Governor's Top Aides' Pay Bolstered by Donors -- Schwarzenegger has paid at least four of his advisors substantially for their work on his campaigns. Critics fear conflicts of interest. Peter Nicholas in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/15/06

Governor revamps image, but more tests lie ahead -- After Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's special-election defeat, his advisers set out to rejuvenate his image, emphasizing the more moderate aspects of his political philosophy in the months before voters decide whether to show him the door or re-elect him. Kate Folmar in the San Jose Mercury -- 1/15/06

Free fall could be over for governor -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's contentious special-election agenda not only resulted in an across-the-board repudiation by voters in November, but also imperiled his 2006 re-election chances, which once seemed a foregone conclusion. John Marelius in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 1/15/06

Bond Fight's Purse Is Big -- With $222 billion at stake, the governor's plan to rebuild the state's infrastructure has sparked an epic struggle for a piece of the action. Robert Salladay in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/15/06

California may need new borrowing to fill transit plan pothole -- The Legislature may ask taxpayers to accept $2.3 billion in new borrowing to fund a backlog of transportation projects sidelined when lawmakers repeatedly siphoned the state's roads budget. Michael Gardner in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 1/15/06

Spending consistency? Not this governor -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is sometimes criticized unfairly for picking and choosing positions from across the ideological spectrum. There is nothing wrong with that. But on at least one issue - ballot-box budgeting - he is seemingly on every side of the same issue at the same time, and his incoherence is deafening. Daniel Weintraub in the Sacramento Bee -- 1/15/06

Knocked on his 'Hasta la vista' -- One of the wisest pieces of advice I can ever offer is to always deal in reality. Sometimes reality stinks, and it's easier to craft an elaborate fantasy world that soothes our inner turmoil. But, ultimately, it's a dangerous game to avoid The Truth. STEVEN GREENHUT in the Orange County Register -- 1/15/06

Registrars want total vote-by-mail election -- Cutting-edge electronic voting was supposed to solve ballot-box flaws in the wake of the 2000 presidential election. But now some California registrars believe that good old-fashioned snail mail is the best way to go. Kevin Yamamura in the Sacramento Bee -- 1/15/06

Pombo aide under fire for finances -- Rep. Richard Pombo's top aide might have violated congressional ethics rules by not correctly reporting all of his outside political work and making too much money from California campaigns and consultants, the aide said Friday. Steven Ding regularly worked for candidates and organizations with close ties to Pombo, a Tracy Republican who is chairman of the House Resources Committee. Thomas Peele in the Contra Costa Times -- 1/15/06

Shooting down Cunningham's legend -- Ex-comrades in arms say disgraced congressman was a good fighter pilot but a poor officer with flair for self-promotion -- Alex Roth in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 1/15/06

Inland projects come with a price -- Inland road planners, educators and business leaders like a lot of what they see in Gov. Schwarzenegger's budget proposal and sweeping infrastructure bond package. But the costly plans are forcing some Inland GOP lawmakers to balance their desire for restrained state spending against competing demands to improve constituents' quality of life and support Schwarzenegger, a fellow Republican. JIM MILLER and DOUGLAS E. BEEMAN in the Riverside Press -- 1/15/06

Governor's budget proposals add to worries for poor, sick -- As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked for a series of cuts to social programs aiding the poor and disabled in his proposed budget for the coming year, Escondido resident Patricia Bailey sat in her wheelchair outside a local senior center Thursday and vented her frustration. WILLIAM FINN BENNETT in the North County Times -- 1/15/06

Antiwar Protesters Jeer Pelosi at Town Hall Event -- Top House Democrat rankles some when she declines to endorse the impeachment of Bush. Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times Erin McCormick in the San Francisco Chronicle Michelle Maitre in the Oakland Tribune -- 1/15/06

Hundreds Attend Tribute to King -- At an Inglewood event, attendees are urged to heed the slain civil rights leader's dream and 'walk with courage' to achieve their own. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/15/06

Abortion foes seek allies in black clergy -- The gathering is part of an increased effort by anti-abortion organizers, including those behind Saturday's Walk for Life West Coast demonstration in San Francisco, to recruit support in the traditionally Democratic -- and thus often supportive of abortion rights -- African American community. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 1/15/06

Parties Race for the High Ground of Ethics Reform on Capitol Hill -- With the taint of scandal hanging over the capital and threatening Republican candidates in upcoming elections, both parties are in a race to seize the mantle of reform and to win credit from voters for cleaning up government. Peter Wallsten and Tom Hamburger in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/15/06

Analysis: Lobbying limit is no laughing matter now -- A year ago, the idea that Congress would consider sharp curbs on lobbying would have been laughed off Capitol Hill. In fact, that's exactly what happened. The man doing the laughing was then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who at a news conference derided the authors of a bipartisan lobbying measure and accused them of working on behalf of "leftist groups." David Westphal in the Sacramento Bee -- 1/15/06

Area firms paying to play? -- Nearly every defense contractor that Southern California lawmakers boasted securing federal funding for over the past three years also made political contributions, according to a review by the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. Lisa Friedman and Edward Barrera in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 1/15/06

Shuffling nominees, Bush may hit jackpot -- After 18 hours of testimony, 10 weeks of research into every aspect of Judge Samuel Alito's life and legal record, and months of White House acrobatics and missteps that included one failed nomination, it appears likely that President Bush will succeed in naming a conservative -- and a white male at that -- to the seat of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Carolyn Lochhead in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 1/15/06

Alito May Quickly Affect Laws -- His confirmation to the high court would make him a decisive vote in several upcoming cases. David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/15/06

Mexican soldiers defy border -- Homeland Security report: 216 incursions into U.S. made by Mexican military. Sara A. Carter in the Inland Daily Bulletin -- 1/15/06

Betting on casinos pays off -- UC Riverside researchers report a growing inequality between gaming and nongaming tribes, with the average casino tribe experiencing a 27 percent growth in income over a decade as many nongaming tribes remain stagnant or decline in income and education. Some poor tribes experienced as much as a 56 percent drop in per-capita income. MICHELLE DeARMOND and DAVID OLSON in the Riverside Press -- 1/15/06

Moving toward an idea economy -- While Silicon Valley is producing more high-end jobs, the region is not doing enough to prepare residents to seize those opportunities, according to an annual report from a local business organization. Chris O'Brien in the San Jose Mercury -- 1/15/06

New bridge span -- will it be made in China? -- That single-tower stretch of the under-construction Bay Bridge eastern span could go the way of T-shirts and televisions -- as in, "made in China." Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 1/15/06

Finally, we learn why Chavez and his farm labor union faltered -- Cesar Chavez is a secular saint among Latinos and non-Latinos who sympathized with his years-long struggle on behalf of poorly paid field workers, but it's been evident for years that after finally winning political, organizational and contractual victories in the 1970s, his United Farmworkers Union began to falter. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 1/15/06

A dream interrupted -- Instead of new homes, buyers get a rude awakening when a local builder goes belly up. Barbara E. Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/15/06

Material Grievances -- As profits shrink and trends shift rapidly, L.A. textile and apparel firms are suing over what they say are knockoffs of their fabric designs. Evelyn Iritani in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/15/06

Maryland Puts a Premium on Employer-Paid Healthcare -- The Maryland legislation, which requires large employers to contribute to healthcare for their employees, apparently would affect only a single company: Wal-Mart. Ronald Brownstein in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/15/06

Angst over exit exams -- Elizabeth Padilla has lost count of how many times she's taken the high school exit exam, but she knows well the number of chances she has left to be able to graduate in June alongside her friends: One. Naush Boghossian in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 1/15/06

U.C. must bid to run Lawrence laboratory / No challengers to university have surfaced so far -- The exclusive contract the University of California has to operate the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is in jeopardy now that the federal government has opened the competition to manage the facility in eastern Alameda County. The University of California has run the 8,500-employee lab since it opened in 1952. Patrick Hoge in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 1/15/06

Kern parents back sex education -- Most in state want students savvy about disease, contraception. LISA SCHENCKER in the Bakersfield Californian -- 1/15/06

No firm course for class suit -- No agreement was reached Saturday in the fight between a local school district and a church-and-state separation group over a controversial philosophy class that discusses "intelligent design." SHELLIE BRANCO in the Bakersfield Californian -- 1/15/06

Two-thirds of the levee agencies that had problems in the New Year's deluge are fiscally strapped -- These findings are a reminder that budget problems on the front line of the Valley's flood defenses are not just an accountant's concern. That red ink also may bring a greater likelihood of catastrophic flooding in this, the region with the nation's greatest flood threat. Matt Weiser in the Sacramento Bee -- 1/15/06

Proposals aim to decide who is responsible if Delta levees fail -- Lost amid Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's massive plan to repair levees in the Delta and around the Central Valley is the question: Who is liable when those levees break? Water experts all agree that armoring the skein of earthen walls crisscrossing the region is only half the problem. Land-use decisions make up the rest. Hank Shaw in the Stockton Record -- 1/15/06

Traffic Relief May Be Brief on 405 -- Transportation experts say $570-million plan to complete carpool lanes will ease congestion only for a while, but also say it's still worth doing. Caitlin Liu in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/15/06

Effort to remove lead from Mexican treats / Candies, chiles, dried grasshoppers can poison children -- One way Mexicans living in California maintain their cultural roots is snacking on treats from home -- tamarind candies, lollipops dipped in chile powder and, among Oaxacans, dried grasshoppers tossed with lime, garlic, chiles and salt. Carolyn Jones in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 1/15/06

Allen is first of many sick, aged in line at Death Row -- Those on both sides of the debate over what should happen to Allen agree on one thing -- trundling a feeble old man from his sick bed to the death chamber is not how the system should work. But what is at this point a peculiar predicament could soon become standard procedure. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 1/15/06

Families are dealing with strong emotions -- The crimes and executions of Harris and Williams — and the weeks leading up to their deaths — changed forever their family members and the relatives of the people they killed. Now, those on both sides of Allen's case are preparing for his death. Tim Eberly in the Fresno Bee -- 1/15/06

Death penalty activists stymied -- Don't expect thousands of people to congregate outside San Quentin state prison's gates Monday night as convicted murderer Clarence Ray Allen prepares for his execution by lethal injection. Josh Richman in the Oakland Tribune -- 1/15/06

Ultimate justice delayed -- BEFORE YOU ASK, I'll answer your questions: Why not sentence convicted murderers to life without parole, so that they'll be locked up where they can't hurt anyone else? Debra J. Saunders in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 1/15/06

Prison budget shifts strategy -- Driven by a rising inmate population, prison spending in California is scheduled to exceed $8 billion this year. But the real intrigue in the state's 2006-07 corrections budget is in what it's proposing for the near-and long-term future. Andy Furillo in the Sacramento Bee -- 1/15/06

Port Panel Chief Has Plenty to Unload -- S. David Freeman, brash and innovative, wants to turn the facility into a clean-air showplace. Deborah Schoch in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/15/06

Doing the Hollywood Shuttle -- Celebrities and other clubgoers are coming back as the area is reborn. To handle the heavier traffic, Holly Trolleys are introduced. David Pierson in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/15/06

A Funeral Instead of a Wedding -- A guardsman is killed in Iraq shortly before what was to have been 'the happiest day' of his life. Michael Finnegan and Jean Merl in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/15/06

Problem of Homelessness in Los Angeles and Its Environs Draws Renewed Calls for Attention -- It was not the sort of Chamber of Commerce cheer expected from the chief executive of one the nation's sunniest and most tourist-conscious cities. RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD in the New York Times -- 1/15/06