Morning Scoop: Blue-collar environmentalists, UC protests, blasé about blazes

Good morning from the City Desk. A sampler of California stories from the morning's paper to get you started on your day:

The new eco-warriors are blue-collar and urban -- and they're fighting to clean up their own backyards.

There's still a long way to go, but the plan to build an NFL stadium in the City of Industry is one step closer now.

By the time they're done looking at evidence, authorities think they may connect alleged serial killer John Floyd Thomas to as many as 30 cases. Wednesday, they charged him with five more murders, bringing the total he is charged with to seven.

Today is the first day of classes for undergraduates on the UC campuses. It's also expected to be a day of protest -- with walkouts, teach-ins and rallies over budget cuts.

U.S. Border Patrol agents say they're baffled by the brazenness of the smuggling attempt that led to a gunfight at the San Ysidro border Monday. Usually, they say, smugglers take pains to hide the illegal immigrants they are trying to get through.

It seemed as though people would pay millions to rest in peace next to Marilyn Monroe after news broke that a crypt above hers had sold for $4.6 million on EBay. The one catch: When the seller tried to collect, she couldn't. The crypt still hasn't sold.

Moorpark residents are old hands at fires, so this week's blaze hasn't fazed them.

It seems like a good and straightforward idea: create a seamless fare system that would let L.A. County transit riders use the same pass to board trains and buses. But a decade after the MTA began the effort, the cost has nearly doubled and completion remains far in the future.

We'll have the latest from the Ventura County fire and the protests on the UC campuses, and we'll bring you other news as it happens.

-- Nita Lelyveld

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