Tuesday, July 02, 2013

Owners of "pot" shops in L.A. pin hopes on new mayor and other headlines

Eric Garcetti is in the 2nd day of his term as mayor and the owners of medical marijuana dispensaries who have been ordered to shut down are hoping he will be their salvation.  The voters approved Measure D and that limits the city to only those dispensaries that were open in 2007 when the city council began trying to regulate them.  Trying, without even a scintilla of success.

A landlord who was sentenced to life in prison is going free after 16 years behind bars.  A judge had ruled that he had proven his innocence and the state could release or re-try him.  Under the agreement with prosecutors, he will plead no-contest to three counts of involuntary manslaughter.

A man who lost 25% of his skull in a bar brawl when he was severely beaten by one of the bar's security guards has been awarded $58 million in damages by a jury in Torrance.

The Obama Administration has announced that they are delaying the implementation of requirements for businesses with 50 or more employees to provide healthcare insurance or pay a fine, until 2015.  The one year delay is being explained as a concession to business, but it may also have been put in place to counter anti-Obamacare arguments from Republicans in the mid-term elections.

The Hawthorne man whose dog was shot and killed by Hawthorne PD officers has a history with the department and had filed a complaint in March of this year alleging that he was assaulted by officers last July.  He is claiming the shooting of his dog was retaliation.  An investigation is ongoing.

Will an album originally issued in 1975 and long out of print become available on CD?  That's the rumor about "Buckingham Nicks" the only album ever put out by the duo of Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks before they became part of Fleetwood Mac.  There's talk of bonus tracks and even a tour in support of the CD.  Stay tuned.

Sad news as 41 year old Charlotte Brosnan has died of ovarian cancer, the same disease that killed her mother years ago.

Novlene Williams-Mills won a bronze medal at last year's Summer Olympics in the women's 400 meter relay as part of the team from Jamaica.  It has been revealed that she competed after being diagnosed with breast cancer just one month before the Olympic Games began.

A former executive with Tiffany & Company has been arrested and charged with the theft and sale of $1.3 million worth of jewelry.

In Newbury Park a neon sign promoting an anti-Romney website has caused its owner to be jailed for zoning violations.  He has refused to take the sign down in spite of a judge's order to do so.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has announced that Long John Silver's "Big Catch" is the worst meal in the U.S. nutritionally.  It has 1,320 calories and a whopping 3,700 milligrams of sodium.  That's more than twice the recommended allowance of sodium for a person for one day.  It is a bargain for your wallet at $4.99 but not for your body.  Oh, don't forget about the 19 grams of saturated fat.

Reports indicate that Major League Baseball has fired umpire Brian Runge for a violation of the league's drug policy.  MLB did announce last month that Runge was no longer employed by them but would not give a reason for his departure.

A U.S. Olympic speedskater has raised more than $17,000 to help her chase her dreams of a medal after the story of her monthly stipend from the U.S. Speedskating Association was cut to $600 per month, forcing her to apply for food stamps and to take a part-time job.

The wife of an NHL player who was trying to sign a contract extension with his team has tweeted his displeasure at the team's decision not to resign her husband.

In Toledo, the leader of a Girl Scout troop has been arrested on charges she stole more than $10,000 in cookie sale money.

A British man has been banned from his favorite pub during peak hours because he is too big.  He stands 6'7" tall and weighs over 300 lbs, and the pub says he takes up too much room at their tiny bar when the joint is crowded.