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Junk Science' Still Dogging Games Industry, Says Lawyer [02.21.08] At the 2008 Game Developers Conference, attorney Lawrence G. Walters, who represents developers and publishers on issues of censorship, evaluated the legal landscape around game content, highlighting the threats to games as free speech and laying out what benchmarks detractors would need to achieve to get their way. .
Clearview Mall imposes curfew
Most folks are accustomed to showing a driver's license or some other identification when entering a nightclub or boarding an airplane. But now, that's something some patrons of Clearview Mall in Metairie will have to get used to, under a new policy aimed at controlling crowds of unruly youngsters and teenagers. According to the mall's Parental Escort Policy, patrons 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult who is at least 21 years old on Fridays and Saturdays from 4 p.m. until closing. To enforce the rule, the mall has hired extra security to guard the shopping center's entrances and card the masses, General Manager Tara Lubrano said. The policy went into effect Friday. "We like to welcome everyone to come to the mall, but to crack down on the security issue we had to do something," she said.
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California payrolls shrink in January
The January job figures followed a revised gain of 11,400 jobs in December, the Employment Development Department said. Revised annual job figures showed the state added only 14,900 payroll jobs in the 12-month period ended Jan. 31, a paltry 0.1 percent increase. The once-booming construction sector accounted for the most job cuts, shedding 69,300 positions, a 7.6 percent annual drop. "These revisions, while not unexpected, highlight the probability that economic growth in 2008 will be lower than expected, which in turn will intensify the pressures on state and local budgets," Stephen Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, wrote in a research brief. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he planned to spend more than $10 million on job training for construction workers left idle due to the housing slump.
McAllen cracking down on garage sales
McALLEN — The Saturday afternoon garage sale is no longer as easy and emptying your closets and hammering a sign onto your front lawn. A new city ordinance in McAllen restricts residents to selling only "used merchandise or personal property" — not new items, as is allowed under the former code. The regulation is set to go into effect this week. The more stringent regulations follow city officials’ discovery that residents were selling gift baskets and tourist merchandise out of their homes under the auspices of a garage sale, said McAllen Planning Director Juli Rankin. "Frankly, before this came to light I didn’t think it was that active," she said. "Around holiday times we do get people who make things, like figurines and gift baskets. "This last Valentine’s Day we had people make up Valentine’s baskets with candy and flowers and then sell them from their residence." Such activity disrupts the quality of life in the city’s neighborhoods, officials say.
B-N's first 'smart fortwo' car hits streets
McDaniel is smiling, too.After a nearly yearlong wait, he has the Twin Cities' first “smart fortwo" car. He picked it up in St. Louis on Monday and spent most of the day Tuesday showing it off to friends and co-workers.“I think it's great," said John Rediger, heating and air conditioning supervisor at Country Insurance. “I think it's absolutely fantastic. It's got plenty of room."You wouldn't guess it from the outside. The car, which only measures 8.8 feet long, 5.1 feet tall and 5.1 feet wide, takes up only half a parking space.“It only looks small from the outside," McDaniel said. “It's half of car. It has three cylinders instead of six and weighs 1,700 pounds instead of 3,400."That leads to decent gas mileage — 41 miles per gallon on the highway and 33 miles per gallon in town. (It uses premium gasoline.)“It has an 8-gallon tank, and I had 200 miles on it and still had half of tank of gas," McDaniel said.It's also ecologically friendly.The smart fortwo, produced in France by smart, a subsidiary of Daimler-Benz AG, is painted with water-soluble paints.
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