California declares electronic cigarettes a health threat

California health officials on Wednesday declared electronic cigarettes a health threat that should be strictly regulated like tobacco products, joining other states and health advocates across the U.S. in pushing back against the fast-growing device.

The California Department of Public Health report says e-cigarettes emit cancer-causing chemicals and get users hooked on nicotine, although there is still more research to be done on the immediate and long-term health effects.

New generations of young people will become nicotine addicts if the products remain largely unregulated, California Health Officer Ron Chapman said.

“Without action, it is likely that California’s more than two decades of progress to prevent and reduce traditional tobacco use will erode as e-cigarettes re-normalize smoking behavior,” the report says.

E-cigarettes heat liquid nicotine from cartridges into inhalable vapor without tar and other chemicals found in traditional cigarettes. E-cigarette makers say using their products, known as “vaping,” is far safer than tobacco.

“Despite the health officer’s false claims, there is ample evidence that vaping helps smokers quit and is far less hazardous than smoking,” Gregory Conley, president of the e-cigarette advocacy group American Vaping Association, said in an email. “Smokers deserve truthful and accurate information about the relative risks of different nicotine products, not hype and conjecture based on cherry-picked reports.”

The California report called for restrictions on the marketing and sale of e-cigarettes, protections against accidental ingestion of liquid nitrogen and an education campaign on the dangers of using e-cigarettes. California has already banned the sale of e-cigarettes to minors in 2010.

A state senator introduced legislation this week that would regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products and ban their use in public places such as hospitals, bars and schools. A similar bill was defeated last year over opposition from tobacco companies.

Other states, including Oklahoma, Tennessee and Arkansas, already have issued advisories cautioning the use of e-cigarettes.

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California declares electronic cigarettes a health threat

Colorado to California: Hands off our water supply - VIDEO: Concern over decision to keep river water

Colorado is moving to keep tighter control over its own water supply, rankling drought-stricken western states like California.

In the process, Colorado is learning a valuable lesson in interstate diplomacy.

James Eklund, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, initially gave some tough remarks in explaining his state’s intentions in an interview with The Associated Press. “If anybody thought we were going to roll over and say, ‘OK, California, you’re in a really bad drought, you get to use the water that we were going to use,’ they’re mistaken,” he said.

Some of Eklund’s fellow water authorities were taken aback. Eklund is in charge of the state’s water policy and planning and as senior deputy legal counsel to Gov. John Hickenlooper, his word carries a lot of weight.

“There was a lot of surprise with that remark,” said Bill Hasencamp, Colorado River Program manager at the Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles, which serves 19 million people.

Eklund later tried to downplay his comments. “Unfortunately my comment, the quote that was attributed to me, suggested that we were flexing our muscle,” he said. “And that’s just not the case.”

But Colorado is still moving forward on its new water plan.

To understand what’s at stake here, a brief overview of the critical nature of the Colorado River and those who depend on it is in order:

The river provides water to 40 million people in the states of Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California and Colorado. These seven states also make up one of the driest regions in the nation, dependent on a water flow that is miniscule in comparison to rivers in other parts of the United States.

Making matters worse, recent droughts throughout the region have reduced the Colorado’s already limited flow and left massive reservoirs like Lake Mead, which sits in Nevada and just over the Arizona border, at record lows.

Every state gets a predetermined share of the resource, a quantity divided up in 1922 under a federal compact. And while the 1922 Colorado River Compact governs the system, scientists now know the 93-year-old agreement was reached at a time when the region was going through an unusually wet period. States get their allowance regardless of whether they need more or less.

“There’s a long-term deficit beyond just a short-term drought that we have to come to grips with,” Hasencamp said. “There’s just not enough water in the Colorado River to meet the demands that were designed in the 1922 Compact.”

Unlike California, Colorado has had more than it needs. In years past, Colorado has allowed Southern California to dip into its surplus, to help stretch its supply. That is about to change.

Under Eklund, Colorado is drawing up a water plan for the state. The draft, which has been presented to Hickenlooper, calls for Colorado to save for the future. It would keep its legal share of the 1922 Compact allotment, rather than spread the wealth.

“States depend on water that originates here,” Eklund said. “And as a result, everybody watches us. If we twitch on water, everybody notices.”

Douglas Kenney, a western water expert at the University of Colorado Law School, said it’s never been a secret upstream states like Colorado are going to consume more water. “I mean, that’s predictable,” he said. “And states like California have certainly known this is coming. What can they do? Well, they can look to the other sources of supply, they can conserve water, they can look for creative deals … it’s not something that sneaks up on anyone.”

In fact, Southern California has been making plans. According to Hasencamp, it’s invested more than $1 billion over the last decade to reduce its dependence on the Colorado.

Kenney said the issue is bigger than the region itself. “Once you broaden a little further it is a problem with national economic implications, and of course that translates to the global economies.”

More than 16 million people in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Southern California, Utah and Wyoming are employed as a result of working directly or indirectly with this water.Researchers at Arizona State University estimate the total economic impact of the Colorado River is $1.4 trillion.

“The seven states have to work together,” Hasencamp said.

Eklund said he was not trying to send a tough message to other states. “The state of Colorado is working … to make sure that we have collaborative approaches to the situation on the Colorado River, which is in the midst of the worst 15 years of drought that we’ve ever measured.”

In his State of the State address, Hickenlooper pointed out, “Even when our snow pack is substantial and the state has what looks like a water surplus, a drought always looms. Water in Colorado is always in finite supply.”

Hickenlooper went on to say the new water plan “goes a long way to ensure we strategically allocate this precious resource to maximize our entire state’s ability to grow and flourish.”

Hasencamp said downstream states are making hard choices and doing what they can to lessen demand on the scarce resource. “We know that we can’t have one state fight against another,” Hasencamp said. “We all have to work together.”

Alicia Acuna joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in 1997 and currently serves as a general assignment reporter based in the network’s Denver bureau.

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Colorado to California: Hands off our water supply - VIDEO: Concern over decision to keep river water

Actor, fitness model killed by train in California

BURBANK, Calif. –  A fitness model and actor featured on the cover of numerous fitness magazines was struck and killed by a train while filming on the tracks in Southern California, authorities said Sunday.

Two men were filming George Plitt Jr., 37, on the railroad track north of the Burbank train station Saturday afternoon when Plitt was hit by a Metrolink passenger train, said Burbank Police Sgt. Scott Meadows.

Investigators, who interviewed witnesses who saw Plitt standing on the track even as the train’s horn was blaring, have ruled out a suicide, he said.

It appears Plitt may have believed the train was on a nearby, parallel track, Meadows said.

“It’s like a blind turn,” he said. “When the train came, you might not be able to tell which set the train is on.”

It was not immediately clear what the men were filming. Investigators are trying to determine who directed them to film on the railroad track.

The men were in a restricted area on the tracks, Sgt. Mark Stohl said.

Plitt also went by the name Greg and was a well-known fitness model.

The actor and West Point graduate has appeared on more than 200 magazine covers, Bravo’s reality television show “Work Out” and “Friends to Lovers” and NBC’s daytime soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” according to a website in Plitt’s name.

A motivational video on the website shows Plitt working out on the tracks as a Metrolink train passes by.

Plitt was born in Baltimore. He served five years in the Army after graduating from West Point, the website said.

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Actor, fitness model killed by train in California

6 injured after car smashes through California Macy"s

Jan. 14, 2015: Scene at NewPark Mall where a driver plowed through a Macy’s store. (KTVU)

A car plowed through the front of a California Macy’s store leaving six people injured, Wednesday night.

A 63-year-old driving a blue Honda Fit went through the doors at the NewPark Mall in Newark, Calif. The driver suffered a medical episode and crashed into the store, KTVU reports.

The youngest victim was an eight-year-old who suffered minor injuries, while another man hit on the sidewalk suffered serious injuries.

Crews from the Almeda County Fire Department arrived on the scene with three fire engines and six ambulances, spokeswoman Aisha Knowles said.

Four of the six injured resulted from the crash, while two others were not directly hurt when the car drove into the store, but required medical attention.

Five people were transported to a local hospital, one of them the driver.

No arrests have been made.

Click for more from KTVU.

Click for more from the San Francisco Chronicle.

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6 injured after car smashes through California Macy"s

One pedestrian killed, several injured in Southern California crash - 3 shot, suspect on the loose in Los Angeles

A woman drove into a group of pedestrians outside a Southern California church during a Christmas presentation was just ending killing one and injuring several others.

The crash occurred just after 8 p.m. local time. At least two of the injured were children. One adult died at the hospital.

Redondo Beach police Lt. Joe Hoffman said the woman was driving on the Pacific Coast Highway when she ran a red light, ran into the pedestrians and struck another vehicle.

“The crosswalk was full and the light was red,” a witness told KNBC-TV. “Someone ran the red light and bodies started flying. It was pretty horrible.”

Police are investigating whether she was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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One pedestrian killed, several injured in Southern California crash - 3 shot, suspect on the loose in Los Angeles