Villaraigosa scraps search for fire chief -- Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa scrapped his search for a new fire chief Monday, hiring interim Fire Chief Douglas L. Barry to run a department buffeted by civil rights lawsuits and a budding federal employment discrimination investigation. David Zahniser and Robert J. Lopez in the Los Angeles Times -- 8/20/07

Congress warms to climate-change initiatives -- Reflecting a shift in priorities under the Democratic majority, Congress is moving to spend as much as $6.7 billion next fiscal year to combat global warming, an increase of nearly one-third from the current year. Richard Simon in the Los Angeles Times -- 8/20/07

Senate budget deal struck, Ackerman says — Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman said Monday that the Senate has reached a tentative deal to resolve the state's protracted budget fight. He cautioned, however, that the Assembly and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger still need to approve the agreement. "My crystal ball isn't quit working yet," Ackerman said. Judy Lin in the Sacramento Bee — 8/20/07

California lawmakers express optimism for ending budget stalemate -- Lawmakers returning from their summer recess Monday said they were optimistic about striking a deal to end a state budget stalemate that has cut off billions in funding for schools, clinics, nursing homes and other businesses for nearly eight weeks. AARON C. DAVIS AP -- 8/20/07

Congressman Charged for Assault At Dulles -- ABC 7/Newschannel 8 has learned the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority have charged Democratic Representative Robert Filner of California with assault and battery following an incident at Dulles International Airport Sunday night. WJLA.com -- 8/20/07

Morongo presidential debate -- The first ever presidential debate to be held on an Indian reservation is shaping up as something of a dud. John Marelius San Diego Union-Trib weblog -- 8/20/07

Late budget hits where it hurts — By the time a state budget is passed, Janet Rios will be at least $4,000 poorer. That's the 19% in interest Rios says she must pay on loans to keep her two nursing homes afloat until lawmakers can agree on a spending plan. Evan Halper in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Governor seeking local help in getting OK on budget — Maybe it's a case of state senators not taking his calls - or turning a deaf ear to his pleas - but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger turned to local officials last week in an effort to get a vote on the state budget. RICK ORLOV in the Los Angeles Daily News — 8/20/07

Tidying up of budget 'mess' is possible — A judge once called it a “despicable annual ritual.” Another routine legislative deadlock, now seven weeks old, is leaving the state without a budget and unable to pay nearly $3 billion in bills. At the Capitol, it's all part of the culture: Serious budget talks often begin after the new fiscal year starts, legislation and court decisions ease the impact of late budgets and summer vacation plans are flexible. Ed Mendel in the San Diego Union-Trib — 8/20/07

A simple-majority vote would end the madness on passing state budget — Frustrated by his fellow Republicans in the state Senate, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger finally is starting to come around — coming around to the recognition that California's daunting budget hurdle is destructive and dopey. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Budget stall focuses critics on San Joaquin senator — But now, Denham is termed out; his next goal is the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2010. And thus far, he has remained steadfastly opposed to the Assembly-passed budget that has yet to clear the state Senate. Hank Shaw in the Stockton Record — 8/20/07

Health care for uninsured Californians - don't write it off as dead — The conventional wisdom in the Capitol is that the nearly two-month state budget stalemate has killed any chance this year for legislation that would expand health insurance to 6.5 million Californians who lack coverage. But as the divide over the budget deepens between Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and GOP lawmakers, legislative sources say they think the governor may try to rescue his health care agenda by siding with Democrats. Tom Chorneau in the San Francisco Chronicle — 8/20/07

Health care for kids might pass — With no end in sight, California's budget impasse is threatening to derail Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top legislative priority — universal health care. But some health care advocates remain optimistic that the governor's proposal to expand health care for children — perhaps through opening more clinics in elementary schools — might have a chance. Aurelio Rojas in the Sacramento Bee — 8/20/07

Four weeks, a flood of bills — Verbal donnybrooks from California's budget impasse have set a tense stage for a four-week frenzy in which legislators will decide the fate of more than 800 bills on issues ranging from health care to low-flush toilets. As millions in state bills go unpaid and pressures mount for passage of a state spending plan, lawmakers returning to the Capitol today after weeks of summer recess face a mountain of other key issues as well. Jim Sanders in the Sacramento Bee — 8/20/07

37th District looks like a 1-woman race — Assemblywoman Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) is the overwhelming favorite to win Tuesday's special election in the 37th Congressional District, which encompasses Compton, Carson, much of Long Beach and parts of South Los Angeles. The seat was left vacant by the death of Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald last spring. John L. Mitchell in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Economic schemes never die — When John Garamendi segued from state insurance commissioner to lieutenant governor this year, he found himself in a duty-free zone. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee — 8/20/07

The Buzz: Post-partisan clouds have gray lining — It is remarkable how the feud has simmered between the popular "post-partisan" Governator and Reeps in the Senate. Increasingly, they seem to revile the ground he walks on — particularly if he's walking on it in their political districts. Peter Hecht in the Sacramento Bee — 8/20/07

Employers wary of new crackdown on illegal immigration — Henry Vega, a citrus and avocado grower, expresses the unease that many California employers and workers feel in light of the Bush administration's newly announced crackdown on illegal immigration. James Sterngold, Stacy Finz in the San Francisco Chronicle — 8/20/07

Immigration activist arrested — Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who became a symbol in the nation's immigration wars after she took sanctuary in a Chicago church last year, was arrested Sunday by federal immigration agents outside Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Los Angeles. Sonia Nazario and David Pierson in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Illicit labor crackdown seems false — A week after unveiling a major crackdown on businesses that hire illegal immigrants, the Bush administration is now conceding that its most heavily touted weapon in pursuing employers — an assault against Social Security fraud — will be nearly useless. That's because when the Social Security Administration warns employers about bogus identification numbers, it remains barred from also alerting the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that's supposed to hand out penalties. Javier Erik Olvera and Lisa Friedman in the Oakland Tribune — 8/20/07

Immigrant says his success not so unusual — Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa began his working life as an illegal immigrant picking melons and tending cotton in Mendota. Now, Dr. Quiñones performs brain surgery and teaches in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins University, one of the nation's most prestigious medical schools. Vanessa Colón in the Fresno Bee — 8/20/07

Legislators to consider legalizing the cultivation of hemp — State legislators are expected to consider a measure this week that would allow hemp to be grown in California, rekindling the debate over whether such a move would increase cultivation of illegal marijuana and conflict with federal laws regulating the drug. Haley Davies in the San Francisco Chronicle — 8/20/07

Are California counties putting voters first, or election vendors? — When Secretary of State Debra Bowen decertified touch-screen voting systems earlier this month, county election officials and voting machine manufacturers denounced the decision with such a singular voice that it alarmed some voter rights groups. Steven Harmon in the San Jose Mercury — 8/20/07

ACLU report says few cities have policies on video surveillance — Dozens of California cities have begun using video surveillance to fight crime, but few have enacted policies to regulate their cameras and none has comprehensively studied whether the cameras are effective, the American Civil Liberties Union says in a report being released today. Demian Bulwa in the San Francisco Chronicle Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Trib — 8/20/07

U.S. action on free trade is left hanging — Congress is finding ways to check globalization. But some experts say such protectionist measures are detrimental to U.S. workers. Peter G. Gosselin in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Drug sales, counterfeiting funding terrorism — Terrorists and terrorist sympathizers in Los Angeles and around the world are using proceeds from counterfeiting, drug trafficking and other crimes to fund global activities, authorities said Friday. TROY ANDERSON in the Los Angeles Daily News — 8/20/07

Monday Morning Quarterback — After last week’s flurry of action in California and Nevada, this week in presidential politics the action shifts mostly elsewhere. Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani showed sizeable California leads in the new Field Poll for their respective Democratic and Republican primaries, and second place Democrat Barack Obama began staffing up in the Golden State. Bill Bradley NWN weblog — 8/20/07

Golden parachutes galore for departing UC prez — One thing departing University of California President Robert Dynes won't have to worry about is money. It turns out that Dynes - who was nudged out as UC's top dog after a string of embarrassing stories about the university's liberal pay and perk packages for top managers - is in for a few goodbye goodies himself. Goodie No. 1: A year off with pay. Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle — 8/20/07

Foreign teachers fill a need at LAUSD — Four hours after arriving at her Los Angeles hotel from the Philippines, a jet-lagged Lolita Magno was thrown into a nonstop schedule of orientations, training sessions, paperwork and getting documents both for her new life in America and her new job teaching science at a Los Angeles Unified school. NAUSH BOGHOSSIAN in the Los Angeles Daily News — 8/20/07

Valley buckles up new buses — The decision about whether to accept a $1.9 million grant to buy 14 new school buses seemed like a no-brainer. For $30,000, Selma Unified School District trustees could replace 14 buses that were at least 30 years old with new vehicles that would not only be less polluting, but would have safety belts. Eddie Jimenez in the Fresno Bee — 8/20/07

Toy recalls prompt a sharp rise in tests of children for lead exposure — Worried parents have been rushing o pediatricians to have their children tested for lead exposure in the wake of back-to-back recalls of Chinese-made toys and now vinyl baby bibs that could contain the toxic metal. Mary Engel in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Trials, and a series of errors, in the brain lab — Gary Lynch's UC Irvine brain research lab struggles to map the elusive molecular underpinning of retention and recall. Terry McDermott in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Tribe fears for village site along proposed Orange County toll road — The sacred burial site, mentioned in mission logs from the 1770s, abuts the planned extension of the 241 toll road. David Reyes in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Metrolink to unveil sweeping safety enhancements — Two years after an SUV parked on train tracks near Glendale caused a commuter rail crash that killed 11 people, Metrolink officials today will unveil a sweeping effort to improve safety at dozens of rail crossings by creating barriers between trains and automobiles. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Old foes come to accord on Delta — Rising from the wreckage of California's water policy is an emerging consensus that calls on water officials to immediately try a novel way of moving water through the Delta while embarking on a new round of studies to evaluate the possibility of building a controversial aqueduct. Mike Taugher in the Contra Costa Times — 8/20/07

Endangered fish threaten water supply — A federal judge is scheduled to weigh arguments Tuesday in a case pitting an endangered fish against Southern California's main water supply, and the region may be lucky to lose only a third of its water. GIG CONAUGHTON in the North County Times — 8/20/07

Zaca fire burning way into state history — The blaze that began July 4 near Solvang and has now crept into Ventura County is California's third largest in modern times. And it isn't over yet. Marla Cone and Stuart Silverstein in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Senators seek answers on bridge safety — Is California doing a good job inspecting its bridges? Why are state officials so confident that bridges here are safe if nearly 3,000 are classified "structurally deficient?" If the state needs more money to bring aging bridges up to par, where should the money come from? Those are questions likely to be asked Tuesday when Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, and Senate Transportation Committee members convene a special hearing on the state of California's bridges. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee — 8/20/07

Alameda Point groundbreaking - big plans for old Naval Air Station — Like Cinderella before she met the fairy godmother, the tattered former naval air station in Alameda is still waiting for its transformation into an oasis of mixed-use development, wildlife preserve, sports complex and regional parkland. Charles Burress in the San Francisco Chronicle — 8/20/07

Firefighting plane back, but with restrictions — Under orders from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a repaired jumbo-jetliner turned "supertanker" that required extensive repairs after a near crash has returned to fighting fires. Steve Geissinger in the San Jose Mercury — 8/20/07

Mountain House community: From boom to bust on Bay Area's edge — At Mountain House, visionaries carefully planned streets, schools, sewers - everything needed to create a thriving community of 16,000 homes in the middle of San Joaquin County's farmland. Build it and they will come. And they did. Katherine Conrad in the San Jose Mercury — 8/20/07

Cleanup of toxins may cost Sunnyvale millions of dollars — Sunnyvale has endured a series of challenges since embarking years ago on an ambitious plan to refashion its woebegone town center mall into a traditional downtown: a revolving door of developers, missed deadlines and community outrage. Julie Patel in the San Jose Mercury — 8/20/07

High-quality office space surge hits Ontario, Rancho — The current office boom in Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga doesn't just mean we'll see a lot more suits in these cities in the near future. The explosion of Class A office space in the past few years is bringing more professional companies and higher-paying jobs to the area, ultimately shifting the demographics in these cities and paving the way for a more diverse, urban landscape. Andrea Bennett in the Inland Daily Bulletin — 8/20/07

EPA `kicking up dust' in Alviso to ensure asbestos risk is gone — Starting today, a half-dozen people wearing white moon suits and gas masks will roam the streets of Alviso all week on foot, and zoom around in all-terrain vehicles. No, Hollywood isn't filming a science-fiction movie. Nor is there a toxic chemical spill. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury — 8/20/07

Lots of ocean, but few game wardens — Staff shortages, idled boats hinder state's marine watch. Matt Weiser in the Sacramento Bee — 8/20/07

L.A. residents dabble in piracy — Melanie doesn't think of herself as a pirate. The 28-year-old South Bay homemaker said she just wanted to listen to a song by country singer Brad Paisley. But instead of buying the album, she downloaded a bootleg copy from the Internet. A few weeks earlier, she and her husband did the same thing to hear the Boston Pops play a rousing rendition of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture." Richard Verrier in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Taxpayers get the bill for elected officials' free ride — One of the great perks of being an elected official in the city of Los Angeles is the free use of a car. The cars are treated as a taxable benefit. The electeds get free gas, free maintenance and free carwashes, and they can use the car for personal business, as long as they drive it themselve s and stay in the Los Angeles metro area. Most of the cars are recent models that sell for about $25,000 to $35,0000. Steve Hymon in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Twice chastised, he gets a new job — The adult son of a top-ranking Los Angeles County executive was twice disciplined for associating with suspected criminals while employed by the Sheriff's Department but was given a new county job instead of being fired, according to interviews and sheriff's records. Stuart Pfeifer in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Skybus: not a frill ride — A reporter snags a $10 seat on the a la carte carrier, which may take airlines in a whole new direction. A pillow and a soda? That'll be $17. Peter Pae in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

Speculators not betting on Tribune buyout — As Tribune Co. shareholders prepare to convene in Chicago on Tuesday to vote on an $8.4-billion buyout led by investor Sam Zell, the noise in the background is Wall Street traders chirping that the deal might never get done — at least as proposed. Thomas S. Mulligan and Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times — 8/20/07

San Francisco doctor doing his part to help heal Afghanistan — During his last week of volunteering at a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, two of the youngest patients under Dr. Albert Chan's care were newborn infants. They had similar rashes, but the first boy's ailment was milder than that of the second, a 5-day-old with a slowing heartbeat and shallow breathing who was near death and put on respiratory support. Kantele Franko in the San Francisco Chronicle — 8/20/07