Governor slashes jobs/pay

- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday, trying to avoid a "full-blown" financial crisis in California, eliminated thousands of part-time and temporary positions and ordered that up to 200,000 state workers receive the federal minimum wage.AP in the Daily News.

His signing of the executive order had been expected since last week but is a stark illustration of the cash problem facing the nation's most populous state.

Lawmakers have yet to agree on a spending plan a month after the state's fiscal year began, leaving California without the ability to pay contractors, the higher education system and legislative employees.