Extra Extra: Violets plucked, the sweetest rain...

Photo by Here in Van Nuys via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

• The chief of the Environmental Protection Agency is testifying to a Congress panel that he was not pressured into shutting down California's attempts to create its own global-warming laws: "It was Johnson's first appearance on Capitol Hill since he acted last month, and he drew the ire of not only Boxer, his usual critic, but other Democratic senators whose states want to follow California's lead in enacting tougher standards than the federal government for greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and trucks."
• LA County election officials still need 300 more poll workers to help out in the upcoming presidential primaries, which is now only a few weeks away.
• Man bites dog? How about man stabs dog (a police dog in San Diego)? And then how about I stab man?
• Is the world's most expensive sidewalk located in downtown Los Angeles? Blogdowntown investigates.
• Heavy winter storms continue to shut down roads across the Southland...we were hearing reports this morning that it was hailing in North Hollywood! Please be careful out there, everybody....
• Suge Knight, we don't believe you anymore: he's back in court, this time "caught up in an injunction that aims to keep Mob Piru gangsters out of Compton. 'This is crazy,' Knight said. 'I'm a 42-year-old businessman, not a gang member. I don't even live in Compton anymore.'"
• Does Dannon make you more regular and resistant to disease? One SoCal woman says the yogurt-maker is responsible for massively false advertising. The only thing she noticed about their line of "Activa" yogurts was an unpleasant taste. Take that, Pinkberry!
• Looks like the U.S. government is going to cutting a hell of a lot of checks: the House announced its economic stimulus plan this week. "Those who earn up to $75,000 individually or up to $150,000 as a couple will be eligible for the payments, said Republican and Democratic sources familiar with the tentative deal."

Title quote from "The Queen of Corinth" by John Fletcher