Child Safety

Barring a reprieve, regulations set to take effect next month could force thousands of clothing retailers and thrift stores to throw away trunkloads of children's clothing. The law, aimed at keeping lead-filled merchandise away from children, mandates that all products sold for those age 12 and younger -- including clothing -- be tested for lead and phthalates, which are chemicals used to make plastics more pliable.

Responding to a long-running pattern of child abuse deaths that might have been prevented, Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday will consider a renewed attempt to ease communication among agencies that deal with troubled families. The proposal calls for an interlinked computer system that would expand child abuse investigators' ability to access records showing a family's criminal, educational and medical histories, including critical clues about dangers faced by children.

Los Angeles County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to launch an investigation into potential flaws in the child welfare system that might have played a role in the deaths of three children over the last month. Child welfare authorities had at one point investigated the care of the three children who died. Statistics show that in the last three years, a dozen children or more have died annually as a result of abuse or neglect despite the fact that their cases had come to the attention of social workers.

MySpace says it can't guarantee that the people who sign up for its social networking site aren't underage or sex offenders. But it averted a potential legal battle Monday by agreeing to keep trying. A group of 49 state attorneys general probing safety issues at MySpace and other online social networks signed a deal with the Beverly Hills-based unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Contractors renovating U.S. homes built before 1978 must take special precautions to avoid exposing children to lead paint under a regulation announced Monday by the Environmental Protection Agency. Many physicians and scientists have criticized the EPA's long-awaited rule as inadequate to protect children who live in the estimated 38 million homes that contain old lead paint. Every year, about 11 million renovations occur in U.S.

Los Angeles County officials said Thursday that they would begin their own checks of child-care facilities and foster homes after a state audit found 49 instances in which convicted sex offenders appeared to have lived at the same address as such facilities. The audit found that although child-care operators and employees must submit to criminal background checks, no such requirement currently applies to people who live in the same house or apartment where the facilities are located.

Concerns over recent coyote attacks in the Inland Empire escalated Friday when wildlife officials said two more children in Lake Arrowhead may have been bitten and a woman in Temecula reported having to drive a stubborn coyote out of her house. "They are behaving abnormally," said Steven Martarano, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game. "They have lost their fear of people for whatever reason."

The most disturbing Halloween accessory this year may not be the spider webs hanging off the shrubbery or the door sensor that emits ghostly screams, but a lone jack-o'-lantern displaying the words: "No candy at this residence." About 1,200 violent or child sex offenders on probation or parole in Maryland have been ordered to hang these orange pumpkin signs -- or plain ones reading, "No candy" -- at their residences today. If they don't, the knock at the door will be from an officer of the law.

At least 18 children younger than 15 died in toy-related accidents in 2007. Most of the deaths were caused by blocked airways, drowning or accidents involving motor vehicles, according to Consumer Product Safety Commission data. Many of the incidents were not caused by the toys but occurred while the children were playing. Fourteen of the 18 children were boys.

Four months after the congressional page scandal rocked Capitol Hill and helped dash Republican hopes for holding their majorities in Congress, the House voted unanimously Friday to expand the board that oversees the teenage interns and require that it meet regularly. The House voted 416 to 0 to reorganize the House Page Board so that it has two congressional members from each party, the House clerk, the sergeant at arms, one parent of a page and one former page.