In a first of its kind move, the Los Angeles city council on Tuesday approved a one-year ban on new fast-food outlets in a low-income neighborhood with a high incidence of obesity and diabetes. The moratorium aims to attract restaurants in the 32-square mile area of South Los Angeles to offer healthier food choices. The ban covers the 500,000 people living in the area, residents of which are mainly Latinos and African-Americans.

The second-largest American city on Tuesday announced it will enforce a total ban on plastic bags from retail stores starting July 1, 2010, in an effort to rid the city of an estimated 2. 3 billion non-biodegradable plastic bags each year. The move by Los Angeles came after San Francisco issued a similar anti-pollution policy. The Los Angeles City Council said the ban will affect all supermarkets, grocery and retail stores.

Two women in their 70s were sentenced to life imprisonment in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday for killing two homeless men to collect the victims' $2. 8 million life insurance money. Helen Golay, 77, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 75, received the sentence from Judge David Wesley. A jury convicted the septuagenarians dubbed the "Black Widows" in April for running over Paul Vados, 73, in 1999 and Kenneth McDavid, 50, in 2005.

California legislators are on an amendment and enactment mode, targeting principally the state's various driving laws. Among the measures under consideration are a prohibition on drivers carrying live animals on their laps while behind the wheel. Another proposal seeks to ban truants and high school dropouts from driving, while one bill urges a study on the danger silent electric cars hold for blind pedestrians.

In an attempt to help overweight officers get back in shape, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has hired a full-time diet coach to chalk out special diet plans for them. Rana Parker, who joined the force in July, was working as a diet coach at Head Start, the federal aid program for children. Now she will target recruits and help instill in them good eating habits and finding time for balanced meals.