California's driver's licenses getting a new look

Long a favorite target for fraud by underage drinkers and illegal immigrants, the California driver's license is getting a high-tech face-lift. The card unveiled Wednesday gains a range of advanced security features, from laser-engraved signatures printed in raised lettering to photos that can be seen only under ultraviolet light - all part of an effort to thwart increasingly sophisticated counterfeiters.

"The new security features, coupled with advanced technology, make California driver licenses and identification cards one of the most secure identification documents in the country," Department of Motor Vehicles director George Valverde said in a statement. Still, some experts remain unconvinced that the new license will stymie every counterfeiter.

Given the lucrative nature of the black market and the high demand for California licenses, someone will eventually figure out a way to duplicate even the most sophisticated features, according to one security expert. "Anything that's designed by man can be duplicated by man - it'll just cost more and take more time to do," said San Fernando Valley-based private detective John Grogan. "I guarantee there will be good-looking copies within weeks.These measures, though, will make it impossible for people who want to do it themselves." Possibly the most dramatic feature of the new license is that cards for drivers under 21 will be designed with a vertical layout making it easier for bars, nightclubs and police to see that the person is underage.

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Plummeting Marijuana Prices Create A Panic

For decades, illegal marijuana cultivation has been an economic lifeblood for three counties in northern California known as the Emerald Triangle. The war on drugs and frequent raids by federal drug agents have helped support the local economy — keeping prices for street sales of pot high and keeping profits rich. But high times are changing. Legal pot, under the guise of the California's medical marijuana laws, has spurred a rush of new competition. As a result, the wholesale price of pot grown in these areas is plunging.

In 1983, the Reagan administration launched a massive air and ground campaign to eradicate pot and lock up growers in northern California. With the Reagan crackdown, writer Charley Custer recalls, wholesale prices shot up — to as high as $5,000 a pound. That sudden and ironic windfall for those growers willing to risk prison time transformed the community. "Outdoor growers are having a hard time unloading their fall harvest," Custer says. "And this is six months later and when some people do move it, they don't get nearly the price they were hoping for." That goes for both legal growers who cultivate limited quantities of pot under the medical marijuana laws and illegal operators who often grow larger amounts.

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Los Angeles wildfire ruled arson

A huge wildfire which has devastated a large area north of Los Angeles was started deliberately, say the authorities in California. A homicide investigation has been launched as two fire fighters were killed tackling the blaze, known as the Station Fire.

The fire covers nearly 150,000 acres - the largest in the county's history. Dozens of homes have been destroyed and thousands of people evacuated but the fire is now 38% contained, say reports.

"After a forensic examination at the point of origin, arson investigators have concluded that the Station Fire was the result of an act of arson," said US Forest Service Commander Rita Wears.

"The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide bureau has initiated a homicide investigation due to the tragic death of the two Los Angeles County firefighters as a result of this fire."

• "Natural Hazards-Wildfires", US Geological Survey, website.
• "Wildfires", Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, website.
• "Los Angeles Wildfire Updates", LA Times, webpage.
  

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Agents Make Valuable Marijuana Busts in California

Federal and state agents have arrested 83 people for growing more than $1.2 billion worth of marijuana in an ongoing crackdown on illegal pot gardens in California's Sierra Nevada range.

Local officials said several Mexican marijuana-growing cartels helped set up the grow sites scattered throughout rocky mountainsides of eastern Fresno County, and warned more arrests were likely as the sweep continues.

More than 318,000 marijuana plants were destroyed in the operation, which also netted nearly $41,000 in cash, 25 weapons and two vehicles, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said Thursday.

While the bust was large enough to merit a visit Wednesday from Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, it accounts for a small percentage of the pot typically seized in California each year.

"Agents Seize $1.2 Billion Worth of Pot in Calif.", ABC News, 7/23/09.

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