Free Republic

How far will the government go to infringe on your rights? In San Francisco, residents aren’t even allowed to store their own belongings in their home. Residents of the liberal city are banned from using their garage to store any personal property other than a vehicle. Chapter Six of the San Francisco Housing Code states, “Private and public storage garages in apartment houses and hotels shall be used only for storage of automobiles.” Those who violate the law can be slapped with a $500 fine.

On Tuesday, New Day brought on a lawyer who, in attempting to refute Rittenhouse's claim of self-defense, made an absolutely absurd assertion. Robert Hirschhorn, a lawyer and jury-selection consultant, ranted: "I’m sorry, nobody's ever died as a result of being hit with a skateboard. Now, you point a gun at somebody, you've got the right to defend yourself. But being kicked or being hit, you don’t bring a gun to a fistfight. You don’t bring a gun when somebody's hitting you with a skateboard."Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

HUNTINGTON BEACH (CBSLA.com) — Authorities say a Good Samaritan who tried to intervene in a fight between two groups of teens in Huntington Beach Saturday evening, was nearly beaten to death by the same teens who attacked him with their skateboards. Police say 40 teens attacked the 25-year-old man — about 7:50 p.m. — at Murdy park in Huntington Beach. The man is in extremely critical condition. Officials said the man’s girlfriend saw the teens involved in an altercation. After the girlfriend tried to intervene, the crowd turned on her. She got away but returned with her boyfriend. Police said...

Skateboarding in the 60's

MISSION VIEJO A 14-year-old skateboarder who was struck by an SUV when he veered between two parked cars will be taken off life-support Tuesday at Children's Hospital of Orange County at Mission. Nathan Gonzalez has been in critical condition in the intensive pediatric ward since he was struck Sunday evening near Los Alisos Boulevard while skateboarding with a group of friends. KCAL 9's Michele Gile reported that the victim's family plans to say their final goodbyes to Nathan and take him off life-support Tuesday afternoon. Denise Almazan of CHOC could not immediately confirm broadcast reports that the boy might be...

A Jackson County grand jury has indicted a Medford couple whose 6-year-old son was injured after being left alone with his 9-year-old brother at a skateboard park. The indictment issued earlier this week charges Daniel R. Willis, 44, and June A. Willis, 49, with two counts each of felony criminal mistreatment and child neglect, a misdemeanor. The couple could not immediately be reached for comment. They must appear in court Nov. 14. Oregon law does not set a minimum age for unsupervised children. But if the kids are younger than 10, prosecutors have discretion to decide when leaving children alone...

LONG BEACH, Calif. A statue of Jesus at a Long Beach Catholic church was beheaded the day after Christmas, possibly by skateboarders who had been shooed off the grounds by a priest, it was reported Friday. Skateboarders have been at odds with members of St. Cyprian Catholic Church, at Clark Avenue and Arbor Road, since September over their use of the church's bench, hand rails, stairs and other property for their sport, the Press-Telegram reported. While it is unknown if skateboarders are responsible for the attacks on the statue of Jesus and elsewhere on church grounds, church officials told the...

LONDON, Aug. 8 -- Zsofia Csaba, waitress at Sanctuary pub, rode subway to work every day until July 7, the day bombs exploded on three Underground trains and a bus, changing the rhythm of her life and her city. Since then, she has ridden bike, preferring not to use transit system where 52 passengers and four presumed bombers perished and 700 people were injured. One month after the terrorist attacks, London is trying to get back to normal but finding life has changed. Guests in some hotels are searched and wanded with metal detectors. Thousands of police officers patrol streets....

Ballet slippers and fur purses. Short skirts and sheer T-shirts. Doesn't sound like the typical styles produced by local skateboard companies, which are better known for making baggy jeans, loose T-shirts and bulky shoes. But authentic skateboard brands such as Etnies, Element, Globe and DC Shoes are producing increasingly feminine fashions in a bid to capture a slice of the lucrative teenage girl market.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~snip ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The opportunity is big. Last year, 13- to 17-year-old girls spent $12.3 billion on clothes and accessories, $1.4 billion on fashion footwear, and $683 million on athletic footwear, according to The NPD Group, a marketing...

<p>Chris Loarie has waged a battle against the boarders, inventing something he calls skatestoppers (search) &#8212; metal brackets that serve as mini speed bumps and can render almost any surface unskateable.</p> <p>"We've got customers that have, just here in San Diego, spent upwards of twenty, twenty-five thousand dollars replacing broken granite simply because of skating and biking," said Loarie, whose business Intellicept sells the product.</p>

SACRAMENTO -- Bay Area motorists will face more severe smog checks, workers statewide will receive paid family leave and "sideshow" victims' fears will ease -- but poor drivers will pay more for insurance and Californians still will not have financial privacy. That could be the impact of just a few of the hundreds of bills decided by legislators during the holiday weekend, amid unusual end-of-session chaos as lawmakers also finally broke a partisan deadlock in order to adopt a 2002-03 state budget. Other measures, if signed by Gov. Gray Davis, would ask voters to approve a nearly $10 billion bond...