Animal-rights activists have been backing the bill—SB 1221—since it was introduced early this year by Southern California State Senator Ted Lieu, while some hunting groups are firmly opposed to what they say is a bill that could strip them of a traditional pastime.
Articles by Alastair Bland
Call sparkling wine made outside of France’s designated region “champagne” and risk a lawsuit from the Comite Interprofessional du Vin de Champagne. Call a conventionally grown potato “organic,” and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s enforcement branch may show up at the door as soon as it unearths the fraud. But raise a chicken in a cage, and feel free to make almost any claim to sell the bird’s eggs.
A drink and a drag off a cigarette were once a classic fixture of American nightlife. But in the mid-‘90s, new laws made smoking illegal in California bars and other public places, and to light up a cigarette meant placing a coaster on a pint and stepping out the door. Increasingly, cities around the Bay Area now are considering taking the law much further than that. Multiple municipalities in the South Bay are putting forth proposals to make smoking in public and, in some cases, inside one’s home, illegal.
Oenophiles who consume $230 magnums at Silicon Valley’s top restaurants may be unaware that one “rock star” winemaker currently finds himself in hot water. This past October, in a rare instance of a local politician speaking out publicly against a member of the North Bay’s influential winemaking community, Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo lambasted winemaker Paul Hobbs for uprooting hundreds of trees in Sebastopol and adding one more open wound to a Russian River watershed already impacted by erosion and sediment. According to several Silicon Valley sommeliers, Paul Hobbs wines are among the most popular in the area’s top-tier restaurants.
Late last year, Winifred Thomas saw her health deteriorate to the point she was unfit for most activity beyond household tasks.Thomas believes she suffers from a condition called electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), caused by exposure to radiation emitted by things such as SmartMeters, cell phones and WiFi routers.
The winner of the eight-stage of the Tour of California, which just finished its sixth go-around, was a 39-year-old veteran. The second-place rider was two years younger, and a 33-year-old took third. Old dogs may struggle with new tricks, but they ruled this year’s race.
Cyclists in the 2011 Tour of California are up against what race analysts are calling the most difficult tour yet—and it’s because of the hills.
Scores of leopard sharks have been found thrashing and dying in the shallows of San Francisco Bay from Palo Alto to Marin, and the cause of an apparent epidemic eludes baffled scientists.
The arrival of a fast-growing, genetically engineered salmon to California could have major impacts on the environment and the economy.
