Measures

WASHINGTON - In the first and only vote Thursday on the immigration bill, senators turned back a Republican measure that would have delayed a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally until after the border with Mexico is fully secure. Republicans still plan to offer several other measures to enhance border security, but this one, from Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, was one of the most hard-line of the proposals. The 57-43 vote to defeat the amendment offered an imprecise test of whether the Senate will find the 60 votes needed to pass the bill.

A ballot measure to cap the number of medical marijuana shops in Los Angeles won in last month's election with support from nearly every corner of the city, according to a Times analysis of election returns. Proposition D received majority support in virtually all of the hundreds of city precincts, including areas represented by outspoken opponents to the measure on the City Council. In the final tally released last Friday by the city clerk, Proposition D passed with support from 62.4% of the 376,000 city residents who voted on the measure.

A man with no risk factors for prostate cancer can go his whole life without ever taking a PSA test, according to the American Urological Assn. In a new clinical guideline unveiled Friday, the urologists said that only men between the ages of 55 and 69 should even consider getting a PSA screening test if they have no signs or symptoms of prostate cancer. Men should only get tested after discussing all the pros and cons with their doctors, and if they decide to get tested, they should not get tested again for at least two years, the guideline advises.

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown has backed off his proposal to tie some money for California's public universities to such requirements as improving graduation rates, enrolling more low-income students and freezing tuition for four years. University of California and California State University officials fought Brown's carrot-and-stick approach to higher education, which the governor had embedded in his budget plan. Brown wanted to steadily increase funding for universities over the next four years as long as they met specific conditions - ensuring more students finish their degrees on time, enrolling more transfers from community colleges and other measures - and to withhold the money if tuition was raised.

Californians are overwhelmingly in favor of strict gun control measures that impose background checks for all gun purchases and toughen penalties for illegally purchasing or using a gun, as well as enhancing efforts to keep guns away from the severely mentally ill, a new poll has found. Sweeping majorities of California voters backed a proposed federal ban on the sale of assault weapons. They also backed state proposals to prohibit the possession of large-capacity magazines, background checks for the purchase of ammunition and a requirement that all gun owners be registered, licensed and insured, according to the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll.

Getting a good grip on your health may mean … getting a good grip. The force you can muster when squeezing an object or a weight doesn't only reveal how strong your hand and arm are. It can be a measure of overall muscle function and — according to one recent study — even portend how long you're likely to live. That's not as nutty as it seems, says Richard Bohannon, a professor of physical therapy at the University of Connecticut. "Grip strength reflects your overall muscle status and a general sense of how much muscle mass you have" he says.

There are more than 350 local measures across California on the Nov. 6 ballot. Among them: • El Monte and Richmond would levy a "soda tax" on sugared beverages. • Arcata proposes a 45% tax on excessive electricity usage, aimed at marijuana "grow houses. " • The desert town of Needles would impose a 10% tax on marijuana sales. • To combat loitering by the homeless, Berkeley would ban sitting on sidewalks in commercial areas from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. • The Davis Joint Unified School District wants voters to renew a $204 parcel tax and add one for $242 if Gov. Jerry Brown's statewide tax initiative fails, to make up for loss of state funds.

Under intense pressure from international lenders, Greece on Sunday announced a new set of austerity measures to meet deficit reduction targets and stamp out speculation that it would be forced out of the European single-currency zone. The measures, which include a two-year property tax, are intended to make up for revenue shortfalls that come to about $3 billion this year alone. Though designed to target mainly high earners, the new tariff could further anger the crisis-weary middle class and pose political risks for the socialist government, which repeatedly has pledged to protect Greek households from being hurt by further austerity measures.

A congressional stampede to pass oil spill legislation gathered momentum Thursday as a Senate committee voted to impose tougher penalties on water polluters, and lawmakers unveiled a comprehensive bill to strengthen environmental and safety rules on offshore drilling. The measures expected to move forward in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon blowout also include a rewrite of decades-old maritime liability law and a tightening of ethics rules for officials who oversee offshore drilling.

Two hotly contested ballot initiatives--Measures S and T--will be debated Saturday at a Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Retired Judge Bruce W. Sumner, chairman of the Orange County Charter Commission, will face off, for a second time, with Orange County Treasurer John M.W. Moorlach in a debate over Measure T, which would enact a county charter.

WASHINGTON - As Congress readied for a new battle over raising the debt limit, Sen. Barbara Boxer announced legislation that would prevent lawmakers from being paid if they do not increase the nation's borrowing authority. "It is an American value to pay your bills. It's also an American value to do your job," Boxer (D-Calif.) told reporters Wednesday. "If we as members of Congress refuse to pay the bills we have incurred, we should not be paid our salaries. " Boxer announced the legislation along with the lead House sponsor, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.)

SACRAMENTO - The Capitol's three most powerful politicians danced a victory jig Tuesday to celebrate the pending passage of an on-time, balanced state budget. And they did deserve to enjoy the moment. Spiffed up in dark suits, buttoned jackets and ties, Gov. Jerry Brown, Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) proudly performed for nine TV cameras in a news conference room packed with reporters. "Ho-hum," Steinberg joked.

WASHINGTON - With an overwhelming vote, the Senate on Tuesday launched debate on an ambitious overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, as Republicans, most of whom have not yet embraced the effort, declined to stand in the way of bringing it to the floor. But continuing doubts within the GOP about some of the bill's central elements, particularly on border security, could doom the effort. Republicans in the Senate and House want tighter control of the border with Mexico before the estimated 11 million people who entered the country illegally or overstayed their visas would be allowed to gain permanent legal status.

Almost a year after Orange County's largest city was rocked by street protests, civic leaders again have decided to hold off asking voters whether the structure of future council elections should be altered in an effort to diversify representation. Anaheim has seen a dramatic ethnic shift in recent years, and now about 52% of the city's 336,000 residents are Latino, though only a few Latinos have ever won council seats. The city is the largest municipality in California without council districts.

WASHINGTON - Conservative Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte announced her support Sunday for the Senate's bipartisan immigration overhaul, lending momentum to the comprehensive measure. "Our immigration system is completely broken," the New Hampshire lawmaker said on CBS' "Face the Nation. " "This is a thoughtful, bipartisan solution to a tough problem. " Ayotte, who was elected in 2010, is the first Republican to endorse the measure apart from the four in the Senate's so-called Gang of Eight who crafted the bill: Sens.

The state Senate on Thursday unanimously passed the last bill in a broad package of proposed reforms aimed at combating prescription drug abuse and mounting overdose deaths in California. The bills, inspired by a series of investigative stories in The Times, would help authorities track drug abusing patients as well as doctors who overprescribe painkillers and other addictive narcotics. One bill would give the state medical board the power to immediately suspend the prescribing privileges of doctors suspected of putting patients at risk.

Re "Here we go again," editorial, Oct. 9 The Times is correct in saying that the issues raised in the eight ballot measures to be voted on in November should have been taken up by the Legislature. But they weren't, and that is exactly the kind of problem the initiative process is designed to fix. Take, for example, the initiative to put the redistricting process in the hands of an independent commission. In 2001, the Legislature gerrymandered the voting districts in a way that makes it impossible for the voters to take away the incumbents' cushy jobs.

Proponents of a ballot measure to restrict ballot measures call it a financial necessity. Opponents say it would be a near-crippling blow to a form of direct democracy that Arizona has used since statehood. Under the proposition on the Nov. 4 ballot, no initiatives that raise taxes or require new spending could take effect unless they're approved by a majority of registered voters. That is a much higher hurdle than the current requirement -- that an initiative get approval from a majority of voters casting ballots.

We're No. 6! That's according to new data from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development , which on Tuesday released results of a survey measuring quality of life in 36 industrialized nations. For the last three years, the Paris-based outfit has weighed 11 criteria, including housing, income, jobs, environment, safety and work-life balance. For the third year in a row, Australia was the big winner, thanks in large part to an economy that managed to avoid the global recession of the last decade.

Astronauts heading to Mars would face exposure to a deluge of radiation, in some cases as much as NASA policy permits, according to new data from the Curiosity rover. The space agency limits astronauts to a 3% increased risk of fatal cancer. This translates to different levels of radiation exposure, depending on an astronaut's age and gender. But according to a paper published in Friday's edition of the journal Science, radiation exposure in a nonstop round-trip to Mars, which would take about a year, would ring in at about 662 millisieverts.