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Firefighters are battling to contain a string of wildfires that are encircling America’s second-largest city.

The firestorms are being driven by near-hurricane force winds that have incinerated thousands of acres of brush and forest since late last week.

Hundreds of homes have already been destroyed - thousands more are at risk from the fast-moving flames.

California’s governor has issued a state of emergency in four of the worst affected counties, including Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

LA’s mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa urged residents not to take any chances.

(SOUNDBITE) ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES MAYOR , SAYING:

“People really need to understand that because of these winds this fire can be on you in a moment’s notice.

More than 20,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes.

Fires have closed major freeways and led to rolling blackouts after power lines feeding Los Angeles were destroyed.

So far no one has been reported killed but authorities fear there may be fatalities.

Rescue crews will have to wait for the ground to cool before conducting proper searches.

Lighter winds on Sunday offered some respite to exhausted firecrews but the battle to halt the advancing walls of flame and heat encircling LA is far from won.

Taking plenty of exercise is a great way of reducing stress, staying trim and warding off back, heart and circulatory problems. But some people are discouraged from paying regular visits to their gym by factors such as travel distance, inconvenient opening hours or they just feel uncomfortable exercising in public. Depending on how much space is available in your spare room, a home gym including a sauna might be the answer.

“A prerequisite for having a sauna is a high-voltage electricity supply,” says Professor Reiner Pohl of the Bavarian-based trade body Pro Keller, which seeks to promote homeowners’ use of their cellars.

It’s also a good idea to have a place to relax and cool down in a comfortable atmosphere. That makes having a sauna more fun and will encourage you to use it frequently. Another factor to consider is easy access to the outdoors and fresh air.

The sauna’s shower should be constructed with what’s known as a shower receptor - the base of the shower made from a single piece of material. Tiles encourage bacteria to grow in the seams, if the sauna is used a lot.

“We recommend a shower receptor that measures at least 120 by 120 cm,” says Martin Koch from the German bathtub maker Kaldewei.

Shower receptors are excellent at collecting water from very large showerheads and are more comfortable to stand in.

But before you get to the sauna there’s an exercise program to get through first. An exercise bike and a gym mat are no longer sufficient for the average home-gym.

There’s a wide range of expensive gym machines on offer to help you get ready for wearing a bikini or improve your stomach’s six-pack.

However, the experts advise anyone thinking of investing money in gym machines to carefully consider what their goal is first.

“Many of the gym machines on the market are simply rubbish,” says Georg Stingl, chairperson of Aktion Gesunder Ruecken, an initiative against back pain.

Many machines offer poor quality when it comes to their effectiveness and durability. Another problem is that incorrect use of a gym machine can damage your body.

“A layman who begins using a machine at home without expert advice often makes mistakes that can affect their health,” warns Claudia Ernst from the health insurance company Deutsche Angestellten Krankenkasse in Hamburg.

Ernst recommends getting advice from a qualified trainer in a commercial gym. She also recommends getting a check-up from a doctor before investing in gym machines for the home.

A compact home gym with a treadmill, stepper, cross trainer and mini trampoline comes at a cost of at least several hundred euros. “The way you equip your gym will depend on how much space you have,” says Ernst. There should always be at least one meter of free space around each machine with good ventilation.

However, even the most comfortable home gym cannot solve lack of motivation.

“Exercise should always be fun,” says Stingl. “At first, most people are very enthusiastic. But after just a few weeks the gym is hardly used at all because it can be boring exercising on your own in a cellar.”

Climatologists at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City have found that 2008 was the coolest year since 2000, but also was the ninth warmest year since continuous instrumental records were started in 1880.

The ten warmest years on record have all occurred between 1997 and 2008, according to the study available here on Monday.

The GISS analysis found that the global average surface air temperature was 0.44C (0.79F) above the global mean for 1951 to 1980, the baseline period for the study. Most of the world was either near normal or warmer in 2008 than the norm. Eurasia, the Arctic, and the Antarctic Peninsula were exceptionally warm, while much of the Pacific Ocean was cooler than the long-term average.

The relatively low temperature in the tropical Pacific was due to a strong La Nina that existed in the first half of the year, the research team noted. La Nina and El Nino are opposite phases of a natural oscillation of equatorial Pacific Ocean temperatures over several years. La Nina is the cool phase. The warmer El Nino phase typically follows within a year or two of La Nina.

The temperature in the United States in 2008 was not much different than the 1951-1980 mean, which makes it cooler than all the previous years this decade.

“Given our expectation that the next El Nino will begin this year or in 2010, it still seems likely that a new global surface air temperature record will be set within the next one to two years, despite the moderate cooling effect of reduced solar irradiance,” said James Hansen, director of GISS. The Sun is just passing through solar minimum, the low point in its 10- to 12-yearcycle of electromagnetic activity, when it transmits its lowest amount of radiant energy toward Earth.

The GISS analysis of global surface temperature incorporates data from the Global Historical Climatology Network of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climate Data Center; the satellite analysis of global sea surface temperature of Richard Reynolds and Thomas Smith of NOAA; and Antarctic records of the international Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.

“GISS provides the ranking of global temperature for individual years because there is a high demand for it from journalists and the public,” said Hansen. “The rank has scientific significance in some cases, such as when a new record is established. But rank can also be misleading because the difference in temperature between one year and another is often less than the uncertainty in the global average.”

The very in-demand Anne Hathaway has signed on to portray singer Judy Garland in both the film and stage adaptations of a biography about her, “Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland.” The legendary movie star of Hollywood’s Golden Age is best known for her role as Dorothy in 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz.” Hathaway wowed the audience at this year’s Oscars with her duet with host Hugh Jackman.

Nearly 30 years after his death, Steve McQueen is still on the “A-list.” Two rival film projects about the “King of Cool” are edging their way to the big screen, pitting two of his three wives against each other. The “Bullitt” star died from cancer at the age of 50 back in 1980.

Apparently, Britney Spears’ brilliant comeback has not come cheap. The singer, who’s in the middle of a very successful world tour, has reportedly paid a team of 17 lawyers and legal firms a fee of nearly 2.7 million dollars (USD) since her dad was put in charge of managing her personal and professional life.

Lindsay Lohan says don’t believe everything you read.. The 22-year-old actress tells E! News that she’s not a big party girl and that the press needs to stop writing misinformation about her personal life and just let her go back to work.

The defense in the Phil Spector retrial made its closing arguments on Tuesday. The once revered music producer is charged with murdering B-movie actress Lana Clarkson in 2003 as she tried to leave home outside Los Angeles.

The Orlando Magic built a big lead and avoided another meltdown — barely.

Rookie Courtney Lee had 24 points, Hedo Turkoglu scored 16 and the Magic blew another 18-point lead before beating the Philadelphia 76ers 96-87 on Wednesday night to even the series at a game apiece.

Dwight Howard had 11 points and 10 rebounds but fouled out late, and Rashard Lewis made a pair of big jumpers in the final minutes to help Orlando get its fourth win in five chances against Philadelphia this season.

Andre Miller had 30 points, and Andre Iguodala scored 20 of his 21 points in the second half for the Sixers, who closed the gap to 5 points and almost erased the same deficit they faced in the series opener. Game 3 is Friday in Philadelphia.

Howard and Lee led a second-half charge that seemed to put the game away.

The two played an inside-out game that highlighted a 16-5 third quarter spurt, a series of put-back dunks from Howard and jumpshots from Lee that overwhelmed Philadelphia. Howard soared high on a missed layup by Alston, reaching with one hand for a furious dunk that he finished with a roar to put Orlando ahead by 18 points midway through the period.

But just like the series opener, the Sixers would make that lead disappear.

Philadelphia came within five points in the fourth quarter on an uncontested layup by Louis Williams after Lee missed a dunk on the other end. Almost as stunned as they were at the end of Game 1, the home fans were silenced, some covering their mouths in disbelief.

This time, they can breath easy.

The Magic held off the Sixers after Howard fouled out with 3:11 remaining, with Lewis hitting a jumper to put Orlando ahead 88-79 after Philadelphia again came within five points. Just when the Sixers started to rally again, Lewis grabbed a big offensive rebound and converted the layup to give the Magic back an 8-point lead with 28.8 remaining.

That lead would finally stick.

The 18-point lead the Magic lost in the opener was the biggest lead they blew all season, topping the loss on Halloween night to Memphis when they were ahead by 15 points. The Magic improved to 21-4 this season in games after a loss.

Philadelphia now heads home in the same position as a year ago, when it lost to a heavily favored Detroit team in six games.

The Sixers started right where they left off Game 1.

Miller made six of his first seven shots and scored 13 points in the first quarter, silencing the white-towel waving Magic fans early. He converted a three-point play after a foul on Howard to put the Sixers ahead 17-10.

Then the Magic began to roll.

Orlando ran off nine straight points, capped by a two-hand dunk by Howard on a fast-break pass zipped down the middle from Anthony Johnson. The Sixers started to lose their cool during the Magic’s run.

Samuel Dalembert was whistled for a technical foul for arguing after he was called for a foul on Howard. Theo Ratliff was called for a breakaway foul on Lee, and Turkoglu made a pair of free throws after Iguodala reached in on his shot attempt.

The result was a 9-3 run that gave Orlando a nine-point lead.

Move over, iPhone. You’ve had two years on top of the smart phone world. Now there’s a touch-screen phone with better software: the Palm Pre.

In a remarkable achievement, Palm Inc., a company that was something of a has-been, has come up with a phone operating system that is more powerful, elegant and user-friendly. The Pre, which goes on sale Saturday for $200 (after a mail-in rebate) at Sprint stores, makes it easier to do more things on the go.

With webOS, Palm’s new operating system, you can keep multiple applications open at once. They’re organized like a row of cards that stretches off the screen, and you flick the screen to switch between them. For instance, if you need to quickly check your calendar while writing an e-mail, you can bring up the calendar application, then flick back to e-mail, then keep switching between them as you try to work out your schedule.

On Apple Inc.’s iPhone, you can run only one application at time. To switch between calendar and e-mail, you have to go back to the main menu every time.

Also unlike the iPhone, webOS will notify you of events that need your attention, no matter which application you’re in. Notification icons for e-mails, calls and over events appear at the bottom of the screen. If you tap on the e-mail notice, for instance, the message pops up.

So webOS makes the iPhone look clunky, which is stunning in itself. It also thoroughly shows up Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile. That operating system has had multitasking for years, but few users have appreciated that. Rather, Windows Mobile has been blamed for making phones clumsy and slow. Now, webOS comes along and does multitasking right.

Also very cool is that webOS aggregates contacts and calendar items from multiple sources, like Google, corporate Exchange servers, and even Facebook. You know how lots of phones have space for a photo for each contact? The Pre automatically pulls your friends’ Facebook photos into your contacts list.

As far as the hardware goes, the Pre is well put together, but not exceptional. It’s slightly smaller and chubbier than an iPhone, with softly rounded corners that make it look like a black bar of soap.

The screen diagonal is 3.1 inches, noticeably smaller than the iPhone’s 3.5 inches. Less screen space means it’s harder to hit the right area with your finger, but the Pre makes up for this a bit by making the surface just below the screen touch-sensitive. For instance, to go back one level in a program, you swipe from right to left in this area.

A keyboard slides out from underneath the screen. It isn’t the best I’ve seen on a phone, but it does the job, and you’ll find it much easier to use than the iPhone’s on-screen keyboard.

When I first got the Pre, I was dismayed by its battery life. I got less than 24 hours of light use out of it, and it would lose nearly a third of its charge if left inactive overnight. It turns out there’s a bug that drains the battery if your Google instant-messaging account is connected to your AOL Instant Messenger account. Palm says it will fix that. When I logged Google out of AIM, I got much longer life.

I extended battery life even further by setting the Pre to receive my personal e-mail instantly rather than checking every 15 minutes. That’s counterintuitive — usually getting the e-mail automatically “pushed” to a device consumes more power.

I ended up with nearly two days of battery life, which I think is acceptable for a hardworking smart phone. But it would be great if Palm made it easier to manage power consumption.

That said, charging the Pre is almost half the fun, if you splurge on a $70 “Touchstone.” You place the Pre on this small charging station, and it uses magic to radiate power through the phone’s back. (The scientifically minded can replace “magic” with “electromagnetic induction.”) It’s a lot cooler than connecting a cable or a sliding the device into a dock, but it’s only marginally easier to use than a cable, so consider this a luxury purchase.

The Pre’s camera captures 3-megapixel images. That’s not an amazing resolution, but I prefer the Pre’s camera over the 8-megapixel one in the Sony Ericsson C905, and every other phone camera I’ve tried.

Why? Because other phone cameras have a big failing: It takes too long for them to take a picture after you’ve pressed the shutter button. They’re impossible to use for action shots, or for capturing fleeting expressions. The Pre’s camera has very little shutter lag. It’s not as good as a single-lens reflex camera, or SLR, but it’s better than a lot of digital point-and-shoots.

The Pre also has the now-standard array of smart phone features: Wi-Fi, Global Positioning System and an online store for applications. The Web browser is very fast, given a fast data connection. You can zoom in and out on Web pages by pinching and spreading with two fingers, just as on the iPhone. The Pre has 8 gigabytes of built-in storage, same as the cheaper iPhone model.

Uniquely for a non-Apple device, the Pre pretends it’s an iPod when you connect it to a Macintosh or Windows PC with iTunes, so you can easily transfer your music library and photos to it. It won’t play movies or TV shows bought from the iTunes Store, nor will it play songs that were purchased with usage restrictions.

So should you get a Pre? Despite the fantastic software, this isn’t a slam dunk decision.

We don’t know how software developers will take to the Pre. There are a lot of different smart phone systems clamoring for their attention, and webOS may not be able to replicate the success of the iPhone App Store when it comes to providing a wide range of useful applications. There are only about 20 apps available at launch. (With the help of one of these applications, the Pre can run tens of thousands of programs written for the older Palm operating system, but these are mostly dated.)

We also don’t know what else Palm has up its sleeve. Sprint Nextel Corp. doesn’t have the same lock on the Pre as AT&T Inc. does on the iPhone, so we may see the Pre with other carriers early next year.

Palm has also said it plans to put webOS on a range of devices. We don’t know when the next model will arrive, or what it will look like. Verizon Wireless’ chief executive has said it will carry another Palm model “within six months.”

Lastly, Apple is expected to fire back by announcing an upgraded iPhone model, perhaps as soon as Monday. It won’t be able to do everything the Pre can do, but it might have other novel features.

Whether you get a Pre or not, its brilliant software will leave its mark on the phones you buy in the future, just like the iPhone did after its debut.

Aboard a crowded Italian train last fall, I discovered I had taken a polished Milanese businesswoman’s seat by mistake, which meant leaving my humdrum, over-packed suitcase in one compartment to hunt down a patch of open floor space in another. When I returned moments later, my bag had been stolen—something that never would have happened had I been able to just sit on it.

With a little foresight, I’d have brought along a ZÜCA Pro, the most fantastically functional bag because it both fits comfortably in an airplane’s overhead bin and serves as a chair. A sturdy seat that can support 300 pounds without a hitch is integrated into the bag’s aluminum alloy frame, while inside there are removable ballistic nylon packing pouches that stack like drawers. The Sport model has a dual wheel system that climbs stairs. Which in elevator-challenged Euro train stations, would also have been nice.

Despite the advent of restrictive government-imposed regulations that make it tempting to check it all (or chuck it all) instead of cramming liquid and gel in a plastic bag for all to see, carry-ons are the way to go. Reason number two: reduced waiting upon arrival. Reason number one? Carry-on bags have, demonstrably, never been cooler. Even Samsonite.

Obviously, it’s always easier to travel light, and carry-ons can take the lug out of luggage faster than you can say “butler.” This was never truer than today, when the use of high-tech materials and innovative design has produced a veritable revolution in carry-on luggage style and functionality.

To comply with carriers’ and security organizations’ rules on the size of carry-on baggage and size and weight of checked bags, luggage companies are redesigning bags, using new, lightweight materials and frames. And restrictions on the size of bottles of liquids travelers can carry onto flights have created somewhat of a cottage industry: Some bags (the ZÜCA Pro among them), now come with a TSA-compliant, clear, flexible, plastic pouch.

A carry-on bag must by definition fit in an airplane’s overhead bin, meaning it cannot exceed certain dimensions. The ones typical to most airlines are 9 inches (depth) by 14 inches (width) by 22 inches (height), or 45 linear inches. However, with the exception of obviously smaller bags, it’s always a good idea to check with individual airlines for dimension requirements and weight restrictions. These vary not just domestically vs. internationally but also airline by airline. Aircraft size itself can be a factor in what you’re allowed to bring on board, too.

Most—but not all—carry-ons today are “roll-aboards,” with pull-out trolley handles that enable you to wheel the suitcase. (The style originated with a Northwest Airlines pilot in the late 1980s.) But otherwise, it’s anything goes—especially in terms of the way a bag looks. Our selection of cool carry-ons was made on the basis of toughness, layout (from outside pockets to interior compartments), and style.

Cory Depiero, head of business development at high-end travel boutique chain Flight 001, also emphasizes the fashion and functionality combination. He says when scoping out the hottest new luggage that “we’re looking for functionality that also takes into account fashion, trends, appearance and style, and staying ahead of other luggage dealers.”

It’s no surprise that Mandarina Duck, the legendary luggage line founded by Paolo Trento in Bologna in 1977, is one of the top-selling brands at store Flight 001, but that’s not all the store (with outposts from New York to Dubai) has on offer. There are sleek Samonsites made with cutting edge ballistic nylon and polycarbonate materials, marvelous shiny and sturdy pieces from Japanese designer Hideo Wakamatsu, and the latest looks from hot German brands Titan and Rimowa.

Michele Marini Pittenger, president of the Travel Goods Association, a trade group of luggage manufacturers, suppliers and retailers, suggests you first determine what purpose your bag will have to serve. Is it for business or vacation, for an overnight or weekend trip, or a month-long sojourn? Will it need to accommodate electronics? Will it be used for airplane or car travel, for commuting to work by public transportation, or for walking?

“The answers to all those questions will determine what type of bag to look for, and you can then take a look at what style and colors are available, and which you prefer,” she said.

If the consumer must navigate a sea of choices, at least he or she can take comfort in the fact that, at least at higher-end stores like Flight 001, the goods have essentially been pre-screened. “We look at every detail, from durability to affordability, and we ask if this is a bag for a frequent or occasional traveler,” says Depiero. “Urban sophisticated is the basis on which we select merchandise.”

China said on Sunday it will loosen credit conditions, cut taxes and embark on a massive infrastructure spending program in a wide-ranging effort to offset adverse global economic conditions by boosting domestic demand.

This is a shift long advocated by analysts of the Chinese economy and by some within the government. It comes amid indications that economic growth, exports and various industries are slowing.

A stimulus package estimated at 4 trillion yuan (about 570 billion U.S. dollars) will be spent over the next two years to finance programs in 10 major areas, such as low-income housing, rural infrastructure, water, electricity, transportation, the environment, technological innovation and rebuilding from several disasters, most notably the May 12 earthquake.

The policies include a comprehensive reform in value-added taxes, which would cut industry costs by 120 billion yuan.

Commercial banks’ credit ceilings will be abolished to channel more lending to priority projects, rural areas, smaller enterprises, technical innovation and industrial rationalization through mergers and acquisitions.

The decision was announced on Sunday by the State Council, or cabinet, after Premier Wen Jiabao presided over an executive meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting decided that credit expansion must be “rational” and “target spheres that would promote and consolidate the expansion of consumer credit.”

With 100 billion yuan from current-year central government funds and another 20 billion yuan brought forward from next year’s budget for post-disaster reconstruction, the fourth quarter is expected to see a total investment of 400 billion yuan across the nation.

The massive spending plan was expected to play a remarkable role in sustaining growth as 4 trillion yuan investment is an equivalent of one third of the nation’s total fixed asset investment last year, according to Zhang Liqun, researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council.

“With the deepening of the global financial crisis over the past two months, the government must take flexible and prudent macro-economic policies to deal with the complex and changing situation,” said the meeting.

The meeting also announced that China will adopt “active” fiscal and “moderately active” monetary policies and map out more forceful measures to expand domestic demand, speed up the construction of public facilities and improve living standards of the poor to achieve “steady and relative fast” economic growth.

The active fiscal policy alone would not bear much fruit without the coordination of easing monetary policy. The two should work together to confront the economic complexity of home and abroad, said Yuan Gangming, researcher with the Center for China in the World Economy of Tsinghua University.

The policy change comes out in time as the global financial crisis begins to affect China’s real economy. The adjustment is more resolute and timely as China draw lessons from the Asian financial crisis in 1998, said director of the Research Institute for Fiscal Science of Ministry of Finance Jia Kang. He noted the easing policy was expected to prevent big ups and downs in the economy.

He said the value-added tax reduction would encourage enterprises to invest more in the long run.

The macro-economic policy changes announced on Sunday are one of only a few major shifts during the 30 years since the beginning of reform and opening up in 1978.

The most recent modification was in December, when the government resorted to a combination of “tight” monetary policy and “prudent” fiscal policy to fight inflation.

With the monthly consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, expected to drop further through year-end — after plunging from a 12-year high of 8.7 percent in February to 4.6 percent in September — the focal task of macro-economic control has shifted from beating inflation to sustaining economic growth.

The past three months have seen a series of stimulus policies: interest rate cuts, lower bank reserve requirement ratios, tax changes, higher credit quotas and the injection of central government funds to infrastructure construction.

The meeting decided that higher investment must be able to facilitate economic restructuring, promote growth potential by channeling investment to where it’s most needed and spur private consumption.

Although the economy has maintained double-digit growth for years, fixed-asset investment and exports have dwarfed consumption as the two pillars of expansion. With global recession clearly in view, China must sustain itself by exploiting the domestic market to offset weaker demand abroad.

The meeting identified the ongoing world economic adjustment as “a new opportunity” for China to speed industrial restructuring, introduce advanced technologies and talents from abroad.

Despite challenges, China has a great potential to develop its domestic demand and a solid financial system, the meeting noted.

“As long as we take the right measures in a resolute and timely way to grasp the chance and rise to the challenges, we will surely secure steady and relative fast economic growth,” the meeting noted.

A lawsuit was filed here Thursday accusing California’s state government of failing to protect its 650,000 farm workers from heat-related death and illness.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) affiliates of Southern California and San Diego and Imperial counties, the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP announced that the landmark lawsuit was filed against the State of California and its Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Cal/OSHA) for failing to live up to their constitutional and statutory duties to protect the safety of farm workers.

“Farm workers are literally dying because of the state’s broken system, which is designed in a way that ensures under-enforcement of the law,” said Catherine Lhamon, assistant legal director for the ACLU of Southern California.

“The state’s system is so full of loopholes that compliance is effectively optional, and employers flout the law with impunity,” he added.

The state itself has identified such serious noncompliance from agricultural employers that this summer it twice declared emergencies. But even then the state took no regulatory or legislative action to protect farm workers, ACLU charged.

“We are left with no choice but to ask the court to require that the state protect farm workers from serious heat-related illness and death, which is readily preventable with basic precautions,” said Brad Phillips, an attorney with Munger, Tolles.

California enacted its current heat safety regulation in 2005. At least 11 farm workers have died from heat-related illness since then, and farm workers have been pleading with the state for safety improvements all that time, according to ACLU.

Last year the agency conducted only 750 inspections among approximately 35,000 farms statewide and found that nearly 40 percent had violated mandatory heat safety regulations, according to ACLU.

ACLU charged that California is more committed to wildlife protection than to people, especially farm workers.

ACLU cited some heat-related death cases in the lawsuit.

Maria de Jesus Bautista complained of nausea, headache and cold sweats in July 2008 while picking grapes during extreme heat in Riverside County in Southern California. She died two weeks later. Bautista’s daughter, Margarita, is also a farm worker and still works in the fields of Riverside County. Having seen what happened to her mother, she fears for her safety during hot weather, but works out of economic necessity.

Socorro Rivera works for the largest grape grower in the United States, Giumarra Vineyards Corporation, which has vineyards in Kern and Tulare counties.

On hot days, the shade provided by Giumarra consists of a plastic tarp slung over three rows of vines. Workers do not take shelter under it because air doesn’t circulate under the tarp, and it’s hotter there than in direct sunlight, Rivera says. Giumarra’s training to prevent heat illness consists of a supervisor reading a list of heat illness symptoms for 10 minutes once a year.

But no meaningful enforcement action has been taken against Giumarra. That is only one example of a glaring problem: in addition to a scarcity of inspectors and inspections, even employers who are charged with violating existing regulations escape with little or no punishment, the lawsuit said.

Penalties for violations that have resulted in heat-related deaths average less than 10,000 dollars, and have dropped to as low as 250 dollars, according to the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, hazardous conditions often continue uncorrected for years as the labor contractors typically targeted by the state fail to pay fines or to address violations, the lawsuit said.

In addition, the industry has no environmental “trigger” such as temperature, humidity or radiant heat exposure that would set in motion a series of mandatory protective measures, according to the lawsuit.

One provision of Cal/OSHA’s emergency proposals earlier this year was a requirement for employers to provide shade for workers when temperatures exceed 85 degrees Fahrenheit. But the proposals placed the burden for taking shade breaks on farm workers themselves.

Many workers say they are pressured to keep up with competing crews, and they are fearful of being fired if they take voluntary breaks to cool down, according to the lawsuit.

“If hundreds of thousands of white-collar employees had to work under dangerous and life-threatening conditions, the state would almost certainly take immediate action to protect their health and safety,” said David Blair-Loy, legal director for the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties.

“Low-income farm workers, who are overwhelmingly Latino, deserve no less,” he added.

The lawsuit charges that state officials have failed in virtually every possible way to create a system to protect these workers, who provide 90 percent of the labor for California’s multibillion-dollar agricultural industry, the nation’s largest that produces everything from grapes and strawberries to lettuce and tomatoes.

Perhaps most glaringly, Cal/OSHA has failed to establish common-sense regulations that would provide potentially life-saving water, shade and rest to workers who labor outdoors in temperatures that regularly top 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

In addition, the state requires that its existing — and deficient — heat safety regulation be enforced exclusively through Cal/OSHA, even though that agency has no practical ability to do the job, according to the lawsuit.

It can’t be just any old Arizona highway; you have to choose your route carefully. In my case it was US Highway 89, which starts in the sagebrush-covered desert northwest of Phoenix. Almost from the get-go, I was driving upwards, the wicked switchbacks that make Yarnell Grade one of Arizona’s most spectacular roads. Reaching the summit, the temperature sank and the dazzling show began—splashes of incandescent yellow, red and orange against dark evergreens and massive boulders.

After passing through Prescott—where Harley-Davidsons were parked in front of the bars around leaf-filled Courthouse Square—I followed 89 up and over snow-covered Mingus Mountain and down into the Verde River Valley with its canary yellow willows and cottonwoods. The coup de grace was pulling into Sedona, its autumn trees framed by red-rock cliffs and signs inviting me to get my chakra realigned.

Fall foliage road trips are almost a national rite of passage—a quintessentially American combination of the outdoors and the automobile. For many, losing oneself in a landscape of riotous reds, profound purples, and outrageous oranges can be a quasi-religious experience. From Henry David Thoreau and Robert Frost to crooner James Taylor and funky Earth, Wind & Fire, generations of American artists have been inspired by the vivid season.

New England is still the holy grail of fall-foliage pilgrims. “The vibrancy of color in New England is a function of the mix of tree species that we have,” says Dr Kevin Smith, a plant physiologist with the US Forest Service in New Hampshire. “The reds from maples, oranges from sugar maples, yellows from birches, purple from beeches, all mixed in with the dark green of conifers like pine and hemlock.”

But as Smith and others point out, beautiful autumnal landscapes can be found in just about every corner of America, from the backwoods of Dixie and the High Sierra to the Great Lakes region and places where there aren’t even any trees.

Denali Highway in south-central Alaska fits the latter description, a 135-mile route through rolling alpine tundra terrain that morphs into a carpet of interwoven red, orange and purple the first few weeks of September. From Maclaren Summit you can look out over the always-snow-covered Alaska Range and the highest peak in North America (20,320-foot Denali). Those with a sharp eye and little bit of luck can often see moose, caribou and even the occasional grizzly bear wandering across the autumn landscape.

Like just about everything else in the Centennial State, Colorado has transformed fall foliage from a sedentary activity into active outdoor adventure. Snatch a bird’s-eye-view of the colors from hot-air balloons in Boulder or a zipline near Durango. Breckenridge offers autumn ATC tours and Grand Junction a 25-mile public bike ride (September 19th) that winds through the area’s vineyards and fruit orchards. Another cool way to catch the colors are llama pack trips in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Quaint traditions like roadside pumpkin wagons and charming villages marks a tour of Ohio’s Amish Country. Meanwhile, Michigan’s secluded Upper Peninsula, surrounded by three different Great Lakes, is still one of the wildest parts of the Lower 48. With more than seven million acres of forest, the U.P. is a natural when it comes to fall colors.

Timing is the key ingredient in plotting your autumn road trip, but it’s far from being an exact science. The annual turning of the leaves is triggered by a combination of day length and temperature. The ideal conditions for color change are warm sunny days followed by cool nights, with overnight temperatures between 32-45°F. Snow, rain, cloud cover and below-freezing temperatures actually decrease the color intensity. But scientists still don’t understand the entire process, which remains one of nature’s most compelling mysteries.

Among the excellent resources available to autumn leaf aficionados is the Forest Service’s fall foliage hotline (www.fs.fed.us/news/fallcolors or 800-354-4595) which offers region by region information, including predictions of leaf colors, foliage peaks and tips for scenic drives. Another great planning tool is The Foliage Network, which collects data from an army of volunteer foliage spotters twice a week during the fall, ensuring an up-to-date and very specific report for “leaf peepers.”

Planning ahead is also crucial for those looking for accommodation along the drive, especially along the more popular leaf-viewing routes through New England. Alternatively, you can cruise autumn roads in an RV, staying overnight at color-saturated campgrounds and moving through the landscape at your own pace. More people are also exploring leafy lanes via motorcycle and bicycle, either solo or on organized tours.

Road Trip USA author Jamie Jensen offers more advice. “Get out of the car!” he urges. “Keep a lookout for ‘scenic viewpoints’ and trailheads and soak it up with all of your senses. Smell the pines, listen to the winds and the water flowing past, feel and hear the crackling of leaves as you tread over them.”

Vehicles also help set the mood. There’s nothing like a convertible—country western tunes blasting out the open top—when driving sunny Arizona in the autumn. An eco-friendly Prius seems just right for ultra-green Oregon, a Corvette best for whipping around those curves in California’s High Sierra. And you wouldn’t want to challenge the rugged Denali Highway without a sturdy 4×4 (maybe even a GMC Denali?).

Finally, don’t neglect those grander, metaphysical sensations. As Smith puts it, “autumn is a time for reflection, or a certain nostalgia for things that are over—intimations of mortality. We see such real gloriousness in nature, and know that that gloriousness is a prelude or harbinger of winter to come.”