Hillary Clinton puts the media in its place -- the men's room -- In an obvious bid for the Ron Paul media conspiracy vote, Sen. Hillary Clinton's Democratic presidential campaign dumped the traveling press corps exactly where many voters believe they belong today -- in the men's room of the Burger Activity Center. Andrew Malcolm LA Times Top of Ticket weblog -- 3/3/08

Environmental group opposes Klamath deal -- In a setback to a plan to end fighting over Klamath River water along the California-Oregon border, the Northcoast Environmental Center announced Monday that it cannot support the $1 billion deal because it doesn't provide enough help for salmon. David Whitney in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/3/08

Geography may decide Ohio Democratic winner -- Geography, a popular governor and big-city mayors hold the keys to winning the primary. Scott Martellein the Los Angeles Times -- 3/3/08

Gas prices at record highs; $4 a gallon ahead -- Gasoline prices set a record in Sacramento and several other California markets Monday, and consultants said motorists should prepare for $4 gas sometime this year. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/3/08

Travel by California officials would be disclosed under rule change -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger received nearly $14,000 in gifts last year, including wine, cigars, candy, T-shirts, a dog tethering kit and a $325 crystal eagle head from the president of France. Missing from the financial disclosure statement the governor released Monday were trips to Canada and Europe that were paid for by a nonprofit organization headed by two of California's most influential business leaders. STEVE LAWRENCE AP -- 3/3/08

Will Oller's Inland support stick by him? -- Inland senators who have endorsed former state lawmaker Rico Oller for the 4th Congressional District in Northern California soon could face a tough choice. Jim Miller Riverside Press Ballot Watch weblog -- 3/3/08

Sacramento to share in $9.2 million in gang prevention grants -- The governor also announce the award of $7.3 million in grants for job training and education for youth at risk of joining gangs or wanting to leave gang life. Bill Lindelof in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/3/08

Gavin disses Obama in TX -- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, stumping in Texas this weekend for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, took a slap at Sen. Barack Obama's stance on gay marriage. Zachary Coile Chronicle Politics Weblog -- 3/3/08

EPA unions accuse Bush appointees of abusing nature and trust -- Unionized EPA workers are withdrawing from a cooperation agreement with the political appointees who supervise them over controversies including the agency's refusal to let California regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. ERICA WERNER AP -- 3/3/08

Election monitors to Texas for primaries -- The Justice Department announced Monday it has sent federal observers to four Texas counties to ensure the voting rights of citizens participating in Tuesday's presidential primary, including Spanish-speaking voters. Terry Frieden CNN -- 3/3/08

Limbaugh urges listeners to vote for Clinton -- As Hillary Clinton battles to keep her presidential bid alive, she may be getting help from an unlikely source: conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. Alexander Mooney CNN -- 3/3/08

Clinton to press ahead after primaries -- Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested Monday she'll press on with the campaign after Tuesday's crucial primaries, arguing that momentum is on her side despite 11 straight losses to rival Sen. Barack Obama. MIKE GLOVER AP -- 3/3/08

Oil Prices Pass Record Set During ’80s Energy Crisis -- Setting an all-time record, oil prices rose to nearly $104 a barrel on Monday morning, exceeding their inflation-adjusted high reached in the early 1980s during the second oil shock. JAD MOUAWAD in the New York Times -- 3/3/08

UC to turn Capitol Park even greener on Tuesday -- Capitol Park is usually a pretty green place anyway, but the University of California will add to the "green" theme by showing off its sustainability innovations. Bill Lindelof in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/3/08

Obama NAFTA memo gives Clinton opening -- Canadians apparently were assured that Obama's tough stance on trade was "political posturing." Johanna Neuman and Louise Roug in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/3/08

Getting Ugly -- Whatever the outcome of Texas and Ohio voting tomorrow, there's enough dirt being thrown in the final throes of the Democratic campaign to arm Republican John McCain with an arsenal of attacks on Barack Obama. Carolyn Lochhead Chronicle Politics Weblog -- 3/3/08

San Joaquin Valley hopes clout brings bucks -- State Sen. Dave Cogdill maintains the San Joaquin Valley is often treated like a "red-headed stepchild" in the Legislature when it comes to getting its share of state money. Aurelio Rojas in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/3/08

New compacts clouding tribal payout picture -- Some powerful California Indian tribes dismissed it as what one leader referred to as a “blatant lie” – the warning that their new gambling agreements could jeopardize revenue-sharing payments to the state's poorest tribes. James P. Sweeney in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 3/3/08

Time's already running out for new Assembly speaker -- Among the jillion words written about Karen Bass' election as the next Assembly speaker, one quote is the most striking. It tells a lot about why the Legislature tends toward dysfunction. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/3/08

'Outsider' tag doesn't worry McClintock -- Southern California lawmaker Tom McClintock was enjoying his public courtship last week over running for Congress in Northern California. So he took no offense when asked whether he feared being called a political "carpetbagger." Peter Hecht in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/3/08

Political group takes aim at McNerney with ads -- A shadowy, Republican-connected political action group ran attack ads against Rep. Jerry McNerney all last week - ads that a watchdog group says are misleading. Hank Shaw in the Stockton Record -- 3/3/08

Medicare fraud -- After a series of surprise inspections in Los Angeles County, Medicare fraud investigators found persistent corruption among medical equipment suppliers who set up phony offices that billed the government $21 million over one year, prompting officials to call for stronger enforcement efforts, according a report to be released today. Molly Hennessy-Fiske in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/3/08

State Supreme Court takes up same-sex marriage -- As gay-rights groups call for marital equality and opponents warn of a public backlash, societal decay and religious conflict, the California Supreme Court is prepared for an epic three-hour hearing Tuesday on the constitutionality of the state law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle John Simerman in the Oakland Tribune -- 3/3/08

More local agencies caught in bond turmoil -- State and local governments are facing a sudden spike in borrowing costs in a little-known bond market, the latest fallout from the subprime mortgage meltdown. "It could disrupt local services," California Treasurer Bill Lockyer said of the auction-rate bond mess. "It could make government more expensive. That's a real thing to be concerned about."John Hill in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/3/08

MID, TID bruised by mortgage meltdown -- Two Stanislaus County irrigation districts are caught in the same national credit crisis that's driving up interest rates on Modesto bonds. ADAM ASHTON in the Modesto Bee -- 3/3/08

Walters: California's water war heating up -- It's been nearly three decades since California has experienced a full-scale battle in its perennial war over water, but another one may be brewing. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/3/08

Foundations' diversity at issue -- California's charitable foundations give hundreds of millions of dollars each year to non-profit groups, but the money rarely reaches organizations led by minorities, says a South Bay lawmaker seeking to regulate philanthropy as a way to boost funding for a more diverse group of recipients. Edwin Garcia in the San Jose Mercury -- 3/3/08

Bronze plaques may mark where homeless died -- Hollywood has its star Walk of Fame, but San Francisco could soon have a Walk of Shame - complete with human-shaped bronze sidewalk plaques marking where the city's homeless have died on the streets. Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/3/08

Vallejo budget crisis has residents worried -- As the Vallejo City Council prepares to vote tonight on a controversial labor agreement with the city's public safety unions, residents were wondering Sunday how the budget crisis will personally affect them. Andrea Wolf in the Contra Costa Times -- 3/3/08

States and Cities Start Rebelling on Bond Ratings -- Does Wall Street underrate Main Street? A growing number of states and cities say yes. If they are right, billions of taxpayers’ dollars — money that could be used to build schools, pave roads and repair bridges — are being siphoned off in the financial markets, where the recent tumult has driven up borrowing costs for many communities. JULIE CRESWELL and VIKAS BAJAJ in the New York Times -- 3/3/08

Lawmaker attacked over Gestapo remark -- Rep. Sam Farr was put on the defensive last week after conservative talk-show hosts and bloggers condemned a comparison the central coast lawmaker drew between U.S. immigration agents and Nazi Germany's secret police, the Gestapo. Kurtis Alexander in the San Jose Mercury -- 3/3/08

For 18 days, a break from war -- Benjamin Soto is trying to forget about Iraq. For 18 days. He's put down his M-4 assault rifle, shaken the desert sand from his body and is back at home in Granite Bay, sleeping in his childhood bed without the sounds of bombs and gunfire in the night. Cynthia Hubert in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/3/08

Villaraigosa is criticized as missing in action -- The Los Angeles mayor recently has spent a total of almost three weeks stumping for presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton. Duke Helfand in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/3/08

Obama to be in background of trial -- The candidate's aides say the corruption case of early donor Tony Rezko will be a distraction but won't harm the campaign. Dan Morain in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/3/08

How did the Clinton campaign get here? -- Just a few months ago, few imagined she'd be struggling to catch up to Obama. But her team has been riddled with feuding and second-guessing at the top. Peter Nicholas in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/3/08

For Clinton, they're crucial - Texan Latinos -- Just steps from a bridge that links the United States with its southern neighbor, 22-year-old Jorge Garcia is ready to tackle international trade: He's just arrived from Mexico in his truck with a load of shoes, T-shirts and other goods to deliver to merchants on the American side of the Rio Grande. Carla Marinucci in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/3/08

In Texas, Clinton’s Veterans Test Obama’s Rookies -- Just 32 miles from a place called Hope, this small working-class city at the Texas and Arkansas border is “Clinton country,” as people here frequently and firmly remind you. RANDY KENNEDY in the New York Times -- 3/3/08

Clinton Campaigns as if Momentum Is Hers -- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton does not look like a candidate who might drop out of the presidential race as early as Wednesday. PATRICK HEALY in the New York Times -- 3/3/08

For Black Superdelegates, Pressure to Back Obama -- Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones doesn't care to be lectured about her choice in the Democratic presidential race. Shailagh Murray in the New York Times -- 3/3/08

McCain campaign stumbles early -- The rollout of John McCain’s general election campaign in the weeks since he became the de facto Republican nominee has not exactly been a textbook exercise in positive messaging. Jonathan Martin Politico -- 3/3/08

NAFTA has had its trade-offs for the U.S. -- Consumers and global companies benefited, but critics see pitfalls. Marla Dickerson in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/3/08

Schools operate in crisis mode -- Districts across the state are laying off workers as they await $4.8-billion reduction proposed by governor. In Rialto, 305 staffers will be cut. Jason Song in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/3/08

Teacher who showed abortion film to 8th-graders quits -- The Milpitas science teacher who showed eighth-graders a graphic anti-abortion video remains on paid leave but has resigned from teaching at Russell Middle School effective June 30. Sharon Noguchi in the San Jose Mercury -- 3/3/08

Credit Crisis May Make College Loans More Costly -- Many college students across the nation will begin to see higher costs for loans this spring, while others will be turned away by banks altogether as the credit crisis roiling the U.S. economy spreads into yet another sector, student lenders and Wall Street firms say. David Cho and Maria Glod in the Washington Post -- 3/3/08

San Francisco braces for major health care cuts -- Maria Elena Hanley pulled her car up to the curb, put a stethoscope around her neck and walked down a brick staircase to a basement in-law apartment in San Francisco's Excelsior district. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/3/08

California's water fortune is told at Gin Flat -- Sierra Nevada outpost is where the convergence of snow, sun and temperature enables scientists to predict floods or drought. A lab at 7,000 feet measures the snowpack, a main source of state's supply. Deborah Schoch in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/3/08

Oakland kids see how port pollution hits home -- From his home, Antone Smith can see glimpses of the Port of Oakland. He sees the soot coating his windowsills, the trucks endlessly rumbling by his street. But not until recently did the sixth-grader pay much heed to the mighty but unhealthy colossus in his neighborhood. Elizabeth Fernandez in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/3/08

San Francisco to get $2 million toward cleanup cost -- An insurance agent for the owners of the container ship that crashed into the Bay Bridge last year and caused a 54,000-gallon oil spill will pay San Francisco $2 million for cleanup costs the city incurred in the wake of the disaster, city officials said Sunday. Cecilia M. Vega in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/3/08

Americans Start to Curb Their Thirst for Gasoline -- As crude-oil prices climb to historic highs, steep gasoline prices and the weak economy are beginning to curb Americans' gas-guzzling ways. ANA CAMPOY in the Wall Street Journal -- 3/3/08

Idyllic ranch, illicit past -- Rancho del Rio -- for sale at $22.5 million -- was a center for drug smuggling in the 1980s. The Girl Scouts then cleaned up the Orange County property's image. David Haldane in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/3/08

Disney is main backer of resort district group -- The company has given $2.1 million to Save Our Anaheim Resort District. The organization's officials say their goal happens to coincide with the amusement park's. Dave McKibben in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/3/08

Millions of miles, a hard landing -- Mohamed Fikry loved his frequent-flier status. But after he was yanked from a flight as a terror suspect, his loyalty to the airline was tested. Andrew Blankstein in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/3/08