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Jahi McMath’s Family Celebrates Judge’s Decision to Keep Daughter Alive, Extend Her Life Support

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

The family of a 13-year-old California girl declared brain dead rejoiced Monday after a superior court judge extended a deadline to keep the teen on a ventilator as her family attempts to move her to a new facility.

The order, issued by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo, nullifies a previous ruling that would have enabled doctor’s at Oakland Children’s Hospital to take Jahi McMath off life support at 5 p.m. Pacific Time Monday and requires that she be kept on the ventilator until at least 5 p.m. Pacific Time January 7.

“In essence, the court orders the respondent (Oakland Children’s Hospital) to maintain the ‘status quo,'” Grillo’s order said.

“Who wants to know the date and the time their child would die?” Jahi’s mother, Nailah Winkfield said after the delay was announced. “I don’t care what anyone has to say about what I’m doing. … I have to do what is right for me and for Jahi.”

Jahi’s uncle, Omari Sealey claimed that Jahi, who was declared brain dead earlier this month following complications from a tonsillectomy at the hospital, is showing signs of movement and that an unnamed pediatrician has visited her and claims she is not dead.

Read more from this story HERE.

California Schools Prepare for Transgender Rights Law

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

With a law that spells out the rights of transgender students in grades K-12 set to take effect in California, school districts are reviewing locker room layouts, scheduling sensitivity training for coaches, assessing who will sleep where during overnight field trips and reconsidering senior portrait dress codes.

But administrators, counselors, teachers and school board members also are watching and waiting. The law, the nation’s first requiring public schools to let children use sex-segregated facilities and participate in the gender-specific activities of their choice, could end up suspended within days of its Jan. 1 launch if a referendum to repeal it qualifies for the November ballot.

To obtain a public vote on the law, passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, a coalition of conservative groups called Privacy for All Students has collected hundreds of thousands of signatures. Counties have until Jan. 8 to verify them through random spot-checking.

Depending on how many are found to be valid, the secretary of state will approve the referendum, determine that it failed or order a review of every signature.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen when kids come back from their holiday vacation,” said Republican state Sen. Steve Knight, who voted against the law. “Are there going to be 15-year-old girls talking in the bathroom and in walks a boy? What are they going to do? Scream? Run out?”

Read more from this story HERE.

New Armored Tank for Town Police Sparks Fear, War of Words

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Photo Credit: bizpacreview

Photo Credit: bizpacreview

A war of words has broken out over police force in California getting a new armored vehicle built more for a state of war than patrolling in the Golden State.

The Salinas Police Department recently issued a news release proudly announcing the arrival of the armored truck built to survive minefield explosions, which it got compliments of federal taxpayers as part of a program to convert military equipment to law-enforcement use.

Critics took to the police department’s Facebook page to ask exactly why a city of 150,000 on the northern California coast really needs a vehicle designed for battlefield use. It’s more likely to be used against its own citizens, they said..

“That vehicle is made for war. Do not use my safety to justify that vehicle,” one wrote. “The Salinas Police Department is just a bunch of cowards that want to use that vehicle as intimidation and to terrorize the citizens of this city.”

‘To stop gang members?” another wrote. “Hmmm gang members don’t riot in mass numbers. It’s right in front of our faces and we don’t see it. Why would the ARMY!!! give something like that for FREE!!! Let’s think for once people.”

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Judge Says Waiting Period ‘Burdens’ 2nd Amendment

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

A federal judge in California has ruled in a Second Amendment case that a state-imposed waiting period to take possession of a firearm is a burden on the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

The ruling came in a challenge brought by the Second Amendment Foundation to the state’s mandatory 10-day waiting period to obtain firearms. The case, Silvester v. Harris, continues.

It was Senior Judge Anthony Ishii of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California who said in an 11-page decision that California Attorney General Kamala Harris “argues that the WPL (Waiting Period Law) is a minor burden on the Second Amendment, [but] plaintiffs are correct that this is a tacit acknowledgement that a protected Second Amendment right is burdened.”

He wrote: “The court concludes that the WPL burdens the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.”

Alan Gottlieb, SAF executive vice president, said the statement is important.

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Seven in 10 Doctors Boycotting California’s ObamaCare Exchange

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8729726d-de13-4db0-9949-6544f13748a1Another glaring example of why the ‘if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor’ mantra President Obama and other ACA enthusiasts touted is simply false:

An estimated seven out of every 10 physicians in deep-blue California are rebelling against the state’s Obamacare health insurance exchange and won’t participate, the head of the state’s largest medical association said. “It doesn’t surprise me that there’s a high rate of nonparticipation,” said Dr. Richard Thorp, president of the California Medical Association.

Thorp has been a primary care doctor for 38 years in a small town 90 miles north of Sacramento. The CMA represents 38,000 of the roughly 104,000 doctors in California.

“We need some recognition that we’re doing a service to the community. But we can’t do it for free. And we can’t do it at a loss. No other business would do that,” he said.

California offers one of the lowest government reimbursement rates in the country — 30 percent lower than federal Medicare payments. And reimbursement rates for some procedures are even lower.

Read more from this story HERE.

County Office Bans Criticism of Obamacare

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

Santa Clara County, Calif., officials have banned a 20-year employee from making “less than positive” remarks about Obamacare, because they can cause stress for listening co-workers.

The county made the stunning move when Norina Mooney was chatting with a co-worker about the Affordable Care Act, according to the Pacific Justice Institute, which is representing the woman.

The organization has asked for a response by next week to its letter raising several issues with Lorie McKeown in the Santa Clara County Department of Child Support Services, where Mooney works.

Pacific Justice said Mooney was further informed that her comment had caused another co-worker — not the person to whom it was directed — to feel “stressed out.”

Her speech, therefore, was too political for the workplace, the county officials insisted.

Read more from this story HERE.

California Bar Taking On City Hall Over Sign Supporting Veterans

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Photo Credit: Fox News A California bar owner is asking veterans to rally behind him after claiming that the city of Huntington Beach is ordering him to remove a sign on his roof that salutes those who served.

The city says it’s all a big mistake — that the issue really is about permits, not wording. But the bar’s co-owner, in turn, claims the city is not being truthful and says there’s “something fishy” about the whole situation.

The center of the dispute, an illuminated sign on the roof of Johnny’s Saloon, proclaims, “THANK a VETERAN for your FREEDOM” and is popular among the bar’s clientele–a lot of former soldiers.

But an anonymous person reportedly complained to the city and the bar owners now say the city is forcing them to take it down.

According to local reports, the owners of Johnny’s, John Marovic and Johnny Kresimir, say they received a letter in the mail this week from the city ,stating that they were required to remove the sign within two days or face nearly $1,000 in fines.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Sharks Swim Just Feet Away from Surfers

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Photo Credit: Jay Dohner/YouTubeIt’s not exactly beach season in Southern California.

But even with small surf to feast on surfers are enjoying glassy waves on recent sunny mornings. And ocean temps relatively warm for this time of year.

The folks in the water off El Porto in Manhattan Beach have company:

Sharks.

A local paddle boarder, Jay Dohner, grabbed his GoPro camera after seeing the creatures swimming off El Porto.

Read more from this story HERE.

Solar Firm Linked to Obama Donors Could Be ‘Next Solyndra,’ top GOP Sen. Warns

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Photo Credit: REUTERSA California-based solar company backed by several Obama supporters has been receiving millions in federal tax credits while losing $322 million since 2008, raising concerns about the company “becoming the next Solyndra.”

Among SolarCity Corp.’s biggest investors is Elon Musk — the high-profile donor and fundraiser who co-founded PayPal and whose companies SpaceX and electric-car company Tesla Motors have received at least $846 million in loans and startup money from the Obama administration.

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, warned about SolarCity’s financial standing in a letter Monday to the Treasury Department.

“There is concern that SolarCity might become the next Solyndra — a company propped on the back of the taxpayers,” Sessions wrote.

The company fired back Tuesday, specifically against the Solyndra comparison.

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Man Tased, Arrested Over Leash-Law Violation

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Photo Credit: Opposing Views California resident Gary Hesterberg was running the trails with his two dogs at Rancho Corral de Tierra in San Mateo County last year when he was stopped by a park ranger for not leashing his terrier (his other dog, a beagle, was on a leash). When the ranger, Sarah Cavallaro, would not let Hesterberg walk away after a verbal warning, he accused her of unlawful detainment and attempted to leave anyway. She tased him, and he collapsed to the ground. Then police came to arrest him, and detained him for eight hours.

Hesterberg is suing for violation of his Fourth Amendment rights as well as battery. The 9th Circuit could not decide his case in a summary judgment , so the plaintiff is now headed for trial.

Witness John Bartlett described the scene to the San Francisco Chronicle: “He said something about ‘are you going to arrest me,’ something like that, and the next thing I heard was a shot and a scream of agony from him as he fell on his back. He seemed to be out for two or three minutes.”

Bartlett also said, “It did rattle me. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m 77 years old, never had such an emotional reaction to something. I didn’t know if the guy was dying. For a leash on a dog…”

Read more from this story HERE.