Ban

THE official end of the notorious Cali cocaine cartel came late last year here with little more commotion than the rap of a judge's gavel. The Colombian drug lords Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, 63, and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, 67, entered guilty pleas and were ushered off to federal prison for the next 30 years -- no Miami Vice-like dramatics, no bodies riddled with gunfire in the manner of Medellin rival Pablo Escobar.

OAKLAND - Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Sunday the National Basketball Players Assn. wants the NBA to bar Clippers owner Donald Sterling from playoff games the rest of this season and impose the maximum penalty allowed under league bylaws if racist remarks purportedly made by Sterling can be verified as his. Johnson, who is assisting the players union in its response to the controversy surrounding Sterling, said the players have asked for...

Re "L.A. OKs ban on plastic bags at checkout," May 24 It's troubling to see the Los Angeles City Council regulate commerce under the guise of protecting the environment. Not only is it affecting business in a negative way with its plastic-bag ban, but it is also imposing a fee on the consumer by mandating a charge on paper bags for them to complete their purchase. The only ones who will benefit economically from this ban will be the makers of reusable bags, many of which are located overseas in countries such as China.

Even as the United States continues its historic move toward fairness and equity for gay people, antiquated anti-sodomy laws remain on the books in a dozen states. Theoretically, these laws were rendered unenforceable by the Supreme Court's 2003 ruling in Lawrence vs. Texas, but apparently not everyone has received that message. In the Lawrence case, the court declared that state laws banning consensual same-sex relations were unconstitutional. Yet somehow, between 2011 and 2014, 12 men were arrested in East Baton Rouge Parish in Louisiana under the state's remaining anti-sodomy laws.

Re "L.A. seeks brakes on skateboarders' speed," May 3 Skateboarders should have been reeled in a long time ago. Their total lack of accountability should have been lawfully addressed from the start. They menace the citizenry and disturb the peace in residential neighborhoods and vandalize city property by relentlessly pounding curbs, streets and you-name-it in an endless pursuit of becoming the next Tony Hawk. Edward Golden Northridge ALSO: Letters: Taxes, again Letters: Funding L.A.'s parks Postscript: An anti-Vatican bias?

Re "Ban on plastic bags OKd," Aug. 21 While it is great that West Hollywood understands the need to eliminate the tons of waste we generate each year, I don't see how eliminating plastic shopping bags helps. My grocery stores recycle old plastic bags to make their bags. I use my reusable bags most of the time but also collect enough of these already recycled bags to use at home for garbage and pet waste collection. Without these recycled bags, I would have to purchase new bags, use them once and throw them out - an expensive single-use product for me and for the environment.

Any regular reader of The Times' opinion pages knows that our letter writers tend to be an environmentally conscious bunch (several include as a postscript to their e-mailed messages, "Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail"). So ever since other cities started passing bans on plastic grocery bags and Los Angeles officials began weighing such a law, most letters have supported doing away with this environmental menace. But something changed after the City Council on Tuesday tentatively approved a ban, which will make L.A. by far the largest city in the U.S. to go without plastic bags.

The final phase of a ban on incandescent light bulbs goes into effect Wednesday, leaving consumers with pricier energy-efficient options that are expected to save people money over time. Beginning Jan. 1, the production of 40- and 60-watt incandescent light bulbs is banned as part of efficiency standards signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007.  PHOTOS: Best and worst countries in which to grow old The government phased out 75- and 100-watt incandescent bulb over the last few years.

San Francisco's board of supervisors has voted, by a veto-proof margin, to ban most of McDonald's Happy Meals as they are now served in the restaurants. The measure will make San Francisco the first major city in the country to forbid restaurants from offering a free toy with meals that contain more than set levels of calories, sugar and fat. The ordinance would also require restaurants to provide fruits and vegetables with all meals for children that come with toys. "We're part of a movement that is moving forward an agenda of food justice," said Supervisor Eric Mar, who sponsored the measure.

Medical marijuana law is as twisted as the ends of a Canna Sutra spleef, so the Los Angeles City Council aims to act Tuesday to free the City of Angels from all the confusion and make our kids safe from designer cannabis. There's only one problem with the council's foolproof plan, dreamed up by Councilman Jose Huizar and backed by law-and-order City Atty. Carmen Trutanich: It can't possibly work. A little trip through recent Los Angeles history should smoke out the reasons it doesn't make a lot of sense to impose a blanket ban on storefront marijuana dispensaries, as Huizar and Trutanich intend.

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration plans to begin regulating electronic cigarettes for the first time, banning sales to minors and requiring manufacturers to put health warnings on the nicotine-delivering devices that have become a multibillion-dollar industry, according to officials who described the agency's proposal. But the agency will stop short of steps that many public health advocates and some members of Congress have called for, including restrictions on television advertisements and flavorings, such as pumpkin spice or chocolate, that may target younger consumers, officials said.

WASHINGTON - A new policy bars employees of U.S. spy agencies from providing reporters with "intelligence information," even if it is unclassified, without first getting official permission. Employees who violate the directive, which was issued on March 20 by James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, face disciplinary action or firing. Critics said the order adds to a climate in which intelligence agency employees face greater risk in trying to help the public understand what the government is doing.

"Supreme Court rules against affirmative action. " That is likely to be a common shorthand description of Tuesday's decision upholding the constitutionality of Michigan's ban on the use of racial preferences in admission to state universities. But it's misleading. The 6-2 decision leaves undisturbed previous rulings in which the justices said that state universities may take race into account in admissions policies without violating the U.S. Constitution. But the court now has made it clear that although such preferences are permissible, voters may opt to prohibit them.

SACRAMENTO - A raft of bills to set tougher ethics rules for California politicians cleared their first legislative hurdle Tuesday as the state Senate prepared for a daylong refresher course on standards of conduct. Lawmakers say better adherence to existing rules and tougher restrictions in the future are needed to win back the public's trust after three state senators were charged with crimes. Eleven proposals approved by a Senate committee included a ban on fundraising during the end of legislative sessions, when decisions on many key issues are made; a reduction in the value of gifts that officials may accept; and a prohibition on such items as spa treatments, golf games, concert and professional sports tickets, theme park admissions and gift cards.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court upheld Michigan's ban on the use of racial affirmative action in its state universities Tuesday, ruling that voters are entitled to decide the issue. The 6-2 decision clears away constitutional challenges to the state bans on affirmative action, which began in California in 1996. Justice Anthony Kennedy, speaking for the majority, said the democratic process can decide such issues. “This case is not about how the debate about racial preferences should be resolved,” he said.

DEYARB BOQTARES, Egypt - By all accounts, Soheir Bataa was a bright and lively girl. At 13, she was diligent in her schoolwork, with her math teacher recalling an eager pupil. On her run-down street in this Nile Delta village, she could often be seen hoisting a neighborhood toddler onto a skinny hip. Until her parents decided that Soheir would be taken to a nearby clinic - really just the upper floor of a house on a dead-end dirt lane - where a doctor who doubled as a mosque preacher was known for performing a procedure called thara . The term, alluding to cleansing or purifying, means the cutting away of a girl's external genitalia.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an area of the ocean larger than Texas and thick with floating plastic debris: bottles, bottle caps, bits of packaging and uncountable plastic bags. It's not surprising that carry-out plastic bags make up so much of the patch; they constitute the third most common trash item found on California beaches, and they're light and easily lifted by the wind. That is just one of many reasons to ban them. The bags are too flimsy to carry more than a few items, which then commonly roll out of them in the back of the car. Once empty, unless they're quickly stuffed into the garbage or recycling bin, they can waft into the air, floating not only onto beaches but into wilderness areas, where they endanger animals.

North Dakota's law banning abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, striking down what critics had called the nation's most extreme limit on the procedure. The law, which was approved last year but never took effect, made it a crime for a woman to abort a fetus with a detectable heartbeat. Offending doctors faced up to five years in prison. An exception was allowed for medical emergencies. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland said the law was “in direct contradiction” of the Supreme Court's 40-year-old decision in Roe vs. Wade, which established “viability” as the critical point at which states could begin restricting abortions.

WASHINGTON - Raised on his father's and grandfather's tales of military service in India, Amitoj Chhabra wanted nothing more than to follow in their footsteps and join the U.S. Air Force. "I dreamt it. I slept it. It was all I ever thought about 24/7," Chhabra recalled. But the dream died before he even reached boot camp. When he tried to enlist, Chhabra, a Sikh from Reno, was told that his long hair and beard, which Sikhs are religiously mandated to keep unshorn, collided with Air Force grooming requirements.