Good morning -- here's what's happening 5.23.08

The big story, of course, is our apocalyptic weather, with tornadoes flipping big rigs and freight trains,  snow flipping the bird to spring, rain flooding freeways and causing mudslides, and hailstones the size of marbles. Get the details in our full story.

And then there's the fire racing through the mountains around Santa Cruz. Homes are destroyed, schools are closed, residents are fleeing their neighborhoods. Firefighters, meanwhile, are hamstrung by high winds. John Glionna and Steve Chawkins have details.

All of which makes a perfect backdrop to Sen. Dianne Feinstein's pitch to the feds that they really do have to send us those water-dropping tankers they promised, and to please fill those 363 empty spots in the Forest Service ASAP.

Meanwhile, the rest of life goes on:

We did a poll that says Californians reject same-sex marriage, albeit by a very slim margin. Catherine Decker has the details on that one.

There are still a lot of problems and infighting, but County USC Medical Center is close to reopening. Garrett Therolf and Mary Engel have the story.

No DNA test for a Death Row inmate, the state Supreme Court decides. Maura Dolan explains the reasoning.

Is anyone surprised that hybrid sales are booming? Martin Zimmerman has the numbers.

Game 2 tonight. Of what? If you need to ask, you don't really care about Mike Bresnahan's great Lakers story.

First the critics took on the latest "Indiana Jones" (thumbs up!), now the archeologists have their say. Yeah, they're not loving it. AP via LAT.

-- Veronique de Turenne

Photos: Associated Press