NANCEE E. LEWIS / Union-Tribune An explosion knocked out the northern face of the fourth through seventh floors of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel under construction.

A deafening boom, plumes of smoke and debris raining from a downtown high-rise. In the moments following an explosion yesterday afternoon at a San Diego hotel construction site, first responders and witnesses feared the blast was the handiwork of a serial bomber or terrorist.

After months of grim reports of slumping sales and free-falling prices, San Diego County's housing market showed signs of life in April with sales up 33.3 percent from March and the median price back at the $400,000 level.

For same-sex couples in San Diego County, the wedding bouquet is in the air, waiting to be caught. Except nobody knows when it will fall. Euphoria about last week's state Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage is being tempered by uncertainty. As eager as they are to line up wedding venues, caterers and florists, most couples appear to be waiting.

2008 VOTE: PRESIDENT

Sen. Barack Obama is poised to reach a milestone in the presidential race today by capturing a majority of pledged delegates, but he said he would not declare victory over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton or suggest the Democratic primary campaign should end until the contests are finished June 3.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday upheld the latest congressional effort to curb the spread of child pornography on the Internet, a 2003 law that makes it a crime to offer or solicit sexually explicit images of children.