California's 3rd District Court of Appeal just struck down Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's ballot initiative transferring congressional redistricting powers from the State Legislature to an independent panel of retired judges. In siding with state Attorney General Bill Lockyer's petition to ditch the measure, the court found that initiative supporters had circulated two differently worded versions of the new law in their petitions to get it on the ballot. The governor insists that "people knew they were signing for reform, and they deserve to get it." He also noted that he would soon be sending the governor of the future back into our own time to circulate a single standardized wording--and to re-impregnate Lockyer's mother, just for good measure. --HOLLY MARTINS

Appeals Court Keeps Schwarzenegger's Redistricting Plan Off Ballot [SF Chronicle]