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'In-N-Out' hometown bans new drive-through restaurants

BALDWIN PARK, Calif. — The birthplace of California's drive-through craze has had its fill of fast food restaurants.

Amid complaints of obesity and lines of idled cars stretching into neighborhood streets, this blue-collar town is banning new drive-throughs in hopes of shedding its reputation as a haven for convenient, fatty foods.

It's an ironic development for a community that proudly claims to have opened California's first drive-through restaurant more than 60 years ago — a little joint named, appropriately enough, In-N-Out.

"We here in Baldwin Park have taken strides to create a healthy community, and allowing one more drive-through in is not going to meet that goal," said Baldwin Park city planner Salvador Lopez, who helped craft the ordinance that takes effect Fourth of July weekend. More

Worm-poop claims fertile grounds for lawsuit

Are worm feces fertilizer or pesticide? For Encinitas entrepreneur George Hahn, it's the $100,000 question.

Hahn says his Worm Gold, Worm Gold Plus and Tree Rescue Solution, which are primarily made from worm castings, enrich the soil and enable plants to repel bugs. But the California Department of Pesticide Regulation says that claim makes Worm Gold a pesticide, and Hahn has failed to get government approval to sell the products as pesticides.

Last year, the pesticide department fined Hahn $100,000 for not getting approval. It has put that penalty on hold pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed in Sacramento County Superior Court. The suit was filed on his behalf by the free market-oriented Pacific Legal Foundation, and is to be heard July 30 by Judge Timothy M. Frawley. The First Amendment right to free speech is at stake, says the foundation, because Hahn is making a truthful claim. More

Santa Clara County Bans Fast Food Toy Giveaways

County officials in Silicon Valley trying to curb childhood obesity voted Tuesday to ban restaurants from giving away toys and other freebies that often come with high-calorie meals aimed at kids. The ordinance is largely symbolic as it would only cover unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County, meaning only about a dozen fast-food outlets and several other family-owned restaurants would be affected.

But its chief sponsor says it's still important because it paves the way for other areas to act, may spur action by fast-food chains to offer healthier choices and can help parents by taking away a child's incentive for wanting less healthy food. More

CARB’s punitive approach

Failing to file a report. That’s it. That’s all Nor-Cal Produce in West Sacramento did. And in late March it cost the small, family-run fruit and vegetable wholesaler $32,550.

“The California Air Resources Board [CARB] last month came to terms with a West Sacramento, Calif. produce company for $32,550 for failing to submit its TRU facility report,” stated a March 30, 2010 CARB press release which called the case a matter of “diesel emissions violations.” “ARB investigators found that NorCal Produce did not submit the required facility report by the 2006 deadline, as required by the transport refrigeration unit [TRU] air toxic control measure [ATCM].”

Of course, the company was actually facing $43,400 in penalties (or more) but qualified for a 25 percent discount because of, as CARB spokesman Dimitri Stanich put it, “cooperative actions on the part of the business.” More

California Mexican Americans protest students wearing American flag on Cinco de Mayo

The fallout is continuing in California following an incident in which five students were sent home for wearing shirts with the American on Cinco de Mayo Wednesday.

The incident happened at the Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, about an hour south of San Francisco.

On Thursday, May 6, about 50 students, many carrying the Mexican flag, walked out of classes. The students told reporters that they thought it was disrespectful for the students to wear the American flag on their shirts while others were celebrating Cinco de Mayo.

The school's principal claimed the students wearing the flag was a safety issue because it could spark fights between students.

Others called the school hypocritical because dozens of students wore the colors of the Mexican flag but they were not sent home. More

Marijuana legalization will be on California ballot

A California voter initiative that would legalize possession and sale of marijuana has qualified for the November ballot, state election officials said on Wednesday, in what supporters called a "watershed moment" for their cause.

Passage of the measure, by no means certain, would make California the first U.S. state to legalize marijuana.

Backers believe the state could be at the vanguard of a national movement toward decriminalizing the drug.

"This is a watershed moment in the decades-long struggle to end marijuana prohibition in this country," said Stephen Gutwillig, California director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which has spearheaded the ballot initiative.

"Banning marijuana outright has been a disaster, fueling a massive, increasingly brutal underground economy, wasting billions in scarce law enforcement resources and making criminals out of countless law-abiding citizens," he said. More

California 35th Among All States in Maternal Mortality

In releasing a new report on maternal health nationwide, Amnesty International today revealed that flaws and shocking disparities in maternal health care that the government is ignoring lead to two to three women dying daily in the United States from pregnancy-related complications, with half of these deaths believed preventable, according to the Centers for Disease Control. A state-by-state examination shows that California is 35th on a maternal mortality ranking, with 11.3 deaths per 100,000 live births.

The new Amnesty International report, Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA, also reveals that severe pregnancy-related complications that nearly cause death -- known as "near misses" -- are rising at an alarming rate, increasing by 25 percent since 1998; currently nearly 34,000 women annually experience a "near miss" during delivery. With a lifetime risk of maternal deaths that is greater than in 40 other countries, including virtually all of the industrialized countries, the United States has failed to reverse the two-decade upward trend in preventable maternal deaths, despite pledges to do so. More

Anti-Gay Cali Politician cited for DUI after leaving gay bar

An anti-gay California state senator was placed under arrest for drunk driving after leaving a gay bar. A male passenger was in the vehicle along with the lawmaker was not arrested, reported Sacramento CBS affiliate Channel 13.

State Sen. Roy Ashburn was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol at about 2:00 a.m. on March 3 when his state-issued vehicle was observed being driven erratically. The driver, identified as Ashburn, was taken in and charged for driving under the influence. Channel 13 reported that unidentified sources said the senator had been at Faces, a popular gay nightspot, prior to his arrest.

In a March 4 article, the online news site Talking Points Memo characterized Ashburn, who is married and has four children, as "a fierce opponent of gay rights" who had led anti-marriage equality rallies.

Ashburn issued a contrite apology, stating, "I am deeply sorry for my actions and offer no excuse for my poor judgment. I accept complete responsibility for my conduct and am prepared to accept the consequences for what I did." More

California’s Economy: Worse Than Originally Thought

The Great Recession’s impact on California’s job market is worse than analysts originally thought. The state has lost nearly 1.4 million jobs since the recession began in California in July 2007, according to revised data from the Employment Development Department.

That’s 339,000 more jobs lost than the data suggested prior to the recent revisions. If it’s hard to fathom this hole in the job market, consider this: Losing 1.4 million jobs is equivalent to losing the entire population of Sacramento County.

In fact, California now has about the same number of jobs as it did 11 years ago, when the state was home to 3.6 million fewer working-age individuals.

This means that the Great Recession has wiped out an entire decade of job growth, while the number of individuals who want jobs has continued to grow. More

State Senate Passes Medicare for All Legislation

To ecstatic applause from healthcare advocates, the California Senate today breathed new life into national prospects for fundamental health reform by passing on a 22 to 14 vote a major bill to guarantee healthcare in the state through creating a Medicare for all system that would cover every Californian.

SB 810, The California Universal Healthcare Act, authored by Sen. Mark Leno and sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU), with broad support among many healthcare, community, and labor groups, will now proceed to a vote by the Assembly, which has passed similar legislation in the past. The bill would establish a single-payer system in California, modeled on the healthcare systems flourishing in virtually all other industrialized nations, where better patient outcomes are achieved at a fraction of the cost of the U.S. system.

“It is unclear what the prospects are for health reform at the national level,” said CNA co-president Geri Jenkins, RN, “but this vote offers California the chance to chart a new course for the nation. SB 810 will guarantee healthcare for every family through a humane system that controls costs and allows patients and their doctors -- not insurance agents -- to make decisions about healthcare,” said Jenkins. “People will pay less, and no longer be denied care based on their income, age, location, or pre-existing health conditions.” More

Rise of the Tire Nazis

CARB is proposing to require every repair dealer to check the inflation of every tire during repair to improve mpg for all vehicles which, in theory, is meritorious.

However (the) regs. CARB’s pushing through provides that the only times that consumers may decline a check and inflate service—they can never decline the service if it’s offered for free—is when they are charged for services AND if they can PROVE (with DOCUMENTATION!) that they’ve had their tires checked and inflated in the last 30 days, or if they WILL do so within the next week. It is unclear, but possible, that CARB could take enforcement action against the consumer if they don’t follow through with their promise?!

Unless (Automotive Service Providers) offer the (tire check/inflation) service for free to the consumer and the consumer accepts it, the regulation would have the effect of either forcing the ASPs to check tires without the consent of the consumer in violation of the ... Automotive Repair Act, or force ASPs to refuse to provide any repair services at all to the consumer. More

New Year, New Laws: California's 2010 Rulebook

On January 1 many new laws will go into effect in California. A whole alphabet of them, in fact, according to the Merced Sun-Star's A-Z list. A scan of the list elicits a variety of responses -- from relief to head-scratching. Here's a sampling, as categorized by us.

Law SB 572 designates May 22nd as Harvey Milk Day and requires schools to observe the birth date of the assassinated gay rights leader as a "day of special significance."

AB 305 puts people in jail if they are convicted of failing to report oil spills, or lying about them.

AB 1015 makes it a misdemeanor to sell or give nitrous oxide -- aka "laughing gas" -- to a minor.

Law SB 527 will allow the operation of bikes without seats on state roads, as long as the bike was built that way on purpose. SB 609 will extend a law that allows the importation of products made with alligator and crocodile parts. SB 135 makes it a misdemeanor to chop off a cow's tail, except for when it's medically necessary. More

Schwarzenegger Seeks Obama’s Help for Deficit Relief

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, anticipating a $21 billion state budget deficit, plans to ask President Barack Obama to ease mandates and minimums on social programs to save as much as $8 billion.

The Republican governor plans to seek the relief, according to a California official who asked not to be identified because details haven’t been resolved. Instead of seeking one-time stimulus money or a bailout, the most-populous U.S. state wants the federal government to reduce mandates and waive rules stipulating expenditures on programs such as indigent health care, the official said.

California is among states most affected by the economic recession. It has the lowest credit rating and recorded the nation’s second-highest rate of home foreclosures, trailing only Nevada.

Unemployment peaked at 12.5 percent in October amid the loss of 687,700 jobs from the year before, when the jobless figure was 8 percent. Wealth declined as the stock market lost 40 percent of its value in 2008. More

New Year's Eve Fireworks At San Diego Bay Canceled

SAN DIEGO - The annual New Year's Eve fireworks show over San Diego Bay has been canceled after an environmental group threatened to sue over pollution concerns, it was announced Tuesday.

The cancellation comes after the Coast Law Group, on behalf of the nonprofit Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation, sent a notice of intent to file a Clean Water Act lawsuit against the Port of San Diego over fireworks shows on the bay.

The port and San Diego Port Tenants Association sponsor the annual shows.

The notice stated that firework displays on New Year's Eve and the Fourth of July release "substantial amounts of pollution into San Diego Bay" in violation of the Clean Water Act. More

'Cool' car rules could affect radios, phones

California's latest requirement for the auto industry -- advanced window glazing to keep vehicles cooler -- could prevent drivers from making phone calls, listening to satellite radio or using garage door openers.

It also could lead Chrysler Group LLC to stop selling its soft-top convertible Jeep Wrangler in the Golden State. The standard for sunroofs is so tough that automakers warn the glass would have to be "effectively black."

The California Air Resources Board has adopted a new "Cool Cars" regulation ordering advanced glazing of windows to block the sun's heat and reduce the need for air conditioning. Windows must be coated with microscopic specks of metal oxide to reflect sunlight.

Advocates say the requirements will reduce the temperature inside vehicles, saving gasoline and cutting greenhouse gases. More

Non-Endangered Fish More Important than California Farmers

Water restrictions that were imposed by our Federal Government in order to protect a little fish called the Delta Smelt, is putting California farmers out of business. You’ve heard about this, right? The Delta Smelt is a little fish that lives abundantly in Asia. The tiny creature found its way over to America and landed in Southern California. The smelt’s habitat is the source of water pumped to 25 million people in Southern California and the Bay Area. The Department of Water Services has shut down pumping from the delta during the smelt’s most vulnerable times. This in turn, has left the farmers with no water to irrigate their fields, thus causing our American Farmers to lose their crops and to help raise the unemployment rate in the area to a whopping forty percent!

The fish has been placed on the endangered species list, but what is not being reported is that the fish thrives in Asia. We want to report that the Delta Smelt is not an endangered species, but it is more important than our own farmers. Our Government is allowing these California Farmers to lose their fields, their employees, their jobs and their very livelihood, all for the sake of a 2-3 inch long fish that is native to Asia. More

California to withhold a bigger chunk of paychecks

Starting Sunday, cash-strapped California will dig deeper into the pocketbooks of wage earners -- holding back 10% more than it already does in state income taxes just as the biggest shopping season of the year kicks into gear.

Technically, it's not a tax increase, even though it may feel like one when your next paycheck arrives. As part of a bundle of budget patches adopted in the summer, the state is taking more money now in withholding, even though workers' annual tax bills won't change.

Think of it as a forced, interest-free loan: You'll be repaid any extra withholding in April. Those who would receive a refund anyway will receive a larger one, and those who owe taxes will owe less.

But with rising gas costs, depressed home prices and double-digit unemployment, the state's added reach into residents' regular paycheck isn't sitting well with many. More

Lack of driver's license, no bar to getting insurance

No driver's license, no car insurance, right? Wrong.

Auto insurance companies have realized what other businesses, including banks and car dealers, have: Illegal immigrants represent a large and lucrative market.

That is especially true in the Golden State, where analysts say about a quarter of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants live.

Many of those immigrants work and are willing to pay a premium for car insurance, even if they are unlicensed. "We are not immune to accidents and it's the law," said Erica Avila, an undocumented immigrant in Escondido who has a car insurance policy. "We want to have whatever documents we can get." More

Two Northern California Salmon Rivers Go Dry As Spawning Season Begins

FORT JONES, Calif. - In the absence of action by responsible agencies, Klamath River advocates including Klamath Riverkeeper are mobilizing legal and grassroots responses to a water flow crisis of species -- exterminating proportions in the Scott and Shasta tributaries to the Klamath.

Flows in the Scott River bottomed out at an all time record low of less than one cubic foot per second (cfs) this week, according to a UnitedStates Geological Survey (USGS) flow gage at Fort Jones -- far below the average of 69 cfs for this time of year. Large areas of the river have gone completely dry, stranding endangered coho salmon as well as Chinook and steelhead in shallow, disconnected pools of water.

The adjacent Shasta River isn’t faring much better, with flows as low as 6 cubic feet per second, below its average of 30 cfs for this time of year. Both streams are critical fish habitat within the Klamath River watershed and are dewatered by excessive irrigation withdrawals in the Scott and Shasta Valleys of Northern California. More

Women, Children Raped In County's 'Most Dangerous Area'

SAN DIEGO - Authorities said a desolate corner of San Diego County may be its most violent area. It is so dangerous 10News crews had to put on bulletproof vests before entering the area near Boulevard.

"The violence in this area is so bad that a 12-year-old was raped to death," said Estela De Los Rios of the Center for Social Advocacy.

In the area, authorities said there are pieces of evidence left behind that serve as a grim reminder of the violence happening near the U.S.-Mexico border. More

CHP to Focus on Seatbelt Violators

SACRAMENTO - Buckle up, or prepare to pay up if you’re stopped by a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer on Thursday, September 17, 2009. Designated by the CHP as “Vehicle Occupant Restraint Day,” the statewide campaign allows officers on grant-funded overtime, to focus their attention specifically on people who fail to wear a seat belt when riding in a vehicle.

“Seat belts are your first line of defense against injuries or death,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “If you’re not buckled up during a crash, you could be thrown through a window or even crushed by a vehicle.”

More than 30 percent of all vehicle passengers killed statewide in 2007 and 2008 were not buckled up at the time of the collision. More

California Governor Holds Garage Sale on eBay, Craigslist

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that the state's Department of General Services has posted several surplus items - some signed by the Governor - for sale on eBay and Craigslist in preparation for the "Great California Garage Sale."

The idea stemmed from a "conversation" the governor had on Twitter using the #myidea4ca hashtag in which he asked the public for new ideas on the state budget.

"By posting items online, Californians and people from other states and around the world can participate in the Great California Garage Sale," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "This is a win-win for the state and for shoppers. Together we are eliminating waste and providing great deals in this tough economy. I encourage everyone to log on or attend this great event." More

Will Cali pull the plug on flat screen TVs?

California's flat energy demand is a point of much pride, and the rolling blackouts of the heady Enron days a matter of shame.

With that in mind, state regulators are considering pulling the plug on large flat-screen TVs that use exorbitant amounts of electricity (even when off).

The state's energy commission will unveil rules today that would limit manufacturers to selling more efficient models. The rules, if adopted, would mean that about a quarter of the models currently for sale would be pulled from stores.

Televisions account for 10 percent of residential electricity use, and the popularity of large flat-screen models jeopardizes California's long-term energy goals. More

California resort offers $19 'survivor' package

The recession is in full swing, and the travel industry is feeling it as well.

The Rancho Bernardo Inn, in San Diego and ranked #1 by Conde Naste in 2008, is offering a special with rooms for $19 a day. Sounds too good to be true right? Here’s the catch.

For $19 a night, guests get a room with a tent, and that’s about it. All other room amenities have been removed, include bedding, toilet paper, air conditioning, lights, and the regularly included breakfast has been eliminated.

The cool thing about this special is that it actually starts at $219 a night, and the price lowers depending on what the guests are willing to give up. For example, guests can take the regular $219 rate and get it for $199 by giving up breakfast.

That rate will go down to $179 without breakfast or the honor bar. Rate goes down to $159 without heat or air conditioning, and so on, until the rate hits a measly $19. More

California unemployment rate hits 11.9 percent

California's unemployment rate climbed to 11.9 percent in July, the highest number in modern record-keeping.

That's an increase from 11.6 percent in June and significantly higher than the jobless rate of 7.3 percent a year ago, state officials said Friday.

The Employment Development Department said California lost 35,800 jobs last month but noted it was the lowest monthly job loss total since August 2008. The state shed 66,100 jobs in June.

Stephen Levy, senior economist at the Palo Alto-based Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, said the decline was a sign the state is edging toward the end of the recession. More

State green power plan will cost consumers billions

Retired schoolteacher Sharon Reid and her husband, Dewitt, a retired Marine major, pay $170 in a typical month ---- and some months more than $230 ---- to cool and light their 2,000-square-foot, tri-level home in Vista.

Without making any changes in lifestyle, their electricity bill is likely to increase by $45 a month on average as California overhauls its power grid and tries to shift the source of one-third of its electricity from fossil fuels to green sources by 2020.

A new state report says California electricity rates will rise about 27 percent by 2020, with close to half the increase triggered by the switch to green energy.

Reid said she understands what the state is trying to do. "I do believe in green energy," she said, but "27 percent is a heck of a lot of money." More

Massive Squid Grabs San Diego Diver Underwater

Ever since the squid started washing up on San Diego beaches over the past week, scuba divers have been heading out to get a closer look. One woman got a much closer look than she wante

A night dive on Saturday lit up the underwater world for diver Shanda Magill -- octopus, sharks, and Humboldt squid -- the kind of sights you see once, and want to see again as soon as possible.

"Went out for another dive the next night, and that's where things kind of turned around," Magill said laughing. She was separated from her dive partners. More

State Prepares To Issue IOUs As Budget Deficit Worsens

California's controller will start paying many of the state's bills with IOUs as soon as Thursday after lawmakers failed to close the state's worsening budget deficit, adding a new measure of indignity to a state sinking deeper into dysfunction.

Lawmakers' failure to act on Tuesday, the end of the fiscal year, also widened California's deficit from what already had been a whopping $24.3 billion -- more than a quarter of its general fund. The growing shortfall can be attributed to the state's highly complex funding formula that boosts school funding each year.

The failure to balance the state's main checkbook and the looming IOUs prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday to declare a fiscal state of emergency. More

The Persian Conquest

The interior decor of Sam Nazarian’s $18.9 million mansion high above the Sunset Strip might be described as nightlife moderne. Glossy stone floors and glass walls are set off by glam touches like a Roy Lichtenstein print—This Must Be the Place, cheekily hung in the bathroom—and a black crystal chandelier. But what’s inside the Nazarian house is secondary to the view: the city of Los Angeles spread like a vast Persian carpet laid at Nazarian’s feet. It is, in more ways than one, a view from the top.

These days Nazarian hardly needs an introduction in Hollywood and Beverly Hills: At 33, he has built an empire that includes trendy nightclubs, an archipelago of restaurants and the flashy SLS Hotel, with further hotels planned for Miami and Las Vegas. His circle, however, extends well beyond the celebutantes courted by his businesses. Nazarian and his family, who like many Iranian Jews left Tehran during the 1979 revolution, are leaders of a powerful Persian Jewish elite in Beverly Hills. One hint of the community’s influence in Los Angeles is a framed commendation on Nazarian’s sitting room wall from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “I was one of his first supporters,” explains Nazarian. “We’re very, very close.” More

Class Action Wage and Hour Issues, False Imprisonment Described in California Complaint

SAN DIEGO - Giant retail chain Costco keeps something in its California warehouses that customers don't know about. According to a class action complaint filed today in California Superior Court in San Diego County, it's the company's hourly employees who have been forced to clock out of work and want to go home, but are routinely and regularly prevented from doing so.

Mary Pytelewski, a full-time clerk who's worked nearly a decade in Costco's warehouse in San Marcos, CA, filed the suit today on behalf of herself and all other similarly situated Costco employees.

According to Ms. Pytelewski's legal team, the suit stems from a scheme by Issaquah, Washington-based Costco Wholesale Corporation to deny its California employees compensation and overtime benefits due to them under state law. The heart of the scheme involves locking hourly employees inside each warehouse every night for approximately 15 minutes after they have finished work and are off the clock. During this period, the stores' managers perform closing activities, such as removing jewelry from display cases and emptying cash registers. More

AG Jerry Brown Sues Wells Fargo, Alleges Fraud

California Attorney General Jerry Brown on Thursday accused subsidiaries of Wells Fargo & Co. of fraud in a lawsuit alleging the bank improperly marketed $1.5 billion in risky investments as "safe and liquid as cash."

The lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court accuses Wells Fargo Investments LLC, Wells Fargo Brokerage Services LLC and Wells Fargo Institutional Services LLC of wrongly assuring investors that the investments were safe in deceptive advertising.

The suit is the latest of a flurry of legal actions taken against banks nationwide related to the February 2008 collapse of the $330 billion "auction rate securities" market. More

Thousands attend anti-tax rally in Corona

CORONA ---- Bombastic radio talk show hosts "John and Ken" lit the fuse.

And thousands of Southern California residents provided the "boom," turning the normally laid-back setting of Tom's Farms, a pastoral roadside attraction/farmers market on the outskirts of Corona, into a raucous staging ground for an anti-tax rally on Saturday afternoon.

The rally, a companion piece to the anti-tax KFI AM 640 hosts' live broadcast, featured hundreds of colorful signs, "Don't Tread on Me" flags and life-size effigies of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ripped to pieces by a industrial shredder.

The rally was one of several anti-tax gatherings staged throughout the state Saturday to urge the defeat of five of the six propositions on Tuesday's ballot, a slate of measures that the governor has endorsed as a way to help California close its gaping budget deficit. More

Governor asks: What if pot's legal and taxed?

As California struggles to find cash, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday it's time to study whether to legalize and tax marijuana for recreational use.

The Republican governor did not support legalization – and the federal government still bans marijuana use – but advocates hailed the fact that Schwarzenegger endorsed studying a once-taboo political subject.

"Well, I think it's not time for (legalization), but I think it's time for a debate," Schwarzenegger said. "I think all of those ideas of creating extra revenues, I'm always for an open debate on it. And I think we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs, what effect did it have on those countries?" More

CHP officer accused of taking sexual bribe for speeding

VISTA ---- A retired Oceanside-based California Highway Patrol officer headed to jail from a Vista courtroom Tuesday, accused of conspiring to get a woman's speeding ticket dismissed in exchange for sex ---- and allegedly charging his agency overtime for the hotel tryst.

Officer Abram Carabajal, 51, of Oceanside, pleaded not guilty to three felony counts ---- perjury, conspiracy to obstruct justice and accepting a bribe.

"He went into court, committed perjury," prosecutor Jeff Dort said of Carabajal and the accusations he faces. "Her case was then dismissed. They then went directly to the Guesthouse Inn in Oceanside, spent an hour. He received a bribe."

The bribe, Dort said, was sex. More

Mortgage defaults rise but homeowners stay put

More Californians are failing to make their mortgage payments than at any time in the last 20 years, but fewer of them are losing their homes, according to new figures.

The drop in foreclosures follows moratoriums adopted by major banks and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The increase in loan defaults, meanwhile, suggests that rising unemployment and the continuing recession are still claiming fresh victims.

But another factor in the soaring default rate could be that some struggling homeowners are purposely skipping their payments so that they can get their loans refinanced, industry experts say. More

Cali to reduce carbon emissions by...banning black cars?!

In a move that will likely get California's consumers in a huff, impending legislation may soon restrict the paint color options for Golden State residents looking for their next new vehicle. The specific colors that are currently on the chopping block are all dark hues, with the worst offender seemingly the most innocuous color you could think of: Black.

What could California possibly have against these colors, you ask? Apparently, the California Air Resources Board figures that the climate control systems of dark colored cars need to work harder than their lighter siblings – especially after sitting in the sun for a few hours. Anyone living in a hot, sunny climate will tell you that this assumption is accurate, of course. In fact, legislation already exists for buildings that has proven successful at reducing the energy consumption of skyscrapers. More

Pink Friday Takes on a Life of Its Own

In rallies from Sacramento to San Jose, Santa Maria to Simi Valley, thousands of teachers, parents, community members, school administrators and public education supporters joined together Friday to support public education and protest the 26,590 pink slips that have already been issued to California educators. A final number will be available next week.

"The outpouring of enthusiasm and support for our students, educators and schools around the state has been amazing," said David A. Sanchez, president of the 340,000-member California Teachers Association.

Pink Friday was observed on March 13 because that is the state deadline for issuing preliminary layoff notices to teachers.

The number of layoff notices sent this year is more than double the number sent last year. The massive number is a result of the largest single cut to public education in the state's history. More

Museum of Tolerance has intolerant neighbors

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which has been battling for more than three years to construct a $200 million center in Israel, is facing another emotional building controversy, this one in its own backyard. The proposed Center for Human Dignity in the heart of Jerusalem is opposed by two Palestinian advocacy groups, which claim that the complex would sit atop a historic Muslim cemetery. The legal confrontation has been hanging fire in the Israel Supreme Court for the last 18 months.

Back home, the neighborhood conflict is just beginning, although its roots go back a long way. Foremost at issue is an expansion of the Wiesenthal's famed Museum of Tolerance, which has some neighbors up in arms. Plans call for the addition of a two-story, 45-foot-high building at the museum's southern end, including an indoor cafe and a roof garden on top, taking up almost all the space of the present memorial garden. More

Police to investigate threats to Octo mom

LOS ANGELES – California taxpayers have found themselves held hostage by insane greedy college educated unwed, unemployed mother during a time of budget crisis.

Police said Thursday they will investigate death threats against octuplet mom Nadya Suleman and advise her publicist on how to handle a torrent of other nasty messages that have flooded his office.

Word that the 33-year-old single, unemployed mother is receiving public assistance to care for the 14 children she conceived through in vitro fertilization has stoked furor among many people.

Police Lt. John Romero said officers were meeting with Suleman's publicist Mike Furtney about the flood of angry phone calls and e-mail messages against Suleman, her children and Furtney. More

Tax Revolt and Recall Protest draws 15,000

Fullerton – An estimated crowd of 15,000 people showed up at a tax revolt and recall protest hosted by The John & Ken Show of radio station KFI 640.

The hyperactive John Kobylt and immaculately groomed Ken Chiampou prodded the crowd into chants of "heads on a stick" and "off with their heads" several times during the three hour event, referring to lazy legislators and the lying governor.

Some people brought bloody effigy heads of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and stuck them on the end of a pike, while the crowd joined their hosts in a chant of "heads on a stick."

Several people brought VHS cassettes, DVDs, laser discs, an action hero lunchbox, action figures and other memorabilia from the governor's Hollywood career, whiche were tossed into a pile and smashed with a sledgehammer.

Click on each image for a larger view

Study to test real-world effects of stun gun use raises safety questions

The rate of sudden deaths increased six-fold in the first year that California law enforcement agencies deployed the use of stun guns, according to a UCSF study. Findings also showed a two-fold increase in the rate of firearm-related deaths during the same time period.

The most widely used brand of stun gun is the Taser, and the team surveyed for outcomes related to the deployment of this device.

While some industry-funded controlled human studies have shown Tasers to cause no harm, this study suggests that their real-world effects pose greater medical risk and more danger than previous reports, said study author Zian H. Tseng, MD. Although the device has been advertised to decrease the number of shooting deaths and officer injuries, study outcomes showed an increase rather than a reduction in the rate of shooting deaths and no change in officer injuries following Taser deployment, he added. More

California bond rating drops lower than any other state's

California's bond rating was downgraded below that of every other state Tuesday by a major Wall Street rating agency, as lawmakers trying to resolve the state's financial problems faced growing resistance from powerful interest groups.

Citing the state's prolonged budget impasse and its nearly empty treasury, Standard & Poor's lowered its rating on $46 billion in general obligation bonds, which investors usually consider one of the safest investments because they are backed by taxpayers.

By reducing California's bonds from an "A-plus" to an "A" rating, the agency declared that it now considers even the debt of Louisiana -- whose credit had been ranked equally with California's -- a more trustworthy investment. Most states are rated "AA" or "AAA." More

Man Sold Daughter For $16K, Beer And Meat

Multiculturalism has arrived in a small California town in a way that has gained a lot of attention.

A California man has been arrested for arranging for his 14-year-old daughter to marry a neighbor in exchange for $16,000, 100 cases of beer and several cases of meat, police said.

Authorities in Greenfield, a farming community on California's central coast, said they learned of the deal after Marcelino de Jesus Martinez, 36, asked them for help getting back his daughter after payment wasn't made.

The deal specifically involved 100 cases of Corona beer, 50 cases of Modelo, six bottles of wine, 50 cases of soft drinks and 50 cases of Gatorade.

Martinez is a member of an indigenous Mexican Trique community. Greenfield police Chief Joe Grebmeier said the case highlights an issue confronting local authorities in that arranged marriages with girls as young as 12 are not uncommon among the Trique. More

Phasing out the wood-burning fireplace

As Southwest Riverside County residents brace for cold winter temperatures and prepare to entertain family members for the holidays, the temptation to fire up that cozy, romantic fireplace is heating up. But the tradition of throwing another log on the fire ---- a wooden one, at least ---- may be on the way out.

That's a troubling thought for many, including longtime resident Annie Borel, whose family homesteaded French Valley northeast of Temecula more than a century ago.

"I saw a sign for free firewood the other day, and thought, 'Gosh, it's not going to be long before they're telling us we can't have fireplaces,'" Borel said.

Indeed, a powerful special district with the task of clearing the air in four smoggy Southern California counties, including Riverside, is going to make builders stop framing tract homes with wood-burning fireplaces. More

Host of new laws greet new year in Cali

There probably will be a lot more expressions of OMG (shorthand for Oh, my God) than LOL (laugh out loud) about a new law regarding text messaging that takes effect Jan. 1. Starting Thursday, all California motorists are banned from text messaging while driving. The new law makes it illegal for anyone to write, send or read a text message while driving. Before the state Legislature approved the measure, text messaging was illegal only for drivers under age 18.

The new year will bring a host of other new laws, including four that address drunken driving. One prohibits anyone convicted of driving under the influence from driving with a blood-alcohol content of 0.01 or above. Anyone with a previous drunken driving conviction who refuses to take a breath test, or has a reading of 0.01 or above, will lose their license on the spot and see their vehicle impounded.

Another law addresses portable global positioning systems. Motorists who install the devices on their windshields are required to place them either in a 7-inch square in the lower corner of the passenger side or a 5-inch square in the windshield's lower left corner of the windshield. More

SoCal Residents Trade Guns for Food

A program to exchange guns for gifts brought in a record number of weapons this year as residents hit hard by the economy look under the bed and in closets to find items to trade for groceries. The annual Gifts for Guns program ended Sunday in Compton, a working class city south of Los Angeles that has long struggled with gun and gang violence.

In a program similar to ones in New York and San Francisco, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department allows residents to anonymously relinquish firearms in return for $100 gift cards for Ralphs supermarkets, Target department stores or Best Buy electronics stores.

Turning in assault rifles yields double that amount. More

Most Cali elementary schools will fail to meet proficiency requirements by 2014

How well students and schools – from kindergarten through high school – succeed in mastering a curriculum that includes English Language Arts (ELA), mathematics, and the social and natural sciences, strongly influences how well the students fare in higher education.

In California, student mastery in ELA and mathematics is measured with the California Standards Tests (CST). To determine how the challenge of mastery is being met, a research team led by UC Riverside's Richard Cardullo examined several years of CST data.

The researchers report in the Sept. 26 issue of Science that mathematical models they used in their analysis predict that nearly all elementary schools in California will fail to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements for proficiency by 2014, the year when all students in the nation need to be proficient in ELA and mathematics, per the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (NCLB). More

Naked Woman Leads Police Chase Without Headlights

LOS ANGELES, CA - A naked woman suspected in a Pasadena car vandalism was taken into custody Thursday night after leading Pasadena police officers on a wild car chase. Police say the woman was reported vandalizing a car in the 2400 block of Mohawk and jumped into her car when she saw police officers.

The female suspect led police onto the Ventura (134) Freeway, the and the Golden State (5) Freeway, driving at speeds as high as 95 mph without headlights.

The suspect weaved in between cars and blew past big rigs as if they were standing still, helicopter reporter Larry Welk said. More

Bankrupt Calif. City May Be a Harbinger

VALLEJO, Calif. -- When this city of 120,000 declared bankruptcy in May, the extraordinary step appeared to arise from an extraordinary circumstance: Vallejo's payroll largess. Police captains in this blue-collar town north of San Francisco make more than $200,000. The city manager's $338,000 salary is more than that of the vice president or anyone on the Supreme Court.

"I think it's fair to say everybody's here because the wages and benefits are very good," said city Finance Director Bob Stout, with a tight smile.

But as the nation's financial system staggers and recession looms, officials across America's most populous state are nervously eyeing the other side of the equation that brought the City of Vallejo into the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California: tax revenue that sank with the economy while payroll and pension obligations continued their rise. More

Biologist Faces 30-Day Suspension for Kayaking L.A. River

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is threatening major disciplinary action against one of its own scientists because she kayaked the Los Angeles River one weekend as part of a protest against the agency refusal to declare the entire river navigable in fact, thus failing to protect much of the watershed under the Clean Water Act, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Citing internet footage of the event, the Corps charged that her “participation undermined [its] authority”, and proposed a 30-day suspension, a punishment one level below termination.

Heather Wylie, a 4-year biologist with the Regulatory Division of the Corps’ L.A. District, was cited for off-duty kayaking and for circulating a news article via e-mail documenting Clean Water Act enforcement problems. The August 7, 2008 “Notice of Proposed Suspension (30 Days)” is still pending, although Corps officials have told PEER that they will act later this month. More

Sarah Palin effigy hanged from house

An effigy of US Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin hanging by a noose as part of a Halloween display has drawn severe criticism, but local officials said the homeowner was covered by free speech rights.

A mannequin dressed to resemble the Alaska governor, with her trademark beehive hairdo and glasses, was hung by the neck from the eaves of the home in West Hollywood.

On the roof, a mannequin of Republican presidential candidate John McCain protruded from the chimney surrounded in flames, holding his head as he was apparently burned alive. More

San Onofre's new bare necessity: a suit

A battle nearly 40 years in the making is coming to a head at one of Southern California's most iconic beaches, pitting the suits against the people who don't wear any.

Swimsuits, that is.

After decades of looking the other way, officials at San Onofre State Beach in north San Diego County are set to crack down on a clothing-optional stretch of sand where people soak up the sun without fear of tan lines.

Citing ongoing complaints from park visitors and the fear of workplace harassment lawsuits from employees, officials say they will begin citing skinny dippers who refuse to cover up after Labor Day. New large signs warning that nudity is prohibited have recently sprouted up throughout the park, and rangers are telling nude sunbathers that their endless summer is about to end. More

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