California panel looks at cutting pay of elected officials -- With state finances in turmoil, the state salary-setting commission on Tuesday took a step toward lowering the pay of California legislators and statewide elected officials. The California Citizens Compensation Commission informally agreed that this was no time to raise the pay of members of the Assembly and state Senate, the governor, lieutenant governor and several other constitutional officers. Herbert A. Sample in the Sacramento Bee Steve Lawrence AP -- 4/23/08

Sacramento-area home foreclosures keep rising -- and more pain is on the way -- Last weekend Paul Sosa and his wife moved their furniture out of a Marysville home they bought in October 2005 and sent it to a rental in Sacramento. On Thursday, their Yuba County house will be repossessed. That means the Sosas are part of a troubling – and growing – trend. Jim Wasserman in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/23/08

Hillary Clinton stays alive with Pennsylvania win -- Women, seniors and blue-collar voters buoy her to a 10-percentage-point win over Barack Obama - enough to keep the Democratic contest alive awhile longer. Mark Z. Barabak and Noam N. Levey in the Los Angeles Times Carla Marinucci in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/23/08

Program establishes rooms to house homeless patients -- Homeless patients who can't legally be discharged to the streets will soon have a place to recuperate, thanks in part to five valley hospitals. Deborah Lohse in the San Jose Mercury -- 4/23/08

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-Ill.) soundly defeated Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) among church-going voters in Tuesday's Pennsylvania presidential primary, exposing a potential weakness in the Democratic frontrunner among northern church-going voters, particularly Catholics, who have been a key swing vote in recent presidential elections. Clinton beat Obama in Pennsylvania among all voters who said they attend church, even if they do so only a few times a year, according to the exit poll conducted for the major television networks. Obama, by contrast, beat Clinton among voters who said they never go to church. ( See Pennsylvania exit poll ) Conservative News Source

How well do you know world religions? Are you an acolyte or an apostle? Take our quiz and find out. Based on the book, Religious Literacy, by Stephen Prothero. Houston Chronicle

A federal judge ordered a public school system to stop allowing in-school Bible giveaways, saying the practice violates the First Amendment separation of church and state. "Distribution of Bibles is a religious activity without a secular purpose" and amounts to school board promotion of Christianity, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier ruled in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana against the Tangipahoa Parish School Board. Fox News

A YouTube video which features talk show host Oprah Winfrey denying Jesus as the only way to God and promoting New Age ideas has received over 5 million views and is still climbing. The under seven-minute video montage, entitled "The Church of Oprah Exposed," was posted about month ago and has since claimed the Top Favorites spot in the Web site's News & Politics category. According to statistics posted on YouTube, the latest streams of visitors are coming from PerezHilton.com, a Hollywood gossip blog . The author of the blog wrote that "crazy Christians" are behind the effort to demonize Oprah as a "conduit of evil." Christian News

As The Day of Silence nears, many Christians remain conflicted about how to respond. “They (Christians) do not affirm homosexual behavior but they also loathe disrespect, harassment or violence toward any one, including their GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) peers,” Dr. Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of Psychology at Grove City College, explained. Throckmorton and Michael Frey, Western PA Director for College Ministries with Campus Crusade, have helped organize a so-called alternative approach to The Day of Silence and to the conservative Christian response of pulling out their kids from school. As part of the “Golden Rule Initiative,” students will pass out cards throughout the day vowing to live in the manner of Christ’s teaching to “Do to others as you would have them do to you” in reference to the passage from Scripture. The cards will ask “What are you going to do to end the silence?” In other words, what will you do to help secure a safe environment for GLBT identified students? The initiative urges that the day be used to avoid controversy, advocate a commitment to the safety of all students, and remind others that Christianity is the religion of love. Christian Post