Last week was a banner one for nudity in California. First the naked sunbathers at San Onofre State Beach got permission to keep their most private parts public, and now a pair of women arrested in Sacramento in 2005 for baring their breasts in the name of peace have won a legal victory of their own.
According to a Superior Court judge in Sacramento, the arrest of Breasts Not Bombs protesters Sherry Glaser and Sheba Love was unlawful because their action was symbolic speech and the women were not, as accused, indecently exposed or committing a lewd act.
Our own Evan Halper covered the lead-up to the protest, in which officials warned that the sight of the women's bare bosoms could, as Halper put it, "corrupt children, prompt drivers to veer off the road and cause sex offenders to run amok." He was also there Nov. 7, 2005, when the women shed their shirts and police arrested them. The women faced the possibility of a trial and of having to register as sex offenders.
In case you're a bit hazy about the whole breasts-to-bombs connection, the women say breasts represent peace and the survival of the human race, while bombs . . . well . . . don't. The group has protested in San Francisco without incident (naturally) and in front of the White House, where neither the women nor the men in the group were told to put on shirts.
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Valley diner gets new life
There was great mourning and moaning and gnashing of teeth (and more than a few carb-withdrawal incidents) when Phil's Diner, a quintessential greasy spoon housed in a charming but crumbling wood-paneled dining car, closed in the 1990s.
Now, with a new owner and some help from L.A.'s Community Redevelopment Agency, the much-loved diner (so much-loved that someone even stole the sign) is headed back to life.
The Downtown NoHo blog was one of the first to post the news: "The CRA board approved a plan for a new, modern office building, a luxurious Laemmle's eight-screen theater, and a restored and operating Phil's Diner. The diner will be moved to the corner of Lankershim and Weddington -- across from the El Portal Theatre -- where it will be restored to its 1920s condition and reopen as a restaurant, and to become the centerpiece of the theater courtyard."
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Highway death milestone
It may annoy some people that freeways are flooded with California Highway Patrol cruisers every holiday, but state officials say the "maximum enforcement efforts" are a factor in reducing the state's death rate for motorists to the lowest level in 75 years.
