Morning headlines

End of the line?: BusinessWeek is reporting that Boeing Co. will send out notices to suppliers on Friday telling them to stop producing certain parts for the C-17, which Socal legislators are trying to keep going. Notices would go first to those suppliers who make the parts with the longest lead times, such as landing gear. This is the first step in shutting the assembly line. Meanwhile, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked President Bush to lobby Congress to keep the program, warning that 22,000 jobs are at stake in 42 states - 5,700 jobs in Long Beach.

Gas hikes legit: The spike in pump prices last spring was not the result of market manipulation, according to a report by the California Energy Commission. The report, which had been ordered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, blamed an unusually high number of refineries that were closed, congestion at seaports and the price hike of a key ingredient used to make the state's gas. Consumer groups are already pooh-poohing the findings, noting that the oil companies are manipulating the refining process. Here's the full report.

Toyota tops: It's no surprise that the Japanese automaker sells more cars in California than anyone else, but the margin turns out to be huge. The California Motor Car Dealers Association reported that 23.4 percent of all cars sold in the state in the second quarter were Toyotas. Trailing well behind in second place was Honda, at 12.4 percent. After that came Ford, Chevy and Nissan.

"What if?" scenario: A 10-kiloton nuclear bomb that goes off at the Port of Long Beach would kill 60,000 people and cost over $1 trillion in medical care, insurance claims, workers' compensation, evacuation and construction, according to a Rand Corp. report. That would pretty much put the local economy out of commission. The report's author stressed that the chances of a nuclear attack are pretty small, but responding to the grim conclusions, Rep. Jane Harman, D-El Segundo, called for improved port security.

Morning Web 2.0 report: This time it's CBS, which plans to post episodes of "CSI," "Survivor" and other popular shows on its broadband channel Innertube right after they're shown on the network. Innertube is an ad-supported broadband channel that also features original series produced for the Internet.

Another housing report: Southern California home sales (we're talking the six-county region) fell 27 percent in July, with Ventura and Orange Counties showing the biggest declines. Prices rose 4.9 percent, the slowest year-over-year increase in six years, according to numbers from DataQuick Information Systems.

Tribune update: The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) is reporting that investor Nelson Peltz, who bought a 1.2 percent stake in Tribune Co., contacted the militant Chandler family in May, and discussed "the potential value of breaking up the media concern." No specifics about the conversation, but the Chandlers have wanted to break up Tribune, which owns the Los Angeles Times.

Disney phones: The Journal's electronics guru Walter Mossberg takes a look at those new Disney cellphones and finds them easy to operate and able to set restrictions on usage - something parents might consider important. The downside is that it involves either switching carriers - often a hassle - or having to take on a new phone contract. By the way, Disney is not really in the cellphone business - it just rents big blocks of capacity on the existing networks and resells the minutes.

Lawsuit tossed: A federal judge dismissed claims by a Rancho Palos Verdes community activist that more than $100 million in federal funds were improperly used to support a container terminal on Pier 400 at the Port of Los Angeles. Sounds like the dismissal was based on technical grounds - the activist, Stanley Mosler, had no attorney representing him and the judge said he couldn't litigate the case himself.