L.A. County keeping sugary drinks around -- for now -- latimes.com

L.A. County keeping sugary drinks around -- for now -- latimes.com:

"Supervisors approve health initiatives to improve the county's chances of receiving federal stimulus funds, but vote against a proposal to discourage the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages."

In an effort to strengthen their bid for as much as $40 million in federal stimulus funds intended for communities that promote healthy living, Los Angeles County supervisors approved a package of health initiatives Tuesday that included new community gardens and bike paths.

But they stopped short on a controversial proposal, backed by Supervisors Mike Antonovich and Mark Ridley-Thomas, to ban advertising for sugar-sweetened drinks at county facilities and to develop a plan to prohibit such beverages from all county facilities.

"Where you lose me is if you are going to tell me that a patron of the Hollywood Bowl . . . can't buy a Coke. You've lost me," Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said."This is overreaching," Supervisor Don Knabe said.