A group of San Francisco activists say they are planning to distribute free clean crack pipes to any addict that wants one.
The group claims that by providing the clean pipes, they are essentially providing the same service that the city is providing to drug addicts that inject via needles.
The city of San Francisco gives out approximately 2.7 million clean needles each year to addicts in an effort to lower the rates of blood transferred diseases like HIV and Hepatitis-C.
Laura Thomas of the HIV Prevention and Planning Council has made a formal recommendation to the city’s health department to have the city implement the plan. She said that the program would allow addicts to feel respected and likely make more of them come in for treatment for their diseases.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said that he is not supportive of the proposal because he believes there are many other ways to control HIV without giving out free drug paraphernalia.
Some advocates say they will give out crack pipes even without the government approval, in violation of state and federal laws.
A new scientific report says that the toxic pollutants causing massive levels of smog in China has the ability to cross the Pacific Ocean and create air quality problems for the western United States.
The study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is the first time scientists have been able to quantify the amount of Chinese pollution making its way across the ocean. The study said that anywhere from 12% to 24% of the daily sulfate concentrations around Los Angeles is directly attributed to Chinese pollution related to exports.
The researchers say one of the biggest hazards is “black carbon.” Unlike other forms of air pollution, black carbon is not removed from the air by rain. The carbon has been found in valleys and holes in California. Black carbon is connected to asthma as well as cancer, emphysema and heart & lung disease.
Smog in China has reached levels that in parts of Beijing officials had to turn electronic billboards into replicas of the sun so that residents would know when dawn and sunset were happening around them.
A campfire fanned by the Santa Ana winds caused a 1,700 acre brush fire that forced the evacuation of thousands of residents in the foothills near Los Angeles.
Three men were being held by Los Angeles County deputies under suspicion of starting the blaze.
At least five homes were completely destroyed and another 17 damaged by the blaze. A historic retreat that was once the home of the Singer sewing machine family had rental homes burned to the ground although statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary were completely unharmed.
Authorities said the wind faded during the day allowing them to bring the fire under control.
According to Glendora Fire Chief Tim Staab the men in custody were trying to keep a campfire going to stay warm.
Observers were more than a little surprised when soil testing showed a California beach that recorded radiation levels as much as 14 times the baseline level were not showing that higher total because of radioactive water from the Fukushima Nuclear Plant meltdown.
Initial concerns were that radioactive water from the 2011 meltdown had finally made its way to California shores. However, testing showed that the soil did not contain any Cesium-137 found in the Fukushima release.
Testing showed the material was naturally radioactive radium and thorium.
The cause of the radioactivity has not yet been identified and officials say even though the radiation is not coming from the Fukushima disaster it does not mean it’s safe to be on that beach.
Local experts say it’s possible that a thorium vein could be coming out of nearby coastal bluffs. Reports also found an oil pipeline once ran near the site and those pipes have a tendency to collect heavy radioactive minerals.
Further testing is being done to find the radiation source.
The Mount Soledad Memorial Association is not going to allow an anti-Christian lawsuit calling for only the removal of a cross from a veteran’s memorial to go down without a fight.
An appeal has been filed with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals contesting the order of U.S. District Judge Larry Burns that a cross be removed from Mount Soledad because it was unconstitutional. The judge had stayed his order because he expected the appeal.
“If we fail to preserve this veterans memorial and the ACLU is successful in tearing down the oldest Korean War veterans memorial in the United States, then so too will be the fate of other veterans memorials like it, including the Canadian Cross of Sacrifice and the Argonne Cross in Arlington Cemetery,” a lawyer defending the MSMA told Fox News.
The ACLU’s lawsuit does not call for the removal of other religious symbols from the site including Stars of David.
Drought conditions are fueling a late fall forest fire raging in the Big Sur region of California.
Fire officials say the slow-moving blaze in Los Padres National Forest had burned around 770 acres by late Tuesday night and destroyed at least 14 homes. The fire was reported to be 20 percent contained.
Up to 650 firefighters are on site fighting the blaze and the weather has been favorable for stopping the fire’s spread. However, officials say a weather front moving in Wednesday could tip the scales in favor of the fire.
“It could possibly help us,” Los Padres National Forest spokesman Lynn Olson said. “It could possibly hurt us.”
The popular tourist area has been hit by wildfires in the past. A summer 2008 blaze forced the evacuation of the area and burned 250 square miles before it was contained including the destruction of a dozen homes.
Among the homes destroyed since Monday was the home of the Big Sur Fire Chief, Martha Karstens. She had lived in her home for 23 years when it was destroyed Monday night. Karstens said she was focusing on fighting the fire and functioning as a chief without thinking about her now destroyed home.
A cross that has been the centerpiece of a veteran’s memorial near San Diego since 1913 will be destroyed because a federal judge agreed with anti-Christanists that the presence of the cross violates the constitution.
The 29 foot Latin Cross standing at the memorial replaced the original cross in 1954. The Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial contains 3,000 granite plaques individually honoring war heroes from every American war including Iraq and Afghanistan.
Congress made the memorial a “national memorial honoring the United States Armed Forces” in 2004. Congress noted the memorial was “replete with secular symbols” and other faiths including 18 Stars of David. Congress said the cross was a plurality of faiths.
The ACLU proceeded to continue their efforts to remove Christianity from society by suing to remove only the cross from all the religious symbols at the site. A U.S. District Court judge rules for the removal but stayed the order to give defendants a chance to appeal.
A church that had their entire supply of food to be given away for Thanksgiving stolen by thieves is seeing an outpouring of support from the community.
Christ Temple Apostolic Church in Sacramento had a window into their church’s gym shattered allowing the thieves access to make off with hundreds of dollars in food donated for the church’s annual Thanksgiving meal for the homeless.
The church is known for their outreach to the homeless community despite a series of hardships. The church has had to close half their building because they can’t afford $70,000 to fix a leaking roof. The day after they housed homeless in their gym, thieves broke into the gym and stole the church’s sound system.
Now, members of the community have been dropping off food donations at the church to replace the stolen items. One man who had never heard of the church before the thefts told CBS13 in Sacramento that he brought a couple of turkeys, stuffing, cranberry sauce and a smile because he wanted to help those helping the community.
A major California resort town is threatening to enter bankruptcy due to salary and pension costs.
Desert Hot Springs, California, a city of 26,000 east of Los Angeles, could be the third major city to file for bankruptcy after San Bernardino and Stockton.
The city’s problems came to light last week when a new finance director discovered a $3 million shortfall in the city’s $13.5 million budget during a routine record check. The interim director of finance could not explain the reason for the shortfall but said it was likely due to higher than expected pension and salary costs.
If the city ends up filing, it will be the second time since 2001 that the city has filed for bankruptcy proection.
Amy Aguer, the city’s interim director of finance, said that 70 percent of the budget was consumed by police costs between salaries and pension payments.