California

LOS ANGELES -- A large rooftop billboard looking down at the Bill Clinton state campaign headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard proclaims: "A Race Even a Democrat Can Win."The sign does not, however, refer to this year's presidential race, but rather is an advertisement for the Hollywood Park racetrack -- an ad that mocks the Democratic reputation for losing, as in the string of five defeats in the last six presidential elections.Mr. Clinton hopes to demonstrate he has the support to buck that sorry record by winning the final major primary on the 1992 political track here in California on June 2. Ordinarily a candidate so far ahead in delegates at this time -- 1,824.

Evidence that California no longer occupies the special place it once held in the American psyche can be found in the state's declining suicide rate. Two decades ago, Californians committed suicide at a rate 50 percent higher than the rest of the country. The explanation was that California was the end of the line for those searching for the frontier that was so central to the American character. People seeking that elusive goal just beyond the horizon could go no further. So, they ended the journey.

LOS ANGELES - In the 40 years since Sen. John F. Kennedy was nominated for president by the Democratic Party here, California has played an often critical role in the politics of both major parties. It is doing so again this week as Vice President Al Gore is chosen as the Democratic standard-bearer and his party strives to win the state for the third presidential election in a row. Most polls show Gore holding a lead over Republican nominee George W. Bush in California. But with Green Party nominee Ralph Nader registering support among Democratic liberals, the Gore campaign can't take California for granted, as President Clinton was able to do the past two times out. With 54 electoral votes at stake, the largest single share available and one-fifth of the 270 required for nomination, Gore needs California.

THE STATE of California made its bed. It enacted partial electric power deregulation - wholesale but not retail - in the hope that a permanent supply surplus would always keep price down. California grew its economy, increasing power use by one-fourth in the past five years while building no generating capacity in a decade. California was legally, structurally and emotionally unprepared for a shortage. Then the rains stopped in neighboring states, on whose hydroelectric power generation California arrogantly depends.

It's Bring Your Child to Work Day. Or Take Your Kid to Work Day. Or maybe officially " Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work " day. Whatever it's called, my kids are at school. They see me on the computer enough as it is, and I have a feeling they wouldn't be too excited by what I'm actually doing most of the time. "See this comma? It's called a serial comma and we're going to delete it. And the abbreviation for California should actually be Calif., not CA. We call that 'AP style,' honey!"

The First Amendment to the Constitution holds such an important place in our society — socially, politically and legally — that special rules exist when our government attempts to abridge the cherished right to speak freely. The right is not absolute. It can be restricted, and — as in the case of not being allowed to yell "fire" in a crowded theater — sometimes it has been, but only if the government can provide a "compelling" basis for the restriction; never if the basis rests on a myth.

LAKE MEAD, Nev. - In a final effort to settle the Western water wars, the Clinton administration plans to announce this week a tentative truce between California and six other states over how to divvy up water from this enormous reservoir behind Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. But the guys who run the Lake Mead Marina are skeptical. California's reputation as the water hog of the West is firmly rooted in this part of the country. "California seems to have a surreal attitude about water," said Taz Hansen, 50, the marina's maintenance supervisor.

WASHINGTON -- A decision this week by the Environmental Protection Ageency (EPA) clears the way for Maryland and other Northeastern states to combat the region's smog problems by requiring more stringent controls on auto and truck exhaust than the federal law requires, state air quality officials said yesterday.The EPA, after several months' delay, Thursday granted California a waiver from the 1990 Clean Air Act, allowing the state with the worst pollution problems in the country to impose the nation's toughest emission standards on new cars and trucks, starting with model year 1994.

This wine came as a big surprise. Usually, a California pinot grigio is better at a year old than two. But this full-bodied white wine from Carmenet — a once-prestigious label that seems to be undergoing a revival — is surprisingly complex and outstanding for its type. It offers an appealing and mature mix of lemon, apple, honey and spice flavors — far beyond the typical, fairly neutral pinot grigio. This sleeper wine punches way above its weight class. Drink it up this year. From: California Price: $12 Serve with: Salmon, lobster, turkey

Washington. -- If today's California is any measure of where the other 49 states are headed on the immigration issue, stormy seas lie ahead.The tide of immigration, legal and illegal, flooding across the once-Golden State is tossing up a political backlash of some proportions and raising some deep and troublesome questions about the American character, and where the country may be headed.California's population is expanding by some 700,000 people a year, mostly immigrants, some 100,000 of them illegal.