Thursday morning headlines

Weak April retail sales: Some economists had been afraid of this - perhaps a harbinger to a consumer spending slowdown (though we’ve heard that one before). There are a bunch of reasonable explanations for the poor results, including a colder-than-normal April and an earlier-than-usual Easter that pushed sales into the March reporting period. But for some chains the numbers missed already weak expectations. Wal-Mart sales fell 3.5 percent, the worst monthly drop in 27 years. Two chains that reported sales increases: Saks and Costco (that tells you something about the economy). The market is down 40 points in the first 90 minutes of trading. Bloomberg

Yawn - grocery talks resume: But we're finally getting some details on the discussions over health care coverage - and even the supermarket chains are starting to yap. Ralphs said it's offering a much improved health insurance plan that would tap $500 million from the health benefit trust fund and $1 billion in employer contributions. Also, the president of Vons said that the union and the three chains have tentatively agreed "to make significant improvements to the health benefits our employees would receive." But Rick Icaza, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770, said that if the chains' health care idea went forward, "we would be out of money before the contract runs out." So there you go. The LAT reports that the chains have agreed to reduce the 12- or 18-month waiting period for health insurance to six months. Talks resume next week.

Albrecht's police report: It ain't pretty. The Vegas cops who spotted the now-ousted head of HBO said that he had grabbed his companion (ID'd as 37-year-old Karla Jensen) around the neck so hard that he left red marks, and that they had to physically break his grip to free her. Police said Albrecht was unsteady on his feet, reeked of alcohol and said of the woman, "She pissed me off." He also was sure to inform the police that he was the CEO of HBO. The NY Daily News reported that Jensen had been a correspondent for HBO and Telemundo. LAT

JetBlue at LAX?: That's one of the possibilities being talked about at the fast-growing discount carrier, as it looks to compete with Southwest for more of the California market. Long Beach, which was where the airline got its start in Socal, is pretty much maxed out on space and Burbank's short runways make longer flights a problem. No specific timetables, but a move to L.A. could represent quite a shakeup. Meanwhile, JetBlue announced that founder David Neeleman would be stepping down as CEO. He'll stay on as nonexecutive chairman, which means he's really taking a back seat on operations. The changes were prompted by the board.Press-Enterprise

Pinkberry controversy: No, it's not about the lines sneaking out of its West Hollywood store, but about whether the stuff should be classified as frozen yogurt. A spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture tells the LAT that you can't call it frozen yogurt unless it's mixed off-site and delivered as frozen yogurt - and Pinkberry is mixed in-store. The Pinkberry people say that their competitors are just stirring up trouble.

This week, a civil suit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court by L.A. resident Bryan Williams, 48, who contends that Pinkberry's powdered mix lacks the "good" bacteria cultures found in yogurt. "For lack of a better word, it's just dessert," said Williams' attorney, Michael Amir. "We're just asking for them to … tell the public the truth." Williams, a legal recruiter who lives in West Hollywood, could not be reached for comment, but Amir says his client is a health-conscious guy with no affiliation to any Pinkberry competitor. Mary Glarum, another attorney for Williams, said: "We're not asking for punitive damages…. The goal is to just have them come clean about what they're doing so that people can make an informed decision when they buy the product."

Univision's citizenship drive: The L.A.-based Spanish-language media giant is backing a massive campaign to get millions of eligible Hispanic residents to become U.S. citizens. This, of course, could have big-time influence come election time, especially with most of the Republican candidates pushing for tougher immigration laws. ""We feel that empowering our audience is good for Hispanics and the country," said Univision President Ray Rodriguez. "It's part of our relationship with viewers." Well, yeah, but it just so happens that Univision has just been sold to an investment group led by billionaire Haim Saban, who happens to be a huge supporter of Hillary Clinton. Now there’s probably no connection at all, but you can be sure that the immigrant-haters will make it a talking point. From the WSJ:

The citizenship drive began in January, when Univision's largest station -- Los Angeles's KMEX 34 -- began bombarding Southern California airwaves with a campaign designed to steer eligible viewers to become U.S. citizens. The impact was immediate: In Los Angeles and surrounding counties, the number of citizenship applications filed to the U.S. government more than doubled for the three months ended March 2007 compared with the same period last year. It typically takes six or seven months for green-card holders to complete the citizenship process. Now, the campaign is spreading quickly to big cities including Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Phoenix. After the yearlong campaign is complete, a second phase is slated for 2008 that will focus on getting the new citizens to register to vote. "I have never seen anything like it in my career. It's big," said Jane Arellano, a 39-year veteran of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services who is district director in L.A. According to a person close to the situation, the initiative was a factor in the agency's decision to extend the terms of 40 immigration adjudicators in the district whose contracts were due to end in January.

Apple stockholders meet: There will be calls today for having more of a voice in executive compensation and tightening up the rules for granting stock options - just common sense stuff that would make Apple less of a Jobs fiefdom. Three labor unions holding Apple stock in pension funds are proposing that options to be priced on the day they are granted and that bonuses be tied to the company's stock performance. In order to pass, each proposal must be voted on by a majority of shareholders and receive 50 percent of those votes. That won't happen, but the numbers might be uncomfortably close. TheStreet.com

ExxonMobil to pay $250,000 fine: It's for the release of toxic gas at its Torrance oil refinery in March. The plant issued a controlled shutdown and released gases into flares. Word of the fine came in the oil giant's quarterly SEC filing, which also discloses that ExxonMobil will be required to spend up to $2 million on supplemental environmental projects to make up for the March incident. A company spokeswoman said there's no indication that the emissions had reached ground level. Daily Breeze