Product Bans

The beachfront city of Malibu voted Monday to outlaw a form of youthful daredevilry known as speedboarding -- an extreme hobby that has grown increasingly popular here. Speedboarders don protective helmets, knee and elbow pads, and sometimes even sleek bodysuits before hopping onto long skateboards and rocketing down steep public streets and canyon roads at speeds greater than 40 mph. Enthusiasts swear by speedboarding's addictive adrenaline rush.

Los Angeles County supervisors backed off a threat Tuesday to ban plastic shopping and grocery bags that environmental experts call unsightly and destructive. Instead, officials chose the weakest of five alternatives recommended by county executives: a volunteer program that leaves it to supermarket and store owners to coax customers into packing their purchases in reusable containers.

They dance in the wind, decorate trees and dot rivers. They rip into fingers and bang against legs. By some estimates, China uses 3 billion of them every day. But if the government has its way, the thin plastic bags that blight this country will soon be a thing of the past. Under an ambitious plan announced in advance of the 2008 Summer Olympics, China has announced a ban on the production of the flimsiest of the bags by June 1.

It's a spring-like morning at Lake Casitas and bass anglers sense that any day now the quarry they're so passionate about will begin to rise and aggressively feed. But anticipation of a new season is tempered because these anglers may soon be informed they can no longer launch their fancy boats at this spacious Ventura County reservoir. And the thought all of those fish going unhooked is so distressing that some would do almost anything to prevent this from happening.

The news for smokers was bad. The question was how bad. Smokers and restaurateurs and other business owners in Mexico City on Wednesday were debating the ramifications of not one but two groundbreaking laws seeking to curb smoking. Some were scratching their heads over which they would have to obey, and many others expressed skepticism that either would be effectively enforced. "I'm sure that neither . . .

UCLA's neuropsychiatric hospital has banned all cellphones and laptop computers after a patient posted group photos of other patients on a social networking website, officials confirmed Monday. Dr. Thomas Strouse, medical director of the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, said in a statement that the decision was part of "UCLA Health System's ongoing efforts to enhance patient privacy and confidentiality in compliance with California's patient rights law."

Owning or selling brightly colored guns may soon be illegal in Nassau County because the painted weapons could pass as toys, police and county officials said Wednesday. Officials in neighboring Suffolk County are considering a similar ban. The proposal in Nassau County was spurred by a Wisconsin company's introduction last week of a line of bright gun paints called the "Bloomberg Collection," which taunts New York City Mayor Michael R.

A proposed ban on helium-filled foil balloons lost altitude in the state Legislature on Wednesday amid growing opposition from florists, party decorators and other professionals. The proposal's chief supporter, Sen. Jack Scott (D-Altadena), withdrew plans for an outright ban and instead proposed a compromise that would reinforce a state law requiring weights and warnings on helium-filled metallic balloons.

It was business as usual last week at Huntington Park's Crown Poly Inc., where workers in the brightly lit factory scurried around large, loud machines churning out hundreds of thousands of clear plastic bags per hour. But all that could change if the Los Angeles City Council has its way. A day before I visited Crown Poly, the council had voted to ban plastic bags at supermarkets and stores citywide by 2010.

Congressional negotiators agreed Monday to a ban on a family of toxins found in children's products, handing a major victory to parents and health experts who have been clamoring for the government to remove harmful chemicals from toys. The ban, which would take effect in six months, would have significant implications for U.S. consumers, whose homes are filled with hundreds of plastic products designed for children that may be causing dangerous health effects.