California Briefing

In an age-old tradition, priests visit the Cathedral of Etchmiadzin in Armenia to pick up jars of muron, derived from the original mixture blended at the time of the church's founding.

Regulatory board will immediately begin asking nurses about any convictions when they seek license renewals. The agency will also work to expand fingerprinting.

West Hollywood officials, who have talked of closing the club, worry that continued violence there could turn away chic, wealthy customers the area is hoping to attract as it goes upscale.

'John,' Buddha-like and unassuming, is doused with gas and set ablaze in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood where he'd lived for more than a decade.

Imagine a giant science fair where all the displays are so good you know the kids must have gotten help from their parents. This year's theme: the dangers of drugs.

The group was formed in response to the Chatsworth crash that killed 25 people. A report on improving operations is due in 60 days.

Wong was a Los Angeles commissioner for more than a decade. He used his influence during Mayor James Hahn's administration in seeking city deals for Evergreen, a Taiwan-based shipping company.

Republican Duncan D. Hunter, a Marine infantry officer, and Democrat Mike Lumpkin, a Navy SEAL commander, differ sharply on the conflict.

Irene Dailey, an actress who won praise for her stage performances but was best known for her role as Liz Matthews on the NBC daytime soap opera "Another World," has died. She was 88.

The Japanese businessman is being held pending arraignment on conspiracy charges in the 1981 death of his wife.

Rachael Mullenix, 19, expresses grudging remorse as she is sentenced for conspiring with her boyfriend to stab her mother and dump her body into Newport Harbor.

The $8.7-million effort has stopped because coyotes have killed so many in their new desert location.

Agency decides that the barrier would be the least visible of five alternatives. But no source of funding has been determined for the estimated $50-million project.

For three decades she played Myrtle Fargate, a surrogate mother to characters including Susan Lucci's Erica Kane. A Broadway actress, her film credits include Laurence Olivier's 'Hamlet.'

TODAY

E. Vang Saelee becomes the ninth fatality. His wife was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, which occurred en route from Sacramento to a Colusa County casino.

Safety evaluators

The letters contained a granular substance that has tested negative for biological or chemical hazards, the FBI says. Further testing is planned.

Metrolink safety