Her mother shook. Her brother's eyes filled with tears. And at the front door loomed the shadows of an Army officer and chaplain. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

Nicole Hart, wife of Sgt. David J. Hart, serving a second tour in Iraq, stared in stoney disbelief.

"On behalf of the secretary of defense," the woman officer told her Jan. 8, the day of her husband's death, "we regret to inform you ..."

Hart's grief - and support from an online group of young military widows - is the subject of a documentary that will be screened Monday in Culver City.

Nearly 57,000 false burglar alarms went off last year in Los Angeles and generated $11.5 million in fines, but the LAPD collected just 60 percent of the money because its antiquated computer system can't track the location of the alarms. Jason Kandel in the Daily News.

Because of the 1990 s-era False Alarm System, the city lost $4.5 million last year, according to the Los Angeles Police Commission, the civilian board that oversees the department.

"It was never intended to be an accounting system," said Richard Tefank, the commission's executive director.

A federal judge has found that two law firms inflated their bills to the city by $900,000, renewing concerns that City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo has spent too much money and provided too little oversight on outside counsel. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

But Delgadillo's office defended the firms, saying his staff approved each bill before payment. They credited the lawyers' work with helping win a major lawsuit and save the city tens of millions of dollars.

The city is supposed to receive partial reimbursement for the bills from Kern County, which lost a lawsuit filed by L.A. over transportation of sludge.

It began with a simple mission:

"We have originated this award to encourage men to do the work for their community that would not otherwise be done," wrote Roy E. Marquardt in a letter, dated Aug. 28, 1959, announcing the first recipient of the Fernando Award.

"We want to make the presentation of the award fit the high value that should be placed on civic work." Brendan Lowrey in the Daily News.

As if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't have enough troubles with the state's $17.2 billion budget mess, now comes word that there may be a move afoot to recall him. Matier and Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Well-placed Sacramento sources tell us the state's politically powerful and well-financed prison guards union has lawyers drawing up language for a recall initiative.
Word is, the union will decide within the next couple of weeks whether to hit the streets with petitions.
Recalling Schwarzenegger - who himself rode into office with the 2003 recall of then-Gov. Gray Davis - is probably a long shot at best.
Still, Schwarzenegger has angered fellow Republicans with his call for a three-year, 1-cent sales-tax hike to help balance the 2008-09 budget, now more than two months overdue.
His popularity among voters overall is down in the 30 percent range - that's the neighborhood where President Bush's numbers are living among voters nationally - and it stands to drop even more the longer the budget mess drags on.
The guards union, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, has been battling the governor over the group's contract for years. It has more than enough money to finance a statewide petition drive if it wants to pull the trigger.
Asked about the recall rumor, union spokesman Lance Corcoran said, "I can't comment other than to say we are taking a very hard look at it."
Schwarzenegger's office was quick to respond, saying that although the guards are mad about not getting their raises, "the governor will not be intimidated by scare tactics and will always do what is best for Californians."

Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood inadvertently became the backdrop for Sen. John McCain last night in his acceptance speech for the GOP presidential nomination.
The background was supposed to be of the Walter Reed Medical Center.

Its students made modest gains in math and English this year, but the Los Angeles Unified School District still lags behind the state average and remains on a watch list for falling short of federal goals, according to state exam results released Thursday. George Sanchez in the Daily News.

LAUSD's score on the Academic Performance Index - the state's academic benchmark - rose by 21 points to 683 for the 2007-08 school year. The statewide average was 742, up from 728 in 2006-07.

"We did well," LAUSD Superintendent David L. Brewer III said at a news conference in Sun Valley. "We still have a long way to go."

The API scale ranges from 200 to 1,000, with a statewide target of 800. The score is one of several used to measure a district's progress toward federal targets spelled out in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

At a press conference Thursday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger continued to criticize lawmakers for the overdue budget. A reporter asked "what sacrifices is your office making financially?" Sacramento Bee.

Schwarzenegger: "Well, financially we have cut back. But I think that the most important thing is that we are staying in town. Our office stays in town, I am staying in town. I said I will not leave town and I will not leave this state until there is a budget. For instance, I did not go to the Republican Convention."

Did we mention he was in Burbank?

Don't tell Republican presidential nominee John McCain's faithful in the San Fernando Valley that this is a "blue state" and that their freshly-minted national ticket doesn't have a prayer of winning California.Tony Castro in the Daily News.

"We hope to win L.A. County, and if we can win L.A. County, there's a chance we can carry California," said Nancy Spero of Tarzana, co-chairwoman of the San Fernando Valley McCain campaign.

Spero is one of many of McCain's faithful backers who say his prospects have been brightened by the choice of running mate Sarah Palin.

Facing harsh criticism from city leaders over conflict of interest concerns in the awarding of multimillion dollar contracts, the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners will consider new ethics and disclosure procedures today.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

Last month, the City Council and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa blocked two power contracts worth $5 million until the DWP could adopt a new ethics policy to ensure there was no involvement or influence by the utility's No. 2 executive, Raman Raj, who was a consultant for the two firms.

While DWP General Manager H. David Nahai assured leaders that he had built an "ethical wall" around Raj during the awarding of the contracts, he agreed to revise the department's conflict of interest procedures.

With the cost to paint over graffiti expected to soar to $8 million this year for Los Angeles, a City Council member called Thursday for adoption of a county program that makes parents financially responsible for cleaning up their children's tagging.Daily News.

Councilman Bernard Parks said he will introduce a proposal today to find out how to implement the program started by county Supervisor Gloria Molina.

"What we want is parents to take ownership of their kids," Molina said at a City Hall press conference. "A lot of times, parents are not aware of what their children are doing, and we want to get them involved to stop the behavior.

One day after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger criticized legislators for contjning to draw their daily $170 per diem, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said that she will no longer accept the payments when the state is without a budget.
Her statement:
"If stopping per diem payments is what it takes to focus the Governor his attention on getting the votes for the budget, I'm happy to do it," said Bass. "The notion that Assembly Democrats aren't working overtime to get the budget passed is ludicrous. We've had budget votes, negotiated in good faith, and have a responsible, balanced solution that protects education and the safety net."
`"What the Governor needs to focus on is his ability to use his political muscle to get votes from his own party to pass a budget," said Bass. "Democrats have worked with him and have compromised as far as we can. It's time for him to stop the finger pointing at the Legislature and roll up his sleeves and show some leadership."

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Cal., offered a critical view of Palin's speech:

Last night, Sarah Palin proved that she can throw a punch--one packed with sarcasm to divert attention from her lack of experience.
Palin didn't even attempt to make the case to the American people that she is ready to be Vice President or President, should that become necessary. Sarah Palin is a great candidate for the far right, but after examining her slim record in office, I cannot imagine mainstream Americans would support a Vice Presidential nominee with such extreme views.
Palin would criminalize abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, and does not believe insurance companies should cover birth control.
Palin remains unconvinced that human activity is the cause of global warming, even though the world's leading scientists unequivocally agree that it is.
Palin has a one-dimensional answer to our energy crisis - the Exxon policy of giving more leases to Big Oil. She has no concern about our thriving coastal, tourism-based economy and no requirement that they drill in the
millions of acres where they already hold undeveloped leases. Sarah Palin is a candidate who is extreme, not mainstream.
In addition, Palin is under investigation by her state legislature for abusing her executive power and when she was mayor, she left the people of Wasilla in debt.
The choice of Sarah Palin by John McCain shows a real lack of judgment.

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As we continue to wait for a state budget, the Legislature is waiting, too. The Senate and Assembly are holding an estimated 850 bills at the Assembly and Senate desks, waiting to send them to Gov. Schwarzenegger. Capitol Weekly.
The governor has threatened to veto any bills that come to his desk until a budget is passed. But the clock is ticking. Any bill passed by the Legislature and sent to the governor must be acted on by Sept. 30 to take effect by January 2009. The governor has until November 15 to act on any bill containing an appropriation or with an urgency clause.
As the hands of time continue to turn, here's a look at some of the bills acted on in the final days of the Legislative session. We've focused much of this list on bills or subjects we've written about over the last legislative session, but feel free to email us and let us know which bills we've missed.

Delegate Joel Fox of Fox and Hounds Daily offered this review of Gov. Sarah Palin:
Vice-Presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska lit up the Republican National Convention last night and turned anxious delegates into wild cheerleaders. Many delegates admitted waiting with unease for what amounted to a coming out party for the little-known governor. If Palin didn't perform well, the delegates felt the campaign for President would never gain momentum.
But measuring the feelings of delegates who witnessed the speech in the Xcel Center, all concerns were put to rest. Former California Governor Pete Wilson said she was subject to "uncharitable speculation" before the speech that she would not do well. He said he was confident going into the speech that she would succeed. After he heard the speech, Wilson said, "My confidence was more than vindicated. She connected with the audience here in the hall and in the living rooms all over America."
Political strategist Jeff Randle said that Palin had no room for error after the pounding she had taken since John McCain's announcement that he had chosen her as a running mate. Randle said she made no error. Anaheim mayor Curt Pringle admitted to being anxious about her performance before the speech but concluded after the speech that it was "great and she over-performed."
Palin surprised many when she took to old fashion political hardball going after Democratic nominee Barack Obama. Speaking to Obama's theme of change Palin said, "In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change."