out the fire pits at city beaches to save $173,000 in maintenance costs has some residents wondering: Has it really come to this? Helen Gao in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 11/22/08