Woman Says She Had Sex With Sen. Vitter -- A former New Orleans prostitute who will be featured in Larry Flynt's Hustler magazine appeared at his office Tuesday to accuse Sen. David Vitter of having a sexual relationship with her in 1999. Wendy Ellis told reporters that Vitter visited her two to three times a week for sexual relations between July and November 1999. AP -- 9/11/07

Doolittle aides represented by House attorneys before grand jury -- Two aides to GOP Rep. John Doolittle who appeared before a federal grand jury last week were accompanied by House attorneys rather than private lawyers, The Associated Press has learned. ERICA WERNER AP -- 9/11/07

Greenhouse gas deal reached -- Attorney General Jerry Brown and ConocoPhillips representatives announced today they had agreed to a global warming reduction plan that would off-set greenhouse gases from expansion of an East Bay oil refinery. Steve Geissinger in the San Jose Mercury -- 9/11/07

Attorney: Government sought to rob activist of free speech -- A radical environmentalist was charged with violating a law adopted after the Oklahoma City bombing because the government wanted to silence him, depriving him of free speech, his defense attorney told a federal jury Tuesday. ALLISON HOFFMAN AP -- 9/11/07

Assembly Speaker's claim: health reform in 20 minutes -- Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, said in a news conference on Tuesday afternoon that he and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could reach a deal on comprehensive health care reform in 20 minutes. But unfortunately, he said, lots of other people are involved. Bill Ainsworth San Diego Union-Trib weblog -- 9/11/07

Giuliani support is soft in key battlegrounds, poll finds -- Although former N.Y. mayor is GOP leader, a new Times/Bloomberg survey shows him trailing in three early states. Clinton maintains solid lead among Democrats. Janet Hook and Peter Wallsten in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Officials: Bush to Announce Troop Cut -- President Bush will tell the nation this week he plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by about 30,000 by next summer, but will condition those and further cuts on continued progress, The Associated Press has learned. MATTHEW LEE AP -- 9/11/07

Boy Thrust Into Immigration Spotlight -- An 8-year-old boy has become a star attraction at pro-immigration events since his mother took refuge in a Chicago church before she was deported to Mexico. Now, even some inside the immigration movement are questioning whether Saul Arellano is being exploited. PETER PRENGAMAN AP -- 9/11/07

Spillane: Lawsuit on term limits unlikely -- GOP strategist Kevin Spillane, who has been leading the charge against a legislator-backed imitative to change term limits, says he's "leaning against" a lawsuit challenging the way the initiative qualified for the February primary. Judy Lin SacBee Capitol Alert -- 9/11/07

Grocers join sales-tax-for-health coalition -- The California Independent Grocers Association announced on Tuesday that the organization will join the restaurant and retailers associations in backing a 1-cent sales tax hike to fund a health care overhaul. Shane Goldmacher SacBee Capitol Alert -- 9/11/07

Health care bill passes Legislature, but governor says he'll veto it -- The state Legislature approved an overhaul of California's health care system Monday, but even before the votes were tallied Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to veto the bill and call lawmakers into a special session after the current session ends this week. Tom Chorneau in the San Francisco Chronicle Aurelio Rojas in the Sacramento Bee MIKE ZAPLER in the Los Angeles Daily News Laura Kurtzman AP Timm Herdt in the Ventura Star -- 9/11/07

Slew of bills face deadline -- Facing hundreds of bills in the waning days of this year's legislative session, lawmakers sent to the governor Monday measures targeting issues from firearm microstamping to child booster seats. Jim Sanders in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/11/07

Handgun stamping bill sent to governor -- The Assembly sent the governor a bill yesterday requiring that the next generation of semiautomatic handguns stamp identifying serial numbers on spent shell casings. James P. Sweeney in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 9/11/07

A session with many loose ends -- A third-floor corridor in the state Capitol that runs behind the two legislative chambers takes on the ambience of a small village during the last few days of a legislative session. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/11/07

Governor, activists debate who is the real thing -- For nearly two years, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been turning the other cheek at attacks from conservative Republican legislators and activists who claimed he was not really one of them, that he was a Republican in name only. Daniel Weintraub in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/11/07

Newsom calls for resignations - says he wants fresh start next term -- aying he wants to start his second term with a clean slate, Mayor Gavin Newsom today asked all city department heads and anybody he has appointed to serve on a city commission or board to hand in their letters of resignation. Cecilia M. Vega, Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/11/07

Ed Jew's lawyer discusses plea agreement with prosecutors -- A lawyer for San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew met behind closed doors with prosecutors Monday to discuss a possible plea agreement to end the criminal case that now threatens to force the lawmaker from office and potentially send him to prison. Wyatt Buchanan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/11/07

A Tale Of Two Governors -- California’s two governors, past and present, both gave key speeches at the end of last week. Arnold Schwarzenegger told the far right-leaning state Republican Party it’s past time to start appealing to the middle again. Jerry Brown told the state’s League of Cities it’s time to take up the climate change cause. Bill Bradley NWN weblog -- 9/11/07

Mexican trucking firm 'ready to go to work' -- While trucking groups in the United States and Mexico decry a pilot program opening the border to long-haul operators, Rafael Godínez Sandoval is getting ready to roll. Sandra Dibble in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 9/11/07

State yields; teacher fund gets millions -- A four-year skirmish over a skipped payment to a special teachers retirement fund ended Monday with a $500 million check from the state. Gilbert Chan in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/11/07

Infrastructure gets big boost -- California's deep-pocket public pension fund is poised to invest up to $1.5 billion over the next year in building bridges, power generating plants and other government rebuilding projects. Gilbert Chan in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/11/07

Is the Republican Party courting political disaster? -- Just check out the events of the past week or so. Sherry Bebitch Jeffe Political Perspectives -- 9/11/07

Bush policy to bequeath Iraq to successor -- The president plans to end his term with a strong U.S. military in the country and leave the issue of exiting to his successor. Paul Richter in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Petraeus' report is a potential minefield for both parties -- Democrats may lose momentum in their push for a big pullout; the GOP could face public anger over the troops that stayed. Noam N. Levey and Richard Simon in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Parents honor daughter lost in 9/11 -- Lisa Frost, 22, was on Flight 175, which crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, as she was heading home from Boston before starting a job in San Francisco. She was one of 2,982 who died during that day's terrorist attacks. ALEJANDRA MOLINA in the Orange County Register -- 9/11/07

Clinton to cut ties with fundraiser -- Confronted with the possibility that disgraced fundraiser Norman Hsu might be running an illicit investment scheme, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign announced late Monday that it was returning $850,000 from 260 donors associated with Hsu. Robin Fields, Chuck Neubauer and Dan Morain in the Los Angeles Times John Wildermuth, John Coté in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/11/07

Thompson adjusts his Bin Laden comments again -- He had said that the Al Qaeda leader should be captured and killed, but now the GOP presidential candidate favors 'due process.' Michael Finnegan in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Immigrant groups launch Western Union boycott -- Now, 158 immigrant advocacy groups from around the country are accusing Western Union, the largest U.S. money-transfer company, of charging exorbitant fees while failing to adequately reinvest in immigrant communities. Andrea Chang in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Unionized nurses flex their muscle -- Nurses aren't just taking orders anymore. From intensive care wards to the halls of Congress, they're exerting growing influence over hospital practices and patient treatment. With the clout they've gained through unionization, they've raised their incomes and their profession's profile. Lisa Girion in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Sleeping on the job? Security at work-applicant sites faulted -- Experts say safeguards could have prevented the massive data breach at Monster.com. Joseph Menn in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

More flights getting delayed in region and nation -- Nearly 1 in 3 flights arriving at San Francisco International Airport in July was late, part of a nationwide trend of deteriorating on-time performance for airlines, according to a new federal report. Jonathan Curiel in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/11/07

Oakland schools in governor's hands -- An Assembly bill that could speed the return of governing authority to the state-run Oakland Unified School District met strong opposition Monday from Republicans in the state Assembly, but it passed with a 45-28 vote. Katy Murphy and Steve Geissinger in the Oakland Tribune -- 9/11/07

Cal gets biggest gift in its history to help keep professors -- he William and Flora Hewlett Foundation announced today that it is giving UC Berkeley a $113 million endowment - the largest private gift in the university's history - to help keep professors from bolting for higher-paying jobs at private universities. Marisa Lagos in the San Francisco Chronicle Matt Krupnick in the San Jose Mercury -- 9/11/07

UC to seek court order to remove tree sitters -- UC Berkeley will ask a judge Tuesday for a court-order to remove about a half-dozen tree-sitting protesters from Memorial Stadium's oak grove, an attorney for the tree-sitters said Monday. The item is in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/11/07

Age of discovery -- 90-year-old student at CSUS has lived much of the history she studies. Cynthia Hubert in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/11/07

Printer technology in skin patch may let tiny needles deliver drugs -- The same technology that Hewlett-Packard printers use to squirt ink soon could be administering drugs to patients through thousands of tiny needles embedded in a skin patch. Victoria Colliver in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/11/07

Broad donation aids stem cell work -- The latest influx of cash came Monday as billionaire philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad donated $20 million to the stem-cell research center at UCLA. The donation came just a year after they gave the University of Southern California $25 million for stem-cell research. SUSAN ABRAM and HARRISON SHEPPARD in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 9/11/07

Passage of Valley air board bill thrills environmentalists -- In a victory for environmentalists, the state Assembly on Monday narrowly passed a bill to expand the board that sets air pollution rules in the Valley. E.J. Schultz in the Fresno Bee -- 9/11/07

It's time to help yank the gunk out of bay waterways -- That gum wrapper that recently slipped out of your fingers will more than likely end up swirling around in the creeks, sloughs and rivers that flow into San Francisco Bay. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/11/07

Gas prices rise in California, U.S. -- In California, a gallon of self-serve regular climbs 4.8 cents. The Midwest is the most expensive U.S. region for a fill-up. Ronald D. White in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Options can help firms reduce carbon footprint, summit speakers say -- California's fight against global warming need not destroy local businesses, speakers told the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce's annual CitySummit Monday. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/11/07

Aerial spraying raises ire of Monterey residents -- It started with a retired entomology professor checking the bug trap in his backyard. Now airplanes are swooping over the Monterey Peninsula for three nights, spraying 60 square miles of neighborhoods and farms with a substance that triggers gender confusion in a destructive species of moth. Steve Chawkins in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Gray whale recovery called incorrect -- The success story of the Pacific gray whales' full recovery from near-extinction is wrong, according to a new genetic analysis that pegs the current population at only one-third to one-fifth of historical levels. Kenneth R. Weiss and Karen Kaplan in the Los Angeles Times Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury -- 9/11/07

Study suggests fewer gray whales means ocean itself is failing -- Gray whales, the massive mammals that migrate each year offshore along the California coast, once flourished in the tens of thousands before commercial whaling drove them nearly to extinction. David Perlman in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/11/07

DWP is on the hot seat over outages -- Four L.A. City Council members demand to know why the utility couldn't cope with the recent intense heat wave. Steve Hymon in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

El Toro Base Is Private Property -- The closed El Toro Marine base officially became private property Tuesday as Lennar Corp., which won the 3,700-acre former military airfield in an auction in February, closed escrow with the Navy. Daniel Yi in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Infrastructure Costs for Old Orange County Base Estimated to Be $40 Million Higher -- Irvine officials now estimate that the city will need an additional $40 million to build roads and utility lines for their planned Great Park because of delays in the sale of the land, site of the former El Toro Marine base. Daniel Yi in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

With El Toro Sold, What's Next? -- Having won possession of the 3,718-acre base and facing the task of redeveloping it, home builder Lennar Corp. took at least one small step Thursday. It reached an agreement with a cemetery developer to build a 74-acre resting place off Irvine Boulevard, as requested by Irvine officials. Jean Pasco in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Humans start round two against Lake Davis pike -- Armed with poison and technology, humans launched their last-ditch battle Monday against the stubborn, voracious predator of Lake Davis: the northern pike. The aim is to kill the invasive fish -- and, collaterally, all other fish in the lake -- and then restock the reservoir with native trout. Dorothy Korber in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/11/07

Rising seas called Delta risk -- Children born today could live in a different kind of Central Valley in their retirement years, one with a great inland sea lapping at the edges of major cities. Matt Weiser in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/11/07

San Jose condo complex for cars -- Signaling that the Silicon Valley economy is revving up, three car connoisseurs are building condominiums exclusively for cars. Yes, for cars - not people. Katherine Conrad in the San Jose Mercury -- 9/11/07

Judge sides with tenants on subsidized apartments -- Poor renters getting federal help are protected by L.A.'s rent-control laws, the federal ruling says. Both sides expect an appeal. Jessica Garrison in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Death of man subdued by Taser -- The Orange County district attorney's office said Monday it was investigating the case of a 25-year-old man who died Sunday night after Anaheim police subdued him with a stun gun. Garrett Therolf in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Copper theft booming despite efforts to stop it -- Thieves will make off with $1 million worth of PG&E's copper wire in California this year if thefts continue at their current rate, according to the utility company. Leslie Griffy in the San Jose Mercury -- 9/11/07

Audit uncovers problems at nonprofit agency -- An audit report released Monday cited serious financial and operational problems involving a nonprofit organization's handling of federal grant money flowing through its social service centers in Inglewood and Long Beach. Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Skid row baby died as social worker delayed -- The investigation into the death of a baby at a skid row shelter last month is focusing on a social worker who was ordered by a supervisor to take baby Jasmine from her mother to see a doctor but instead went home because she had worked a long shift without a break. The social worker arrived early the next morning to find the 7-week-old child dead. Jack Leonard and Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/11/07

Parolees given 45 days to move -- Charles Butler thought he'd be OK, thought he'd be living legally as a paroled sex offender when he got out of Mule Creek State Prison in December and moved into Pete's Place in Sacramento. Andy Furillo in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/11/07