Rainy-day headlight bill likely to pass in
California
SACRAMENTO “”mdash; An assemblyman’s “˜”˜It
oughta be a law contest” led the Assembly to pass a
bill Monday making drivers turn on their headlights in bad
weather.
The bill, passed 54-14, would fine drivers up to $96 for driving
without their lights on.
The idea came from two constituents of Assemblyman Joe Simitian,
D-Palo Alto, who said, “˜”˜It saves lives and costs no
money.” Simitian said that more than 20 states have a
similar law.
The bill, which now goes to the Senate, defines bad weather as
storms in which motorists must use their windshield wipers and
can’t see more than 1,000 feet ahead.
Assemblyman John Campbell, a Republican from Irvine and a car
dealer, criticized the bill, saying many cars now have automatic
lights for such situations.
“˜”˜What if that light threshold is
different?” he asked. He said many drivers will be
unnecessarily fined.
Porn industry “˜looking up’
Vivid Entertainment Group, the nation’s top adult movie
maker, has resumed production nearly a month after five performers
were infected with the AIDS virus, shutting down much of the
multibillion-dollar U.S. porn video industry.
The voluntary moratorium, established by the industry last month
after Darren James tested positive for HIV, ended on Saturday.
“˜”˜It’s over. Business is looking
up,” said Tim Connelly, publisher of the industry
online magazine AVN.
After a weekend shoot to complete a movie held up by the
moratorium, a Vivid crew went to work Monday at a home in Sun
Valley. As hand-held cameras roamed, two pairs of performers went
through their paces on a patio swing and near a backyard pool.
The moratorium affected an estimated $4 billion to $10
billion-a-year business ““ based mainly in the San Fernando
Valley ““ that churns out 4,000 new movies a year.
Connelly estimated that about 85 percent of companies heeded the
work halt. More than 300 productions were postponed.
“˜”˜One of the companies I know is going to shoot for
the next three weeks nonstop. … Everybody’s really
happy,” he said.
L.A. County health officials, however, argued that the overall
risk to performers in the unregulated business remains
unacceptable.
There should be mandatory use of condoms for adult film shoots,
county health officer Jonathan Fielding said.
“˜”˜The moratorium is ending without the introduction
of the safest protection measures we have,” he said.
“˜”˜I am distressed by the fact that these workers are
going back into circumstances that put them at … unnecessary risk
of contracting life-threatening illnesses.”
While many in the industry support voluntary condom use, most
oppose making it a law on grounds that it would drive the business
underground.
Reports from Bruin wire services.
Assembly passes recall bill
The state Assembly approved a bill Monday that would prevent
future recall elections if the target resigns before the recall
qualifies for the ballot.
The law now requires an election even if the target resigns
earlier in the process.
The bill passed 46-33 after Republicans charged Democrats with
altering rules that helped Arnold Schwarzenegger capture the
governorship.
If the bill passed Monday had been the law, Republicans said, it
would have stopped last year’s recall in July by allowing
former Gov. Gray Davis to resign. Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz
Bustamante would have succeeded him.
Davis would have had to resign before July 23, when Secretary of
State Kevin Shelley qualified the recall for the October
ballot.
Compiled from Bruin reports and wire services.