Morning Buzz: Monday 5.11.09

• An appeals court in Iran freed journalist Roxana Saberi from prison. CNN, NPR, LAT
• The Service Employees International Union was included on a conference call between the Obama Administration and California officials to work out terms of the stimulus package. LAT
• With state tax revenue falling below expectations, the budget faces new big cuts this month regardless of what happens in the May 19 election. Sacto Bee
• Some 300,000 California immigrants became U.S. citizens last year, hastening the ethnic transformation of the state's political landscape. LAT
• Why voters really, really hate the state budget propositions on the ballot. CalBuzz
• The Daily News re-endorses Carmen Trutanich and David Vahedi, saying "city government desperately needs some new blood." DN
• Trying to parse contributions to Jack Weiss that the city Ethics Commission determined were improper. LAT
• Orlov's Tipoffs: City budget this week, billboards and Supes on Twitter and YouTube. DN
• Sam Rubin has the secret to "Star Trek's" big box office: "It doesn't matter if avid Trekkers loved the new version. It doesn't matter if most young audiences couldn't pick DeForest Kelley; (The original Dr. McCoy), out of a line-up. What matters is simply this. The new 'Star Trek' movie was good, really good; and that is such a rare thing in Hollywood these days." KTLA
• In the Victor Heights neighborhood west of Chinatown, peafowl are still welcome. LAT
• A 23-year-old woman died when her car jumped the curb and hit the statue of former Times publisher Harrison Gray Otis in MacArthur Park. LAT
• Dana Goodyear profiles Fred Franzia, owner of the Central Valley’s Bronco Wine Co., "the fourth-largest winery in the United States and the largest purveyor of 'extreme value' wines, such as the Charles Shaw brand." The New Yorker
• Patt Morrison put Saturday questions to Hugh Hefner, about aging and other topics. LAT Op-Ed
• Former LAT sports writer Jonathan Abrams, who now covers the NBA for The New York Times, takes questions from readers on line this week. NYT

Monday headlines at LA Biz Observed