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

The reporter did not suggest a quid pro quo for the lawmakers’ votes, although cuisine at The Kitchen, according to some foodies, is to die for. Five days later, the state Senate passed controversial Assembly Bill 4 on a 25-11 vote, the Assembly followed suit the next day, 48-25, and Governor Jerry Brown signed it.   read more

Kushner withheld purchase payments to the previous owner because of what he called “deliberate misconduct” that “constitutes fraud.” He alleged that his company faces $62.3 million in unexpected liabilities because of misrepresentations that included unfunded pension liabilities, improperly reported credit card charges and illusory savings through technology. Angelo, Gordon, the investment firm that handled the sale, responded by suing Kushner for $17.45 million.   read more

The state and the feds were in a war of words for months leading up to passage of Assembly Bill 484 by the Legislature and its signing by Governor Jerry Brown on October 2. That triggered a letter from U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education Deborah S. Delisle, who wagged a finger at the state and threatened to gut a host of financial assistance that adds up to $3.52 billion, or about 10% of the state’s education funding.   read more

A mysterious affliction is killing huge numbers of starfish, causing them to lose their arms and disintegrate in a short period of time. Large numbers of diseased starfish have been spotted in Santa Cruz, Monterrey and Santa Barbara. This outbreak is not only occurring from Orange County to Alaska on the West Coast of the nation. It's happening on the East Coast, too.   read more

Glass wrote 41 stories for the New Republic, 27 of which were eventually determined to be fraudulent. The Los Angeles Times asked in an editorial: “Should a Liar be a Lawyer?” and answered “yes.” Although Glass committed “journalistic malpractice on an epic scale,” the newspaper reasoned that he committed his sins long ago, had apologized to the victims and was deemed rehabilitated.   read more

California is one of the worst states in the country at helping veterans find jobs, according to State Auditor Elaine Howle, and EDD played no small role in achieving that distinction. Howle wrote to the Legislature that the department files its data on time with the U.S. Department of Labor and meets grant requirements to get money. But EDD’s data is lousy and it doesn’t use it “to identify opportunities to improve services to veterans.”   read more

Annual food stamp payouts were reduced $5 billion last Friday when one of the more successful economic stimulus programs enacted at the start of the Great Recession expired. Republicans refused to consider an extension, so the meager food allowance—around $200 a month for an individual; $668 for a family of four—was slashed nearly 5%. That translates into a loss of 21 meals a month for a family of four.   read more

The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, a partner in the California Condor Recovery Program since the 1980s, announced that it treated a record 21 condors for lead poisoning in October. The birds were brought to the Gottlieb Animal Health and Conservation Center at the zoo by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “It’s scary to see so many clinically sick birds,” Dr. Curtis Eng, chief veterinarian and manager of the zoo’s condor program said.   read more

A sealed 124-page FBI agent affidavit, filed in U.S. District Court, implicates Ron Calderon in bribery schemes, details bugged conversations and mentions other lawmakers, including Democratic Senate leader Darrell Steinberg. The affidavit lays out the sting and documents conversations between FBI undercover agents and Calderon.   read more

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien denied a request for a temporary restraining order that would have shut down the factory until complaints by residents were addressed. The city filed its request after residents said they suffered headaches, burning eyes and sore throats. Around 30 residents have complained to the city. Ruby Sanchez was not one of them. She told the Associated Press, “It's like having a plate of chili peppers shoved right in your face.”   read more

She has plied her trade across the country and throughout Europe for nearly sixty years, charming her victims with beauty, elegance and intelligence. She glides in and glides out, often making her play right in front of the victim amid small talk of jewelry and casual exchanges. She recently got out of an Orange County jail after serving time for an unrelated crime and on Tuesday was arrested on suspicion of stealing a $22,000 ring from a Palm Desert jewelry store.   read more

Drawing heavily on a wide range of studies, the researchers found that nothing worst-case occurred and concluded that legalizing marijuana is “likely to improve public health.” They found that the partial legalization of marijuana had not led to increased lawlessness, a surge in drug use or increased carnage on the roads. Pot didn’t lead to more alcohol use. In fact, the researchers found the opposite.   read more

California’s Vehicle Code 27602 prohibits a person from driving a motor vehicle “if a television receiver, a video monitor, or a television or video screen, or any other similar means of visually displaying a television broadcast or video signal . . . is operating and is located in the motor vehicle at a point forward of the back of the driver’s seat, or is operating and the monitor, screen, or display is visible to the driver while driving the motor vehicle.”   read more

Among those apprehended in the raids—which have also taken place in Santa Clara—was Gurvinder Singh, an Indian national, who had arrived in court to marry his partner, Kuldeet Kaur. He was told he was being arrested due to having entered the U.S. illegally through Mexico, in spite of the fact that he was in the middle of immigration proceedings and had never missed a court appearance.   read more

Fourteen sick and elderly patients at the nursing home, some of them bedridden, were abandoned by the staff last week without any transition in place for the closed facility. The staff left and on Saturday, three remaining workers who stayed without pay, including a cook and a janitor, called 911. Paramedics took most of the patients to other care centers but at least one man was hospitalized.   read more

A judge said the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo trumped the California Coastal Act last week and officially ended a century of access to Martins Beach in Half Moon Bay, which is now owned by venture capitalist billionaire Vinod Khosla. Mark Massara, an attorney for the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation, told the Los Angeles Times, “Every single landowner on the coast is going to rush to see if they’re part of an ancient land grant so they can try to get a get-out-of-jail-free card.”   read more