MAYORAL TOUCH: Huntington Beach residents this week...

MAYORAL TOUCH: Huntington Beach residents this week got a friendly reminder--from their own mayor--that shopping at home could boost the city’s sales-tax income. The letter was financed primarily by city auto dealers, but the City Council and Mayor Jim Silva allowed it to go out under his name. . . . It’s a first for the city, which suffers from a tight budget. But says one staff member: “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”