"Whooping cough has killed 9 in Calif." by Associated Press | September 17, 2010
LOS ANGELES — State health officials reported yesterday that California is on track to break a 55-year record in whooping cough infections in an epidemic that has already claimed the lives of nine babies....
All of the whooping cough-related deaths in California occurred in babies too young to be fully immunized against the illness. That has prompted authorities to urge parents and caretakers to get booster shots.
Yeah, we have to keep those pharmaceutical profits healthy.
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Not the only sickness in the Golden State:
PALMDALE, Calif. — The leader of a breakaway religious sect was hospitalized yesterday for a mental evaluation, after she and 12 other members of her group went missing and left behind evidence that they were awaiting the Rapture or some other catastrophic event.
Reyna Marisol Chicas was placed under a 72-hour mandatory hold after it was determined she was not able to care for herself or others, said a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy.
Chicas gave investigators a false name and was rambling during questioning, the deputy said. She told deputies she had no children, even though her two children were with her.
Ending a frantic search, deputies found the 13 sect members just before noon at a park near Palmdale after getting a tip from a local resident, said Steve Whitmore, sheriff’s spokesman. He said all of the members are safe.
Officers had been searching a wide swath of Southern California since Saturday.
The group of El Salvadoran immigrants described as “cult-like’’ by sheriff’s officials, is led by Chicas, a 32-year-old woman from Palmdale, sheriff’s Captain Mike Parker said.
Members left behind cellphones, identification, deeds to property, and letters indicating they were awaiting the Rapture....
LOS ANGELES — The mayor and the former city manager of the Los Angeles suburb of Bell were among eight current and former city officials arrested yesterday in a corruption scandal that authorities said cost the blue-collar city more than $5.5 million in excessive salaries and illegal personal loans.
The district attorney’s office said several former and current City Council members were taken into custody along with former city manager Robert Rizzo and Mayor Oscar Hernandez...
Rizzo, who was making nearly $800,000 a year, was booked on 53 counts of misappropriation of public funds and conflict of interest....
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"The scandal-plagued city of Bell mismanaged more than $50 million in bond money, levied illegal taxes, and paid exorbitant salaries to its leaders, according to a state audit released yesterday....
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Also see: Slow Saturday Special: California's Total Recall
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