Wednesday morning headlines

Dow over 9700: Less than 300 points from 10,000? Some still say it's too good to be true.

Health care plan released: This is the so-called Baucus compromise that has become the de-facto blueprint for reform. Except there's one problem: Already not many folks seem to like it. No public option in this one.(NYT)

Council ponders shortfall: Chamber puts off a decision on the union-supported early retirement plan that won't save nearly as much money as first thought - and could lead to a huge deficit. (Daily News)

Water police not needed: L.A. energy czar S. David Freeman tells Emily Green's Chance of Rain that only a few folks are not complying with the city's water conservation efforts. "If you look at the percentage of people who pay all the income tax correctly, we're probably doing better," he says.

White Collar cases faltering: Lots of buzz about whether the U.S. Attorney's Office in SF is capable of handling high-profile complex criminal prosecutions. From the Daily Journal:

Its critics say the office has fouled up several prominent cases, including the prosecution of San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds on perjury charges, the years-long influence peddling investigation of former state Sen. Don Perata that was closed with no charges and meek prosecutions of energy market manipulation. Its prosecutions of technology company executives for backdating stock options ground to an end earlier this year with only two convictions - one of them overturned on appeal.

Bloomberg in the lead?: The media giant has the inside track on Business Week, according to the NY Post's Keith Kelly, though Bev Hills-based Platinum Equities and a few other bidders are still believed to be interested.

All in the chicken feet: China threatening to cut off imports of American poultry? Not a likely bet, considering how the Chinese go ga-ga over those juicy paws. From the NYT:

About half of the chicken parts sold to China are wings and feet, which are worth only a few cents a pound in the United States. As delicacies in China, they fetch 60 cents to 80 cents a pound, a price that no other foreign market comes close to matching, according to industry experts. [Paul W. Aho, a poultry economist and consultant,] said the big chicken feet result from the American preference for white chicken meat. A bird bred for big breasts is necessarily bred to have big, strong feet and legs, he said. The United States is by far the world's leading supplier of king-size chicken feet.

Leno's ratings: First night brings in 18.4 million viewers, but NBC will be thrilled with much lower numbers tuning in on a regular basis.