Most people recognize the fact that smoking is bad for you. Repeatedly breathing in smoke can severely damage a person’s lungs and lead to numerous health problems later in life. In addition, nicotine, which can be found in all cigarettes, is extremely addictive. This leads to a person continuing to smoke, despite the obvious health risks.

People, mostly concerned parents and lawmakers, have been trying to reduce the likelihood of children smoking for years, and they were gaining ground. However, in recent years, electronic cigarettes have become increasingly popular, especially amongst minors. This is problematic for a number of reasons, and lawmakers are pushing to get regulations in place to protect youth across the country. Until that can be achieved, cities like San Francisco are ...

Things have changed a lot since most adults were in school. A popular question in math classes used to be if a student could use a calculator on their test. The teachers would usually say no, along with a comment about needing to know how to do the math on their own because: “You won’t be walking around with a calculator in your pocket.” Flash forward 10 years and everyone is doing just that.

Pretty much everyone has a cellphone, and regardless if it is smart or not, they all have calculators built in. This makes some math teachers sound pretty silly nowadays. Aside from proving our old math teachers wrong, smart phones allow a person to get any kind of information that they could possibly need thanks to their connection to the internet.

While this can be a very useful tool, it can...

Lately, it seems that teens are making headlines with internet challenges every other month or so. One of the highlights of the dumbest trends being the Tide Pod Challenge. Now, a new trend is spreading across the internet, and for once, parents don’t have to be concerned for the safety of their young and impressionable teens.

This new trend is called the #trashtag challenge and involves cleaning up areas that are covered in trash. So not only is this challenge garnering the attentions of people and teens around the world, it is helping the environment as well. Participants are challenged to take a before picture of a heavily littered area, clean it up, and then take an after photo of the results...

Raising kids is not easy. It takes a lot of patience and hard work. Children can be unruly as they grow. They test boundaries and like to see what they can get away with. This can lead to standoffs between child and parent, which is a difficult encounter depending on the age of child. Arguing with a toddler can be especially difficult since they don’t have a great sense of logic at that age.

Due to that fact, not everyone is cut out to be a parent. Some people simply don’t have the temperament or patience. Unfortunately, this fact isn’t always realized ahead of becoming a parent. There are far too many instances of bad people doing horrible things to their children, or children under their care.

Child abuse is not something that is taken lightly. When Child Protective Services (CPS...

Dog owners often realize that owning a dog is not easy. These furry companions require a lot of work and attention to keep them out of trouble. Many dogs, if left to their own devises, have a tendency to get themselves into bad situations, whether they meant to or not. That is why owners need to keep an eye on them.

One issue that can arise from a dog getting out, is that it might bite someone, or do worse. If that is the case, there can be serious legal consequences for the dog’s owners here in California. The state has laws that protect people in the event that someone’s dog bites them.

Common Law V. Strict Liability

When it comes to dog bite laws in different states, there are two different approaches:

• Common Law
• Strict Liability

Common law states are less strict when it comes t...

Saint Patrick’s Day is almost here, and people all over the country are making plans to go out and party. This green holiday is one of the biggest of the year when it comes to drinking. For the most part that isn’t much of a problem. However, there are some people out there who make all of the drinking a very big problem.

A few bad people is all it takes to completely ruin something, and that is exactly what people do when they drink and then drive. This is extremely dangerous and is a choice that not only affects the person driving, but everyone they pass on the road. All it takes is one slip up, and they can collide with another driver, a building, or a pedestrian. Then things get really bad.

DUI Checkpoints

Since Saint Patrick’s Day is a known drinking holiday, police officers ...

Most people are aware of the fact that driving while drunk is a very bad thing to do. Driving under the influence (DUI) is an incredibly risky and dangerous act, not just for the driver, but everyone else they pass on the road. This is due to the fact that alcohol impairs a person’s abilities and thoughts, making them unfit to drive any sort of vehicle.

Despite knowing this fact, many drivers out there still break this law every single day. These drivers convince themselves that they are fine to drive, and that they aren’t that drunk. They drive off to wherever, and that’s where things go wrong.

There are laws against drunk driving in every single state in the Union in order to keep people safe. The laws here in California may just become a bit stricter thanks to a proposed bill cur...

When a person is driving in a city or heavily populated area, they know that finding a parking spot is probably going to be difficult. After all, there are a lot of people in cities, all of whom are trying to find a spot close to their destination to minimize any walk time. This process can be made even more difficult thanks to all sorts of signs, meters, and rules regarding parking.

Often times, cites have signage up that instructs drivers on when they can park in certain areas. These signs can often be a bit confusing to some drivers, but can easily be understood after some quick consideration. Other rules are much more straightforward, such as never park on a red curb. At least, that is what most people would think...