RIVERSIDE — A judge has ruled California’s law allowing terminally ill people to end their lives was passed legitimately during a special session of the Legislature, dampening a long-running criticism by opponents who sued over the measure. A Riverside Superior Court judge also found this week that the doctors who...
December Storms Deliver Good Start for Sierra Snowpack
Electronic readings from 130 stations throughout California indicate that the state's snow water equivalent is 9.3 inches. That's 90% of the Jan. 2 average. “While the series of cold weather storms in November and December has provided a good start to the 2020 snowpack, precipitation in Northern California is still...
Arkansas Governor Signs 18-Week Abortion Ban Into Law
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas' Republican governor has signed into law a measure banning most abortions 18 weeks into a woman's pregnancy, enacting one of the strictest prohibitions in the country. Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday signed the measure, which includes exceptions for rape, incest and medical emergencies. Arkansas already...
No Stethoscope for Pain: Scientists Seek Real Way to Measure
WASHINGTON — Is the pain stabbing or burning? On a scale from 1 to 10, is it a 6 or an 8? Over and over, 17-year-old Sarah Taylor struggled to make doctors understand her sometimes debilitating levels of pain, first from joint-damaging childhood arthritis and then from fibromyalgia. "It's really...
Senate Backs Bill to Avert Shutdown, Boost Military Spending
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday approved a wide-ranging, $854 billion bill that funds the military and a host of civilian agencies for the next year and provides a short-term fix to keep the government open through early December. The measure includes $675 billion for the Defense Department and boosts...
State Supreme Court Blocks 3 Californias Vote
SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court blocked a measure Wednesday that would divide the state in three from appearing on the November ballot. The justices ordered the secretary of state not to put the ballot initiative before voters, saying significant questions have been raised about its validity. The court now...