Elections 2008

Los Angeles Councilman Bernard C. Parks, locked in a race for Los Angeles County supervisor, canceled his campaign schedule Monday upon the death of his father, Earl Winfred Parks, whose public-service career spanned half a century. Earl Parks, 87, died in a local hospital Monday morning after years of declining health, Bernard Parks said.

Irvine is perhaps best known for its master-planned villages, business prowess and designation as the nation's safest city of its size, four years running. In other words, the type of community where you'd expect to find everything running smoothly. But that prosperous tranquillity does not extend to City Hall, which has a reputation for bitter and divisive politics.

If Long Beach voters reject a $571-million bond measure devoted to infrastructure projects, Mayor Bob Foster warns, the state's fifth-largest city could face some serious long-term consequences. "The streets are still going to be in bad shape," Foster told 17 members of the El Dorado Park West Neighborhood Assn. this month at Keller Elementary School. "The water quality will still be in bad shape. Our fire stations won't be fully functional."

Two years ago, South Dakota voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed ban on abortions that proponents had hoped would set up a Supreme Court showdown over Roe vs. Wade. Next month, the state ballot will include another abortion ban with similar goals -- but observers say this one is far more likely to pass. The new ballot measure would allow for abortions in the case of rape and incest, exceptions that were not in the 2006 version.

It would place California on the cutting edge of transportation in America. It would be a job creator. Environmentally clean. And fun. But can we afford it? The state is essentially broke and running on red ink. School and health programs already have been cut, and more slashing seems inevitable. The economy is sputtering, and tax revenues are tanking. Capitol politicians are gridlocked -- have been for years -- on how to honestly balance the state's books.

The case for $7-billion Measure Q, the largest local school bond in state history, goes something like this: Now that the school district has built dozens of new campuses, it needs and deserves more dollars to fix up the old ones. Exhibit A for this argument is brand-new Helen Bernstein High in Hollywood, with a pool, dance studio, energy-efficient windows, the latest in computers, ceiling-mounted projectors, up-to-date science labs and a sprinkler-cooled artificial turf playing field.

Three years ago, campaign finance experts watched with alarm as one-fifth of the money raised on behalf of Los Angeles mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa came from "independent expenditures," special interests with no limits on how much they could collect and spend. The numbers were even more jaw-dropping for Villaraigosa's opponent, then-Mayor James K. Hahn. Although he lost his bid for a second term, Hahn saw one-third of his financial backing, or $2 million, come from such groups.

In Encinitas, residents are being asked to supply sand for the beach. In Oakland, they are being urged to boost teachers' salaries -- over the teachers' objections. In San Francisco, voters might legalize prostitution. In San Diego, they may approve construction of a huge concrete deck for a football stadium or a convention center -- or something -- four stories above a busy shipping terminal.

With the Nov. 4 election fast approaching, rabbis, priests and ministers across California are ratcheting up their public appeals over Proposition 8 -- using their religious platforms to alternately highlight the perils of passing or rejecting the same-sex marriage amendment. More than a dozen Lutheran ministers are to appear after services today at St.

Apple Inc. said Friday that it was donating $100,000 to fight the proposed ban on same-sex marriages in California, taking a rare political stand that may win over some customers and irk others. The computer and gadget maker joined such companies as Google Inc., Qualcomm Inc. and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in declaring opposition to Proposition 8, which would define marriage as only between a man and woman.