Citing concerns over the domoic acid poisoning that has already sickened hundreds of birds, state health regulators in California on Friday urged people not to eat certain types of seafood — including shellfish and sardines — caught by recreational fishermen off most of the Southern California coast.

The warning also covers the organs of commercially sold lobster and crabs as well as those caught by recreational anglers.

Health officials typically issue a warning against eating mussels about May 1. Officials say they know of no one who has been sickened. But this year, regulators decided to expand the quarantine after finding high concentrations of domoic acid in some samples of other shellfish, said Lea Brooks, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Health Services.

Friday’s warning comes as hundreds of sick or dead marine birds are being washed ashore up and down the coast, their conditions linked to a particularly virulent outbreak of the naturally occurring domoic acid toxin, scientists say.

The seafood warning pertains to bivalve (two-shelled) shellfish such as oysters, clams and scallops, as well as anchovies taken off the coast of Los Angeles, Orange, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

The warning applies to seafood caught from shore and boats.

The fishing season for some of the creatures covered by the warning is ending. But other species now quarantined, such as mussels and Pismo clams, are harvested throughout the year, according to state sportfishing regulations.

Domoic acid is a naturally occurring toxin that can cause humans to get sick. Dogs, cats, birds and other household pets also are susceptible to such poisoning and should not eat the seafood either, officials warned.

Friday’s warning does not apply to commercially caught bivalve shellfish, such as clams and oysters, which are sold by certified harvesters and dealers subject to frequent mandatory testing, regulators said.

State law bans people from selling clams, mussels, scallops or oysters unless they are certified commercial harvesters or dealers.

Officials advise those who eat crabs and lobsters to consume only the white meat, removing and discarding the dark-colored organs, or viscera, before cooking.

Symptoms of domoic acid poisoning can occur within 30 minutes to 24 hours after eating toxic seafood. In mild cases, they can include vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headache and dizziness. The symptoms disappear within several days.

In severe cases, people can have difficultly breathing and experience confusion, disorientation, permanent loss of short-term memory, a coma and even death.

 The Supreme Court overturned the death sentences of three Texas murderers Wednesday, ruling that jurors were not given a fair chance to spare them given their mental difficulties and histories of childhood abuse.

In a series of 5-4 votes, the court pointed to the flaws in the Texas capital sentencing system before 1991. The rulings will probably lead to new sentencing hearings for a handful of Texas death row inmates who were given death sentences under the old system.

Until Texas was forced to revise its law in 1991, jurors were given only two questions when deciding whether a convicted killer would receive a sentence of death or life in prison. Was the murder deliberate, and did the killer represent a "continuing threat" to society? If the jury agreed on a "yes" answer to both, the defendant received a death sentence.

In the late 1970s, however, the Supreme Court had said jurors must be permitted to weigh any "mitigating factor" in a defendant’s life or character as a reason to spare him from a death sentence. Nonetheless, the justices upheld the Texas system at the time, even though it left little or no room for jurors to weigh mitigating evidence.

For a time, Texas judges tried to get around the problem by telling jurors they could falsely answer "no" when they were asked whether the murderer presented a continuing threat to society, even though they thought the right answer to the question was yes.

Not surprisingly, the justices in the majority Wednesday described that approach as "fatally flawed" because it depended on jurors giving an answer they knew to be untrue.

Justices John Paul Stevens, Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer formed the majority in all three decisions.

The rulings reversed death sentences for Ted Cole, now known as Jalil Abdul-Kabir, who strangled and robbed a 68-year-old man in San Angelo; Brent Brewer, who stabbed and robbed a 66-year-old store owner in Amarillo; and LaRoyce Smith, who stabbed and killed a former co-worker at a Taco Bell in Dallas.

In a strong dissent, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the fault in the handling of the cases lay with the Supreme Court, not the state and federal judges in Texas.

"Our precedents did not provide them with ‘clearly established’ law, but instead a dog’s breakfast of divided, conflicting and ever-changing analyses," Roberts wrote.

He said the lower court judges were told to follow the law as it was then, but the majority at the Supreme Court shifted back and forth and failed "to follow a consistent path."

No wonder, he said, that the appellate judges in Texas were unsure whether they should affirm or reverse the Texas death sentences handed down before 1991.

Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. joined Roberts in dissent.

Teenagers text each other everywhere – in school, at home, on the bus, in movies, and especially while driving.

There are plenty of reasons, of course — with the ability to communicate covertly during a social-studies class high up the list.

In a widely publicized incident, a Mercer Island, Washington, man was accused of causing a five-car pileup after he was distracted by a message on his BlackBerry.

Last week, a bill gained final passage, and would make Washington the first state to impose a specific ban on reading or sending text messages while driving, according to the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures.

The milestone is not quite as singular as it sounds: Three states — New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — and Washington, D.C., all have de facto bans on "DWT" under broader laws that prohibit drivers from using a cellphone in any fashion, other than talking on it via a hands-free speaker device.

California is imposing a similarly broad ban, effective in July 2008.

Nonetheless, Washington state’s measure, which the governor is expected to sign into law, brings attention to the practice of texting while driving, which many lawmakers say is more dangerous than talking while driving.

In Arizona, a Democratic state representative has proposed a bill to ban DWT.

The representative said the motivation was an incident last summer in Phoenix, when a teenage driver who was reportedly texting slammed into a stalled truck. The driver was OK, but two of his passengers suffered severe brain and spinal injuries.

At least one other state, Connecticut, has a DWT bill under consideration. The state already has a ban on any hand-held cellphone use while driving, but the new measure would impose a $500 fine.

Under the California law, state residents will risk receiving a minimum $20 fine for using a cellphone, unless they have a speakerphone or an in-ear device that keeps both hands free.

Many states have debated broad bans on cellphone use, but have rejected them in favor of bans for young drivers only. At least 13 prohibit teens or any new drivers from using cellphones.

There are no reliable statistics on how many accidents have been caused by people attempting to send or receive text messages while driving. But it is clear that plenty of people do it.

According to a study released in January by Nationwide Mutual Insurance, about 37% of drivers in their late teens or 20s admitted to having sent or read text messages while driving. By comparison, 17% of drivers in their 30s and 40s admitted doing so; 2% of drivers in their 50s and 60s did.

Two guests at the Montage Resort & Spa in Laguna Beach were killed by gunfire Sunday during a confrontation with police at the door of their hotel room.

The incident occurred shortly before 8 a.m. as police investigated reports of a distraught woman with a gun on the south side of the posh resort.

The woman was in one of the hotel’s bungalows, where she was arguing with a man believed to be her husband.

Officers said they fired into the guest quarters after the woman repeatedly refused to obey their commands. According to authorities, a handgun was found inside the room after the shooting.

But it was unclear whether it was police shots that killed both people. Authorities are looking into several possibilities, including whether the woman shot the man — perhaps during the confrontation with police. It is not know whether the woman had fired any shots.

Police described the man and woman as middle-aged and guests of the hotel. They were withholding their names pending notification of relatives.

The Montage resort, which has 262 rooms and cost $200 million to build, is on the bluffs above the Pacific in South Laguna. Rooms with ocean views go as high as $895 a night, while the bungalows are $2,200 a night.

Investigators searched the bushes for evidence, while hotel staff kept visitors and guests away from the area.

Guests said they were awakened by a hammering sound, which they later learned was gunfire.

In California, the state that came up with the idea of putting sprouts in sandwiches, and where more than half of all its residents are overweight, including 28% of the children, the California Center for Public Health Advocacy conducted a test at McDonald’s to determine which of the following had the most calories:

A. 2 Big Macs

B. 2 Egg McMuffins

C. 1 large chocolate shake

D. 4 regular hamburgers

and two-thirds of the test  takers got the answer wrong. This was strange considering the risks of not knowing the correct answer.

Given the huge rates of heart disease and diabetes associated with obesity, U.S. children born in 2000 could become the first generation in recent history with a shorter life expectancy than their parents.

Most went with the 2 Big Macs, but does this mean there are actually people who go to McDonald’s and eat two of those sinkers at one sitting? If so, wouldn’t it be thriftier to jump naked into a tub of cooking grease and count backward from 1,000 until the heart stops cold?

The correct answer is the chocolate shake, a frosty and quickly regrettable 1,160 calories.

While there are no food police, many, and I am one, believe there is no greater fraud than the multibillion-dollar diet industry, which preys on the epic lack of common sense in the U.S.

If you want to lose weight, my revolutionary program — available for just $29.99 monthly and GUARANTEED to begin shaving pounds INSTANTLY if not sooner! — involves exercising just a bit more and eating just a tad less.

Moderation. Only the most iron-willed among us — in other words, people who have taken all the fun out of their lives — can resist the occasional taco or pizza.

After a series of violent incidents on school campuses, public school officials here are considering the use of flexible plastic handcuffs on out-of-control students — from kindergarteners on up.

The Milwaukee School Board voted Thursday to begin training security staff members to use the plastic handcuffs, but the issue has provoked a heated debate between parents and administrators over how to provide a safe learning environment.

In October, a 15-year-old female student reportedly attacked the principal at Milwaukee’s Ronald Wilson Reagan College Preparatory High School. The principal sustained a compression fracture in her back and a concussion when her head was slammed against a wall.

In November, a 17-year-old male student allegedly sexually assaulted a female teacher in front of a class at Madison High School. And earlier in the school year, an assistant principal was assaulted by a student.

The issue of violence on school grounds took on an urgent tone this week with the Virginia Tech shooting rampage that left 33 people dead.

Critics of such handcuffing often cite injury risks: A student might accidentally be choked while being restrained, and the cuffs used too tightly might interfere with blood circulation or cut the skin.

In Milwaukee, discussion on whether to use cuffs on K-12 campuses began months ago, said Supt. William G. Andrekopoulos.

The debate reached a feverish peak Thursday when the Milwaukee School Board argued for nearly five hours over the handcuff resolution, which had been approved in committee.

New evidence shows hormone replacement therapy leads to a higher risk of ovarian cancer

Women were advised yesterday to think “very carefully” about taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after evidence was published showing that it has killed 1,000 women in Britain since 1991 by increasing their risk of ovarian cancer.

HRT increases the risk of the disease by 20 per cent, the biggest investigation of links between HRT and cancer has found. Although the absolute risk is low, millions of women took HRT in the 1990s and so the total impact could be large.

Previous results from the same study have linked HRT with an increased risk of breast and womb cancer. The latest findings suggest that HRT raises the combined risk of all three diseases by more than 60 per cent, the researchers say.

Ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women.

The use of HRT — of whatever sort — increased the risk of developing and dying from ovarian cancer by 20 per cent.

To put the findings in perspective, they mean that over a period of five years there is likely to be one extra case of ovarian cancer among every 2,500 women receiving HRT, and one additional death for every 3,300 women on the therapy.

HRT is used to combat unpleasant symptoms of the menopause, including hot flushes, vaginal dryness and night sweats. It was promoted strongly by doctors in the 1970s, and many women claimed that it had transformed their lives.

A defendant may be spared the death penalty because he is mentally deficient in one area, even if his IQ score falls in the normal range, the California Supreme Court decided Thursday.

The state high court’s unanimous ruling rejected an appeals court decision that "full scale" IQ scores — composites of tests of various mental faculties — are the best measure of intelligence. The justices said courts may give greater weight to one measurement of IQ over another and that the best way to measure intellectual functioning may vary from case to case.

The decision gives judges broader discretion to spare defendants from execution for reasons of mental impairment and clarifies a 2005 ruling that allowed death row inmates to challenge their sentences on the grounds of mental retardation. That decision was triggered by a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that barred execution of mentally retarded inmates.

Because the legal definition of mental retardation does not rely on a fixed IQ score, trial courts may give greater weight to certain kinds of

John Philipsborn, who represented an association of criminal-defense lawyers in the case, said the ruling will affect at least 28 death row prisoners and at least eight defendants who are claiming mental retardation prior to trial.

Under landmark legal settlements reached in 2004 and 2005 between state regulators and UnumProvident Corp., one of the country’s largest disability insurers, the company was required to reopen hundreds of thousands of disability insurance claims that it had rejected.

But as Unum prepares to close the books on the claims-reopening process this year, the company says it will have reviewed fewer than 10% of the 290,000 claims eligible for a second chance, including 25,000 in California.

The company, now called Unum Group, said few cases were reviewed because most worker claimants chose not to reopen their cases, apparently accepting the company’s initial rejection.

But consumer advocates say workers’ belief that the claims-resolution process remains unfair has kept them from seeking a review. The accords, which involved regulators from California and several other states, were supposed to reform that process but have largely failed to do so, the advocates say.

As a result, legitimate claims from many policyholders with serious work-related injuries continue to be rejected, subjecting families to financial hardships and forcing some of those hurt to go back to work against the advice of their doctors, critics say.

Disability insurance is held by more than 50 million U.S. workers and represents a crucial safety net for middle-class families. Offered as a benefit by many employers, it usually replaces half or more of a worker’s income should he or she become disabled and unable to work.

Consumer advocates and many workers have long contended that, among other things, insurers use biased medical exams that deem someone fit to work even against the advice of treating physicians. And federal law doesn’t help, they say. In most cases, insurers are given wide latitude in determining whether to pay claims.

The settlements required Unum to change its medical review process by giving treating physicians’ opinions more weight, for example.

But the agreements failed to rein in the considerable power Unum and other insurers wield in handling claims, consumer advocates say.

Although state regulators hoped the settlements with Unum would entice other insurers to fall in line, there is no indication they did. When California insurance regulators tried to expand a key provision of the Unum settlement to other insurers, the industry sued and blocked the move.

Unum, which insures more than a quarter of the nation’s disability policies, says it is a changed company.

He said Unum paid the vast majority of disability claims, more than 90%, without incident.

But critics point out that even a small percentage of denied claims, especially if involving long-term benefits to highly paid executive-level workers, can save Unum millions of dollars.

Although agreeing with state regulators to change its medical review process, for example, Unum continued to defend its practices in courtrooms against individual claimants who had sued. In one case, Unum insisted that a man who had quintuple bypass surgery was fit to go back to his job at a stock brokerage firm, even though his doctors said the stress might kill him. In another, the company refused benefits to a man who had had multiple heart attacks.

In California, the company did agree to a third-party independent review of unresolved cases involving previously denied claims, but it refused to be bound by its findings.