In the aftermath of a crash that killed two people, Utah recently passed the nation’s toughest law to crack down on texting behind the wheel. Offenders now face up to 15 years in prison. The New York Times has the story.

Beer baron Bryan “Whitey” Littlefield used his pipes for giving–and swearing

PHOTO by DANIEL DE BOOM
Memorial services for Bryan “Whitey” Littlefield were yesterday at First Congregational Church downtown, and the beer baron/philanthropist–who died March 7 at 75 of prostate cancer–received a bravura send-off.
The church has two levels and the upstairs stayed relatively empty, but downstairs was [...]

Whitey Littlefield–Long Beach beer baron philanthropist, who rose from delivering brew to owning a Budweiser distributorship with Frank Sinatra–is dead at 75.
We’ll tell you more about Mr. Littlefield in coming days–but it’s already becoming clear that, in the words of his close friend, restaurateur John Morris, “The guy’s had a life.”

Halloween comes early this year

How afraid do you want to be?
The Press-Telegram promotes its annual Halloween scary story competition on the website–but its scariest online story today has to be the one about a pipe bomb explosion last night at Pine Avenue and Ocean Boulevard. That just gets scarier the more you think about it.