High school students in some California public schools will throw-out their textbooks for so-called "ebooks" next school year.

Two weeks into San Diego’s mandatory water conservation plan, the city’s experiencing a large increase in customer calls.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders spoke out today against a decision by California’s Budget Conference committee to begin taking local gas tax revenue.

The U.N. Security Council on Friday punished North Korea for its second nuclear test, imposing tough new sanctions, expanding an arms embargo and authorizing ship searches on the high seas.

In a speech in Escondido, Governor Schwarzenegger asked lawmakers to send him a budget that plugs the state's $24 billion budget gap. The governor said there's no time to waste.

Before taking Broadway by storm with the jukebox hit Mamma Mia, ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus teamed with lyricist Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita) in 1986 to create an original musical, the cult favorite Chess. Set during the Cold War intrigue of international chess tournaments, the musical dramatizes the romantic checkmate between an American chess champion, his lover and a Russian opponent secretly planning to defect to the West. Idina Menzel (Wicked, Enchanted), Adam Pascal (Rent) and pop superstar Josh Groban headline a concert production from London’s Royal Albert Hall.

At a time when train travel to the National Parks was only for the wealthy, this program follows the convergence of U.S. Land being set aside for all people, the development of the "autos for the everyman" and the need to escape the drone of WWI and the 1918 flu pandemic. With this need for release, 12 intrepid motorists embark upon the 1920 inaugural tour of the National Park-to-Park Highway.

In early 1942, shortly after the United States entered World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt received an alarming intelligence report: Germany and Japan were developing biological weapons for potential offensive use. In response, the U.S. and its allies rushed to develop their own germ warfare program, enlisting some of America's most promising scientists in the effort. This program examines the international race to develop biological weapons in the 1940s and 1950s, revealing the scientific and technical challenges scientists faced and the moral dilemmas posed by their eventual success.

Director Sam Mendes is best known for his savage portraits of marriages falling apart – "American Beauty" and last year's "Revolutionary Road." So "Away We Go" (opening June 12 at Landmark's La Jolla Village Theaters) arrives as something of a surprise and an antidote to those earlier works.

California is facing a $24 billion budget deficit for next fiscal year. Although the fiscal year ends on June 30, state lawmakers have been slow to roll out their proposals for cutting the budget deficit.

San Diego government officials are concerned the state budget deficit could lead to a raid on local tax revenues. Mayor Jerry Sanders and other elected officials recently met to discuss possible cuts that could come from the state. Sanders also urged people to contact their state lawmakers to speak out against the possible cuts.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to hear San Diego County's lawsuit challenging California's medical-marijuana laws. San Diego City Councilwoman Donna Frye has suggested the city re-establish a medical marijuana taskforce to develop local guidelines for following the state's laws.

A San Diego City Councilwoman and longtime conservationist is getting support from environmental groups for a position on the California Coastal Commission.

Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed deep cuts to several health and welfare programs to help balance the state’s budget. That would be a double or triple whammy for some California families who rely on multiple services. Health care reporter Kelley Weiss visited one of those families to find out how the combination of cuts could affect them.

A pop superstar from Nigeria comes to San Diego. Musician King Sunny Adé and his 17-piece band have just launched a North American tour. They'll perform at The Belly Up Tavern on Tuesday night.

See a video of Nigerian icon of jùjú music, King Sunny Adé, performing in Atlanta.

Iranians packed polling stations from boutique-lined streets in north Tehran to conservative bastions Friday to choose between keeping hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power or replacing him with a reformist who favors greater freedoms and improved ties with the United States.

"Harvard Beats Yale 29-29" (opening June 12 at Landmark's Ken Cinema) is a documentary for a very specialized audience. At the end of the film there's a mention for the book version of "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29" and in all honesty that might be a better format for this particular story.