Today is Cinco de Mayo, an event that commemorates a Mexican victory over the French in 1862. A ragtag 4,500-strong militia under the command of Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza defeated a larger, well-equipped French expeditionary force at the original Battle of Puebla on March 5, 1862. Cinco de Mayo celebrations started "by Latinos living in California during the Civil War around issues of freedom and democracy," according to David E. Hayes-Bautista, the director of the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture. Mexico's victory came at a time when "'it looked as if freedom and democracy was just about going to be a thing of the past in the North American land mass" because of the Union's struggles in the Civil War and the French invasion of Mexico, Hayes-Bautista said. CBS 13 News

What's got everyone talking is the odd-looking tower that rises 140 feet above the 101 Freeway, directly across from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The futuristic metallic edifice, with a wraparound spiral Dr. Seuss would love, is not part of a theme park. It is the signature adornment on a new arts-oriented public high school that will cost roughly $230 million. That's far more than the going rate for a more conventional school, but district officials argue that they already owned the site of the former L.A. Unified headquarters. Sure, but aren't these tough times for public schools? Aren't school districts facing huge cuts? Aren't many aging schools in disrepair? LA Times

Since the pastor and his family moved from Charlotte to Prague three years ago to start a church, the falling value of the U.S. dollar has brought home a sobering reality: The money they raised to support themselves and their work overseas does not go nearly as far as it once did. The dollar's decline has stung most expatriates who are paid in U.S. funds, but missionaries serving internationally are particularly at risk. Many depend on money raised years before they left, when exchange rates were more favorable. As a result, the Davises and fellow missionaries are facing tough financial questions: Should they move to a smaller house farther from those they're trying to reach? Where can they save on groceries? Can they raise enough money to stay? Trading Markets News

The current divorce rates weigh heavily on Dr. Gramm as well, prompting him, he said, to tell his students why he was leaving. “I want them to know that God does not desert you when life suddenly gets real on you,” Dr. Gramm said. “And I want them to know that you can be a responsible, reasonable and decent person and not be able to work out a marriage with another responsible, reasonable and decent person.” NY Times

Pro-family advocates are urging people to act quickly in asking their local CBS affiliates to preempt the May 4 broadcast of two back-to-back episodes of "Dexter," a graphically violent show that portrays a serial killer as its hero. The show has aired on the premium cable network Showtime for two seasons and was placed on broadcast television this year during the Hollywood writers' strike when CBS was short on material. "Dexter introduces audiences to the depths of depravity and indifference as it chronicles the main character's troubled quest for vigilante justice by celebrating graphic, premeditated murder," Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council, said. Baptist Press

A former CBS News correspondent says the half-hour nightly newscast on the big three television networks is "an idea whose time has come and gone." CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric is rumored to be leaving her position soon amid a ratings slide in which her viewership has dropped to just over five million. Former CBS News correspondent Bernie Goldberg predicts Couric will exit the anchor chair no later than a few days after the presidential election. Goldberg, who was won eight Emmy awards for his journalistic work at CBS News and HBO, says nightly newscasts on ABC, CBS, and NBC have become practically obsolete. One News Now

Struggling Giants pitcher Barry Zito will make $14.5 million this year. Mark Yudof, the new head of the University of California, earns $591,000 plus perks. Hillary and Bill Clinton grossed an estimated $20.4 million in 2007, while Barack Obama's family took in $4.2 million. A fire captain in the financially stressed town of Vallejo earns $250,000. And the head of a street maintenance crew filling potholes on your block may be making $107,000. Search SFGate's salary databases here A flood of newly available information about the paychecks of everyone from street cleaners to corporate chief executive officers to athletes is turning up on the Internet and elsewhere and that, in turn, has turned up the heat on an age-old debate: How much pay is too much? SFChronicle

Obama said his proposal for a tax cut for the middle class, as part of an economic stimulus package, would be more effective than Clinton's gas tax suspension. "Look, people do need serious relief," he said. "They are getting hammered. I mean -- people who can't go on job searches because they can't fill up their gas tank. And so, what I've said is, let's accelerate the second half of a tax stimulus proposal that I have put forward that would put, immediately, hundreds of dollars into people's pockets to get through the summer." Clinton has her own tax-cut proposals that benefit the middle class, but she said the gas tax holiday would be an important short-term measure. Washington Post

Clovis Unified -- which has built a statewide reputation with high-performing schools and strict rules for dress and behavior -- may pursue a dramatic departure from tradition: a high school where students take classes entirely online. An online charter high school would be a radically new direction for the Clovis Unified School District, but educators say an increasing number of students are interested in getting their education through the Internet. Students -- and parents -- are seeking alternatives to the traditional school setting, whether it's through online classes, independent study or charter schools. Fresno Bee

Doctors know some patients needing lifesaving care won't get it in a flu pandemic or other disaster. The gut-wrenching dilemma will be deciding whom to let die. Now, an influential group of physicians has drafted a grimly specific list of recommendations for which patients wouldn't be treated. They include the very elderly, seriously hurt trauma victims, severely burned patients and those with severe dementia. AP

With gas prices soaring across the country, the presidential candidates are debating possible solutions for relief. Senators John McCain and Hillary Clinton support a so-called "gas tax holiday," a temporary halt to the 18.4-cent federal gas tax between Memorial Day and Labor Day, "Just a little break for the summer," McCain told voters in Denver this weekend. News 10