State Aid

A state panel considering criminal justice reform urged the Legislature on Tuesday to immediately find the money to hire lab technicians to reduce a huge backlog of DNA samples that could hold the key to both catching criminals and exonerating the innocent.

After an intense day of lobbying in the state capital Tuesday, Los Angeles' top leaders appeared to be winning their fight to secure $730 million in bond money to widen one of the nation's most congested freeways, with one powerful legislator threatening to hold up funds for transportation projects statewide if the city and other congested areas don't get what they need.

For once, state and local officials hope there \o7will\f7 be traffic clogs this morning at the junction of the 10 and 605 freeways. They will be meeting there in Baldwin Park, on the Athol Street bridge overlooking the often-congested interchange, to show state transportation officials the need to fund improvements from $2.8 billion in bond money that will be divided next week. "I live in West Covina and travel that freeway all the time, and it is a mess," Assemblyman Edward P.

On the eve of their vote today to allocate $4.5 billion in statewide transportation funds, members of the California Transportation Commission were the guests at a cocktail reception in Irvine on Tuesday night paid for by road designers and engineering firms. More than 100 people representing county transportation agencies across the state also attended the reception at the Atrium Hotel.

After three years of record sales, the California Lottery has hit a slump, triggering introspection about how the 22-year-old agency does business. Lottery officials blame a lack of big jackpots in its Mega Millions and SuperLotto Plus games for forcing them to lower their projected revenues this year from $3.6 billion to $3.2 billion. By law, just over a third of lottery income goes to education. Last year, the lottery gave $1.29 billion to schools.

State officials Wednesday approved the largest infusion of state money for road improvements in decades, but for many commuters across California, the promised traffic relief might not arrive for years. The $4.5 billion in assistance approved by the California Transportation Commission eventually will ease the plight of motorists on the Southland's most congested roads, including the San Diego Freeway, Interstate 5, and the notorious Riverside Freeway.

With state funds now in hand, transportation officials are dusting off plans to widen the San Diego Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass, a $950-million project that could level homes and businesses in some of the region's most affluent neighborhoods. The most controversial option among the proposals would have the California Department of Transportation tearing down dozens of houses and a Lutheran church in Brentwood.

Santee High in South Los Angeles ranks at the very bottom of high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, but it won't get a penny of the most substantial infusion of new state funding in years for low-achieving schools. Nearby Belmont High, another struggling school to be sure, almost certainly will get these funds -- some $1,000 per student for seven years. So it goes with the big-stakes, lottery-like Quality Education Investment Act, the result of a $2.

The Los Angeles Board of Education approved a priority list Thursday for funding its struggling middle schools and most of its lowest-achieving high schools under a new state program that will reduce class size, add counselors and increase teacher training. Some campuses will receive as much as $1,000 per student in additional state funding.

Borrowers, don't hold your breath for a bailout. As mortgage delinquencies soar, many consumer advocates and political leaders are calling on government to help what may ultimately be millions of homeowners facing foreclosure. But the modest federal and state aid proposals advanced so far suggest that most people struggling with onerous loan payments are unlikely to get government assistance.