Parents who prayed as their 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes will be charged with second-degree reckless homicide, the Marathon County district attorney said Monday. "It is very surprising, shocking that she wasn't allowed medical intervention," District Attorney Jill Falstad said. She announced the charges Monday during a news conference at the Everest Metro Police Department with Police Chief Dan Vergin. Vergin has said Dale and Leilani Neumann told investigators their daughter Madeline last saw a doctor when she was 3 to get some shots. The couple face up to 25 years in prison if convicted. Fox News

The growing number of cities, towns and states banning smoking in bars might be encouraging some patrons to drink and drive, according to a study in the June edition of the Journal of Public Economics. The study found that communities that passed smoking bans from 2000 to 2005 had, on average, a 13% increase in drunken-driving fatalities the following year. "You have individuals making the choice to find the bar where they can still combine smoking and drinking, and it ends up increasing the risk of causing a drunk-driving accident," said Scott Adams, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who wrote the report with economist Chad Cotti. The study was based on data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and included 85% of the USA's counties. USA Today Newspaper

Five years ago, I became a seriously disturbed woman. Through a single magazine article about AIDS in Africa, my attention was captured and a sense of shock, horror, and doom awoke within me. How could there be more than 30 million people infected with a lethal virus, and I not know even one of them? How was it possible that there were 12 million children orphaned by this horrible virus, and I couldn't name a single one? Those questions sent me on a search to discover God's heart for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS; within a very short time, I became seriously and permanently disturbed.

Once I became disturbed, I became passionate about ending AIDS in Rick's and my lifetime. We are not content to merely manage AIDS, any more than we're content to manage cancer, TB, or malaria. Our goal is to wipe it out. Christianity Today

High percentage of kids with immigrant parents could transform California electorate, report says -- Forty-nine percent of California's children between 12 and 17 have at least one immigrant parent, a phenomenon that could dramatically change the composition of the state's electorate within several years, according to a report released Tuesday. Susan Ferriss in the Sacramento Bee Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times Mary Anne Ostrom in the Contra Costa Times -- 4/29/08

Bill aiding California homeowners advances with key GOP Senate votes -- A handful of Republican senators on Monday helped Democrats pass mortgage crisis legislation that gives more time and notice to troubled homeowners. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata's urgency legislation passed on a 28-10 vote. It now moves to the Assembly. Judy Lin in the Sacramento Bee Don Thompson AP -- 4/29/08

California voter ID push by GOP rejected -- In California, the Democratic-led Legislature since 2000 has rejected a dozen Republican bills related to voter identification. Current law does not require California voters to show ID at polling places except for limited cases in which voters do not provide a Social Security number or driver's license upon registration. Kevin Yamamura in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/29/08

Voter ID decision resounds in state -- Most Californians wouldn't think of heading to an airport these days without a picture ID. But should they be required to bring one to the polling place? Ken McLaughlin in the San Jose Mercury -- 4/29/08

Many ways to share slice of the stimulus pie -- On the one hand, a recession is looming; on the other hand, there's a sale on flat-screen televisions. Anastasia Ustinova, Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle Mark Glover in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/29/08

Poll has Clinton beating McCain -- Hillary Rodham Clinton now leads John McCain by 9 points in a head-to-head presidential matchup, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll that bolsters her argument that she is more electable than Democratic rival Barack Obama. Obama and Republican McCain are running about even. Liz Sidoti AP -- 4/29/08

Gasoline costs force service firms to raise prices -- Small companies such as pet sitters and housecleaners are finding it necessary to pass on some of the rising expense to customers as well as to cut back on driving. Ronald D. White in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/29/08

Study links 'food environment' to diabetes, obesity -- In communities with an abundance of fast-food outlets and convenience stores, researchers have found, obesity and diabetes rates are much higher than in areas where fresh fruit and vegetable markets and full-service grocery stores are easily accessible. Dorsey Griffith in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/29/08

Wider, not higher, sales tax seen as budget fix -- Californians are used to paying as much as 8.75 percent sales tax on automobiles, athletic shoes and widescreen televisions. But what about applying the same rate to carwashes, pedicures and movie tickets? As the state budget gap widens, talk again has turned to the sales tax – not raising the rate, but the possibility of applying it to a range of services that other states tax routinely. Judy Lin in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/27/08

At a time of great national debate on how much money it actually takes to be considered rich, the California Franchise Tax board has released its annual report on median incomes for each of the state's 58 counties. Eight of the state's top 12 highest-income counties were in the Bay Area, with Marin leading the way with a median joint income of more than $100,000. So, does that make us rich? Depends on who you ask. SF Chronicle