California

President Obama and his administration currently face two pollution problems — a physical one in the Gulf of Mexico, where oil continues to spew unchecked from a damaged well, and a political one involving immigration policy and originating in Arizona. In both instances an exaggerated deference to process bordering on passivity risks creating an impression that the White House is running behind critical domestic events and, worse, detached — even indifferent — to the human toll of inaction.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved another extension of unemployment benefits on Friday. But this widening of the safety net could be the last as lawmakers grow uneasy over the costs of what is looking to some like an unfunded welfare benefit. In a 215-204 vote, House members approved extending benefits through Nov. 30, which would help nearly 350,000 long-term unemployed people nationwide from falling off the unemployment rolls by next month. But the measure still must be approved by the Senate, which has already left for a weeklong Memorial Day break.

Despite a credit freeze that's stunting renewable-energy projects throughout the country, 2008 was a hot year for solar power in California. Encouraged by state rebates, Golden State residents and businesses last year installed a record 158 megawatts of photovoltaic panels on their rooftops to turn the sun's rays into electricity, the California Public Utilities Commission said Wednesday. That's more than double the 78 megawatts installed in 2007.

I'm back from an exhilarating week in Washington, D.C., still savoring the stories, the spirit, the shared conviviality of residents and visitors celebrating a milestone in our nation's history. But the most profound message I've brought home comes from the cabdrivers who ferried me through the city's clogged streets. Abass from Afghanistan. Mohammed from Israel. Kofi from Ghana. Abdel from Morocco.

The two major Republicans running for governor have been running away from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger even as they seek to succeed him, trying to differentiate themselves from California's highest-ranking — albeit unpopular — leader of their party. But a close look at their campaigns shows that, like children stepping out of a dominating parent's shadow, the candidates have been influenced by Schwarzenegger more than they admit. Though the governor's approval ratings have fallen sharply after several years of financial crisis, Meg Whitman and, to a lesser degree, Steve Poizner have adopted some of his closest advisors as their own. And many of their policy proposals emulate ideas that Schwarzenegger has already tried or achieved.

An initiative to legalize marijuana and allow it to be sold and taxed will appear on the November ballot, state election officials announced Wednesday, triggering what will probably be a much-watched campaign that once again puts California on the forefront of the nation's debate over whether to soften drug laws. The number of valid signatures reported by Los Angeles County, submitted minutes before Wednesday's 5 p.m. deadline, put the measure well beyond the 433,971 it needed to be certified.

Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that U2 singer Bono's back gave out last week. Just look at what's been riding on it since the band launched its 360° Tour last year. "There's no question it's monumental," Arthur Fogel, Live Nation's chief executive of global touring and producer of U2's tours since PopMart in 1997, said Tuesday shortly after the promoter announced the postponement of the 16 shows on the North American tour leg after Bono's back surgery last week in Germany. "It's a massive production."

Cashing in on an expected increase in summer air travel, the nation's largest airlines are charging passengers a "peak travel surcharge" of up to $30 per seat for flights most days this summer. The country's major airlines have imposed a "peak travel surcharge" on 74 of the 98 days from Memorial Day to Labor Day, according to an analysis by farecompare.com, a website that keeps track of fees and fares. The airlines have also added peak travel fees for flights on several days around the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's holidays.

The product: Dust, cigarette smoke, pollen and pet dander: With so many irritants floating around our homes and work places, clean air is a hot commodity. Americans spend hundreds of millions of dollars on furnace filters and air cleaners each year. Though some consumers are simply trying to bring a little extra freshness into their lives, many others hope that their investment will help relieve their asthma or allergies.

Disgraced cyclist Floyd Landis, who triggered an uproar last week by accusing Lance Armstrong and other top riders of being involved in doping for years, on Friday found himself without a racing team. Rahsaan Bahati, a 28-year-old cyclist from Compton and founder of the Bahati Foundation cycling team, said Friday that Landis and Dr. Brent Kay, a longtime sponsor of Landis, were no longer associated with the team. Bahati cited Landis' behavior for the split and said he was particularly disturbed by e-mails from Landis to Amgen Tour of California director Andrew Messick that suggested that Kay's Ouch Sports Medical Center should be refunded the $40,000 it spent for a sponsorship tent at last Saturday's time trial after the Bahati team was not invited into the race.

Dixon Gayer thought the politics of 1960s Orange County cried out for a voice of moderation. So he invented one. Gayer was an admittedly liberal columnist writing in conservative Orange County when the ultraconservative John Birch Society was a political force in the region. He created the Webster Quimmley Society, named for a fictitious hero whose motto was "Sanity and Freedom," which gained Gayer a measure of national attention for his satirical response to his political opponents.

California voters, by a modest margin, think they should be allowed to grow and consume marijuana, according to a new poll that also found more than 1 in 3 voters had tried pot and more than 1 in 10 had lit up in the past year. The Los Angeles Times/USC poll found that voters back the marijuana legalization measure on the November ballot, 49% to 41%, with 10% uncertain about it. But support for the initiative is unstable, with one-third of the supporters saying they favor it only "somewhat."

The buses full of Chinese tourists started moving through Southern California last weekend, heading to Disneyland and outlet malls in convoys of as many as 100 at a time. For the next month, they'll keep coming — carrying wave after wave of men and women with money to spend in a mass visit estimated to bring in $10 million for the local economy. Behind this economic boon is the direct-selling company Amway, which has a sales force of 3 million people in 80 countries and territories around the world.

Duke won its first NCAA men's lacrosse championship in dramatic fashion, defeating Notre Dame, 6-5, Monday on a goal by C.J. Costabile with five seconds gone in sudden-death overtime at Baltimore. Costabile won the faceoff from Trever Sipperly and sprinted downfield before beating standout goaltender Scott Rodgers with a shot from directly in front of the net. The Blue Devils immediately rushed onto the field and created a massive pile of players, sticks and helmets while celebrating the fastest goal to start an overtime in NCAA championship history.

Robert Linderman wants you to know he isn't a scammer. Oh sure, he may be general counsel for Freedom Debt Relief, California's largest debt-settlement company, and he may be vice president of the Assn. of Settlement Companies, an industry group. And he readily acknowledges that there are some bad apples in the debt-settlement business, taking people's money without doing much if anything to get them out of a financial hole. But Linderman says most debt-settlement companies are honorable enterprises that only want to help people return to fiscal health.

For years, officials at the Museum of Contemporary Art have fretted over attendance. Despite a program that's arguably the nation's best, attendance in 2008 stood at 213,549. L.A. County's population nears 10 million. The following year, after MOCA's fiscal mismanagement went public and the museum nearly collapsed, leading to reduced programs, visitor numbers dropped to 148,616. At MOCA's three venues, that's fewer than 600 people per day. When Jeffrey Deitch takes the helm Tuesday as MOCA's fourth director in 30 years, he'll face the problem.

Alone some 1,500 miles off the California coast in his 26-foot sailboat, Tom Kirschbaum logged about the enchantment of the open sea one day and the roller coaster swells and difficulty getting sleep another. Completing the elite Singlehanded Transpac Race from San Francisco to Hawaii, as he did over 19 days in 2008, was a major feat for the Los Angeles attorney. He'd spent decades dreaming about it; years preparing and running qualifying races in Northern California's rough and windy waters.

A cable television commercial for the Redondo Beach restaurant Eat at Joe's features high-definition video, a cast of 40 and a catchy jingle that will leave you humming. Particularly enthusiastic about the slick new ad was Alex Jordan, the restaurateur who decided to take the plunge into television advertising after meeting an Altadena couple who were starting their own ad agency. They wrote and produced the 30-second spot for $5,000, and they helped him broker a deal to deliver it to 300,000 homes for $1 every time it ran. In a still tough economy in Southern California, hard times in advertising and media have led to a surprising bonanza for small businesses seeking to market themselves.

State lawmakers moved Tuesday to vastly expand the powers of the Los Angeles city attorney by supporting a measure that would give him his own grand jury. City Atty. Carmen Trutanich asked that Los Angeles be the first California city given the power to empanel a grand jury for significant misdemeanor cases. Legislation approved by the state Senate on Tuesday would do so, providing the panel with authority to subpoena documents and compel testimony before criminal charges are filed.