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By LISA HOFFMAN
Tina Marie Gilmore said she lost her two young daughters in the floodwaters that besieged New Orleans, suffering the unimaginable horror of watching the girls float away but being helpless to save them before they disappeared.

She bore other losses as well from Hurricane Katrina: destruction to her home on Cedar Street and $10,075 worth of personal property.

By LEE BOWMAN
Many children with severe sleep apnea appear to have damage to brain structures associated with learning ability, a new study demonstrates.

While researchers have long known that fragmented sleep, interrupted breathing and oxygen deprivation can harm a child's ability to learn and his school performance, the brain-imaging study by scientists at Johns Hopkins University is thought o be the first to link specific changes in brain chemistry to the syndrome.

Specifically, the damage was observed in the hippocampus, a structure in the temporal lobe that's vital to learning and memory storage, and in the right frontal cortex, which governs high-level thinking, including accessing old memories and applying them to new situations.

"This is truly concerning, because we saw changes that suggest brain injury in areas of the brain that house critical cognitive functions, such as attention, learning and working memory," said Dr.

By MATTHEW D. LaPLANTE
The American Legion will renew its call for a larger active-duty military at the group's convention this week in Salt Lake City, officials from the nation's largest veterans organization said.

The legion's bid for more service members comes as the U.S.

By MICHAEL COLLINS
With its sandy white beaches, grass-covered hills and steep sandstone canyons, Santa Rosa Island is a natural wonder, an oasis of tranquility in the Pacific Ocean.

But lately, the 53,000-acre island off the coast of Southern California has been the focus of a severe political storm blowing out of Washington.

The fight involves the island's non-native deer and elk, and whether they should be allowed to remain on the land they have inhabited for nearly a century or whether they should be removed.

The National Park Service, which owns Santa Rosa, and various environmental groups say the animals must go by 2011 under a court settlement reached eight years ago.

But Rep.

By THOMAS HARGROVE and GUIDO H. STEMPEL III
Nearly half of adults admit they have ridden or driven motorcycles without wearing helmets, but a new poll found they now overwhelmingly want state governments to make helmet use mandatory.

Despite public opinion, 30 state legislatures have rolled back mandatory helmet laws in recent years due to lobbying by motorcycle-advocacy groups.

Participants in the poll of 1,010 U.S.

By JUDY LIN
Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday struck a deal on legislation to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent over the next two decades.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, hailed the long-bargained agreement as a ground-breaking bill that has the potential to influence the rest of the nation.

"This is the most important day of my brief legislative career," Nunez said.

Schwarzenegger has pledged to sign Assembly Bill 32.

"We can now move forward with developing a market-based system that makes California a world leader in the effort to reduce carbon emissions," he said in a statement.

By JUDY LIN and CLEA BENSON
Racing to meet a midnight Thursday deadline, lawmakers Wednesday plowed through dozens of bills, sending Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a measure to change the way presidents are elected.

By RICHARD RICHTMYER
The partial shutdown of Prudhoe Bay could cost the Alaska state treasury $500 million to $2 billion, depending on how long production remains crimped, officials estimate.

But thanks to a new oil tax, there still will be plenty of money to run the government, they said.

Alaska gets most of the money it uses to run state government from oil royalties and taxes on North Slope oil production.

Prudhoe Bay is the nation's largest oil field, and it accounts for nearly half of North Slope production.

BP shut down more than 200,000 barrels a day of production after tests found pipeline corrosion problems that resulted in a small spill Aug.

By DEBBIE ARRINGTON
For half a century, State Fair horse racing was an annual tradition for Ernie Hughes. The longtime fan from Carmichael always went to see the thoroughbreds run during their August visit to Sacramento.

"We got some top jockeys like Russell Baze and great racing," Hughes said.

By DAVID R. BAKER
Just three weeks ago, California drivers were bracing for another punishing round of rising gasoline prices.

The country's biggest oil field, Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, was closing down for emergency pipeline repairs, choking off a key supply source for the West Coast's gasoline refineries.