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A measure to require sugary soft drinks to carry labels warning of obesity, diabetes and tooth decay advanced in the California state legislature on Friday, the latest move by lawmakers nationwide aimed at persuading people to drink less soda. The legislation, if enacted, would put California, which banned sodas and junk food from public schools in 2005, in the vanguard of a growing national movement to curb the consumption of high-calorie beverages medical experts say are largely to blame for an epidemic of childhood obesity. "This is a major victory for public health advocates, community groups, physicians, and dentists," said Democratic state senator Bill Monning, author of the bill. "By informing consumer choice, we can improve the health of Californians."   true       In 2012, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spearheaded a citywide ban on sales of oversized sugary soft drinks, but the move was declared illegal by a state judge after a legal challenge

Charges against a California man accused of abducting and raping a 15-year-old girl stem from brutal crimes committed a decade ago when she was first snatched, prosecutors said on Friday in response to remarks by neighbors that the woman showed no signs of distress. Isidro Garcia, 41, was charged with kidnapping, rape and lewd acts upon a child and a judge on Thursday ordered him held on bail of $1 million, in connection with crimes Orange County prosecutors say he committed against the woman when she was a minor. Now 25, the woman told detectives she endured a decade of physical and sexual abuse by Isidro, was forced into marriage in 2007 and later bore his child. She contacted authorities this week after reaching out to her sister on class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Facebook , police said.   true       "We're talking about the kidnapping of a 15-year-old child who was taken from her mother, taken from her home, taken from her neighborhood and for the past 10 yea

California lawmakers advanced a bill on Friday that would give immigrant students residing in the country illegally and attending public four-year universities in the state access to a revolving loan fund. The measure, if signed into law, would create the California Dream Loan Program, which would allow universities to voluntarily offer loans for undocumented students who have lived in the state long enough to qualify as residents. Individual students could apply for up to $4,000 a year in loans, which would be held to the same interest rate caps as regular undergraduate loans. "We invest in California students from an early age, and many of them have done what we've asked them to do," said state Senator Ricardo Lara, a Democrat from Bell Gardens who authored the bill. "If we're serious about strengthening our class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy then we must remove obstacles for our future workforce." The measure piggybacks off legislatio

A measure to require sugary soft drinks to carry labels warning of obesity, diabetes and tooth decay advanced in the California state legislature on Friday, the latest move by lawmakers nationwide aimed at persuading people to drink less soda. The legislation, if enacted, would put California, which banned sodas and junk food from public schools in 2005, in the vanguard of a growing national movement to curb the consumption of high-calorie beverages medical experts say are largely to blame for an epidemic of childhood obesity. "This is a major victory for public health advocates, community groups, physicians, and dentists," said Democratic state senator Bill Monning, author of the bill. "By informing consumer choice, we can improve the health of Californians."   true       In 2012, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spearheaded a citywide ban on sales of oversized sugary soft drinks, but the move was declared illegal by a state judge after a legal challenge

An Arizona high school student accused of being a serial rapist pleaded not guilty on Friday to multiple sex-related crimes linked to allegations he assaulted at least a dozen girls during a multiyear spree, a county official said. Tyler Kost, 18, entered the plea through his attorney to 28 felony counts of sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual conduct with a minor and child molestation for crimes against the girls including one as young as 12 years old. Kost was ordered held without bond by a judge during a brief hearing in Pinal County Superior Court, said Dwight Fujimoto, the county attorney's chief of staff. His next court date is July 1.   true       Kost was indicted by a grand jury on May 7 for alleged attacks on 11 girls aged 12 to 17, court documents showed. The alleged attacks date back to 2009. Another charge of sexual conduct with a minor was added in a separate indictment on Wednesday when another girl came forward, Fujimoto said. The crimes occurred mostly in the

California lawmakers advanced a bill on Friday that would give immigrant students residing in the country illegally and attending public four-year universities in the state access to a revolving loan fund. The measure, if signed into law, would create the California Dream Loan Program, which would allow universities to voluntarily offer loans for undocumented students who have lived in the state long enough to qualify as residents. Individual students could apply for up to $4,000 a year in loans, which would be held to the same interest rate caps as regular undergraduate loans. "We invest in California students from an early age, and many of them have done what we've asked them to do," said state Senator Ricardo Lara, a Democrat from Bell Gardens who authored the bill. "If we're serious about strengthening our class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy then we must remove obstacles for our future workforce." The measure piggybacks off legislatio

Advocates for same-sex marriage in Oregon, fresh from a major legal victory that paved the way for same-sex couples in the state to wed, said on Friday they no longer plan to put the issue on the ballot this November. _0"> A federal judge on Monday struck down Oregon's decade-old constitutional amendment that defined marriage exclusively as the union of a man and a woman. County officials almost immediately began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, including in Portland where some couples, anticipating the ruling, had camped in front of a county offices. Oregon's attorney general declined to mount a legal defense of Oregon's gay marriage ban. The ruling was one in a series of victories this month for advocates of expanding marriage rights to gays and lesbians. This week, a Pennsylvania court threw out the state's same-sex marriage ban - making Pennsylvania the 19th state to allow same-sex marriage, after Governor Tom Corbett, a conservative Repub