Chris Brown cites 1st Amendment in fight over murals

Scary monsters adorning the outside of singer Chris Brown's Hollywood Hills home are his personal art and he isn't about to give up his 1st Amendment right to expression because of a city citation, his attorney said.

Mark Geragos, the singer's attorney, has filed an appeal with the city of Los Angeles over a citation Brown received after neighbors complained about the bright, 8-foot-tall figures with bulging eyes and fangs on the walls of his designer home.

The enforcement citation was issued last month over "unpermitted and excessive signage" on his home on leafy, narrow Rinconia Drive.

In the appeal, Geragos said that the work is art, not signage, and therefore does not require a permit, especially because it is a home, not a business.

"The murals painted on the exterior of the structure are for the sole purpose of enhancing the architectural and aesthetic features of the residential property," Geragos wrote.

Moreover, Geragos wrote, the "murals are the reflection of the homeowner's aesthetic taste and a reflection of free speech and expression protected by the 1st Amendment."

Brown's personal artwork has unwittingly thrust him into one of Los Angeles' longest-running civic debates. Although the city has a reputation for being the street mural capital of the world, much of that artwork has been done illicitly.

City ordinances make it illegal to create murals on the vast majority of private properties.

Geragos noted in the appeal that city building inspectors are not applying the law in "content neutral" ways as the courts require, but are reacting to complaints. He cited quotes from Patti Negri, president of the Hollywood Dell Civic Assn., the local neighborhood group.

"There are lots of babies, lots of children, and they're literally frightened. It's like devils on the wall — big, scary eyes and big, scary teeth, and just the whole vibe is not what we're used to," she told the Los Angeles Times.

Brown's legal team says that kind of talk shows the murals are being "targeted for their content" even as the city praises other non-permitted murals.

Geragos says the city ordinances governing murals are also unconstitutionally vague.

As is required, Geragos sent the city a check for the potential fine while awaiting the results of the appeal.

Brown has long portrayed art as part of his work with an album titled "Graffiti" and he often posts images and videos of his work on social media.

After neighbors said that children in the area were scared of the monsters, Brown replied on Twitter: "There are scarier creatures on Harry Potter. Get a ... life!"

The case will be reviewed by the Department of Building and Safety, but is likely to make its way to the courts.

In the past, other homeowners have buckled under city pressure to remove artwork and murals because of financial limitations and the prospect of growing fines.

The city is finalizing a new mural ordinance that would legalize the creation of street art in certain zones and with some types of property.

richard.winton@latimes.com

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Yasiel Puig, Hanley Ramirez make Dodgers' offense go in 6-0 win

And then there was the other side. Not the dark side, the one full of light. Or at least timely hitting, great defense and sterling starting pitching. The team the Dodgers thought they would be.

After losing the afternoon game and looking bad in the process, the Dodgers game back with one of their best all-around games of the season in the nightcap.

With Chris Capuano coming off the disabled list to throw six scoreless innings, the offense generating 12 hits -- several of the well-timed variety -- the Dodgers stormed past the Yankees, 6-0,  in Wednesday's second game.

BOX SCORE: Dodgers 6, New York Yankees 0

Hanley Ramirez and Yasiel Puig continued to add some much-needed life to the offense, together almost reinventing it. Meanwhile, Adrian Gonzalez and Andre Ethier looked to be finding their groove, and in this game, the offense scored early and kept the pressure on.

After going four-for-four in the first game, Ramirez added two more hits in the second game, pushing his average to .359. He batted cleanup and continued to hit the ball hard almost every at-bat.

Which is very impressive, though still somehow managing to pale in comparison to the sensation that is Puig (and his .474 batting average).

The rookie continued the slightly unbelievable start to his career, going two-for-four with a home run, three runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base. In just over two weeks, he's not only taken the Dodgers by storm but, after Wednesday, New York as well.

And then there was Capuano, who came back from a stint on the disabled list because of a sore back, to throw his most encouraging game of the season.

In his six innings, Capuano (2-4) gave up only three hits and did not walk a batter. He struck out four and was never really in trouble.

The Dodgers put five singles together in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead against Phil Hughes. Gonzalez and Ethier each doubled to add one more in the third.

The Dodgers scored two more in the fifth after Puig was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on a Ramirez single. Ethier singled Ramirez to third and Jerry Hairston Jr.'s sacrifice fly scored him.

Puig added a solo home run in the seventh to complete the scoring. It was his fifth home run in his 15 games.

Ethier made several nice plays in center, Ramirez was making stops at short and Capuano looked like a Gold Glove pitcher.

The Dodgers were five-for-14 with runners in scoring position, a few light years away from where they've been through most of the season.

All they had to do afterward, was fly across the country all night to play in San Diego on Thursday.

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3 naval academy football players charged with sexual assault

ANNAPOLIS, Md.  — The U.S. Naval Academy on Wednesday charged three football players with sexually assaulting a female midshipman at an off-campus house in Annapolis more than a year ago, a case that has brought renewed focus to how the nation's military academies handle reports of sexual assaults.

The academy said in a news release that the male midshipmen are being charged with two violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. One involves rape, sexual assault or other sexual misconduct. The other is for making a false official statement.

The academy did not identify the three students, and it was not immediately clear if they have an attorney.

Two of the students were football players this past season, but they are not on the team anymore. Another is still on the team, but he has been suspended pending the outcome of the case.

"The case is still in the pre-trial phase, so any further comment on this ongoing investigation would be inappropriate," Cmdr. John Schofield, an academy spokesman, said in a statement.

The alleged assault occurred in April 2012. The woman's attorney, Susan Burke, has said the woman woke up with bruises after a night of heavy drinking and later learned from friends and social media that three football players she considered friends were claiming to have had sex with her while she was intoxicated and blacked out.

"My client and I are cautiously optimistic that justice will finally prevail in this case," Burke said in a statement Wednesday. "Even if this case is successfully prosecuted, the larger problem remains: rape cases in the military are controlled by untrained and biased commanders whose career interests may be served by covering up incidents like this one. The Naval Academy's handling of this case raises troubling questions about how the victim and the football players were treated. This case reflects why rape victims are fearful and skeptical of the military justice system."

Burke has noted the academy closed an investigation into the same allegations last year without charges. Burke said the Navy agreed to reopen the investigation this year after the woman sought legal help. The new investigation involved wiretapped conversations that Burke said further substantiated her client's account.

The academy announced on Monday that Vice Adm. Michael Miller, the academy's superintendent, had decided to forward the case to Article 32 proceedings, which are held to determine if there is enough evidence for a court-marital.

Schofield said earlier this week that the initial Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation into the case had been completed and reviewed.

The case comes as a string of sexual assault cases in the military has drawn attention and criticism in Congress, the Pentagon and the White House. Many of the assault cases involve alcohol, the military has said.

President Barack Obama talked about the sexual assault problem when he spoke at the academy's commissioning ceremony last month. The president said those who commit sexual assault threaten the trust and discipline that makes the military strong.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski wrote to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that she is "deeply troubled by the lackluster response from the superintendents to increasing rates of sexual assault within their academies."

Mikulski, D-Md., is a member of the U.S. Naval Academy's Board of Visitors, which acts as a board of trustees for the Annapolis military college.

"If we are going to end sexual assault in the military, we must start by changing the culture in the service academies where future leaders are created," Mikulski wrote.

Other Navy football players have faced assault allegations in the past.

In 2006, Lamar Owens Jr., the team's starting quarterback, was acquitted of rape but found guilty of lesser charges. He was expelled from the school. Another one-time member of the team, Kenny Ray Morrison, was convicted in 2007 of sexually assaulting a female classmate at a Washington hotel. He was sentenced to two years in the Navy brig.

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Spurs have best Manu for job, beat Heat for 3-2 lead in NBA Finals

SAN ANTONIO — LeBron James won four of the last five MVP awards, carried the Miami Heat to a near-historic 27-game winning streak and shot a sublime 57% this season.

Now he's one loss away from another humbling failure, the San Antonio Spurs sticking it to Miami, 114-104, Sunday to take a 3-2 edge in the NBA Finals.

James had another ragged game, Manu Ginobili completely stole the stage and Miami never led in Game 5 at AT&T Center.

BOX SCORE: San Antonio 114, Miami 104

Game 6 is Tuesday in Miami, but Game 7 carries the daunting if-necessary asterisk next to it.

"I have to come up big for sure in Game 6," said James, who is 8-12 in Finals games.

It was San Antonio's turn to plunder in this utterly unpredictable series, the Spurs rediscovering plenty of energy after a 109-93 home loss Thursday.

Part of the credit goes to cantankerous Coach Gregg Popovich, who started Ginobili instead of recently timid center Tiago Splitter.

The Spurs went small but lived large, Ginobili finishing with a season-high 24 points and also 10 assists after stumbling into Sunday with a 7.5-point average and 34.5% accuracy in the first four games.

Ginobili, who made eight of 14 shots, easily offset James' 25 points on eight-for-22 shooting.

Or as the understated Popovich said, the lineup change worked out "fairly well."

Miami had enough firepower to knock a 17-point deficit down to one late in the third quarter, and no one would have dared to predict Spurs fans' chanting "Ma-nu, Ma-nu" minutes later.

Of course it happened.

Ginobili converted a three-point play after drawing a baseline foul on Ray Allen. He buried a hang-in-the-air floater over Norris Cole. He found Splitter for a reverse layup.

Finally, he scored on a six-foot bank shot, blowing past Cole and beating Udonis Haslem's block attempt.

The score through three? Spurs 87, Heat 75, after a 12-1 run to close the quarter.

Ginobili could finally forgive himself.

"I was angry, disappointed. We are playing in the NBA Finals, we were 2-2 and I felt I still wasn't really helping the team that much," he said.

Tony Parker kept showing faith in his longtime teammate, practically promising everybody Ginobili would uncork a slump-buster soon enough.

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Legislators' 'hot dog' definition would aid street vendors

SACRAMENTO — Americans have been eating hot dogs since at least 1870, when a Coney Island restaurateur started selling sausages on long buns.

In California's capital, hot-dog carts keep the tradition going with cheap, quick, lunches for state workers and tourists.

But cart owners around the state are threatened with closure by health inspectors, unless lawmakers come to their rescue.

That's why the Assembly Health Committee had to come up with a legal definition for "hot dog." The proposed change to state health laws spells it out: "'Hot dog' means a whole, cured, cooked sausage that is skinless or stuffed in a casing that may be known as a frankfurter, frank, furter, wiener, red hot, Vienna, bologna, garlic bologna or knockwurst and that may be served in a bun or roll."

There's a good reason for the legalese, said committee Chairman Richard Pan (D-Sacramento). "When Californians buy hot dogs, they want to know what they are getting, sometimes with mustard," he said.

The definition is needed so health departments can hold hot-dog vendors, who boil already cooked wieners, to a less-stringent sanitation standard than food stands that cook raw foods, such as bratwurst, said Justin Malan of the California Assn. of Environmental Health Administrators.

The bill, AB 1252, passed the Assembly unanimously and moved to the Senate. But the bill fails to include other names for the all-American treat. According to thesaurus.com, hot dogs also are known as weenies, foot-longs, Coney Islands, links, wiener wursts, pigs in blankets. The bill also doesn't list a Los Angeles favorite: Dodger Dogs.

Moving the goal posts

California law mandates that electric utilities generate at least one-third of their power from renewable sources by 2020.

With 7 1/2 years left before the deadline, the state's three big investor-owned utilities now get a collective 22% from wind, solar and other non-fossil fuels.

Now, Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez (D-Coachella) wants to move the goal posts. He's introduced a bill, AB 177, that sets a 51% target by 2030.

Environmentalists are thrilled. "California needs to keep pushing forward," said Bernadette Del Chiaro, a renewable-power advocate with Environment California.

Manufacturers, who say they have been working to be more energy-efficient while paying some of the country's highest electric rates, aren't enthusiastic. "Adopting a policy to keep energy rates rising is the exact opposite of what we should be doing," said Dorothy Rothrock, vice president of the California Manufacturers & Technology Assn.

Lower-cost cellphones

Regulators are considering a program to provide subsidized cellphones and service to low-income Californians. Ratepayer advocates contend that a similar federal program is too limited to be useful. But an opponent, the National Tax Limitation Committee, says the proposal is a costly duplication of the federal one. The Public Utilities Commission will hold a public hearing at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Caltrans building at 100 S. Main St. in downtown Los Angeles.

marc.lifsher@latimes.com

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Led by Republicans, House passes measure to limit abortions

WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives passed legislation to enact  stringent restrictions on abortion Tuesday, acting on an issue championed by social conservatives in the Republican majority and inviting a possible new challenge to constitutional abortion rights.

The bill approved largely along party lines would prohibit abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, with limited exceptions to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest, so long as they have been reported to law enforcement.

The final vote was 228 to 196. Six Republicans voted against the measure, while as many Democrats voted for it.

The 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision allowed abortions until a fetus is viable outside the womb, generally considered to be at 24 weeks. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last month struck down an Arizona law that also would have banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Other states with Republican-led legislatures have also pushed new abortion restrictions.

House Democrats protested the measure as unconstitutional and a new assault by the GOP on women's reproductive rights in what they call a "war on women."

The Democratic-controlled Senate is unlikely to take up the measure. The White House said advisors would recommend President Obama veto the bill if it were to pass, calling the legislation "a direct challenge to Roe vs. Wade" that "shows contempt for women's health and rights, the role doctors play in their patients' healthcare decisions, and the Constitution."

Republican leaders, though, said it was needed legislation after a Philadelphia abortion doctor was convicted on three counts of first-degree murder for killing babies after they were delivered.

"After this Kermit Gosnell trial and some of the horrific acts that were going on, [the] vast majority of the American people believe in the substance of this bill, and so do I," House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters Tuesday.

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said the Gosnell case was a "red herring." "What Dr. Gosnell did was murder, plain and simple," he said. "And as horrible as everything Dr. Gosnell did was, it was murder, it was illegal, and it has nothing to do with what we're discussing."

The bill was amended last week to make an exception for pregnancy caused by rape or incest, after a hearing in which its sponsor, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), sparked an uproar when he argued against such a provision, saying that "the incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low."

Democrats tied the statement to one from Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin last year about what he called "legitimate rape," which hurt the party's image in a key swing constituency: moderate women.

"I just find it astonishing to hear a phrase repeated that the incidence of pregnancy from rape is low," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose). "The idea that the Republican men on this committee think they can tell the women of America that they have to carry to term the product of a rape is outrageous."

Democrats also said the exceptions added by Republicans still fell short, because they apply only when the rape or incest has been reported, and women often are reluctant to report the crimes.

"I thought we had established this last fall with the election. Americans are tired of Congress taking up extreme and divisive legislation targeted at women's health," Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) said at a news conference before the vote. "Many of our Republican colleagues don't seem to have gotten that message."

A recent Gallup poll found that Americans' views on abortion had changed little after the Gosnell trial, with 78% saying it should be legal under certain circumstances, compared with 20% who said it should be illegal in all circumstances.

Republican leaders sought better public faces for the legislation Tuesday after Franks' comments. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) led an initial floor debate on a procedural motion tied to the bill. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) took the lead for the party in the final floor debate, during which eight of the 11 Republican speakers were women. There are 19 Republican women in the House, none of whom serve on the Judiciary Committee that first considered the bill.

michael.memoli@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeMemoli

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Funding to improve drinking water has come at a slow drip

LANARE, Calif. — A bright metal drinking fountain is mounted on the wall in the community center of this tiny town west of Fresno. No one pays it any mind: The water is drawn from a well that has been contaminated with arsenic for years.

"Can't drink it, can't cook with it ... about all you can do is flush it," said Ethel Myles, 75, who came to the Central Valley from Arkansas half a century ago to pick cotton.

Lanare, like scores of other impoverished California communities where the water is unsafe to drink, could be eligible for a share of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal and state funds to improve drinking water tainted by agricultural use and naturally occurring contaminants. But the state has been agonizingly slow to spend the money, snarling small communities in red tape that has delayed fixes year after year, according to drinking-water advocates, community leaders and residents.

"It feels like they are playing bureaucratic Chutes and Ladders," said Laurel Firestone, co-director of the Community Water Center, which helps communities with contaminated water apply for grants to fix it. "You think you've gotten where you need to go, and six months later, you've hit the chute, and you have to go back to square one. It's extremely frustrating."

This spring, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice threatening to cut off further funding to California because officials have been sitting on $455 million in unspent federal funds, as well as up to an additional $260 million in loan repayments that could be available to help. It is the largest share of unspent money for improving drinking water in the nation.

The EPA also faulted the state Department of Public Health for a "lack of financial accountability," according to Jared Blumenfeld, the EPA's regional administrator. The agency has given the Department of Public Health until June 24 to come up with a plan to fix its funding program.

Officials at the Department of Public Health said they were working to streamline procedures.

"In the past, the department was slow to commit and disperse the funds," said Dr. Ron Chapman, public health director. "We've made a lot of progress and significant changes in our processes."

Water projects have been held up because communities lack technical experts like engineers or because they lack official standing to apply for money. Some water systems are not properly incorporated through the secretary of state. Infighting among local governments and a lack of sophistication in applying for grants and loans also have stood in the way.

A Times review found that even when small communities have been given money for drinking water projects, the efforts have sometimes collapsed because of bad planning and a lack of coordination among government agencies. In 2006, for example, Lanare opened a new water treatment plant built with $1.3 million in federal funds. But the plant was abruptly shut down after only a few months. Officials had failed to anticipate that the enormous ongoing expense of operating it would cause water rates to shoot up beyond what residents could pay.

These days residents pay $54 a month for water they can't drink, in part to pay off debts accumulated by the idled plant.

Experts offer different estimates of how many people in California do not have access to safe drinking water. The state Department of Public Health, which coordinates drinking water improvement programs, says about 200,000 people at any time are served by water systems that violate state health standards. But some legislators say the figure is as high as 2.1 million, when communities not served by publicly regulated water systems are figured in. That includes systems with 15 or fewer connections.

"This is something the rest of California takes for granted: You wake up and expect the water coming from your faucet is safe," said Assemblyman Henry T. Perea (D-Fresno). "There are 2 million people who face a different reality, and that is wrong."

There are myriad causes for unsafe drinking water, but among the biggest culprits — particularly in the Central and Salinas valleys —- are naturally occurring arsenic and nitrates from agricultural runoff. Fixing it can entail something as simple as digging new wells or as involved as building a sophisticated water treatment plant.

In 2011, the United Nations dispatched a human rights lawyer to the town of Seville in Tulare County and called attention to the poor conditions, part of a tour that also included Bangladesh and Namibia.

Gov. Jerry Brown last year signed a law declaring that access to clean drinking water is a right of every Californian. Nevertheless, state officials have struggled to make good on that promise.

EPA officials announced earlier this month that California needs an estimated $44 billion in capital improvements in the next 20 years to keep drinking water safe.

Many of the contaminated water systems are relatively small, serving a few dozen to a few thousand people. They have difficulty absorbing expensive fixes.

The town of Springfield Terrace in Monterey County, population 165, has had water contaminated with nitrates since the mid-1980s. A community worker said state funding was insufficient and fixing the problem a few years ago would have caused water rates to shoot up to $500 a month or more. The community of mostly farmworkers couldn't afford it.

The Department of Public Health said the community's application for funding was incomplete, so it wasn't accepted.

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Some L.A. County bus drivers say pesticides are making them ill

Los Angeles County bus drivers say they are regularly becoming ill — sometimes while behind the wheel — from pesticides sprayed inside their vehicles by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

At least 14 Metro drivers are pursuing workers' compensation claims, and more than 110 have signed a petition that demands a halt to the spraying, according to their attorney. Some operators are on medical leave, and a few say they have left Metro because of repeated exposure.

"You can be driving your bus and get hit with the symptoms," said Frank Portillo, a 23-year coach operator who retired in March, sooner than planned, because of medical issues he believes are pesticide related. "It's a problem for those on the early shift, but you can breathe the fumes throughout the day. The smell is all over."

Three drivers — part of Metro's most heavily used transit system, shuttling 1 million passengers a day with a fleet of 2,500 buses — have lodged complaints with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health since 2011. They allege they have suffered severe headaches, dizziness, breathing problems, nausea and irritation to their eyes and skin from four brands of pesticides.

All can be harmful if they are swallowed, are inhaled or come into contact with the skin or eyes, research shows. Extreme exposure can be fatal.

Peter Melton, a spokesman for Cal/OSHA, said the agency is investigating whether Metro has violated regulations designed to prevent workers from being exposed to harmful substances. He declined to comment further because the inquiry is pending.

Although the drivers say they occasionally hear complaints from passengers about odors, there is no indication any riders have reported health problems as a result.

Nevertheless, advocates for transit users, such as the Bus Riders Union, are concerned that passengers might be getting ill as well, especially the elderly and children, who might be more sensitive to chemicals.

"If the drivers are getting sick, that is enough indication that it is not safe," said Sunyoung Yang, a union spokesperson. After an application, "In the morning, when the buses start running, there are some acrid smells. If there are unsafe chemicals inside the buses, there should be precautionary measures."

Portillo identified one of his former passengers as Eugene Rubalcava, 36, of San Gabriel, who relies on Metro buses to get to work. In an interview, Rubalcava said he has noticed chemical-like smells on occasion after he boards early in the morning. He says he has never become ill.

Metro officials said ample precautions are taken when buses are treated to kill roaches and other insects attracted by crumbs from sandwiches, chips, candy and other food items that passengers often bring on board.

They say that safety information is provided to operators, and no more than eight driver complaints have been officially lodged in the last five years. In a recent letter, the authority told Cal/OSHA that employee exposures are insignificant because of the controlled conditions and limited amounts of pesticide applied.

"Spraying buses is common to prevent insect infestations," said Dave Sotero, a Metro spokesman. "These are standard industry practices, and the chemicals are used for a multitude of purposes."

The pesticides in question are pyrethrins made of a natural substance from chrysanthemums or their synthetic equivalent known as pyrethroids.

Thought to be safer than other pesticides, their use has exploded during the last two decades. Both are applied to kill insects in homes, on pets and on commercial farms. But studies of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data show that the number of human health problems — including severe reactions — have increased several hundredfold since their introduction.

Although spraying pesticides is common at transit agencies, officials at the Orange County Transportation Authority and Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus said their operations apply a pesticide gel specifically in cracks, crevices and panel areas of their buses. Sprays are rarely, if ever, used, they said. Of the two transit operators, Orange County reported only one complaint from a driver in the last few years.

Metro contracts with ISOTECH, an experienced and license pest control company. Sections of bus interiors are sprayed, including the driver's area, and, as with OCTA and Santa Monica, pesticides are injected into cracks, crevices, moldings and panel areas.

Buses are then posted with warnings and sealed off for four hours before employees can enter, officials said. Each vehicle is treated quarterly, but severe infestations can require additional applications.

"Our first concern is safety for the public and our employees," said Debra Johnson, the deputy chief operations officer for Metro. "We use pesticides for infestations, and we go to extremes to make sure we have a safe environment."

Drivers say, however, that pesticide odors can linger during their eight-hour shifts, producing flu-like symptoms. On several occasions, Portillo said, he became so sick he had to request a replacement in the middle of his shift. He and other operators disputed Metro's statement that safety information is readily available, noting that warning notices have been removed from treated buses before operators arrived for work.

"The MTA is not responding to their concerns," said attorney Diana Sparagna, who represents the drivers pursuing workers' compensation claims. "We have done everything right, but the MTA makes it sound like this is nothing."

dan.weikel@latimes.com

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Legislators' 'hot dog' definition would aid street vendors

SACRAMENTO — Americans have been eating hot dogs since at least 1870, when a Coney Island restaurateur started selling sausages on long buns.

In California's capital, hot-dog carts keep the tradition going with cheap, quick, lunches for state workers and tourists.

But cart owners around the state are threatened with closure by health inspectors, unless lawmakers come to their rescue.

That's why the Assembly Health Committee had to come up with a legal definition for "hot dog." The proposed change to state health laws spells it out: "'Hot dog' means a whole, cured, cooked sausage that is skinless or stuffed in a casing that may be known as a frankfurter, frank, furter, wiener, red hot, Vienna, bologna, garlic bologna or knockwurst and that may be served in a bun or roll."

There's a good reason for the legalese, said committee Chairman Richard Pan (D-Sacramento). "When Californians buy hot dogs, they want to know what they are getting, sometimes with mustard," he said.

The definition is needed so health departments can hold hot-dog vendors, who boil already cooked wieners, to a less-stringent sanitation standard than food stands that cook raw foods, such as bratwurst, said Justin Malan of the California Assn. of Environmental Health Administrators.

The bill, AB 1252, passed the Assembly unanimously and moved to the Senate. But the bill fails to include other names for the all-American treat. According to thesaurus.com, hot dogs also are known as weenies, foot-longs, Coney Islands, links, wiener wursts, pigs in blankets. The bill also doesn't list a Los Angeles favorite: Dodger Dogs.

Moving the goal posts

California law mandates that electric utilities generate at least one-third of their power from renewable sources by 2020.

With 7 1/2 years left before the deadline, the state's three big investor-owned utilities now get a collective 22% from wind, solar and other non-fossil fuels.

Now, Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez (D-Coachella) wants to move the goal posts. He's introduced a bill, AB 177, that sets a 51% target by 2030.

Environmentalists are thrilled. "California needs to keep pushing forward," said Bernadette Del Chiaro, a renewable-power advocate with Environment California.

Manufacturers, who say they have been working to be more energy-efficient while paying some of the country's highest electric rates, aren't enthusiastic. "Adopting a policy to keep energy rates rising is the exact opposite of what we should be doing," said Dorothy Rothrock, vice president of the California Manufacturers & Technology Assn.

Lower-cost cellphones

Regulators are considering a program to provide subsidized cellphones and service to low-income Californians. Ratepayer advocates contend that a similar federal program is too limited to be useful. But an opponent, the National Tax Limitation Committee, says the proposal is a costly duplication of the federal one. The Public Utilities Commission will hold a public hearing at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Caltrans building at 100 S. Main St. in downtown Los Angeles.

marc.lifsher@latimes.com

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Bay Bridge retrofit plan addresses failed bolts

OAKLAND — State and regional transportation officials announced plans Wednesday for a retrofit to the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge that will cost up to $10 million and effectively do the job of nearly 100 massive bolts that failed earlier this year.

Questions remain, however, about whether the world's largest single-tower, self-anchored suspension span will open on Labor Day weekend as planned. The new span will replace the one that partially collapsed in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

"We believe the work can get done by Labor Day, but it will require extra shifts and perhaps a 24-hour-a-day operation and that will cost more money," Steve Heminger, executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, told the Bay Area Toll Authority Oversight Committee.

The thick steel bolts — which are 17 feet to 24 feet long — connect the bridge deck to so-called shear keys, which are designed to control movement during an earthquake. They were part of a batch manufactured and galvanized in 2008 and installed on the span, which has been in the works for years and has ballooned in cost to $6.4 billion.

When the 96 bolts, which were embedded in concrete and impossible to remove, were tightened earlier this year, a third of them broke, leaving the seismic safety of the massive endeavor in question.

That batch of bolts has been deemed too compromised to rely on.

The wild card, Heminger said, is whether bolts made from similar steel in 2010 — some equally large and some much smaller — will also have to be replaced before the bridge opens or simply monitored after the fact.

Commissioners were filled in Wednesday on the planned retrofit as well as a battery of tests being conducted on the bolts made in 2010.

Those bolts, which are accessible and can be swapped out for others, have not yet broken. "The longer they are not doing that, the more daylight we are seeing between the 2008 bolts and the 2010 bolts," Heminger said. A decision will probably be made by month's end on the bolts and the opening date.

In addition to Heminger, presenters included Andre Boutros, executive director of the California Transportation Commission, and Malcolm Dougherty, director of the California Department of Transportation. Their three organizations jointly oversee the bridge project.

Boutros said the group had opted for one of two finalists for the retrofit — a steel saddle that must be fabricated and will be clamped down on top of the shear key plates with tensioned cables. Another option, for a larger steel collar, would have cost as much as $20 million.

Caltrans has come under fire for using the galvanized steel bolts. U.S. industry standards and Caltrans' own guidelines warn against galvanizing the specific grade of steel used due to its hardness and tendency to break under extreme tension.

The massive bolts failed due to a phenomenon called hydrogen embrittlement, in which hydrogen atoms invade the spaces between the steel's crystalline structure and weaken it. That may have occurred during galvanization, or when the bolts sat for years untightened in casings that filled with water.

Caltrans has said that it asked the manufacturer to use a galvanization process less likely to cause hydrogen embrittlement but that in retrospect it should have tested the bolts more thoroughly in the lab before installing them.

When asked why Caltrans deviated from its own specifications, which warn against galvanizing this type of steel, Brian Maroney, deputy toll bridge manager at Caltrans, said that in his 25 years of bridge engineering, "every single project has special provisions, because those standards don't really fit and you have to come up with a technical solution.

"The Bay Bridge," he added, "has many, many, many special deviations away from the standard."

lee.romney@latimes.com

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