SACRAMENTO – 3-27-09 – A Sacramento-based federal appeals court judge has blocked a key part of Proposition 9; the Victims’ Bill of Rights Act of 2008, or Marsy’s Law, passed by California voters by a narrow margin. Senior Judge Lawrence K. Karlton ruled that the state must continue to abide by a court approved consent decree from 2004 requiring the state to provide parolees with attorneys during parole revocation hearings.
CHINO – 3-30-09 – An outbreak of gastroenteritis sickened 18 inmates at the California Institution for Women, causing the prison to temporarily bar visitors and new inmates from entering the facility, which houses up to 2,400 women. The illness, an inflammation of large and small intestines, can cause diarrhea and vomiting.
IOWA – 4-4-09 – In a unanimous decision, the Iowa Supreme Court legalized same sex marriage. Iowa joined Massachusetts and Connecticut in allowing gay marriages.
VERMONT – 4-7-09 – The Legislature voted to override the governor’s veto and become the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage.
NEW YORK – 4-3-09 – Suffolk County in New York has enacted the first ban on the suspected cancer-causing chemical bisphenol A. The chemical is used in the manufacture of plastic items such as baby bottles and sippy cups. Several states are considering their own bans on the chemical.
ALASKA – 3-28-09 – Mount Redoubt continued to erupt and spew a plume of ash 65,000 feet into the sky. The last active period for the volcano was a four-month period in 1989-1990.
ITALY – 4-6-09 – An early morning, 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Laquila, 70 miles northeast of Rome, left at least 300 dead and more than 100,000 homeless.
FRANCE – 4-4-09 – Dozens of doctors combined their efforts in Paris to perform the world’s first simultaneous partial face and double hand transplant. The recipient is a 30-year-old burn victim injured in a 2004 accident.
PITTSBURGH – 4-6-09 – A mentally disturbed gunman shot and killed three police officers responding to calls of a domestic disturbance.
