A California court has refused to order Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown to appeal a ruling that overturned the state's gay marriage ban.

The 3rd District Court of Appeal on Wednesday denied a conservative legal group's request to force the officials to defend voter-approved Proposition 8.

Presiding Justice Arthur Scotland did not explain why the appeals court turned down the request filed two days earlier by the Pacific Justice Institute.

The institute now plans to take the matter to the California Supreme Court, Chief Counsel Kevin Snider said Thursday.

"We are disappointed that the appellate court showed indecisiveness in trying to prevent a constitutional crisis," Snider said. "They didn't want to deal with it."

The institute maintains the attorney general and governor have the duty to uphold all laws, not just those with which they personally agree.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker struck down Proposition 8 as unconstitutional last month.

The measure approved by 52 percent of California voters in November 2008 amended the state Constitution to outlaw same-sex unions five months after the state Supreme Court legalized them.

The state has until Sept. 11 to challenge Walker's ruling. Both Brown and Schwarzenegger have said they don't plan an appeal.

A former Missouri truck driver charged in the deaths of 10 people in a northeast Oklahoma traffic collision has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and 10 years probation.

Ottawa County District Attorney Eddie Wyant said in a statement that 77-year-old Donald L. Creed of Willard, Mo., pleaded guilty Monday to 10 counts of misdemeanor negligent homicide.

An Oklahoma Highway Patrol report says it appeared the tractor-trailer Creed was driving June 26, 2009 didn't slow before it ran into traffic that had stopped for an earlier accident on Interstate 44.

Creed was driving for Kansas City, Kan.-based Associated Wholesale Grocers, but has since retired.

A message seeking comment was left for to Creed's attorney, Paul Brunton.

A watchdog organization that focuses on healthy living is questioning the marketing of 'vitaminwaters'. The Center for Science in Public Interest claims Coca-Cola is misleading the public on what the product can do. A federal judge has denied Coca Cola's motion to dismiss a lawsuit based on the alleged deceptive claims.

Apparently the legal battles aren't keeping customers away. Convenience store shelves are often bare of vitaminwaters. Customers buy them up as an alternative to water and other soft drink lines.

"The first ones I was drinking because maybe it says vitamins, so that kinda caught my eye when it said vitaminwater," said Margaret Grant.

The added vitamins of B and potassium cause some people to think it's better than a multi vitamin pill. Grant, a Dallas college student attending Stephen F. Austin State University thinks the drink must work faster than a vitamin pill. "You know, instead of taking it you just always go get you a drink and drink it and that's it."

Others find the whole health concept difficult to swallow. "It just seems kinda bland like they're just water with fruit flavoring in it," said Preston McDonald, a college student from Mt. Vernon.

Wesley Kebhard, works at the SFA recreation center. He helps people take care of their body. "Vitamins are water soluble, so if you don't absorb them, you just pee them out anyway," is what he has to say about the usefulness of vitaminwaters.

Paula Cook, a hospital dietician at Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital closely read a vitaminwater label. Several vitaminwater manufacturers market their product toward the young. You can read about late nights, skipped breakfasts and texting on one label. Dieticians advise if you're into reading labels, it's best to start with the ingredients.

Cook notes the 30 grams of carbohydrates, or sugar, in a bottle containing more than two servings. She concludes, "The best source for vitamins and minerals is food and so I recommend a balanced diet rather than a beverage that would contain 1 or 3 or 5 or 6 different individual nutrients."

Cook won't even approve the sale of vitamanwaters in the hospital where she works. Instead, she offers plenty of water, something health-conscious individuals say is the best drink around.