LOS ANGELES

Union writers OK'd for Spirit Awards

The Spirit Awards will go on as planned amid uncertainties surrounding other awards shows because of the writers strike.

The Writers Guild of America said in a statement Thursday it is allowing its members to work for the show honoring independent films. That's because the producers of the Spirit Awards asked for permission before the strike began seven weeks ago.

The strike has cast a cloud over Hollywood's awards season. The guild has denied a request from Golden Globe organizers to allow striking writers to work on the ceremony. The union probably would do the same if and when Oscar organizers come asking for guild members to write for their show.

The Spirit Awards will be presented Feb. 23, the day before the Academy Awards.

LOS ANGELES

Odds of space rock hitting Mars narrow

Mars could be in for an asteroid hit.

A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a 1 in 75 chance of slamming into the Red Planet on Jan. 30, scientists said Thursday.

The asteroid, known as 2007 WD5, was discovered in late November and is similar in size to the Tunguska object that hit remote central Siberia in 1908, unleashing energy equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb that wiped out 60 million trees.

Scientists tracking the asteroid, which is halfway to Mars, initially put the odds of impact at 1 in 350 and increased the chances this week after analyzing the data. Scientists expect the odds to diminish again early next month after getting new observations of the asteroid's orbit, said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

SAN RAFAEL

Deadlines tightened for parole backlog

A judge on Thursday set tight deadlines for the California Board of Parole Hearings to eliminate a massive backlog of prison inmates awaiting their chance at parole.

Marin County Superior Court Judge Verna Adams ordered the board to complete a plan by Feb. 1, 2008, that would clear up what parole-eligible inmates argue is thousands of case backlogs by June 1, 2009.

Adams also ordered the parole board to implement a number of new procedures that would increase inmates' access to attorneys and streamline psychiatric evaluations.

"This is a great first step," said Keith Wattley, and attorney with UnCommon Law, a small Oakland firm representing the inmates.

—From wire reports