Washington D.C. — The head of the Federal Aviation Administration was arrested for drunk driving on Saturday night.  Jerome Randolph Babbitt, 65, has been placed on administrative leave and DOT officials are reviewing his employment status with their attorneys.  Babbitt was driving on the wrong side of Old Lee Highway when he was pulled over.  He was alone in his car and was about nine miles from his home.  He was not involved in any accident.  Police took him to the adult detention center, and he was charged and later released. The Deputy FAA Administrator, Michael Huerta, will be in charge until it is known if Babbitt will be able to return.  Babbitt must return to court on Feb. 2.  If you have been arrested for DUI and need the advice of an attorney, find one at ilawyersource.com.

Irvine, CA –A new ordinance passed by the Irvine City Council this week fines party hosts up to $750 for the first warning, up to $1500 fro the second warning within a 12-month period and up to $3,000 for further warnings if you serve alcohol to minors.  Any person who makes alcohol available and/or permits the consumption of alcohol by an underage person at a gathering or event held on private property could be fined.  Authorities are hoping this ordinance will cut down on DUIs.  About 8% of the county’s drunk driving arrests are people younger than 21.  Some people disagree with the ordinance stating that what you do in your own home is not the city’s business.  Many parents feel that if they let their teens drink at home, at least they are not out somewhere else doing it.  Mayor Pro Tem Beth Krom said, “I would like to see us focus on the enforcement, but I would also like to see us focus on the education.”  In my experience as a mother of four and a school district employee, there has never been so much education in schools regarding drugs and drinking as there is today, yet alcohol and drugs are a huge problem.  Peer pressure is one of the main issues, so unless you can address that satisfactorily you will always have a problem.

According to reports Perriello did not suffer any injuries, but one of the three passengers in the other vehicle was treated for minor injuries.  Alcohol or speed was not considered a factor in the crash.  The accident occurred near Burkeville which is 60 miles southwest of Richmond.

Perriello is currently in a reelection race in the 5th congressional district against state Sen. Robert Hurt (R).

According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in May a man who looks nothing like Bren set up bank accounts in Bren’s name earlier this year, deposited Bren’s refund check into one, and then transferred most of the money out.

The complaint did not say how the man obtained Bren’s check.

The suspect is referred to in court documents as FNU LNU, for “first name unknown” and “last name unknown” as he has not been identified.

The man set up four accounts in Bren’s name at East West Bank’s Cerritos branch on Feb. 16 and used a U.S. Treasury check payable to Bren in the amount of $1,389,524.61 as deposit for the accounts.

The man gave a mailing address in South Los Angeles and listed his occupation as “smoke shop.”

During the next month the man made a series of transfers from the accounts in a total of more than $1.1 million.

During this time the Internal Revenue Service notified the Secret Service of the deposit.  According to the complaint the Secret Service “came to know that the true Donald Bren, to whom the IRS refund check was made payable, is the chairman of the Irvine Company, and not FNU LNU.”

The Orange County Business Journal reports that Bren is not on the hook for the loss, which would be taken by the bank or its insurance company.

The $1.4 million would represent around 0.12 percent of Bren’s reported net worth of $12 billion.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 2000 to mid-May, it had received more than 6,200 complaints involving sudden acceleration in Toyotas.  89 deaths and 57 injuries over the sam period are included in the reports.  Previously, 52 deaths had been suspected of being connected to the problem.

More than eight million vehicles worldwide have been recalled by Toyota Motor and a record $16.4 million fine has been paid for its slow response to an accelerator pedal recall by the automaker.  Toyota is also facing many lawsuits.

Toyota said in a statement that it was “making an all-out effort to ensure our vehicles are safe, and we remain committed to investigating reported incidents of unintended acceleration in our vehicles quickly.”

Toyota said that it would “continue to work” with law enforcement and federal regulators and that many of the complaints in the database lacked sufficient detail that could help identify the cause of the accident.

An older version of the “soda tax” proposal was rejected by the state legislature.  The beverage industries also took a strong stance against it.  The new proposal by the governor would make diet sodas cheaper and unhealthier and sugary drinks would rise in price.

“The new proposal will discourage consumption of high-calorie beverage while simultaneously making lower-calorie beverages more affordable, which will lead to major gains in public health,” stated New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

According to health experts, two thirds of the U.S. population is overweight and considered obese and non-diet sodas are one of the leading causes of excess calories being consumed by Americans.  These excess calories are helping contribute to the obesity epidemic.

The chairman of New Yorkers Against Unfair Taxes, Nelson Eusebio, stated, “The plan was bad for business and bad for consumers. We don’t need another tax to fuel more government spending. No matter how he tries to package it, imposing a new $1 billion tax on already stretched New Yorkers is simply a bad idea.”

Santana issued a statement on Sunday that he had checked into an undisclosed program Saturday.

In the statement Santana said, “I do not know how long this stage of my journey will be. I apologize to my family, friends, the mayor, City Council, CAO staff, and the entire city family for my irresponsible behavior,”

California Highway Patrol arrested Santana  in Covina at 12:15 a.m. Friday after he attended a charity roast for L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley.

Ray Ciranna, will be the acting city administrative officer. Villaraigosa spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said she did not know when Santana would return.

L.A. is currently dealing with a $212-million budget gap and since Santana took the job last year he has been given the difficult task of addressing the city’s financial crisis.