California Roundup: eMeg On Top, Ex-Gay Overturned, Pot Shortage, and More

* Rasmussen bids up Meg Whitman: In a new poll, the former eBay executive turned Republican candidate for governor has an eight-point lead over Attorney General Jerry Brown. Whitman's 48 percent to Brown's 40 percent prompts Rasmussen to change its estimate of the governor's race from "toss up" to "leans GOP."

* Land of Nuts and Fruits can't cure teh ghey: A 60-year-old law instructing the state to research a cure for homosexuality will be eliminated by a bill currently on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk. The bill leaves intact the mandate for the state to seek "ways to identify potential sex offenders."

* You can have my plastic bag when you peel it off my cold, dead head: American Chemistry Council, hot off its recent TV ad, is showering politicians with money to fight Assembly Bill 1998, the plastic bag ban. Sac Bee's Dan Morain explains how the ban will rook grocery store customers.

* After eight weeks, lawmakers have given up even pretending they're close to a deal on the budget.

* L.A. weed scare: New Los Angeles ordinance would put most of the city's marijuana dispensaries out of business. Of 169 dispensaries that applied to stay open under the law, only 41 have passed the city's restrictive test. The city attorney is suing to shut down the ineligibles. A prominent dispensary owner says the city has "screwed up one thing after another" -- including in this case its obligation to make sure at least 70 pot shops stay open.