JLC ??APRIL 1992 Utah: On January 1 of this year, Utah joined Connecticut, Virginia, and Maryland in requiring dual-powered smoke alarms in new and rehabbed residential construction. These states require that houses be protected by smoke alarms that are hard-wired into the home's electrical system as well as backed up with battery power. That way, advocates of the dual-powered alarms argue, occupants can enjoy some protection against failure to replace batteries and fires that occur during power outages. Michigan: A judge has nixed the town of West Bloomfield's woodlands protection ordinance, saying it violated property owners' rights to use their property freely. The law, which had been passed in 1985 and strengthened in 1989, was among the first major tree-protection ordinances in the nation. It restricted tree cutting on wooded property of three or more acres.
