Tuesday morning headlines

Minimum wage agreement: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic lawmakers have cut a deal to give California the nation's highest minimum wage, at $8 an hour. The compromise does not include automatic increases tied to the inflation rate - something Democrats pressed for but Schwarzenegger rejected. The compromise is not great news for the state's restaurant industry, which had been lobbying against the higher minimum.

Another downtown deal: Developers keep buying up parcels adjacent to the Staples Center complex. The Moinian Group, a large privately held real estate firm, announced plans to build two condominium towers, along with the requisite shops and restaurants, across the street from the arena - and across the street diagonally from the $2.5-billion LA Live development under construction north of Staples. The land, sold by Staples owner Anschutz Entertainment Group, was going to be developed as housing by KB Home and Lennar Corp. That plan unraveled when KB formed a partnership with AEG to develop a hotel and condo tower at LA Live.

Investment group sold: Barrington Associates, a Brentwood-based investment bank that arranges sales of companies with annual revenues of between $25 million and $1 billion - that's small to medium-sized in today's world - is being bought by Wells Fargo & Co. Barrington, which will keep its name, takes over all merger and acquisition work for Wells.

Gateway revival?: The computer company that's been in turnaround mode for as long as I can remember might be in for more changes. An investment group has taken a 10 percent stake in the Irvine-based company and intends to work with management to improve margins and look for a new CEO. Yes, it's the same Gateway that was a high-flying PC maker in the 1990s, but has since fallen on hard times.

Now this is a hit: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" has become only the seventh movie ever released to reach the $400 million mark in domestic grosses. In case you forgot, the all-time box office champ is "Titanic," which took in $600.8 million. After that comes "Star Wars" ($460.0 million) and then "Shrek 2" ($441.2 million).

Housing surge: It might seem hard to believe, but L.A. County added nearly 20,000 new housing units between July 2004 and July 2005, according to Census data - sixth highest in the nation. (Maricopa, Ariz. was tops at 52,203.) Much of the action still occurred in outlying areas of the county, where there's still land available, but there's been stepped up activity in the more urban, in-fill areas. Statewide, 182,000 units were added, second only to Florida.

South Bay development: Rockefeller Group Development Corp. has bought 23 acres in Torrance and wants to build an office and retail project worth more than $100 million. The property abuts a Costco and the Torrance Crossroads shopping center. It's one of six deals Rockefeller has closed in Southern California this year.

Hollywood Q&A: The talent agency business is still buzzing over ICM's purchase of boutique shop Broder Webb Chervin Silbermann. ICM CEO Jeff Berg and BWCS managing partner Chris Silbermann talk about the deal and how Hollywood's business landscape has changed.

Buying a car?: Never mind the new television season - the new car season is just around the corner, and it's expected to be the busiest ever, with 61 new vehicles hitting the market. That compares to an average of 35 a year between 1987 and 2006. Not surprisingly, the premium end of the market will be especially competitive, with Lexus, BMW and Audi all trumpeting new models. There's also a new version of the Mini Cooper. (Subscription required).

Falling gas prices: The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles Area was $3.197 for the week ended August 21, down five cents from the previous week. L.A. prices are 43 cents higher than they were a year ago.

Lacter on KPCC: This morning's business chat with Steve Julian (6:55 and 9:55) covered the economic effects of the C-17 shutdown, L.A. tourism this summer, the financial problems at Cheesecake Factory and the Tower Records bankruptcy filing. Audio should be available later today.