Nick Roman

You just have to face facts; the universe is throwing stuff at the Earth all the time. One of these days, something’s gonna hit us - but not on Wednesday. In just a few hours, two small asteroids will buzz the planet.

The USC football team’s long and miserable off-season comes to a welcome end Thursday night. The Trojans play the University of Hawaii in Honolulu to open the 2010 college football season. Kickoff is 8 p.m.

California’s political watchdog agency has started work on reforming political reform in Sacramento.

The celebrity divorce trial of the year – maybe of the last 10 years – began yesterday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. Attorneys for Frank and Jamie McCourt delivered their opening arguments. The question isn’t “who gets the kids?” It’s “who gets the Dodgers?"

The governing body for California high school sports has adopted tougher standards for metal and composite bats.

California State Attorney General Jerry Brown says collecting DNA from felons is legal and effective in fighting crime. Brown was in federal court in San Francisco today to defend Proposition 69 – the voter-approved law that lets authorities collect and store DNA samples from anyone convicted of a felony.

Homeboy Industries – East L.A.’s long-standing anti-gang program – took a big punch yesterday. It announced it’s laid off its paid staff of 300 people. Homeboy’s aim is to teach job skills to gang members so they could get out gangs. Now Homeboy’s in a fight to stay open.

Kelley Blue Book is out with this year’s list of the Top 10 “green cars.” The list factors in more than gas mileage and carbon emissions.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is changing a long-standing policy that allowed 12,000 L.A. students attend schools outside the district.

Political bloggers hinted at it – but political reporters for the “San Jose Mercury News” have said it straight out: Former Congressman Tom Campbell plans to announce on Thursday in Los Angeles that he’s dropping out of the race for governor.