- Making News: Korean Community Responds to Execution of Kim Sun-Il
Southern California-s Korean-American community is divided tonight in the aftermath of another grisly execution in the Middle East. When South Korea refused to withdraw from sending 3000 troops to Iraq, translator Kim Sun-il was beheaded by a group claiming ties to al Qaeda. Tonight, at Vermont and Wilshire, there will be a candlelight vigil in Kim-s memory. Kee Ha is President of Korean-American Federation of Los Angeles. - Reporter's Notebook: Space Plane-s Malfunction Posed Life-Threatening Risk
Yesterday, test pilot Mike Melville soared 62 miles above Earth in the first privately funded flight into space. He said it was like a -religious experience.- Now, it turns out, he was in serious danger. That-s the view of Mike Dornheim, senior engineering editor for Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine, explains.
Legislature Attempts to Derail Open Primary Initiative
Almost a million California voters signed petitions circulated by Democratic State Controller Steve Westly and Republican Richard Riordan to put the Voter Choice Open Primary Act on November-s ballot. It would establish nonpartisan primary elections in California, a move other leaders of both parties label un-Democratic. So, yesterday, by a 28-to-3 vote, the State Senate passed a competing measure to maintain party primaries pretty much as they are. Supporters of the Voter Choice Act call yesterday-s measure a -Trojan Horse.- Warren Olney previews the latest fight over open primaries with State Senator Ross Johnson, author of the bipartisan legislation, and Assemblyman Keith Richman, who supports the Open Primary initiative.