It’s already against the law in California to hold your cellphone up to your ear while you drive. Then throw two young children in the back seat, one with no seatbelt on and the other improperly secured in a child’s seat. And just for good measure, take an infant and place it on the lap of the driver — who, by the way, has a suspended license — and you have the 2012 poster for every anti-distracted driving campaign. [More]
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Little League Decides It Doesn't Want Strip Club Money After All
By 3.14.12
Remember yesterday’s heartwarming story about the troubled California Little League teams that got a financial boost via a semi-anonymous $1,200 donation from a local strip club? Well, no sooner did we post the story then the league decided it didn’t to fund its baseball games with lap dance loot. [More]
Strip Club Comes To The Rescue Of Cash-Strapped Little Leaguers
By 3.13.12
It looked like there might have been a lot of pint-sized sluggers who wouldn’t get to play baseball in Lennox, CA, because the local Little League was hard up for cash. But thanks in large part to a donation from a local strip club, the kids’ baseball dreams are still alive for one more season. [More]
Who Is To Blame When Car Dealer Sells $62K Nissan To Man With Dementia?
By 3.12.12
A woman in California has a brand new, extras-packed Nissan Murano convertible worth a whopping $62,130 sitting unused in her garage. Why? Because she says the car dealership should never have sold the vehicle to her husband, who has been diagnosed with dementia. [More]
California To Require More-Efficient Chargers For Mobile Devices
By 1.12.12
In a move that will likely have a huge ripple effect in the mobile device accessory market nationwide, the California Energy Commission approved the nation’s first ever energy standards for the chargers you use to power up everything from your phone and tablet to your power drill. [More]
Hospital CEO Thinks It's Perfectly OK To Show Patient's Records To Newspaper
By 1.4.12
Last January, a woman in California says she was billed by a hospital for a treatment she never received. She took her complaint to the folks at California Watch, who published a story about her predicament. But when a local newspaper went to verify the information, the hospital’s CEO had absolutely no problem showing up at the reporter’s door to rifle through that patient’s file without her permission. [More]
Bank Of America Decides To Let Foreclosed-Upon Family Stay In House Until Wife Dies
By 12.22.11
At the intersection where Foreclosure Ave. crosses Health Care Blvd. lives a California couple who had to choose between mortgage and the health insurance needed to cover the wife’s late-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Until recently, it looked like they would be forced to vacate the house they’d bought 15 years ago, but Bank of America has decided to delay the eviction until after the wife’s death. [More]
San Francisco Becomes First U.S. City To Cross $10 Minimum Wage Line
By 12.12.11
When the calendar flips over to 2012, minimum wage workers in San Francisco will be making a bit more, as the city becomes the first local in the U.S. with a bottom-line pay rate of more than $10/hour. [More]
Chick-Fil-A Cashier Just Assumes Customers' Names Are Ching & Chong
By 12.12.11
One would think that by this point in the internet’s existence that employees at any sort of business that puts customers’ names on receipts might be aware of the fact that putting a potentially offensive nickname, description or slur on said receipts is probably nowhere near as hilarious as it initially seems. [More]
California City Threatens Legal Action Against Residents With Fake Grass Lawns
By 11.17.11
Three months ago, the city of Glendale, CA, approved a ban on the use of artificial grass on residents’ front yards — and now authorities plan to go after folks who haven’t ripped up their faux greenery and replaced it with the real thing. [More]
Allstate Denied Man's Insurance Claim Because He Went To The Hospital 5 Hours Too Early
By 11.10.11
Usually you’re rewarded for showing up early. How could showing up 5 hours early cost you $10,000? [More]
Hundreds Of People's Tax Returns Found Dumped In Front Of Jackson Hewitt Office Because They Were "So Heavy"
By 11.4.11
A soggy pile of hundreds of old tax returns was found in front of an abandoned Jackson Hewitt tax prep office in San Francisco in late October. The papers had social security numbers, names, addresses, and phone numbers, a potential goldmine for any identity thief who got their hands on them. [More]
Customer Finds Live Tree Frog In Salad Bought At Costco
By 11.2.11 — Updated: 4.29.13
Everyone knows you’re supposed to rinse out your salad to get rid of any dirt before you chow down, but the food safety folks rarely mention the presence of frogs. So you can imagine the surprise that one California woman had on Monday when she spotted a living croaker in the salad she’d just bought from Costco. [More]
Drone Helicopters Used To Sell High End Real Estate
By 11.1.11
Helicopter drones looking for work outside the military might look well to apply at their local real estate office for a job. Turns out they’re not just good for conducting unmanned aerial strikes against insurgents, drones can also be used to sell mansions, via in-depth tour videos made with cameras mounted to their frames. [More]
California Ups Testing For Contaminated Public Waterways
By 10.12.11
Responding to an increase of contaminated waterways in the state, California’s State Water Resources Board plans to test its 3 million acres of rivers, streams and lakes, which may have been polluted with nastiness including bacteria and pesticides. [More]
You Can Now Legally Order Sangria In California
By 9.23.11
California Governor Jerry Brown signed a law this week overturning a Prohibition-era ban blocking bars from serving alcoholic drinks infused with fruits or other substances. Under the old law bartenders could be fined for serving fruit-infused drinks like sangria, as well as alcohol infused with spices, herbs or vegetables. [More]
Amazon Makes Deal With California To Delay Collecting Sales Tax For One Year
By 9.8.11
The battle between Amazon and the state of California over whether or not the e-tailer should be compelled to collect sales taxes may be drawing to a close after the two parties appear to have come to a tentative agreement that would have the online megastore collecting taxes, but not for another year. [More]
California Considering Ban On Styrofoam To-Go Containers
By 8.29.11
Though many of the large fast food chains ditched Styrofoam containers many moons ago, there are still plenty of restaurants that continue to use Styrofoam for packing up to-go orders for customers. But a bill before the California State Assembly could put an end to that in the Golden State. [More]
