TUESDAY BRIEFING

It’s history on the march

Some streets were eerily bare. Others were barely navigable. But as history echoed across downtown landmarks, in some places it was business as usual.

Monday’s immigration marches drew hundreds of thousands to L.A. City Hall and MacArthur Park. As normally bustling job sites like the American Apparel garment factory stood silent, activists downtown spoke loudly -- by voices and footsteps -- for their brand of immigration reform.

Not everyone affected by the issue joined in. Maria Ortonez, a recent Honduran immigrant working as a nanny, also spent part of her day on the move, but her path didn’t take her into the protest epicenters, and she was pushing an 18-month-old in a stroller.

“I don’t have anyone else to help me out,” she says. With the cost of rent, clothes and food, “I just don’t have the luxury of staying at home.”

Other nannies and gardeners also say they couldn’t afford to take the day off. And some mention a feeling of obligation to employers who depend on them for their services. Page A9

Putting gas prices

on the scales

California gas prices bounded like a jumping frog last week, but the cost elsewhere wriggled like a tadpole.

The statewide average price of self-serve regular leaped 13.4 cents, the Energy Department said, although the U.S. average -- dampened by declines in Chicago, Miami and other cities -- rose just half a cent. Page C1

Meanwhile, state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer is planning to join a lawsuit against the Bush administration, alleging that new federal fuel economy standards for light trucks and sport utility vehicles fail to address the effect on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. Page B3

Biden’s plan

for calming Iraq

It’s an idea strongly resisted by the Bush administration, but Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) is suggesting that autonomous regions be created for Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds in Iraq.

Three years after President Bush went onto an aircraft carrier to declare that major combat had ended in Iraq, Biden proposed giving the major ethnic and religious groups in that country broad authority to run local affairs. The plan draws on ideas used to ease the violence among Muslims, Serbs and Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s.

The White House quickly rejected Biden’s idea, and Bush said Iraq had reached “a turning point” with a new full-term government. Page A20

OK, who wants

an endorsement?

In case you still place any value in political endorsements, know this: Organizations are handing them out like candy.

Once they were weighty things, signifying the support of important bodies trusted by voters. No longer.

For example, the Sierra Club, the state’s largest environmental group, has endorsed both Phil Angelides and Steve Westly in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. Experts say the point of endorsements has changed. “It really is about not wanting to annoy someone who might win,” says one expert. Page B1

Anna Nicole

and the Supremes

The Supreme Court handed Anna Nicole Smith a legal victory Monday -- but stayed silent on whether to give her any of the nearly $500 million she’s seeking from her late husband’s estate.

The case now goes back to a federal appeals court, which must choose between competing rulings on the Smith case from lower courts. Ultimately, it might come down to which lower court made its ruling first. Page A4

Huntington gets

a gift of classics

In the budding rivalry between New England and the San Gabriel Valley, score one for the locals.

The Burndy Library, a 67,000-volume collection tracing the history of science and technology, is being donated to the Huntington Library in San Marino, officials say. That means the Burndy will be leaving its current home at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- the school that’s been playing tug-of-abacus with Pasadena’s Caltech recently over a historic cannon.

When the Burndy settles in at the Huntington this fall, local scholars will be able to thumb through items such as a 1544 edition of Archimedes’ “Philosophi ac Geometrae.” Just think -- no more waiting for the paperback version to come out. Page B1

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Helping handful?

“Sludge” isn’t a happy sound, whether you’re saying it or hearing it being heaved into your backyard. L.A. says it dumps its waste in rural Kern County to fertilize the fields, while residents say it’s disrespect. In June, they will vote whether to ban sewage sludge. L.A. officials cry foul, contending that the initiative reeks of politics. Page B1

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PATRICK GOLDSTEIN: ‘Most summer movies are made for teenagers, not armchair adult prognosticators.... I recently convened the sixth annual Summer Movie Posse, where a group of 10 high school kids dissected 13 trailers from the summer’s youth-oriented films.’ Calendar, Page E1

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CALENDAR

At the 37th New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Bruce Springsteen’s performance of 19th and 20th century folk and gospel songs from his new album represented a transformation, critic Randy Lewis writes. Surrounded by banjo, accordion, fiddles, steel guitar and horns, Springsteen was no longer the Boss, but a newly minted Troubadour Evangelist. The post-Katrina situation in New Orleans provided context for Springsteen’s songs too: Rather than succumbing to despair, the music he chose almost invariably sought -- and found -- redemption through faith and the resilience of the human spirit. Page E1

Art of the deal

Good art transports you to higher ground, and for people who plan the itinerary, the trip is first class when the plane is full.

The Arts Marketing Project Conference, which wraps up today in downtown Los Angeles, offers seminars for 500 participants -- administrators and marketing specialists for museums, theater and dance companies, music groups and foundations -- to juice corporate sponsorship and exploit new technologies. It’s an effort, during times of flagging public support, to keep culture class fully booked. Page E2

Getting her kicks

The Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival is known for independent, not terribly commercial acts.

So what was the Material Girl doing there Sunday night, karate-kicking her way through a six-song set?

Easily the most commercial artist in the festival’s seven years, Madonna’s inclusion in the lineup had stirred some controversy. But she was booked as a “dance act,” and dance she did, to the audience’s acclaim.

The outfit that highlighted her well-muscled physique probably didn’t hurt. Page E1

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BUSINESS

Pay day

When it comes to paying the big boss, there are bonuses, performance incentives, perks. Countrywide Financial Corp. has caught the eye of compensation watchdogs after its CEO, Angelo Mozilo, took home $160 million last year, equal to 6% of Countrywide’s net income for 2005. His pay dwarfed that of some executives at much larger financial firms, including Citigroup Inc. Countrywide defends Mozilo’s value, noting the company earned a record $2.5 billion last year.

But just as Countrywide discontinued its pension for rank-and-file workers, Mozilo’s retirement plan was enhanced; when he stops working, he’ll receive $3 million a year. Page C1

BlackBerry blues

Two months after settling a patent infringement lawsuit with NTP Inc. that threatened its U.S. service, the makers of the BlackBerry mobile e-mail device are sued on the same grounds by Visto Inc. The communications software company seeks a court order that, again, effectively would halt BlackBerry service. Ironically, one of Visto’s shareholders is NTP, which acquired that equity as payment for technology licenses to help Visto avoid a patent fight. Page C1

Parental guidance

Not every moviegoer is a 14-year-old boy seeking a techno-thrill with extreme body counts. The percentage of people older than 40 who like movies has grown 18% in 19 years. Many prefer small-budget indies and off-the-grid documentaries.

AMC Theatres is the latest movie house chain to capitalize on this market, designating certain theaters to screen fare for fans of Truman Capote and lusty penguins. Page C3

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SPORTS

Logan’s run

Name the common element: 96 years, Satchel Paige, Bill Shoemaker’s shoes.

That would be Eddie Logan, who celebrates his 96th birthday today, and whose life is as active as it is long. He played catcher for Paige in the Negro leagues, he shadowboxes every day, and he still runs the shoeshine stand at Santa Anita racetrack as he has since the day it opened in 1934.

“I ain’t what I used to be,” he says. “But I like people and I do my job. Some people appreciate it and some people don’t. Those that don’t, they’re excused.” Page D2

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ON LATIMES.COM

Photos, video of demonstrations

Views of the boycott: Come online for a complete picture of the May 1 demonstrations. Visit our home page for extensive photo and video images of the local and national marches, and check out the message boards, where readers share their perspectives. Also, the Opinion section’s Borderline blog rounds up commentary from around the world. latimes.com

Real estate revisited: As part of The Times’ 125th anniversary celebration, visit our interactive map of standout locations in the history of Los Angeles. Click on the flags for a narrated, photographic tour of the great points in the region’s architectural history. From the development of backyard pools in Covina to the Spadena house, a witch’s lair in Beverly Hills, see how real estate here has developed over 125 years. latimes.com/homes125