Stop with the lawsuits! You’ve only got nine days to go! In order to help push through the final stages of the new law allowing same-sex marriage, nine major gay rights orgainzations have asked couples to not to take legal action against the courts and to have some patience. Many couples are pushing to have their marriages recognized, and rightly so, but their eagerness may cause the entire deal to lead to a ruling against same sex marriage which may take years to overturn.

In an unusual six-page memorandum, written for same-sex couples, groups ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to Lambda Legal warned that lawsuits would invite “bad” court rulings that could take years to overturn.

“Bad rulings will make it much more difficult for us to win marriage, and will certainly make it take much longer,” the memo said.

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Woman are taking over the world! Well, not quite. But a woman is taking over the Sheriff’s position in Orange County for the first time ever. Sandra Hutchens, formerly a division chief for the LA County Sheriff’s Department has been chosen for the position by the Orange County Board of Supervisors. The board was torn on their decision, but ultimately decided to go with the outsiders.

Hutchen, 53, retired from the LA County Sheriff’s Department last year after 30 years of service. She is now ready to take charge of a department that has had a lot of trouble over recent years.  Michael S. Carona will be resigning from the position in January to face his upcoming corruption trial. Needless to say, Hutchens’ is going to have her work cut out for her.

Three supervisors voted for Hutchens, while two voted for Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters.

“I will live up to the confidence you have placed in me today,” Hutchens told the board after the vote. “I am a change agent. I will be a change agent in the Sheriff’s Department.”

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Well, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power appears to have gone a bit nuts. They dropped over 400,000 black floating plastic balls (also known as “bird balls”) into the Ivanhoe Reservoir, which is next to the Silver Lake Reservoir. Within thirty minutes they dumped enough “bird balls” into the water making it look like an oil spill for all those people who have a beautiful home along the side of the water. But, apparently it’s for our own good. The water in the reservoir needs to be shaded in order to help protect our water supply.

Recently, dangerous levels of bromide have been found in the reservoir, but during a time of drought, we can’t afford to drain the water. So… we have to shade it with black floating plastic balls four out of every twelve months of the year.

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How sad is this, it’s only May and already Schwarzenegger issued a statewide drought for California. Due to the below-average rainfall over the past two years, love snow-melt runoff, and of course people taking 30 minute showers, leaving the hose on, and abusing other water privileges, we’re all in trouble.

The governor issued an executive order Wednesday that directs the state Department of Water Resources to speed water transfers to areas with the most severe shortages.

Dry conditions are damaging crops, harming water quality and causing extreme fire danger across the state. Many communities already are requiring water conservation or rationing. [LATimes]

So, here are some helpful water saving techniques for you to use on a day to day basis.

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A little bit of fake history was destroyed as the New York and New England stages on the Universal Studios Hollywood lot went up in flames yesterday. The fire began for unknown reasons and took over 50 firefighters to control and injured nine firefighters in the process. It spread through the back-lots and set off two explosions when the fire reached a couple of propane tanks. As of right now they don’t know who and/or what caused the fire.

The blaze erupted at 4:45 a.m. on New York Street — a location that has played host to scenes for such films as “Batman and Robin” and “Austin Powers.”

The flames churned through the open-air wood and plastic construction and to the adjacent sets, incinerating the 30-foot animatronic King Kong and damaging Courthouse Square, which played a prominent role in “Back to the Future,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Inherit the Wind.”

The park had to be shut down yesterday, but will reopen today at 10 a.m. as investigators try to find out what started the fire. One possible cause could be the lack of water pressure in the park’s sprinkler system and fire hydrants.

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Are the right people getting the medical attention they deserve? The LA Times is reporting that UCLA Medical Center may have provided livers to four patients who were members of the Japanese gang, Yakuza, instead of others who were more in need and further up the list. Although UCLA is denying the claims, the entire situation looks a bit shady. While hundreds of patients died waiting for livers between 2000 and 2004, one person, who wasn’t even legally allowed in the country, managed to jump the line.

The newspaper says the surgeries were performed by world-renowned liver surgeon Dr. Ronald W. Busuttil, executive chairman of UCLA’s surgery department. The Times cited a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.

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In San Deigo, Rebecca D’Aoust, 56, died yesterday after she was allegedly struck on the head with a hammer or another blunt object by her own 14-year-old daughter, also named Rebecca D’Aoust. On Sunday the daughter was arrested and the mother died in the hospital Monday from the fatal blow. The mother worked as a counselor at a San Diego elementary school.

Her 14-year-old daughter was arrested following Sunday morning’s attack in the family’s Scripps Ranch home about 15 miles north of downtown San Diego. The girl is being held on suspicion of murder. [LATimes.com]

It is still unclear what caused the daughter to commit such a violent act. D’Aoust, 14, is expected to be arraigned today by the Supreme Court where they will decide if she should be tried as an adult for her actions. They jury will be able to consider the circumstances and the severity of the murder before deciding whether to try her as an adult or a juvenile.

What do you think?

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Last Saturday, Roketi Su’e, 46 was shot and killed by Long Beach police for apparently acting erratically. It was discovered later that Su’e was not only terminally ill and dying of lung cancer, but that he was mentally disabled and suffered from bi-polar disease. The family is not suing the Long Beach Police Department because they believe that the police used excessive force and that Su’e was of no threat to them. The police are saying that they thought he was under the influence or drugs and/or alcohol and felt threatened by Su’e.

The story goes that Su’e, was killed Saturday in the 3400 block of 67th Way on his was home from a birthday party. Two officers responded to the area at 7 p.m. on reports of a man behaving erratically. They attempted to arrest Su’e but apparently he resisted. So they used a Taser on him and struck him with batons, because of his mental illness he appeared unfazed, causing officers to think he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Then the police said Su’e tried to take one of the batons away from the officers so they shot him multiple times in the upper torso. Family members said Su’e, who had a bipolar disorder and was dying of lung cancer, was unarmed and upset because he had had a fight with his girlfriend.

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Well, be careful where you park, because the “Tiger Team” is out to get you. The “Tiger Team” is a group of traffic control officers who will be driving up and down Sunset strip scanning for stolen cars and towing illegally parked cars. The team consists of five traffic control officers and seven tow trucks, ready to take you down! They will be patrolling Sunset Blvd. between Laurel Canyon and Vermont Ave between 7am-9am and 4pm to 7pm.

In January, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the new Tiger Team as part of his short-term initiatives to reduce traffic congestion in the city of Los Angeles.

The first Tiger Team started patrolling Wilshire Boulevard in June 2006. Officers also patrol stretches of Ventura and Crenshaw boulevards.

The mayor and Los Angeles City Council members Eric Garcetti, Tom LaBonge and Wendy Greuel will announce the Tiger Team at a morning news conference in Hollywood. [LATimes]

Photo by bucklava

So nearly all of you know about those little pesky cameras on top of traffic lights now-a-days that catch you when you least expect it! You go home praying they didn’t catch you, then MONTHS later you receive a ticket in the mail and there goes your new dress, weekend away, bottle of whiskey, or possibly your rent.

The reason these cameras were installed is because Los Angeles County promised that they would reduce collisions caused by drivers, driving through red lights, but the truth of the matter is that 80% of the tickets go to right hand turners, not red light runners.

So what are these cameras really for?

Some researchers and traffic engineers question the enforcement strategy.

“I’ve never . . . seen any studies that suggest red light cameras would be a good safety intervention to reduce right-turning accidents,” said Mark Burkey, a researcher at North Carolina A&T State University who has studied photo enforcement collision patterns.

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With temperatures nearing 100 degrees today I sure wouldn’t want to be stuck in a long long with a lot of people who are all stressed and trying to get somewhere. Sucks to be LAX. A “momentary power surge” at LAX has caused a massive air-conditioning outage through nearly all of the terminals. Now passengers are having to sweat it out during the last day of this heat wave which is expected to reach record highs.

Travelers at LAX Monday had to deal with sweltering heat in addition to long lines and security checks.

The air-conditioning went out in terminals 1, 4, 5, 6 – and possibly others – at 8 a.m. and as of an hour later, the problem had not been fixed, according to one traveler.

The terminals were being described as hot and muggy.

Photo by herotype0

Today is the last day to register to vote for the June 3rd primary election! Hopefully you’re already registered and ready to go. But don’t forget if you have moved, got married, changed your name, or turned 18, you need to re-register (or register) to vote by 5pm today! Five locations will stay open until 9pm and three Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s offices, will be staying open until midnight for those of you who can’t make it before 5, so there is no excuse!

You can register at at any local DMV, public library, post office, of city clerk’s office in your area. You can also register online at RocktheVote.com, but make sure you drop off you’re registration to the Post Office, don’t put it in your mail box! If you need a little extra time, here are the places who will be open late.

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