Deep Xanadu-doo

But at the real Xanadu, William Randolph Hearst's legacy of power and influence appears destined to live on. What the Hearst Corp. wants, it will most likely get, in some form. Those on both sides of the battle agree that Hearst's name alone is enough to vault their fight to national prominence. "I believe if you didn't have the name Hearst in it, it wouldn't be nearly a fight," says county Supervisor Mike Ryan.

It shouldn't be surprising that the company Hearst created is intent on bending the state's coastal preservation laws to its own ends. If he were still alive, Hearst might have done the bending himself. But would Hearst have gone to so much trouble, exercised so much influence, just to be able to stare down from his hilltop Xanadu at a bunch of golfers?