R
    Robin Wilkey

    Robin Wilkey

    Writer

  • 50 Successful Marijuana Users Who Prove The Person Matters More Than The Plant

    A version of this story was first published in 2013. These guys just blew pothead stereotypes up in smoke. Though marijuana opponents have long pointed suggesting that weed is tied to a lack of motivation, a sampling of successful people who have admitted using the drug suggests otherwise.

  • These States Are Totally Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse

    While the best measure of a state's success is highly debatable (employment, economic health, robust public education system, resident happiness, etc.), the good folks over at Estately know that the only true marker is a state's ability to survive a zombie takeover. Using metrics like fighting ability, military personnel, knowledge of zombies, physical fitness and access to weapons, Estately ranked each state in the country (and the District of Columbia) and explained the results in a chart. "Basically, California isn't going to be the all-you-can-eat brain buffet for zombies that New Jersey will be, but it's not going to escape like its neighbors Nevada and Arizona," explained Ryan Nickum of Estately to The Huffington Post.

  • California Senate's Top Gun Control Advocate Arrested In Firearms Trafficking Plot

    California state Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) -- one of the state's strongest advocates for gun control -- was arrested Wednesday on charges that include scheming to defraud citizens of honest services and conspiracy to illegally traffic firearms. Yee, 65, was seized at his home during a string of raids that capped an FBI public corruption probe. The San Francisco investigation focused on Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, who federal authorities said is the leader of Chee Kung Tong, or CKT, a social organization involved in what an FBI affidavit calls "criminal enterprise." FBI agents discovered during the investigation that Yee and his political consultant, Keith Jackson, 49, were involved with Chow and his associates at CKT, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

  • This Guy Is Filing A Restraining Order -- Against A 9-Year-Old

    Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands -- at least according to a California father who has filed a restraining order against an alleged 9-year-old bully at his son's school. Dad Stephen Feudner told Fox 40 that the alleged bully has physically and verbally abused his son for months, sometimes using racial slurs, but that school administrators at Rolling Hills Elementary School in Fairfield have ignored his complaints. According to the Daily Republic, Feudner wrote in his report that the child had bullied and battered his son on March 4 and stalked him twice following the incident.

  • Rand Paul Reveals Detail On Presidential Run

    Though Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky. has said that the odds of him running for president are "probably 50-50," supporters and analysts have long considered him a GOP frontrunner. On Tuesday, his home state of Kentucky even passed a bill allowing lawmakers to run for two offices simultaneously, clearing the way for both Senate and presidential runs for Paul.

  • State Democrats Move To Ban Fracking

    California Democrats almost unanimously approved a progressive platform Sunday that included a proposed ban on fracking, breaking with Gov. Jerry Brown, who has indicated a willingness to explore the practice. The issue of the ban came during this weekend's California Democrats State Convention, a three-day meeting in Los Angeles that brought together state Democratic leaders including Gov. Brown, State Attorney General Kamala Harris, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, as well as about 3,000 delegates and guests. Other  issues on the platform included an adjusted minimum wage, an end to solitary confinement in prisons and the legalization of medical marijuana.

  • Dad's Beautiful Photos Reveal The Wonder of Childhood

    Such a reminder exists in French photographer Alain Laboile's stunning collection, "La Famille." The photo album captures his six children at their bucolic home, where sticks become swords, antlers become crowns and wild animals become the best of friends. "Fed everyday and shared with the world via the Internet, my photographic production has become a mean of communication, leading to a questioning about freedom, nudity, being and having," he wrote.

  • Fukushima Radioactive Contamination May Reach West Coast Within Weeks

    Radioactive contamination from Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster may reach the U.S. West Coast within weeks, according to a report released Monday. The new findings were presented in Hawaii by Ken Buesseler, a chemical oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union's Ocean Sciences Section. The research followed a 2013 paper predicting that a plume of radioactive water could reach the West Coast by April 2014.

  • Woman Attacked For Wearing Google Glass At Dive Bar

    As privacy experts nearly predicted, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened: A woman was reportedly attacked in San Francisco Friday night for wearing Google Glass in a bar. According to CBS, tech writer Sarah Slocum was showing a friend how to use the glasses-mounted computer at the popular San Francisco dive bar Molotov's. Slocum was reportedly recording scenes from the bar when she was approached by two women and a man who started an altercation and pulled the glasses from her face. Google Glass has caused privacy concerns around the globe.

  • California's Drought Is So Bad, You Can See It From Space

    A satellite photo released by NASA on Sunday shows that the devastating effects of the drought can be seen even from space. On its blog, NASA noted that the brown areas of the map indicate where plant growth was below normal for this time of year. Based on data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites, the image illustrates how the lack of rain and snow has affected vegetation across the state. “In a normal year, much of the green areas near the mountains would be snow-covered,” wrote Ramakrishna Nemani, senior Earth scientist at NASA, on the blog.

  • New Republican Bill Would Limit The EPA's Power

    A new bill introduced by House Republicans would limit the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to recommend or implement policies. “Virtually every regulation proposed by the Obama administration has been justified by nontransparent data and unverifiable claims,” Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), who sponsored the bill, said in a statement. “The American people foot the bill for EPA’s costly regulations, and they have a right to see the underlying science.

  • 16-Pound Baby Born In California Is One Of The Largest In History

    There must be something in the water in California. Just one week after a Southern California baby was named one of the largest ever born in the state, a Northern California baby has come forward to steal the title. When Sosefina Tagalu of Daly City, Calif. delivered Sammisano Joshua Talai Otuhiva in August 2013, she had no idea he might be the biggest baby ever born in the state.

  • California May Legalize Marijuana In 2014

    An initiative that would legalize and regulate recreational marijuana in California was cleared for signature gathering by the state attorney general on Friday. California Attorney General Kamala Harris released her summary on the final version of the Marijuana Control, Legalization and Revenue Act (MCLR) on Friday, which contained stricter protections for children than its previous version. The initiative is one of two legalization attempts currently gathering signatures in the state.

  • Photos Show What Happens When It Rains Just 4 Inches In 13 Months

    California has seen its share of droughts, but -- at least in recent years -- it hasn't seen something like this. Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency last week, shorty after it was revealed that 2013 was the state's driest year in recorded history. San Francisco saw a low record-shattering 5.59 inches of rain (compared to the previous low record of 9 inches), while dry Los Angeles saw just 3.6 inches of precipitation in all of 2013.

  • California Lawmaker: 'This Is The Time To Strike' On Marijuana Reform

    California Assembly member Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) said in a statement Tuesday that "this is the time to strike" on marijuana reform in the state. Ammiano, a longtime supporter of marijuana legalization and regulation, was the author of AB 473, a bill that would have created more comprehensive guidelines for medical marijuana in California.

  • Man Allegedly Shoots Friends For Calling Him A 'New' 49ers Fan

    A disappointing NFC Championship loss turned ugly Sunday night when a California man allegedly shot two friends for calling him a "new" 49ers fan following the game. According to the Fresno Bee, Amado Vargas, 39, was at a Fresno, Calif. home where 15 people, including teenagers and a pregnant woman, had gathered to watch the game.

  • California Governor Declares Drought Emergency

    California Gov. Jerry Brown spoke to reporters on Friday morning to declare a drought emergency for the state, which had its driest year in recorded history in 2013. "Today I'm declaring a drought in the state of California," said Brown.

  • State Has Driest Year Ever -- And It May Get Worse

    The shore of California’s Lake Oroville hasn’t looked this way in modern history. To the north, Lake Shasta also is only 36 percent full. Farther south in the heart of Central Valley, San Luis Reservoir is at a dismal 30 percent capacity.

  • Jim Harbaugh's Wife: Throw Away The Pants, You Look Like ‘Rainman'

    As the San Francisco 49ers prepare for their third consecutive NFC Championship Game this Sunday, it's clear that head coach Jim Harbaugh has done a lot of things right. But when it comes to his staple wardrobe -- a Steve Jobs-style mock turtleneck tucked into belted, oversized, pleated khakis -- even his closest allies say it's a bad call. In perhaps the most hilarious radio show call-in ever, Harbaugh's wife Sarah spoke with 99.7 FM's Fernando & Greg -- a popular gay radio duo and the hosts of an eponymous morning show.

  • Instagram Battle Gets Ugly For Seahawks, 49ers QBs

    A picture speaks a thousand words. ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick learned that the hard way when a Seattle Seahawks fan created an unflattering graphic earlier this season featuring photos drawn from Kaepernick's Instagram account: The graphic, which was created earlier this season but is experiencing a resurgence in light of the upcoming NFC Championship game between the two teams, shows Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson visiting children in the hospital, playing with his dog, supporting Marines and attending charity events. The photos of Kaepernick, however, show him flexing his biceps, flaunting his shoe collection, riding in jets and posing shirtless.