LA considers ‘john letters’ to fight prostitution

LA considers ‘john letters’ to fight prostitution

LOS ANGELES

A Los Angeles City Hall proposal to send “john letters” to the owners of cars seen in areas known for prostitution is drawing criticism from a California civil liberties group.

The letters would be intended to discourage those who were soliciting prostitutes from returning while posing no harm to those who aren’t seeking prostitutes.

The Los Angeles Daily News reported Wednesday that the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation is questioning police use of license plate information for identification purposes.

The San Francisco-based foundation has an ongoing lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over the collection of license plate data.

The City Council voted Wednesday to ask the city attorney’s office to weigh in.

Agency not doing enough against dengue fever

HONOLULU

Some Hawaii lawmakers are concerned that state health officials aren’t doing enough to combat a dengue fever outbreak that has grown to 107 confirmed cases.

The state Department of Health reported the latest total on Thursday.

State Sen. Russell Ruderman says he is worried about his pregnant wife getting the mosquito-borne illness. He and other Big Island lawmakers say the health department is downplaying the situation.

Department Director Dr. Ginny Pressler says the level of alarm is higher than necessary, and officials are trying to raise awareness instead of fear.

The department hired a public relations firm to help with an education effort.

There’s concern the outbreak could hurt the tourism industry, but officials say they have not seen significant visitor cancelations.

School cancels dance over dirty dancing concerns

PORTLAND, Ore.

Administrators at a Portland, Ore., high school have canceled an upcoming winter dance because of concerns about dirty dancing.

A Portland Public Schools official says dancing has made some students feel unsafe.

“This is way worse than dirty dancing. It’s over the top, sexual in nature,” district spokeswoman Christine Miles told KGW-TV.

Not everyone agrees the dance should be canceled.

“We do have some families that think this isn’t a big enough issue to cancel the dance,” Miles said. “But if we have some kids who don’t feel safe at their own high school dance, it’s not OK.”

Several students told KGW that they shouldn’t be punished for the actions of a few classmates.

It’s unclear if there will be other dances later in the school year.

Hurricane Sandra weakens slightly

MIAMI

Hurricane Sandra has weakened slightly but is still a powerful Category 3 storm in the eastern Pacific off Mexico’s coast.

The hurricane’s maximum sustained winds Thursday afternoon were 120 mph. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says rapid weakening is expected: Sandra is forecast to weaken to a tropical storm tonight and become a remnant low Saturday.

Sandra is centered about 380 miles south of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and is moving north near 12 mph.

A tropical storm watch is in effect for the Baja California peninsula from Todos Santos to Los Barriles.

Associated Press