Since Skynet and Rekall couldn’t thwart Arnold Schwarzenegger, California government employees probably knew they were in for a beatdown when they sued the governor. They contended he lacked authority to force them to take 46 unpaid days off between February 2009 and June 2010. [More]
california
While The Children Ran For Ice Cream, She Reached For Her Bleach
By 9.16.10
From the disproportionate reaction file comes a Sacramento, California woman arrested for tossing bleach all over an ice cream man. Were they out of Huckleberry Fudge Swirl? Nope, she thought the ice cream man had shortchanged her a week ago. [More]
24-Hour Fitness Would Rather Lose 2 Members Than Let You Use Your Free Pass
By 9.14.10
Thanks to a policy-lovin’ member-hatin’ front-desk bizzatch, 24-Hour Fitness is losing two annual members. But hey, at least they didn’t get scammed by someone trying to redeem a 7-day pass, right? [More]
Law Enforcement Group: Legalize Pot So Cops Have Time To Fight Real Crime
By 9.14.10
In November, California voters will have their say on Proposition 19, which would make it legal to grow, possess and use up to an ounce of marijuana for personal use. And as that decision day draws near, a group of law enforcement insiders has come out in support of the proposition, saying it would free up the police to focus its efforts on more serious crimes. [More]
McDonald's Alienates San Francisco Homeless By Raising Dollar Menu By $.50
By 9.7.10
We say it a lot around here these days: Times are tough. And they just got tougher for the homeless people in San Francisco who had relied on a local McDonald’s for their discount sustenance. A few weeks back, that particular Golden Arches — located in the city’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood — jacked up the price on their former Dollar Menu items to $1.50, much to the consternation of the homeless. [More]
Sacramento TV Station Airs First Ever Ad For Medical Marijuana Dispensary
By 9.2.10
KTXL in Sacramento is toking tooting its own horn a bit this week, claiming that they are the first TV station in the US to air an ad for a medical marijuana dispensary. [More]
California Decides Not To Ban Plastic Bags
By 9.1.10
California lawmakers rejected a proposed statewide ban on plastic bags late Tuesday. [More]
JetBlue Passengers Try Out The Emergency Slide After Plane's Tires Catch Fire During Landing
By 8.27.10
The passengers on board a flight from Long Beach, CA, to Sacramento got to live out their irate JetBlue flight attendant fantasies yesterday by taking a ride down a jet’s emergency exit slide. But it probably wasn’t as fun as one might expect since the plane’s tires had just caught fire while making a hard landing. [More]
Gunslinging Cell Phone Store Employee Foils Armed Robbers
By 8.18.10
A gun-packing cell phone store employee in Cali thwarted an attempted armed robbery last weekend, firing multiple rounds as the suspects fled. I guess Dirty Harry had to pick up some part-time work. Would you like to add unlimited messaging to your plan, punk? Well, would ya? [More]
The Secret Life Of The Majestic Plastic Bag
By 8.17.10
Have you ever wished the plastic bag from American Beauty got its own spinoff? Your dream has come true. This is a mock nature documentary narrated by Jeremy Irons that follows “one of the most clever and illustrious creatures: the plastic bag” from its first birthing into the wild all the way to its ultimate home, the Pacific gyre. [More]
California Says Some Bouncy Castles Have Too Much Lead In Them
By 8.17.10
California’s Attorney General, Jerry Brown, has filed a lawsuit that claims too many inflatable structures used at kids’ parties come with high levels of lead in the vinyl–“sometimes dozens of times the federal limit,” reports the New York Times. One of the defendants said the lawsuit was a “witch hunt,” and warned that it would have a chilling effect on what the Times calls the “bounce-house industry.” [More]
Two Delicious Worlds Collide With Red Velvet Fried Chicken
By 8.16.10
San Francisco continues to confound us… On one hand the city is trying to take all the happy out of Happy Meals; on the other hand, it’s the same place you can now order up a plate of fried chicken coated in a red velvet cake batter. [More]
Court Says California Mall Can't Ban Customers From Talking To Each Other
By 8.16.10
The Westfield Galleria in Roseville, California takes the comfort of its patrons seriously–so seriously, in fact, that it wants them to shut up and focus on shopping, or else ask for permission first if they want to talk about any topic that’s not mall related. Last week, the state’s 3rd District Court of Appeal found that the rule violated the state’s constitution, so now mall shoppers can gab as much as they want to each other. [More]
Top 10 States With Highest Closing Costs
By 8.16.10
In terms of closing costs, these little transactional costs needed to process the signing of your new home, how does your state stack up? Bankrate did a survey to find out. [More]
San Francisco Hates Your Happy Meals
By 8.11.10
While the Center for Science in the Public Interest hasn’t yet made good on its threat to sue McDonald’s for continuing to put toys in their Happy Meals, the city of San Francisco is considering a law that could have your children asking “where’s my toy?” the next time you head to the Golden Arches and other fast food joints. [More]
San Fran Launches Parking Meters With Supply And Demand Based Pricing
By 8.10.10
That little love bubble known as San Francisco is at it again, introducing new “smart” parking meters that, among their many innovations, change their prices based on supply and demand. [More]
Coffee Shops Say Free Wi-Fi Is Bad For Business
By 8.9.10
A recent story in the LA Times says that some coffee shops are pulling the plug on free wi-fi because freeloaders are taking up large tables and only having a single cup of coffee. [More]
'Other Guys' Poster Disarmed In San Francisco
By 8.9.10
Police officers carry guns. And, at least in ads for movies like The Other Guys, they brandish those guns while performing high-flying kicks. But not in San Francisco, where many posters for the movie feature deadly pepper spray in place of firearms. [More]
