Extra, Extra: It's All A Matter of Perspective

Photo by breksquish via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

• The on going drama... off-screen that is. The Screen Actors Guild and Hollywood studios plan to meet each other and avoid a strike with the help of a mediator. Let's hope this has a happy ending...
  
• 60 Redondo Beach Car Wash workers are set to split a $450,000 settlement after it was found the owners shorted the workers wages and intentionally failed to record total work hours. Score one for the little guy...
  
• The DMV face a lawsuit from Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group, for revoking a woman's driver's license because of her medical marijuana status. The group claims that similar incidents have occurred in at least eight counties throughout the state.
  
• In better/worse news, depending on how you look at it, state and federal drug enforcement agencies say they have seized a record amount of marijuana plants from public and private land. The seizures aren't stopping the kids from posting their pot smoking and other drug experimentation online though. (KNBC.com video)
  
• Malibu is up to its neck in shi... Well, let's just say that they are in a lot of trouble with their septic tanks. The beautiful beaches and star studded addresses are a harbor for bacteria from human waste that leaks from septic leach fields and eventually finds its way to the ocean.
  
• More shitty news... more and more children are falling victim to the financial crisis. Government resources are being being squeezed off by budget cuts as more and more kids are falling below the poverty level. The percentage of impoverished children went up from 22.5 in 2002 percent to 23.5 percent in 2006 and is expected to get worse.
  
• Finally, some good news... for homeowners at least. The City of LA is working with banks and the FDIC to save people's homes. The program includes clinics and counseling along with useful information on modifying bank loans.