Gas prices go down again ...
The Energy Department reports that retail gasoline prices fell in both California and the nation during the last week.
California’s drop, the smallest of 12 consecutive weeks of declines in the state, was 3.8 cents to $2.396 a gallon.
Nationally, the average fell 1.8 cents to $2.20. Houston, a long way to drive for a fill-up, reports the lowest price, $2 a gallon.
Experts predict prices will ease back up soon to match the slow increase in the price of crude oil, which makes up about half the price of gas. Page C1
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... while stock prices go up again
With a wave of takeover proposals suggesting that stocks are undervalued, the stock market rises so much it erases all of last week’s losses.
The Dow Jones industrial average surges 119.51, or 1%, to close at 12,105.55 in a broad rally that is spread worldwide.
Contrary to expectations, today’s election uncertainty did not seem to affect stock traders either way. Page C1
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Her ‘Dozen’ made light of big family
Ernestine Gilbreth Carey was the third of 12 children born to two industrial engineers in early 20th century New York City. Her parents, faced with raising a dozen children born over 17 years, even set up motion studies to determine how their platoon of children could perform chores most efficiently.
Carey helped turn her frenetic family’s life into a lighthearted 1948 memoir, “Cheaper by the Dozen,” that has inspired several films about the challenges of a large family. She died Saturday of natural causes in a Fresno hospital at the age of 98. She had opted to have only two children of her own. Page B10
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Hussein may end up in Abu Ghraib
Now that he’s convicted of crimes against humanity, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could confront the hangman before spring in the same notorious Abu Ghraib prison where he sent so many of his victims.
But first come mandatory appeals as required by Iraqi law for all capital cases and life imprisonment. Page A9
Hussein’s conviction provokes deep and varied reactions around the globe.
Mixed with critics’ denunciations of the trial as illegitimate is a quiet celebration of the sentencing of a brutal leader who personified despotism. Page A9
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The campaigns are almost over
Californians endure a blizzard of campaign stops, claims and record-breaking advertising pitches as the 2006 political season ends.
Thirteen statewide propositions and other state and federal offices are up for grabs. Democrat Phil Angelides, who wants to be governor, predicts the “biggest upset in California political history” while Gov. Schwarzenegger makes a final pitch for billions in bonds for infrastructure repairs. Page A1
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Oh, no -- a new one’s just starting
But just when you thought you were in the clear from politics, the 2008 presidential campaigns start today. Pages A14-15
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Bombs in Mexico
At least four homemade bombs explode at political buildings and a foreign bank in Mexico City as the country’s civil unrest, led by a loose leftist movement, continues to simmer. Page A4
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THE CRITIC: ‘Country music’s superstar-in-waiting had the misfortune of relapsing into rehab just as he was releasing an album that repeatedly proclaimed what a rock of stability he was.’ Richard Cromelin reviews Keith Urban’s ‘Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing.’ Calendar, E3
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CALENDAR
A life among books
Wendy Werris has had a front-row seat on the local book scene for almost 40 years: as a clerk at the old Pickwick Bookshop in Hollywood, as an assistant for authors on tour and as a publishers’ representative pitching books to store owners. Now she’s written her own book, an unabashed love letter to literary Los Angeles. Page E1
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Enter, stage right: A gust of fresh air
Conservatives in Hollywood, rejoice. The Liberty Film Festival, which celebrates the right’s favorite values, swoops into town this weekend like an eagle homing in on Jane Fonda. And even if the festival doesn’t make much noise, its Libertas website certainly does.
To columnist Patrick Goldstein, it’s a breath of fresh air. Although he doesn’t agree with its politics, he says the site -- run by a husband-and-wife team who hope to plant the conservative flag in Hollywood -- “has an undeniable intellectual energy.”
While most online offerings about movies “are dominated by gossips and geeks,” Goldstein writes, Libertas “actually takes movies -- and their cultural influence -- seriously.” Page E1
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A second look at John Ford
Peter Bogdanovich, filmmaker and film historian, once made a documentary about director John Ford that many viewers praised but he considered only OK. “People loved it. But I didn’t,” Bogdanovich says. And for legal reasons, it was rarely screened.
So Bogdanovich decided to rework “Directed by John Ford,” and the result premieres tonight on Turner Classic Movies. Bogdanovich kept what he liked from his 1971 documentary, including interviews with Ford, and tossed out the rest. One of the new features: excerpts of an audio recording of Ford’s last visit with his onetime lover, Katharine Hepburn, made shortly before his death in 1973. Page E2
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Three blasts from the recent past
TV critic Paul Brownfield calls a PBS documentary about former L.A. Times political cartoonist Paul Conrad entertaining but says it could have been better had it framed Conrad’s heyday against the crisis now facing the newspaper industry. Page E1
“Dockers,” by Irish playwright Martin Lynch about dockworkers in 1962, celebrates Belfast’s indefatigable sense of community while exposing the false virtue of enduring the status quo, reviewer Charlotte Stoudt says. Page E5
KHJ-AM (930) once blasted “Boss Radio” into the transistor radios of L.A.’s coolest kids. This Friday afternoon, XM Satellite Radio pays tribute to the station on its 1960s channel. Page E10
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BUSINESS
Reality TV’s new fear factor
There’s a new reality creeping into the real lives of Hollywood’s TV writers. And it’s a scary script. The portion of prime time devoted to their sitcom work is dwindling to 10 hours, about half the air time of 2004.
The recent decision by NBC to pack the first hour of its prime-time schedule with lower-cost “unscripted” shows -- as a result of pressures from corporate parent GE to reverse its profit slide -- has sent chills through the writing profession.
NBC will rely on reality and game shows to avoid the escalating costs of scripted shows. One episode of a dramatic series can cost $2.3 million to $2.7 million to produce. A reality episode can be made for $700,000 to $1.25 million.
“It just eliminates the shelf space available for networks to put on what I pitch,” says TV writer Tim O’Donnell. Page C1
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Xbox gets into the movie and TV biz
In a competitive counter-move to Sony, Microsoft announces a new download service that will allow owners of its Xbox 360 video game console to view high-definition movies and television shows.
The service launches on Nov. 22. Prices are not announced, but insiders suggest movies will cost $3.99 for new releases, $2.99 for older titles and $1.99 for television shows.
Microsoft strikes deals with Warner Bros. and Paramount to offer on-demand movie rentals through its new Xbox Live Video Marketplace. CBS, Turner Broadcasting and MTV Networks will sell downloads of TV shows.
On Nov. 17, Sony will introduce its competing machine, which will cost about $500 and include a Blu-ray high-definition DVD player. Page C1
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SPORTS
In retirement, Arnie soldiers on
Arnold Palmer, 77, won’t play tournament golf again. A few weeks ago, after hitting two balls into the water at a Champions Tour event, Palmer decided he could no longer compete.
“Guys used to ask me in the locker room all the time if I was going to retire,” Palmer says now. “I told them I would never retire. I’d just fade away.”
But if Palmer is disappointed, he doesn’t show it. Columnist Bill Dwyre chatted with the golfer at a charity appearance Monday and writes, “Had the day ... not been warm, bright, upbeat, Palmer’s appearance would have made it so.” Page D1
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NBA’s Kings headed for a loss?
One of the knocks against the Sacramento Kings is that they never win the big one, and true to form, the franchise is about to blow another opportunity.
The Kings want a new arena. Local officials agreed to put the matter on today’s ballot and asked the team to help coax voters into a tax hike, but co-owner Joe Maloof instead raised questions about the arena’s site. Community reaction was about the same as when the Lakers’ Robert Horry hit that gamewinning three-pointer against the Kings in the 2002 playoffs.
“Everybody’s mouth just dropped,” one local says. Page D1
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Or maybe headed for Anaheim?
When NBA franchises start complaining about arenas, attendance or the size of the bread on post-game sandwiches, ears perk up all around the country. Lots of cities, including Anaheim, would like to lure somebody else’s squad.
Unfortunately for Anaheim, other cities seeking franchises have -- or will have -- facilities newer than the 13-year-old Honda Center.
“If [teams] want a brand new arena, we will lose in the competition,” an official from the Anaheim facility says. Page D1
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Watch the birdie while you still can
When stadiums started selling naming rights, sports got more complicated for everyone. Consider the Arizona Cardinals, who this year moved into a new facility in Glendale, a Phoenix suburb. Some residents protested when the team sold the stadium name to a chain of colleges, because instead of putting Glendale’s name in lights, the Cardinals now play in the University of Phoenix Stadium.
Now the Cardinals are also upset. Two college bowl games will be played at the facility in January, and organizers plan to cover up the giant Cardinals logo with their own insignias. Page D1
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ON LATIMES.COM
Election day from sunup to sundown
Midterm exams: Before you head to the polls, check in with latimes.com for the information you need to make your voting decisions; afterward, drop by again to follow election results.
The California politics page is the place to find candidate profiles, summaries of ballot propositions and a list of endorsements from The Times and other organizations. The site also will post updates, photos and reports from across the state and the nation. Political Muscle blogger Robert Salladay, who has covered the odd corners and amazing stories of the campaign, will chime in with tidbits and dish throughout the day.
As the polls close, look for live reports from campaign parties and watch the continually updated Balance of Power graphic, which will show where things stand in the House and Senate as they change.
latimes.com/politics and latimes.com/calpolitics
24 trivia: Lakers bloggers Andrew and Brian Kamenetzky remind us that Kobe Bryant is the 15th Laker to wear the number 24. How many of the previous 14 can you name? See the list at latimes.com/lakersblog
