Many people view Labor Day as one of the final summer barbecue holidays. It provides a relaxing three day weekend for everyone and lets people have a lot of fun. Unfortunately, this all means that the reason behind the actual holiday is often left forgotten. In fact, not many people could even tell you why Labor Day is celebrated.

Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday of September and it is to celebrate the accomplishments and achievements of the American workforce.

The holiday became a federally recognized holiday in 1894 as a result of several deadly strikes and rights protesting poor work conditions.

In the late 1800’s work conditions were pretty poor in America. People had to work 12 hour days, 7 days a week just to scrap together just enough money to survive for another week...

Everybody has stuff that they enjoy owning, and would hate to lose. Unfortunately, there are people out there that like to steal other people’s stuff. That is why the Los Angeles County Sheriffs are running a series of ads for the “Stolen Collection.” At first glance, one might think that the poster is an advertisement for some weird fashion line, when in reality it is an advertising to keep your stuff out of the Stolen Collection.

The idea of the campaign is to help keep the important stuff in people’s lives, save from criminals who’d try to take it.

The campaign reminds individuals to:

Lock doors at night. This includes their house, garage, and car doors. This can help deter would be criminals and keep them out of areas where you don’t want them...

As Americans we love our freedom, and one of our favorite freedoms is our freedom of speech. This is granted to us by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. The amendment allows us to speak our minds, practice any religion, and protest. The internet now allows us to exercise our First Amendment right daily and anywhere we’d like. The problem is that the internet is still a new world and no one is quite sure how to handle it yet.

The First Amendment protects people who we don’t necessarily want to protect. Website that may contain what could be considered hate speech are protected under the First Amendment. These sites can say horrible things, but are still allowed to exist so long as they do not incite violence or are what is referred to as a true threat...

We all know that using a cellphone while driving is a bad idea. It distracts the drivers and makes it much more likely for individuals to cause an accident. While this is a big deal, there is another time involving cars when it is not a good idea to be on the phone. That is when a person is crossing the street.

Crossing a street can be dangerous if not done at a proper time, or if either the pedestrian or driver are not fully paying attention. In the city of Montclair, around 15% of all vehicle related fatalities occur in pedestrian involved traffic collisions. The city looks to reduce that number with their new city-wide ordinance.

This new ordinance makes it illegal for a person to cross a road while distracted by their cellphone or any other electronic device...

It’s a bright sunny day outside. You’re strolling around your favorite mall. You’ve decided to take a moment to yourself to indulge in a little bit of shopping. The birds are chirping and you feel completely at ease. That is until a person approaches you and asks for all your money. They didn’t ask nicely, and they appeared out of nowhere. In situations like this, what do you do?

If you’ve had the proper training, it would be wise to use it in a situation like this.

Self-defense is something we should all know.

Self-defense can range from many practices or options such as a taser, knife, gun, or pepper spray. Whatever you choose for your self-defense weapon, learn to use it properly.

Your body could be considered a self-defense weapon, if you engage in the proper training...

Certain things in life are cute, like baby animals. Giving someone a sentimental, thinking of you, gift or complimenting someone’s outfit or attitude is cute. You know what isn’t cute? Abuse, threats and stalking. These acts are harassment. To be more precise, those actions fall under civil harassment.

Civil harassment goes beyond just being rude to someone.

Civil harassment is defined as abuse, threats of abuse, stalking, sexual assault, or serious harassment committed by someone who you have not dated and do not have a close relationship with.

If you have a close relationship with the person who is harassing you, it would be considered a domestic case.

If someone is harassing you, don’t wait to get help. Waiting for a situation to change or get better on its own risks your wellness...

Social media is a huge part of most of our lives. Thanks to social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Not only can we easily stay in touch with friends and family, but can also learn of community events, help develop a fledgling business, and more.

The downside to social media is that it provides another avenue for danger to enter your life. It seems like every few days, there’s another news story about how social media was used to target someone, either for bullying or break-ins. It’s enough to make anyone seriously consider deleting all of their social media accounts.

You’ll be pleased to know that as long as your careful and follow these tips, you can continue to enjoy your favorite social media sites and also keep you and your family safe.

Don’t Post Vacation Upd...

Most of us assume that the laws about what is and what isn’t legally obtained evidence to be black and white; however, there are actually quite a few gray areas when it comes to illegally obtained evidence in California.

One example of the murkiness surrounding how evidence is obtained is a police officer who happened to notice what looked an awful lot like a drug-related transaction. Unable to ignore the situation, the officer approached the car and after a brief skirmish, the officer found that the car was full of drugs, ammo, and an alarming number of weapons. The question is, since the officer didn’t have a warrant, could the evidence be used as proof of guilt.

The Fourth Amendment was created to protect citizens from illegal search and seizures, and to make it nearly impossible f...

While the rest of the country may be debating what to do about cannabis, Californians have already decided. California recently legalized marijuana for recreational use. We followed several other states like Oregon, Washington, and Colorado. While we weren’t the first ones to legalize weed recreationally, we are still one of the eight states that allows it recreationally. However, like with alcohol and cigarettes, there are laws that have to be followed.

Arguably the most important place to follow the law is behind the wheel. When a person steps behind the wheel of a vehicle they greatly increase the chances of causing harm to someone. Vehicle related deaths are some of the highest in the nation.

Before California allowed the sale of recreational marijuana, they passed several laws in ...

In recent years, cities across the country have begun to add an additional tax on sodas and other sugary drinks in an effort to reduce their sales. The hope with these taxes is that it will discourage people from buying the drink, and therefore help lower peoples risk of obesity and diabetes. Naturally, this is a very touchy subject for many people who dislike it when the government adds additional taxes onto things.

This all began back in 2014 when Berkeley, California became the first city in the US to put a tax on sugary drinks. The tax was 1 cent for every ounce of the drink. Since then, other cities have followed suite across the nation, which has the soda industry concerned...