Free Republic

A lawsuit is expected to be filed in California today over the amount of arsenic in some of the best-selling wines in the country. CBS News reports laboratory testing by Denver's BeverageGrades found some wines have as much as time times the maximum level of arsenic the Environmental Protection Agency allows for drinking water. The EPA doesn't regulate wine as it does water, and there are no federal labeling requirements to disclose what's in wine.

The California Supreme Court has instituted a policy that prohibits state judges from participating in the Boy Scouts of America because it doesn't allow openly gay adults to become troop leaders. Earlier this year the court voted unanimously to change the California Code of Judicial Ethics, removing an exemption allowing membership in youth organizations, such as the Boy Scouts, that it claims practice discrimination. While the Boy Scouts voted in 2013 to lift its ban on openly gay youth members, it maintained its policy prohibiting openly gay adults from actively participating in troop activities or becoming troop leaders. The Christian...

A much-hailed law that restricted the opening of new stand-alone fast-food restaurants in one of the poorest sections of Los Angeles did not curb obesity or improve diets, a new study found. City lawmakers passed the zoning ordinance in 2008 that limited the opening or expansion of fast-food outlets in a 32-square-mile area south of Interstate 10 that struggles with high obesity rates and other health problems. The law, believed to be the first effort of its kind by a major city to improve public health, did not ban new eateries in strip malls. The research by the Rand Corp....

Three people were killed and four others wounded in a spray of bullets during a drive-by shooting outside a Stockton market Tuesday night. The call came in to police about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday from the shooting outside the Madison market in the 700 block of North Madison Street, an area officers said is known to be frequented by gang members. “It’s a high crime neighborhood known for its drug and gang activity,” said Stockton police Officer Joe Silva.

One America News, which launched patriotically on July 4, 2013, is something of an anomaly in the cable news universe. First of all, it's based in San Diego, California. The channel's news coverage is intended to be straight down the middle, even though its talk shows are pretty staunchly conservative. The network does not cover sports or pop culture news. Like Lahren, many of its news anchors and reporters are young. And for now, it airs no commercials. The network may want to emulate Fox's success, but it's taking a very different path to get there. Robert and Charles Herring,...

The California Department of Motor Vehicles Wednesday released the preliminary statistics for Assembly Bill 60 (AB 60) ten weeks after implementation. Under the new law, any eligible California resident is able to apply for a driver's license, regardless of immigration status. The total issued since January 2, 2015 is 166,000. The DMV reports that the approximate number of exams both written and behind-the-wheel administered since Jan. is close to 875,000.

An elderly woman was arrested in Palo Alto early Sunday morning after surveillance video captured her allegedly breaking into a church. Palo Alto police took into custody 70-year-old Ethel Jean Hays an hour after officers say she burglarized Trinity Lutheran Church on Middlefield Road, which officers later discovered Hays had broken into once before on Feb. 9. She was booked on two counts of burglary. That's when, police say, she allegedly stole cash donated by parishioners, which was being stored in the church office. Police found Hays walking on Lytton Avenue and saw that she matched a description of the...

Scandinavian Middle School vice principal Joe DiFilippo was placed on paid administrative leave Monday after being recorded on video saying, “I don’t like black kids,” Fresno Unified School District officials said.

Some businesses in Oakland's Chinatown neighborhood are feeling the effects from the city's new voter-approved minimum wage. The new $12.25, up from $9, went into effect on March 2 and was approved by 82 percent of voters. "With this minimum wage kicking in, it's the final nail to the coffin," said Carl Chan, a board member for the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce. The new minimum wage forced owner of the Legendary Palace restaurant to close its doors on Feb. 26. Officials said four restaurants and six grocery stores have closed since January. Many business owners are blaming the 36 percent...

Green Beret saved soldiers under fireA group of House lawmakers is moving to strip the armed services’ civilian leaders of the power to revoke combat valor awards in response to Army Secretary John McHugh unilaterally canceling the Silver Star, one of the military’s highest honors, for a former Green Beret officer. Mr. McHugh took the action against Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, who braved repeated enemy fire in Afghanistan, even though he has not been charged with any offenses. The Army now is seeking to release him with a less-than-honorable discharge. The officer plans to fight the move, his attorney says. The...

ixteen-year-olds can drive, work, pay taxes and be sentenced to life in prison. Now, some want the right to vote, too. On Tuesday, San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos will attempt to make that happen by introducing a measure that would extend the right to vote to 16- and 17-year-olds. Avalos and other supporters say it will encourage civic engagement among youths and instill in them lifelong voting habits at a time when turnout is low.

Two weeks ago, a group of students at the University of California at Irvine removed a U.S. flag from a common area of the student-government suite. Shortly afterwards, six undergraduate members of the Legislative Council of the Associated Students of UCI (ASUCI) passed a resolution banning the display of the flags of any nation in the office lobby. The resolution was authored by student Matthew Guevara of the School of Social Ecology. Among the reasons the legislative council objected to the American flag were: “The American flag has been flown in instances of colonialism and imperialism.” “A common ideological understanding...

The Los Angeles Marathon was held Sunday, starting at Dodger Stadium, winding through downtown LA and Hollywood, and finishing in Santa Monica. Part of the uniqueness of the course is the entertainment and spectacle along the route. Guerrilla street artist Sabo, added a little something extra for this year’s participants: street_19 Each of the sixteen posters copied the style of the marketing materials for the race. Here’s the logo from the race organizers: Screen Shot 2015-03-16 at 10.50.47 AM And here’s the slightly revised one that was on the bottom of each of the posters: Screen Shot 2015-03-16 at 10.51.53...

Equality California has taken a preemptive step in the 2016 race for the White House and become the first LGBT organization to endorse Hillary Clinton for president, the group confirmed in a statement today: "We want Hillary Clinton to run and are ready to mobilize our 800,000 members to help her win," said Equality California's Executive Director Rick Zbur. "We're enthusiastic about her candidacy because she has the best record of accomplishment on LGBT issues of any potential candidate. Equality California is ready for Hillary!" As Secretary of State, Clinton championed the rights of LGBT people around the world, making...

LAPD Officer Accused of Trying To Smuggle Mexican citizen Across Border By JOSEPH SERNA LAPD officer arrested at Otay Mesa border on suspicion of human smuggling is 10-year veteran LAPD officer charged with trying to smuggle man into U.S. A 10-year LAPD officer and a second person were charged by federal prosecutors Monday with trying to smuggle a Mexican citizen into the United States in the trunk of a car at the Otay Mesa border crossing. Officer Carlos Curiel Quezada Jr., 34, and Angelica Godinez, 31, were stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers Saturday evening when they drove...

A so-called “war on the American worker” has intensified in the Golden State. Massive layoffs are being spearheaded by the multi-billion dollar Southern California Edison utilities company, which is terminating scores of American IT workers and replacing them with immigrant IT workers, from a slew of foreign counties, who are willing to work for far less compensation. These immigrants are in the U.S. on an H-1B visa program. “We don’t need foreign workers. We have plenty of Americans who are fully capable and equipped to carry out these jobs. It’s an absolute issue of corporate greed; nothing more nothing less,”...

As we feared, the most egregious bill introduced this session is Senate Bill (SB) 128, a concerted effort to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Despite failing to pass similar laws five previous times in California, supporters of these so-called “Death with Dignity” laws have been emboldened by both a national effort to expand legalized physician-assisted suicide from coast to coast, and by the high-profile case of a 29-year-old California cancer patient who moved to Oregon to end her life there. While many such cases are tragic, just three states have succumbed to the legalization efforts of pro-death forces. Only Oregon, Washington and...

<p>California is not suffering one drought, but four. Each is a metaphor of what California has become.</p> <p>The first California drought, of course, is natural. We are now in the midst of a fourth year of record low levels of snow and rain.</p>

Once upon a time, much of the state of California was a barren desert. And now, thanks to the worst drought in modern American history, much of the state is turning back into one. Scientists tell us that the 20th century was the wettest century that the state of California had seen in 1000 years. But now weather patterns are reverting back to historical norms, and California is rapidly running out of water. It is being reported that the state only has approximately a one year supply of water left in the reservoirs, and when the water is all gone...