California -- State of Emergency

Smoke cleared from weekend wildfires, allowing Southern Californians to see the damage. "At least 155 homes are lost and 104 damaged as recovery begins," The Orange County Register reported. In an interesting juxtaposition, the newspaper printed a reference to outdoors coverage atop the fire coverage: "Return to life."

The Los Angeles Times detailed damage and explained how fire spreads despite care taken by homeowners: "The small spark of a disaster." The Daily News of Los Angeles pictured residents who returned to damaged or destroyed homes.

The Santa Barbara News-Press devoted its entire page to the disaster with photos of "Treasure out of Rubble," the story of a young couple seriously burned and a report of arson charges pending.

While a number of newspapers in the region pictured smoldering ruins, photos of an active fire remained on The Signal in Santa Clarita.

Show and Tell at the White House

The Des Moines Register called it "show-and-tell day." President-Elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, visited President and Laura Bush at the White House on Monday. AP called the visit "a striking symbol of the transfer of power to come."

So how did news organizations share the visit?

In the San Francisco Chronicle, a photo of Obama and Bush was accompanied by photos from White House visits by presidents-elect in 1960, 1968, 1980 and 1992.

A White House photo that gave the feel of being in the Oval Office appeared on front pages, including The Plain Dealer of Cleveland. "Nice to meet you, Mr. President," the headline said. The Plain Dealer used a New York Times story, which noted it was Obama's first visit to the Oval Office. But Obama has been to the White House before, an experience he wrote about in one of his books.

How did you play the story?

Making History

Many of today's front pages conveyed the history that was made in the presidential election. "History" was, in fact, the banner headline in today's Palm Beach (Fla.) Post and Indianapolis Star. The Los Angeles Times reported the size of Obama's victory, “Decisive victory makes history,” and noted he “wins a solid mandate and a fortified Democratic majority in Congress.”

A patriotic nameplate topped the Asbury Park Press in Neptune, N.J. The word “Obama” and a special graphic treatment were signals of the significance of the news.

"The Dream Comes True," declared the Great Falls (Mont) Tribune.