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Wrong-Way Car Crashes in Florida and California Kill 11

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/San Gabriel Valley Tribune,Watchara PhomicindaEleven people died early Sunday in two highway collisions, one in Florida and one in California, caused by drivers going the wrong way, authorities said.

Five people died in the Florida collision and six were killed in California.

A Ford Expedition SUV traveling south on northbound Interstate 275 in Tampa, Florida, collided head-on with a Hyundai Sonata just after 2 a.m., killing the SUV driver and all four people in the other car, according to a Florida Highway Patrol news release.

The SUV became engulfed in flames, the patrol report said. The other vehicle was also damaged by fire. The driver and all three passengers in the car were members of the Sigma Beta Rho fraternity at the University of South Florida in Tampa, the patrol said.

The identity of SUV driver has not been confirmed due to extensive damage to the vehicle, the patrol said. It is unclear if alcohol was involved in the crash, the patrol said.

Read more from this story HERE.

California Elementary School Parents Warned About Pass-Out Game

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Parents at a Roseville school were warned about a dangerous game students are playing that sent one student to the hospital.

The urgent message from the principal at George Sargeant Elementary School came after paramedics were called when a student passed out in class.

The principal says that student was playing something called the pass-out game. It’s where students see how long they can hold their breath.

In this case, it went too far.

“Several students then told me some of the fourth- and fifth-graders had been playing the pass-out game for the last several months,” the message said.

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Farewell to Henry Waxman, Maker of Bad Laws

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott ApplewhiteAfter 40 years in Congress, California Democrat Henry Waxman is calling it quits. His legacy includes a toxic fuel additive (a boondoggle known as ethanol), a failed pork-fest of a climate bill and the devastation of small businesses — to name a few of his legislative accomplishments.

Washington Post correspondent Karen Tumulty praised Waxman, calling him “one of the last to whom the word ‘lawmaker’ still applied.”

But here’s the thing: If you spend four decades making laws, you’re going to make some bad laws. And Henry Waxman made a lot of bad laws.

Waxman deserves praise for many things. Together with Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, Waxman passed a reform that improved the prescription drug patent system. He also passed a postal reform.

Waxman kept his hands impressively clean of K Street’s tainting influence. Despite being in Congress longer than “Wheel of Fortune” has been on the air, Waxman has only six former staffers in the “Revolving Door” database at the Center for Responsive Politics. Since 1989, Waxman averaged less than $30,000 from lobbyists per election – a modest sum for a committee chairman.

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Girls Missing Since Sleepover Sought in California

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Photo Credit: Yahoo

Photo Credit: Yahoo

Authorities sought the public’s help Monday in finding two girls — ages 12 and 14 — who went missing during a weekend sleepover in California.

Detectives were trying to determine whether the girls might have run away or been victims of foul play.

“We’re keeping all options open,” police Lt. Christian Dinco said.

The girls were last seen around midnight Saturday at the home of one of the girls in Riverside, he said.

Police using bloodhounds were joined in the search by family members and friends of Raylynn Bolt, 12, who was described as 5-foot-7 and 120 pounds with dirty blond hair and blue eyes, and Diana Tourdot, 14, who is 5-foot-6 and 120 pounds with dark brown, shoulder-length hair and brown eyes.

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California Teacher Arrested Over Potluck’s Pot-Laced Food

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

A Northern California elementary school teacher has been arrested for allegedly serving marijuana-laced food to her colleagues at a potluck dinner without their knowledge.

Benecia Police Department Lt. Frank Hartig said Teresa Gilmete Badger was booked into the Solano County Jail on Friday on suspicion of poisoning. The 47-year-old Badger’s arrest capped a month-and-a-half-long investigation that started with a tip from the Benicia Unified School District’s superintendent.

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California Court Grants Illegal Alien Law License

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Photo Credit: AP/Nick Ut

Photo Credit: AP/Nick Ut

The California Supreme Court granted a law license Thursday to a man who has lived in the U.S. illegally for two decades, a ruling that advocates hope will open the door to millions of immigrants seeking to enter other professions such as medicine, accounting and teaching.

The unanimous decision means Sergio Garcia, who attended law school and passed the state bar exam while working in a grocery store and on farms, can begin practicing law immediately.

It’s the latest in a string of legal and legislative victories for people who are in the country without permission. Other successes include the creation of a path to citizenship for many young people and the granting of drivers licenses in some states.

“This is a bright new day in California history and bodes well for the future,” the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles said in a statement.

Read more about the illegal alien law license HERE.

2014 California Laws Affect Transgenders, Smokers, Drunk Drivers

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

Here are just a few blessed laws and regulations that will come into effect in 2014:

Transgender Rights: We will all sleep a little better at night knowing that students in grades K-12 who identify as transgender will be able to use the school bathrooms of their choosing as long as it is “consistent with their gender identity,” even if it is different than their gender at birth. Students will also be able to select whether they want to be on the boys team or the girls team based on their “gender identity.”

On Campus Smoking: Men wearing dresses to class with earrings in their noses is no problem, but don’t get caught inhaling a Camel walking to your next exam. All 10 University of California campuses will be smoke-free starting Jan. 1, 2014. The ban includes all tobacco products. Sorry, e-cigarettes count; they are also banned.

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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.

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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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