Friday morning headlines

We're keeping it light on this pre-holiday Friday.

Stocks little changed: Employment report isn't doing much for the market. Dow up slightly in early trading.

Labor Day Travel: Expect the numbers to be down from last year, which saw an unusually large number of holiday travelers. Another reason for the dropoff is the lateness of the holiday this year. (Auto Club)

Stable gas prices: An average gallon of regular in the L.A. area is $3.022 per gallon, according to the Auto Club, about a penny and a half lower than last week, but also 84 cents less than last year.

LB Hilton workers clash: Pro-union supporters were pushing to boycott the hotel because of a lack of progress in moving toward unionization. Also at the rally were anti-union workers supporting the hotel's side. From the Press-Telegram:

Pro-union workers who say a formation of a union will compel management to pay them living wages and provide affordable health care are imploring the community not to come to the Hilton. "We are here calling for this boycott for our families, to fight for a better future for them," said Long Beach resident Elizabeth Martinez, a 12-year Hilton server about to lose her home and unable to afford to send her son Gabriel, 3, to preschool.

Macerich sells Denver mall: The struggling Santa Monica-based real estate company wants to pare down its debt by selling stakes in its malls. Latest sale is the FlatIron Crossing Mall. (WSJ)

Nasty claims in Broadcom case: Newly released documents in the divorce of company co-founder Henry T. Nicholas III reveal harsh battles with his former wife, Stacey, involving alleged drug use and her relationship with the family's security chief. The files were released after two years of efforts by the LAT.

The records that the Nicholas family fought to keep private included allegations of drug use by both parties. In one filing, Stacey Nicholas accused Henry Nicholas of abusing cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy and said she should be awarded primary custody of the couple's three children as a result. She said Henry Nicholas' drug use was one of the reasons she had sought to end the couple's marriage. To support those claims, Stacey Nicholas submitted a declaration from the Nicholas family security officer, Timothy Langan.

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Henry Nicholas' attorneys also claimed in court documents that Langan had become romantically involved with Stacey Nicholas. A spokesman for Stacey Nicholas said Thursday that the relationship did not begin until after the incident with the fanny pack.