A lawsuit was filed on Wednesday by Mr. Brown’s office and claims that some of the inflatable bounce houses that help entertain young children at parties have unsafe levels of lead, sometimes dozens of times the federal limit.

“I was surprised,” said Mr. Brown, who is running for governor in a state with 2.7 million children under age 5. “But as we test more and more of these products, we find dangers.”

The Center for Environmental Health in Oakland, California prompted the lawsuit.  The advocacy group did an investigation and tested dozens of bounce houses concentrating on the vinyl that gives them their bounce.

The lead levels in the vinyl varied from 5,000 parts per million to 29,000.  This is way above the federal limit of 0 to 300 parts per million.

Senior Vice President of Cutting Edge Creations Inc., Robert Field, called the investigation a “witch hunt.”  He believes it could seriously damage the bounce house industry.

“California already has many financial problems,” Mr. Field said. “Do they really wish to potentially place thousands of small-business owners that operate children’s party centers out of business?”

According to spokesman for the center, Charles Margulis, children should not stop using the houses, they should just wipe their hands and faces afterward.

Dr. Megan Schwarzman, a family physician and an associate director at the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry, said that she had not seen the test results, but that there was no safe level of lead exposure for children. “Everyone is exposed from so many different sources,” Dr. Schwarzman said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lead exposure can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems and, at very high levels, seizures, coma and death.

Mr. Brown stated he wanted manufactures to stop using lead-containing vinyl and for rental companies and party places to post warnings about lead in the bounce houses.  “I certainly don’t want to be a kill joy here,” he said. “I just think parents should be cognizant.”

“Public Health is coordinating with state and federal agencies on this issue and has reached out to food distributors and retailers throughout the county to ensure that these product are removed from vendors’ shelves.” said Jonathan Fielding, the county’s director of public health.

According to reports 266 people in California have fallen ill from consuming the eggs; at least 43 in L.A. county were affected.  The following brand of eggs have been recalled: Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps.

Wright County Egg advises customers to return the eggs in their original cartons to the store for a full refund.  The date codes for the eggs range from 136 to 225 with the following plant numbers P1026, P1413 and P1946.  These numbers can be found at the end of the carton.

Mamey pulp has also been a cause of salmonella in L.A. county and at least two people have been affected.  The mamey pulp comes from a 14 oz package produced by the Goya brand with a UPC number of 041331090803.  Anyone who has purchased this fruit is urged to discard it.

“If you have purchased eggs or mamey pulp recently, please check your refrigerator and freezer to make sure that you do not have any of the potentially contaminated product,” Fielding said.

The surgeon posted a picture of his dog, a border collie, at the beach on Twitter at 4:10 p.m. and 2o minutes later the accident occurred.  Ryan was driving south on PCH north of Deer Creek Road, when his car swerved and tumbled down a rocky embankment toward the ocean.  His car landed on its roof.

Steve Reid a California Highway Patrol Officer stated the accident was reported at 4:33 p.m.  Ryan was declared dead at the scene.  His dog, Jill, survived the accident.

The cause of the accident has not been confirmed and is still under investigation.  According to Officer Reid they were still looking into whether text messaging or Twittering may have been the cause.

Brian Kabateck, an attorney for the plaintiffs, stated that Farmers denied claims to boost its bottom line.  He also stated the average loss among homeowners named in the lawsuit was $25,000 to $50,000.

“Once again, it appears Farmers has engaged in the egregious practice of denying or underpaying claims, simply to frustrate policyholders and discourage them from seeking the compensation they deserve,” Kabateck said.

Jerry Davies, Farmers spokesman, would not comment on the lawsuit and stated the company had not seen it yet.  A message to the state Department of Insurance wan not immediately returned.

Farmers and other insurers were accused of similar practices after the 1994 Northridge earthquake that killed 72 people and caused an estimated $15.3 billion in damage.

Farmers is accused of hiring biased consultants to deny or undercut claims as well as being unreasonable in its claims adjustment practices.

“The result is that plaintiffs and defendants’ other insureds are cheated of monies rightfully owed to them,” according to the lawsuit.

One plaintiff, Russell Reed, 55, who lives in Altadena, had damage to his home from the fire.  He stated he had a layer of ash and debris a foot deep in his pool that clogged drains and was a nuisance for weeks.  Reed said Farmers agents came out a month or two after the fire and said he wasn’t eligible to receive any money.

“I’ve been a good customer of Farmers for a long time,” he said. “The one time we have a major catastrophe, Farmers doesn’t want to assist me.”

An off-road racing accident in California’s Mojave Desert has left eight people dead and 12 injured.  The accident may have occurred because fans wanted to get too close to the speeding trucks.

Hundreds of stunned off-road racing fans looked on horrified Saturday night at the carnage at the California 200 in the Mojave Desert, 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, after driver Brett M. Sloppy, 28, lost control of his truck that then catapulted into the crowd at high speed.

Sloppy was driving a modified Ford Ranger along the 50-mile track at the desert event, where tens of thousands of fans stood just feet away from trucks reaching speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour.

The rules state that race fans are supposed to keep themselves 100 feet away from the charging off road vehicles.  However, with not that many officials to patrol, it often doesn’t happen.Fans say these types of races rarely have any sort of safety guards.

“You could touch it if you wanted to. It’s part of the excitement,” 19-year-old Niky Carmikle told The Associated Press as she sobbed at the scene. Her boyfriend, 24-year-old Zachary Freeman, was killed in the crash.

“There’s always that risk factor, but you just don’t expect that it will happen to you,” she said.

The accident occurred just after 8 p.m. PT when Sloppy took a daredevil jump called the “rock pile” at high speed, hit the brakes on landing and caused the truck to tumble, landing upside-down in the crowd, which gets as close as four feet from the unmarked track.

Six people died at the scene while two died after being taken to a hospital.  Seven ambulances and 10 emergency aircraft did arrive at the scene, but took more than half an hour to reach the remote location.

According to spectators, off duty police and firefighters joined paramedics on the scene to assist the injured.

Most of the 12 injured were airlifted to hospitals. Paramedics brought five adults and one child to Loma Linda University Medical Center, spokesman Herbert Atienza said today.

Matt March, 24, said that he and several other fans lifted the truck and found four people lying unconscious underneath.

“[The driver] hit the rock and just lost control and tumbled,” March said. “Bodies went everywhere.”

Those killed in the tragic accident included Freeman and 24-year-old Dustin Malson of Ventura, Calif.; Brian Wolfin, 27, Anthony Sanchez, 23, and Aaron Farkas, 25, all of Escondido; Danica Frantzich, 20, of Las Vegas; and Andrew Therrin, 22, of Riverside. The name of the eighth victim had not yet been released.

Sloppy, who was uninjured from the accident, was said to have had to flee the scene to escape angry spectators.

He has updated his Facebook page with the following message: “Soo incredibly lost and devistated my thoughts and prayers go out to all the familys and friends involved. Thank you too all my friends for sticking with me even thru these tragic times I love you all.”

Off-road racer Wayne Nosala, the regional director for California Off-Road Vehicle Association, said he is worried that the accident might mean an end to the sport.

“California is one of the only states that allows this type of activity, and it’s one of the last frontier areas where we can actually go out and race these cars and compete,” he said. “It could severely constrain us to the point where we can’t even race.”

CHP Sgt. Diana McDermott stated the accident occurred shortly after 9 a.m. when a big rig truck headed north rear-ended a Kia about 300 feet past the toll plaza, causing the smaller vehicle to cross over into southbound traffic.  Immediately following this a red Porsche headed south broadsided the Kia.  A fourth vehicle was also involved in the accident.

Traffic was backed up on Park Presidio Boulevard in San Francisco past Lake Street.

The accident is still under investigation and CHP Officer Nicole Pacheco stated there were only minor injuries.

Deforrest W. Timlin of Rising Sun, Md., was traveling from Chesapeake Inn to Button Wood Beach on Saturday when he was thrown from his 28 foot power boat.  Timlin’s boat struck a buoy which caused him to be thrown from the boat. Eric Pryor of North East, Md., was a passenger of the boat and was rescued and taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.  He suffered injuries, but were not life threatening.

Timlin was being searched for by the Maryland Natural Resources Police since the accident at Buoy 19.  Timlin’s body was found by officers Monday night about 500 yards north of the accident site.

According to police the accident is still under investigation, but alcohol is suspected to be a contributing factor.

This is the 11th victim of a boating accident in the State of Maryland this year.  In 2009, Maryland had 16 fatal boating accidents.

PB Kids have recalled about 405 bunk beds after discovering that the beds pose an entrapment hazard.  According to the CPSC the end structure of the bunk bed violates the Safety Standard for Entrapment Hazards in Bunk Beds, 16 C.F.R. Part 1513.  Entrapment can occur when young children get their neck caught in the opening between the post and decorative molding.

There have been no reports of injuries at this time in connection with the recalled product.

The CPSC reported, “This recall involves Madeline bunk beds. The bed is white and is made of wood and medium-density fiberboard. It has guardrails on either side of the top bunk and a ladder that attaches to the side of the beds.”

The recalled bunk beds were sold at Pottery Barn Kids stores, catalog and through www.potterybarnkids.com from July 2009 to March 2010 for $1,400.

Pottery Barn Kids is letting consumers know to stop using the beds immediately and contact Pottery Barn Kids to schedule a installations of a free repair kit.

Consumers can contact Pottery Barn Kids for more information about the recall toll free at (888) 779-8692.

Charles Dubose, 52, of West Haven, was killed when the train traveling 79 mph crashed into his pickup at 7:57 p.m. Monday, the Utah Highway Patrol said.

Reports state that no major injuries were reported to either the operator or riders on the Utah Transit Authority’s FrontRunner train . However, one passenger sustained some minor bumps and bruises in the crash.

According to UHP Trooper, Todd Johnson, Dubose drove around and through the crossing barriers at 1800 North in Sunset. The train had no time to slow down, plowing into the pickup truck’s passenger side.

The accident caused quite a bit of wreckage from the pickup that was strewn over an area roughly four blocks long.

Dubose was pronounced dead at the scene and was the only one in the vehicle.

After the accident the tracks were cleared and passengers on Frontrunner were detoured by bus around the accident scene.

Gerry Carpenter, a UTA spokesman, stated the operator of the train was visibly “shaken and upset” by the accident, but uninjured. The man is on paid administrative leave pending a mandated investigation into the crash, and he will be offered counseling services, if he desires them.

According to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office two boats collided near the park’s main docks about 2:30 p.m.  Both boats were entering the channel in a light rain near marker No. 18 where the accident occurred.

Eddie Feidt, a lifeguard who witnessed the collision, stated that one boat accelerated and cut off the other one.

“That set off a panic,” Feidt said. The driver of the slower boat tried to turn around and struck the marker, he said.

Then the faster boat, which the Sheriff’s Office described as a 24- to 26-foot Aqua Sport, crashed into mangroves less than 200 yards from the docks.

Feidt was able to get another boater to take him to the crash site, where he was soon joined by paramedics.

According to Feidt the boat in the mangroves was carrying a woman in her late 40s and a man in his early 50s.  The man had no pulse and the woman had a shoulder injury and couldn’t walk.

Authorities stated that the woman was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries and no names have been released yet.