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Schwarzenegger could soon face recall -- As if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't have enough troubles with the state's $17.2 billion budget mess, now comes word that there may be a move afoot to recall him. Well-placed Sacramento sources tell us the state's politically powerful and well-financed prison guards union has lawyers drawing up language for a recall initiative. Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/7/08

Walters: Deukmejian traded away budget curbs -- This year's budget stalemate is drenched in three decades of tortuous political history. Today's conflicts echo those we've seen in one form or another since 1978, when voters passed Proposition 13, the iconic property tax cut. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/7/08

Voters in an unhappy State - California -- In a presidential election year that has been full of surprises, more could be in store. Just a year ago, it looked like Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Rodham Clinton had a lock on their party nominations, but the voters relegated them to the supporting cast. Now, the unpredictable mix of "change" and "experience" on both the John McCain-Sarah Palin and Barack Obama-Joe Biden tickets hits the campaign trail in what appears to be a tight presidential race. Closer to home, will California voters dish out any surprises? Mark Baldassare in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/7/08

Housing disaster left San Joaquin County in pieces -- The outer bands of a Category 5 mortgage hurricane began strafing San Joaquin County about 18 months ago, uprooting families, damaging homes, devaluing property, devastating whole neighborhoods and destroying lives. Yet the eye of this financial storm remains months away from passing over the Central Valley. Joe Goldeen in the Stockton Record -- 9/7/08

Willie Brown: Palin floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee -- The Democrats are in trouble. Sarah Palin has totally changed the dynamics of this campaign. Period. Palin's speech to the GOP National Convention on Wednesday has set it up so that the Republicans are now on offense and Democrats are on defense. And we don't do well on defense. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/7/08

GOP bounce: McCain overtakes Obama -- John McCain has overtaken Barack Obama in the Gallup daily tracking poll and has his highest level of support in that poll since early May. McCain leads Obama 48 percent to 45 percent among registered voters, by Gallup’s measure. McCain has so far earned the same convention bounce as Obama, though at a more rapid pace. DAVID PAUL KUHN Politico -- 9/7/08

Sarah Palin's appeal to working-class women may be limited -- For many of these critical swing voters, economic interests trump any admiration of the Alaska governor's maternal grit, and some are repelled by her sarcastic jabs at Obama. Faye Fiore and Peter Wallsten in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/7/08

Palin may woo blue-collar voters from Obama -- Democrats do not think that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's arrival in the enemy camp changes Sen. Barack Obama's path to the White House. As far as they're concerned, Republican John McCain's running mate is President George W. Bush. As Obama told voters in Pennsylvania on Friday, "This race is not a personality contest." That bet is about to be tested. Carolyn Lochhead in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/7/08

Palin's Family Has Always Held a Place in Her Politics -- One Friday in June, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin joined the chief of the state prison system on a tour of the Point MacKenzie Correctional Farm, a 90-minute drive north of Anchorage. It was a routine visit but for the presence of the governor's infant son, Trig. Karl Vick and James V. Grimaldi in the Washington Post -- 9/7/08

Rival Tickets Are Redrawing Battlegrounds -- Fresh from the Republican convention, Senator John McCain’s campaign sees evidence that his choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate is energizing conservatives in the battleground of Ohio while improving its chances in Pennsylvania and some Western states that Senator Barack Obama has been counting on. PATRICK HEALY and MICHAEL COOPER in the New York Times -- 9/7/08

Obama considered joining military, regrets abortion answer -- Barack Obama says his answer about abortion at the Saddleback Church forum was “probably” too flip. MIKE ALLEN Politico -- 9/7/08

McCain touts Palin on foreign affairs -- Touting the credentials of his running mate, John McCain and his campaign suggest that Gov. Sarah Palin’s role as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard qualifies as foreign affairs experience. It’s been a familiar argument this election cycle, one made by other governors ranging from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican, to Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat. JEN DIMASCIO Politico -- 9/7/08

Biden challenges Palin to take questions -- Joe Biden is accusing the McCain campaign of sequestering Sarah Palin, his counterpart on the Republican ticket, and challenged her Sunday to sit for network interviews. MIKE ALLEN Politico -- 9/7/08

State bills tough on scrap metal recyclers -- Shreds of aluminum, strings of copper and odd hunks of bronze flow down Davis Street in San Leandro, carried in the beds of pickups and the sometimes bloodied hands of men. Matthai Kuruvila in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/7/08

Forests break green ground by selling offsets -- Evan Smith wrapped a forester's measuring tape around the trunk of Tree 10525, a towering Douglas fir, to figure out its diameter. Then he used a screwlike device to remove a thin wood sample from the trunk so he could measure its rings. The bigger the fir, the more it would be worth to Smith. But not as lumber - as carbon. Ilana DeBare in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/7/08

Fishing curbs possible -- Longtime commercial fisherman Peter Halmay believes his way of life is hanging in the balance. The San Diego-based sea urchin diver is one of a few hundred small-craft fishermen who pursue their catch close to the county's shoreline. Terry Rodgers in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 9/7/08

Port goods flow through Inland area; port funds don't -- The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach each have a budget of more than $1 billion and spend hundreds of millions on improvements each year. But Inland officials can't tap that revenue to help clean polluted air, unclog jammed freeways or ease the wait time at railroad crossings in Riverside and San Bernardino counties -- all problems linked to traffic from the ports. DUANE W. GANG in the Riverside Press -- 9/7/08

California's community colleges having a swell time -- Recent high school graduates and mid-career adults are flocking to community colleges this fall as California campuses report enrollment jumps tied to the weak economy. Administrators say that when the economy dips, enrollment at community colleges typically surges. This fall, students are banking on these modest workhorses of California's higher education system to ease their way through the economic downturn, opting for the closer, cheaper alternatives to state universities. Tony Barboza and Gale Holland in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/7/08

Internal Affairs: That's some pricey filet mignon -- After the lights went out last week at the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce's annual barbecue, some of Arnold Schwarzenegger's biggest boosters retired to the rugged hills of Los Gatos for a private dinner with the governor. Edwin Garcia in the San Jose Mercury -- 9/7/08

Prop. A would pay to build new San Francisco hospital -- San Francisco General Hospital, arguably the city's most important medical facility and a regional trauma center, is liable to collapse in a major earthquake centered near San Francisco. Robert Selna in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/7/08

Lopez: Yes, there are options in treating cancer -- When I first wrote about my sister's health problems earlier this year, a Cedars-Sinai doctor I know called to ask if he could help in any way. Actually, I said, I'd appreciate a referral to a good oncologist. What's happened since then is a cautionary tale for anyone who gets sick. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/7/08

In Mexico, a police victory against smuggling brings deadly revenge -- Juan Jose Soriano, deputy commander of the Tecate Police Department, helped U.S. authorities find a drug-smuggling tunnel. The next morning, gunmen shot him 45 times in his bedroom. Richard Marosi in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/7/08

Drug makers seek shield from lawsuits -- In a case that could have broad implications for consumers, the Supreme Court this fall will consider barring liability claims involving medications approved by the FDA. David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/7/08

Medical pricing makes the head spin -- It began with a dizzy spell. Before long, though, what really had my head spinning was the inscrutable way that healthcare providers and insurers put a dollar value on medical services -- and how that leaves patients unable to determine a fair price for any treatment. David Lazarus in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/7/08

Home, home on the base -- An unusual donation from the San Diego Zoo to Camp Pendleton may turn out to be more precious than anybody realized at the time. In the early to mid-1970s, zoo officials gave the base 14 bison because they didn't have enough room to keep the animals. The Camp Pendleton herd grew, and today, up to 150 bison live on the 125,000-acre Marine Corps installation – though few people outside the base know about them. Mike Lee in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 9/7/08

Before new citizenship test takes hold, some may opt for old one -- It is now too late for them to vote for the nation's next president, but some aspiring voters may choose to apply for citizenship this fall before a new test takes effect. The redesigned citizenship test "is a little bit harder," said Apolonio Morales of the Contra Costa County Interfaith Supporting Community Organization. Matt O'Brien in the Contra Costa Times -- 9/7/08