LAURA EMBRY / Union-Tribune Silvario Lopez watered the ground in front of new homes at Eastlake Vistas in Chula Vista. The development is using reclaimed wastewater for irrigation.

California officials have long assumed that there always will be enough water to serve the state's growing population, which is now more than 38 million people. But that's no longer a safe bet because of drought, environmental rules restricting water supplies, greater demand from nearby states and the escalating cost of the increasingly precious commodity.

Two Scripps hospitals in La Jolla and both campuses of UCSD Medical Center are among 13 hospitals statewide that recently received the maximum fine for critical lapses in patient care, California health officials announced yesterday. The errors included use of unsterilized surgical tools, unsafe dispensing of a powerful narcotic and poor procedures for administering a drug that treats a life-threatening lung disease.

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was “tearing up the credit card” when he asked voters to approve $15 billion in deficit bonds four years ago. Part of that package was a measure that promised there would be no more borrowing to cover future deficits.

Maybe the joke's on Jones. In the newest “Indiana Jones” movie, which opens today, the fedora-wearing, whip-snapping archaeologist-adventurer finds himself – and plenty of peril – in a place called “the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

A group suspected of stealing secret files on potential terrorists in San Diego and elsewhere apparently operated with impunity from one of Camp Pendleton's most heavily guarded buildings, newly obtained court records and investigative reports show.

That free packet of stale peanuts is beginning to look good. First the hot meals went by the wayside. Then airlines began to charge extra for leg room. And while travelers can still watch an in-flight movie, they'll pay for the headphones to hear it.