NANCEE E. LEWIS / Union-Tribune Zhen Zhen tried to take a bite out of her iced birthday cake yesterday at the San Diego Zoo. Her mother, Bai Yun, helped her celebrate.

What's Inside Photo: Basketball action This day in our region's history Protest to target casino's alcohol bid Film follows one family's countdown to deployment Outage cuts air traffic communications Thunderstorms forecast in mountain, desert areas Rescued diver, surfer are taken to hospitals Road closures More Local News

What's black and white and celebrated all over? The pandas at the San Diego Zoo, of course. That was especially true yesterday as the youngest of the beloved fur balls, Zhen Zhen and Su Lin, were feted with tiered, honey-dripped ice cakes for their birthdays.

CORONADO – Coronado is proposing to spend $20 million to buy the land under Sharp Coronado Hospital in an unusual deal that city officials hope will ensure the continued operation of the struggling medical facility.

CARLSBAD – The long-running tug of war between a developer and the California Coastal Commission staff over the state's first large-scale ocean-water desalination plant continues this week as the two sides wrangle over environmental issues.

THE PROBLEM: It was a dream assignment for a stunning summer day: Walk along the Mission Beach boardwalk and count the speed-limit signs for cyclists and skaters.

Now, this was weird. On TV, filling the screen, was Barney. Barney, the big purple dinosaur, singing that song, “I love you, you love me .” It was weird, because it happened to be 1 o'clock in the morning.