Laws

In a sign of how vilified smoking has become, lawmakers in Virginia -- where the world's largest cigarette factory churns out Marlboros -- passed curbs on smoking in restaurants. The 59-39 vote in the House of Delegates approved a watered-down bill that allows smoking only in private clubs, outdoor cafes, designated smoking rooms and establishments that are off-limits to minors. The proposed penalties are hardly draconian: a maximum civil fine of $25 for smokers or restaurateurs who defy the law. The bill already exempted private clubs and outdoor patios.

The City Council voted Tuesday to make it illegal for so-called mortgage consultants to charge an upfront fee for services when helping distressed homeowners try to modify their payments. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa touted the law as the first of its kind in the nation and said it was a tool to "help residents keep a roof over their heads." State law already prohibits mortgage consultants from demanding upfront fees from homeowners who are in default, the first stage of foreclosure.

Linda Soubirous understood what it meant to the families of police officers and firefighters when state lawmakers ensured that they would receive health insurance for life if their loved ones were killed in the line of duty. She was 31, with a year-old daughter and pregnant, when her husband, a Riverside County sheriff's deputy, was fatally shot three years earlier, in 1993. Soon after, the county compounded the devastation by refusing to pay for the family's insurance as if he had voluntarily quit his job. Now, Soubirous is worried that other survivors will endure the same trauma if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger succeeds with a little-noticed plan to suspend the 1996 law because of the state's budget crisis, along with about 30 others put in place over decades to address the needs of Californians.

Peru's Congress voted Thursday to revoke two laws enacted last year to open the Amazon to mining, oil and timber development, measures that enraged many indigenous groups and led to a bloody confrontation this month. Legislators acted at the behest of President Alan Garcia, who went on national television Wednesday to acknowledge that he had committed a "series of errors and exaggerations" in pushing economic policies that spawned a wave of protests by indigenous groups, including road blockades and takeovers of two airports.

During an average wet season, the city of Los Angeles sends 100 million gallons of storm water into the Pacific each day. Because it carries various effluents to the ocean, that water had, for many years, been handled as pollution. But a new California law seeks to expand the role of storm water management to incorporate strategies that will use it as a resource. The Stormwater Resource Planning Act, SB 790, allows municipalities to tap funds from two of the state's existing bond funds for projects that reduce or reuse storm water, recharge the groundwater supply, create green spaces and enhance wildlife habitats.

Dozens of new state laws take effect today that could make things tougher for gang members, smokers and kangaroos while providing new protections for nursing home residents, shoppers and misbehaving celebrities. In addition, California workers who earn the minimum wage will get a raise from $7.50 to $8 per hour starting today, tying California with Massachusetts for the highest state minimum wage in the nation. That change, affecting 1.

The vacation sort of just flew by. After dropping their packs at a hostel, Ryan Ainsworth and his buddy Richie Bendelow found a shop selling 500 herbal potions that promised to make them high and happy in 500 ways. But the young British tourists went right for the hallucinogenic mushrooms, packaged in clear plastic containers just like the ordinary ones at the greengrocer back home. The pair took the tips sheet that advised first boiling the mushrooms into a tea "to speed up the effect."

Dianna Dapkins thought the Internet would be the perfect place to find a rare Croatian wine that her local merchants in rural Shelburne, Mass., don't stock. Sure enough, K&L Wine Merchants, an Internet retailer that also has stores in Hollywood and San Francisco, sells the Plenkovic Zlatan Plavac Barrique for $34.99. Dapkins clicked on the wine to buy it but said she was stunned when the website would not let her complete the sale. "It is really frustrating," she said.

Heidi Marie Petersen's knowledge of strategy and spreadsheets at a board meeting in Norway last year made a male colleague sit up and take note. "Wow! You actually know something about business," the man said after the meeting, Petersen says. The 49-year-old mother of two now serves on the boards of 11 companies, including Norsk Hydro, Europe's second-largest aluminum producer, and Aker Kvaerner, Norway's biggest engineering company.

The House and Senate approved a 15-day extension of an expiring intelligence surveillance law and the White House backed off a threatened veto, allowing more time to resolve a dispute over the administration's proposal to immunize telephone companies from lawsuits stemming from their cooperation with warrantless wiretaps. Both chambers passed by unanimous voice votes the temporary extension of the Protect America Act and then left town for a one-week break. The White House gave its blessing Tuesday night to the short-term measure.