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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.

Read more from this story HERE.

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.

Read more from this story HERE.

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.

Read more from this story HERE.

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.”

Read more from this story HERE.

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.

Read more from this story HERE.

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.