Ordinances

It's just past noon in Laguna Woods, and retired Navy pilot David Masters, 71, has just wrapped up 18 holes on the golf course. The scene beyond him is something out of a postcard: bright green grass framed by blue sky and snow-capped mountains. Just around the corner, a group of retirees pokes gentle fun at one another while they lawn bowl. And in a nearby clubhouse, another social club gathers to chat, share drinks and eat coffeecake.

At hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, cash is changing hands, typically about $45 for an eighth of an ounce. The dispensary owners call it a donation because state law requires their stores to operate as nonprofit collectives. But their critics -- police, the district attorney and the newly elected city attorney -- insist that it's a sale and that marijuana sales remain illegal under state law. The debate turns largely on the interpretation of one sentence in the law, but it touches on one of the biggest concerns about dispensaries in Los Angeles: that the rapid proliferation of stores is being driven by people who are hoping to profit from the so-called Green Rush and who are buying rather than growing much of their cannabis.

Long Beach is about to consider a rare step to ease anti-smoking rules. At a time when cities nationwide are banning smoking in public places from bars to beaches, the Long Beach City Council today will consider a proposed amendment to its no-smoking ordinance that would exempt cigar lounges and hookah bars.

Lighting up on the outdoor patios of cafes and coffee shops may soon be a thing of the past in Los Angeles. The city's arts and parks committee took a first step Wednesday toward a new ban on smoking on restaurant patios or within 10 feet of any outdoor establishment that serves food or beverages. Bars with outdoor areas and other over-18 venues would be exempt.

Just a few blocks off Oakland's busy Jack London Square, Walter Hoye, a soft-spoken Baptist minister, was standing outside an abortion clinic, doing his best not to get arrested. Dressed in black and wearing his "Got Jesus?" ball cap, Hoye, 52, of Union City, Calif., held the hand-lettered sign he always brings: "God loves you and your baby. Let us help you." His black wire-rimmed sunglasses, perched halfway down his nose, gave him a faintly Hollywood air.

Stunned by the spread of medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, the City Council moved Tuesday to close a loophole that had encouraged their rapid growth. The council also rejected a dozen applications from dispensaries that sought permission to operate despite the city's moratorium and prepared to extend the ban for six months beyond its expiration in September. And a council committee unveiled a revamped proposal for a comprehensive ordinance to replace the moratorium.

A court commissioner has nixed a Los Angeles law that cracked down on how long taco trucks and other food coaches could stay open up for business. The ordinance, approved by the City Council in 2006, forced operators to stay on the go: Trucks were prohibited from parking in the same spot in a residential neighborhood for more than half an hour or in a commercial area for more than an hour. A similar law adopted by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors was tossed out by a judge last year.

From the backyard of their house, Philip and Eileen Peterson can see Catalina Island, the city of Long Beach and the port, Point Fermin and Cabrillo Beach, a view not uncommon in Rancho Palos Verdes. But part of their view is blocked by trees belonging to their longtime neighbors below, across Crest Drive, and views are the thing in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Church of Scientology critics are accusing Riverside County of kowtowing to the religion and infringing on free speech by passing an ordinance that limits protest outside the church's sprawling complex near Hemet. For the last year, a handful of demonstrators who believe Scientology is an abusive cult have picketed Golden Era Productions, the church's main center for the production and dissemination of videos and tapes. The campus is home to 500 church employees.

They are noisy, they drag down property values and disrupt the peace in neighborhoods, and they can carry deadly illnesses. And they sometimes associate with criminals, through no choice of their own. Not to mention the havoc they wreak on sweet early morning slumber. Pity the poor rooster, in some regions decried as public enemy No. 1.