Daily Briefs


New state laws take effect today

In with the New Year comes hundreds of new laws out of Sacramento, covering everything from plastic surgery, to trans fats, to controls over paparazzi. [Los Angeles Times] Lawmakers also added two new statewide days of recognition: March 30, in... (Continue reading)

DUI driver slams into SLO home

A natural gas line was severed and several homes were evacuated just before midnight Thursday, following a traffic collision in the 200 block of Luneta, off Foothill, in San Luis Obispo. Police officers arrested Elliot Jacob, 21, for DUI, after... (Continue reading)

Politics surrounds Maldonado’s nomination

State Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria), the governor’s pick to be California’s next lieutenant governor, is seen as being a key player in the 2010 budget fight in Sacramento. [Capitol Weekly] Key Democrats want to address the state’s $6 billion... (Continue reading)

Rush rushed to hospital

Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been hospitalized in Hawaii after complaining of chest pains. The 58-year-old Limbaugh was taken by ambulance to the Queens Medical Center in Honolulu Wednesday afternoon. Hospital sources are telling the media that... (Continue reading)

GPS device designed for illegal immigrants

A new cell phone device, developed by two professors at the University of California San Diego, is being offered to help illegal immigrants crossing the desert into the U.S. find water and also hear encouraging poetry.  [San Francisco Chronicle] The... (Continue reading)

State to cut mammograms for low-income women

Sacramento intends to cut $10 million to Every Woman Counts, a cancer-screening program for low-income women. [Newsweek] The California Department of Public Health decided earlier this month to save money by raising the minimum age for free mammograms from 40... (Continue reading)

Dunes activists plan new campaign

Citizens for a Vehicle Free Nipomo Dunes (CVFND) plan to mount a door-to-door campaign across the Nipomo Mesa in January. CVFND spokesperson Dr. Nell Langford said that volunteers will be urging residents to attend the next county Health Commission meeting,... (Continue reading)

Second H1N1 death in SLO County

An elderly San Luis Obispo County man has become the second victim of the pandemic H1N1 flu virus in San Luis Obispo County. The county Public Health department issued a statement Tuesday morning saying that the man died last week... (Continue reading)

Meet the “Million dollar tortoises”

A northern California energy company will pay $25 million to relocate 25 threatened desert tortoises who live on the site of a proposed massive  solar power plant in rural San Bernadino County. The move by Oakland-based BrightSource Energy, as reported... (Continue reading)

Arnold seeks help from feds

Faced with a $21 billion budget deficit, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is turning to Washington for help. However, the governor, according to published reports, isn’t seeking more stimulus money or a bailout. Instead, Schwarzenegger is expected to ask President Obama to... (Continue reading)