By CINDY VON QUEDNOW, Scripps Howard News Service

BLYTHE, Calif. - Rolando Rodriguez, an inmate at Ironwood State Prison, got the best birthday present he could ask for three days before he turned 36. His 16-year-old daughter called to say she was proud of him.

The last time Francisca Lorenzo Ruiz's boyfriend hit her, she was holding their baby daughter in one hand and defending herself with the other, she said.

He had returned from work particularly violent that day and hit one of her four children before insulting her, she said. He had hit her twice before, while she was pregnant, but this time he used more force, she said.

On the day a civil trial determining the wrongful death of her two daughters concluded, when she was feeling victorious and brave, Carol Houck decided to drive up California's Highway 101 for the first time since the two died in a fiery crash more than five years earlier.

When she got to the site in Monterey County, she broke down in tears.

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. - The growing number of illegal marijuana farms in California's Los Padres National Forest is killing animals and polluting the land, officials say.

Kyle Martin had a stroke a week before his fifth birthday in January 2008. A few days later, he was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy, a group of disorders where the chambers of the heart cannot fill with blood because of the stiffness of the heart.

When Greg Williams, 26, went to holiday parties early in his sobriety, he took steps so he could remain that way.

He invited a sober or recovering friend who would agree to take him home if he was not comfortable, brought his own transportation so he could leave on his own or called a friend.

WASHINGTON - During their tour of the U.S. Capitol, four Navajo Code Talkers were approached by tourists who wanted to shake their hands or simply say thank you.

When the group walked into the Rotunda, a tour guide led visitors in applause for the "Windtalkers," a reference to the 2002 Nicolas Cage movie based on the Code Talkers' World War II service.