Free Republic

Virginia, which for decades has sent thousands of people to jail for selling or using marijuana, is about to make it legal. In a historic shift for this traditionally conservative Southern state, the General Assembly voted Friday to allow its possession, manufacture and sale.

Hours after Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced sweeping executive orders Monday to restrict public gatherings and business operations due to the new coronavirus, state police and local law enforcement agencies said they were prepared to arrest those who deliberately flout the directives.... ...Officers, who are being instructed to record gatherings via their body-worn cameras, will be empowered to break up large gatherings of more than 50 people at all venues in the county, and officials also have the authority to further reduce the number.... The enforcement of the order prohibiting gatherings or events of 50 or more people at all...

CBS) HAWTHORNE, Calif. Two children menaced by pit bulls in Hawthorne were safe Friday, but a woman running from the dogs broke her leg and a squad car being driven to the scene collided with another vehicle, injuring an officer and a motorist, police said. A report that two pit bulls were menacing a 16-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother in the 2900 block of 141st Place at El Segundo Boulevard and Prairie Avenue was received by Hawthorne police about 8 a.m., Hawthorne police Lt. Michael Ishii said. An animal-control officer distracted the dogs with a chemical spray, and the...

WASHINGTON -- Quietly leaving his post as surgeon general, Dr. Richard Carmona said he would judge himself successful if he had persuaded one student to make good health choices or one mother to stop smoking. Carmona's report condemning secondhand smoke was a hallmark of his tenure as the nation's 17th surgeon general.