The Bears are back in town

President Obama welcomed his hometown team to the White House a quarter-century after it won Super Bowl. The '85 Chicago Bears didn't get the traditional White House reception because of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster that occurred two days after their Super Bowl victory. In other news, Governor of California Jerry Brown has terminated the sale of shark fins, despite protests from some Chinese American leaders who saw the move as an assault on Asian culture; vetoed a controversial bid to restrict how motorists pass bicyclists; and decided not to require microchip tracking of some dogs and cats. Among the 57 bills he approved were several intended to increase the safety of natural gas pipelines and one that requires that all ballot initiatives be decided in the November general elections, which typically draw greater numbers of liberal voters than June primaries.