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What's open, closed for Cesar Chavez Day Friday is Cesar Chavez Day, a legal holiday in California but not a federal holiday. Here's a roundup of what's open and what's closed: Government: Courts are closed. Most state offices will be closed. Federal and DMV offices will be open. Most county offices are open. Mail: The U.S. Postal Service will deliver mail. Universities: University of California, Irvine, and California State University, Fullerton, are closed. Transit: OCTA buses and Metrolink trains will run on a regular schedule. Banks: Banks and financial markets will be open. Events: At noon Saturday, the 12th annual...

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 460,000 (week ending 4/3/2010) the Labor Department said. The prior week was adjusted to reflect 442,000 initial claims versus the previously reported 439,000. A Labor Department official attributed the rise in claims to seasonal volatility, mainly from the Easter holiday (a.k.a Easter Bunny) and noted there were shutdowns in two states. A holiday on March 31 in California (Cesar Chavez Day) also had an effect on claims, he said. Wanted By The Department of Labor... Easter Bunny and Cesar Chavez.

Obama, who has struggled to overcome Clinton's significant advantage among Latino voters in state after state, sought to one-up his rival for the Democratic presidential nod by joining the call for creating a national holiday to commemorate the father of the United Farm Workers. "That's why I support the call to make Cesar Chavez's birthday a national holiday. It's time to recognize the contributions of this American icon to the ongoing efforts to perfect our union." Eight states commemorate Chavez' birthday in some fashion. In California, all state offices are closed, but local government facilities and public schools are open....

LOS ANGELES -- High school students said they planned to walk out of school at schools across the Southland on Friday, to demand that Cesar Chavez Day be declared a national holiday. Shortly before 8 a.m., dozens of students could be seen leaving the campus of Roosevelt High School, at 456 South Mathews St., and continuing in an orderly procession. "Scattered walkouts" were reported at other schools in Los Angeles, NBC4's Justin Jaeger said at 8:30 a.m...

HUNTINGTON PARK - Waving Mexico flags and wearing white T-shirts denoting peace, several hundred high school students walked out of class Monday as protests against an immigration crackdown continued on California's Cesar Chavez Day. Students climbed over a chain-link fence at Huntington Park High School to join marchers in this Hispanic and heavily immigrant community south of downtown Los Angeles. The school had locked the gates after classes started. At least 800 students walked out from at least eight schools ranging from the San Fernando Valley to the wealthy coastal enclave of Pacific Palisades, said Monica Carazo, spokeswoman for the...