ICE agents have reportedly claimed to be police officers to gain consent to enter a person’s home – a tactic that is viewed as unethical, but within the powers granted to the officers. Civil rights groups supported Kalra’s bill, looking to stymie the Trump administration’s promise to use any and all available tools to deport undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. Many groups fear Trump will expand deportations to include all undocumented immigrants, their families and relatives.   read more

Harkey filed the lawsuit after Wyland made disparaging remarks about her and her husband, Daniel Harkey, at a local Orange County Tea Party gathering in July. Weyland’s subject was her husband’s troubled investment company, Point Center Financial, which declared for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier in the year after four years of investigations and lawsuits.   read more

Two new studies of the greenhouse gas methane, one based in California, indicate that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other scientists have vastly underestimated how much of the noxious stuff is being emitted into the atmosphere. One study, recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, found that methane emissions are 1.3 to 1.8 times as high as those calculated by the California Air Resources Board.   read more

Anthera was also required to survey all patients six months after the end of the trial period to see if they were still alive. But the company collected that data for only 31% of the patients, which made it impossible to gauge whether the drug increased the risk of death. The trial was terminated by a safety monitoring committee after early results showed patients who got the drug actually had a higher risk of cardiovascular problems, mainly heart attacks, than those who received a placebo.   read more

Critics of the program argued that their really was no evidence of an urban nuclear threat and that development of the technology to detect such a threat may not be possible. They also warned of interagency operational limitations across a multi-jurisdictional region. Some observers wondered if the time and effort at detection might better be applied to figuring out how the city would respond if the bomb were actually triggered.   read more

The State Lands Commission is reportedly investigating the city for allegedly misusing around $5 million it received from the plant since 2005. The newspaper said that $525,000 annual payments from plant owner Dynegy Energy Co. made their way to the city’s general fund although the city’s own website clearly states, “Under the Tidelands Grant Statute, all revenues received from the Tidelands must be used for operation and improvement of the tidelands.”   read more

The district was reluctant to release results of testing conducted under the supervision of the Malibu Schools Environmental Task Force until they were peer-reviewed. But that triggered accusations of a cover-up at a school board meeting. Three teachers who worked in the building were recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer and three other educators may have thyroid problems, according to NBC Los Angeles. Other teachers and staff have reported migraines and skin rashes.   read more

Problems at the state’s Sonoma center for developmentally disabled patients were so bad that it was stripped of its license to operate last December after a series of stories detailing abuse and incompetence almost won a 2012 Pulitzer Prize for California Watch and reporter Ryan Gabrielson. However, long before that, Petaluma physician Dr. Van Peña, a 10-year employee, was raising a ruckus about conditions there. But instead of getting an award 12 years ago, he got fired.   read more

When the California Public Utility Commission (PUC) agreed to let NRG Energy build a network of electric car charging stations at a cost of $100 million to repay the state for ripping it off on electricity during the energy crisis a decade ago, critics said the company’s “punishment” was too small and amounted to winning a $100 million no-bid development contract.   read more

Although it’s hard to find a news story about the plant that isn’t filled with jokey cracks about the owner feeling the heat, it was no joke to members of the community who complained of headaches, inflamed asthma, burning eyes, sore throats and heartburn. The judge said in his ruling that he did not find “credible evidence” the odor posed a health threat, but he did say the city was likely to prevail if it pursued a declaration that the plant was a public nuisance.   read more

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael P. Kenny barred the state from selling $9 billion in rail bonds approved by voters in November 2008 because the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s finance committee failed to explain its reasons for authorizing the offering. He also ordered the state to come up with a new strategy for raising the estimated $68 billion needed to complete the system.   read more

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) does not know how many inspections of assisted living facilities it conducts in a year. It also doesn’t know how many allegations of abuse, medication errors and unusual injuries are reported by facilities the department oversees. What is known, thanks to a study of department records by ProPublica, is that the CDSS failed to collect half the $2 million in fines it assessed those facilities between 2007 and 2012 for violations of state law.   read more

Rowe joined the State Fund in August 2010 after it had experienced some rough years. References to the State Fund in news stories throughout the decade were routinely preceded by the phrase “scandal-plagued.” “Certainly many people were surprised in the room when the board chair made that announcement,” Jennifer Vargen, senior vice president of marketing and communications for the State Fund, told the Insurance Journal.   read more

The old standard required that foam cushions in upholstered furniture be able to resist a candle flame for 12 seconds. Manufacturers met that standard by using chemicals. Now, the state will follow a standard proposed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that advocates the use of specially designed, fire-resistant fabric instead. The new rules will be phased in next year.   read more

The DWP rolled out the new computer system two months ago and its customer service lines have been ringing off the hook ever since. Customers have been subjected to bogus late notices, incorrect bills, delayed bills, threats of disconnection and an assortment of other snafus that promise to make the holiday season one of challenging uncertainty.   read more

An ordinance passed in the upscale Bay Area city a year ago formally took effect last week, establishing what may be the strictest restrictions on smoking in the country. The law is aimed at reducing contact with second-hand smoke and requires smokers who live in homes that share walls, a ceiling or ventilation with other homes to leave their domiciles and get 20 feet away from the building before lighting up.   read more

The project, MyCalPays, is supposed to replace the poorly-connected computer systems that the controller’s office uses to pay approximately 240,000 civil service employees. Vince Brown, the project’s former chief operating officer under former Controller Steve Wesley, told the committee, “I think everyone knows that at some point that payroll system is going to blow up for good.”   read more