Opinion

SACRAMENTO — It’s becoming more likely that the ninth-graders who take the state’s first high school graduation test starting next week will be doing it only for practice. -more-

LOS ANGELES — As Californians brace for a summer of anticipated power shortages, their neighbors should be ready to share the pain, experts warn. -more-

POUND RIDGE, N.Y. — White asparagus, long a European delicacy, has lately become popular also in America. Home gardeners can easily grow these so-called blanched or gourmet whites as well as the better-known green and purplish spears. -more-

California called off all power alerts Thursday for the first time in nearly six weeks, thanks to the availability of more imported electricity and the return to service of power plants that had been down for repairs. -more-

The stock market’s plunge has left many small investors so intimidated they are likely to miss out on the beginning of the next upturn and the chance to recoup their losses. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — A body was found in the wheel well of a US Airways jet at San Francisco International Airport, but authorities were not immediately sure how the man died or whether he was a stowaway. -more-