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 EFF, using the California Public Records Act, found that cases in which data in an investigation was misused doubled in the past five years to a total of 389. Most of the perps were peace officers and more than 20 of the cases resulted in criminal charges being filed. These numbers are only a small indication of the problem, since the only incidents included are self-reported by government agencies. And not all agencies deign to file their mandatory annual misuse disclosures.   read more

Environmentalists argue that sand mining in the bay is ruining Ocean Beach to the south, affecting sand distribution all the way to Point San Pedro, and adversely affecting shellfish, bottom-dwelling invertebrates, juvenile Dungeness crab, sturgeon and other important Bay species. The judge said those things had to be considered in light of the state's public trust obligation, not just the narrow strictures of an environmental impact report.   read more

VIPs who use the service will be able to park in a secure lot, with transportation to the lounge, or go to a secure drop-off. The lounge will have private suites, and shuttles will transport passengers to the terminals. The price of using the Los Angeles Suite—if you have to ask it's not for you—could run up to $1,800 a pop.   read more

Most of the students, attendees at Corinthian schools between 2010 and 2013, were in California at Everest College and WyoTech. “Corinthian preyed on vulnerable students who are now buried under mountains of student debt,” California Attorney General Kamala Harris said. “Today’s joint investigation findings will expand the pool of Corinthian students eligible for streamlined student loan relief options.”   read more

Some agencies have prioritized low-level crimes and others have gone in the opposite direction. As a result, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department reported low-level arrests went up 77%, while the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department was down 43%. Los Angeles County was in between, up 10%. Harder to figure out were the 260 arrests for methamphetamine by the L.A. County Sheriff’s office in the first half of 2015, compared to seven in the first half of 2014.   read more

The report shows a steady increase in “incidents/collisions” per million miles between September 2013 and July 2015. For each of the first four months, the number was below 3. Except for a few months, the rate has steadily climbed and was over 18 most recently. Juan Matute, associate director of UCLA’s Institute of Transportation Studies, told KQED, “That would be indicative of TNCs being less safe as they scale up.”   read more

This is the problem. Undertaking 21 (c) of the agreement with the state says: “For ten years following the close of this transaction, Blue Shield agrees to make annual contributions of not less than $14 million per year to the Blue Shield Foundation (or another charitable organization approved by the Department dedicated to charitable purposes.” Apparently that paragraph is more ambiguous than it seems.   read more

The controversial 18-month pilot Commuter Shuttle Program is officially permanent. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) board of directors unanimously voted Tuesday to adopt a plan that limits shuttle routes and discourages giant double-deck buses from driving on small streets, parking wherever they want and using all the MTA bus stops.   read more

It could take years for the state to find a replacement accreditor and would probably need approval from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). In the meantime, the private Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) is expected to move forward with its efforts to force changes at 80,000-student City College. Defenders of the school claim those changes are heavily influenced by politics.   read more

The district has no intention of pursuing the present owner’s goal of building reservoirs that could store 70 billion gallons of water during wet years. MWD General Manager Jeff Kightlinger said the islands could facilitate building the $15.3-billion twin tunnels under the Delta that Governor Brown wants by reducing eminent-domain needs and providing a storage place for construction dirt.   read more

Education Management Corporation (EDMC), the second-largest for-profit education company in the nation based on how many federal dollars they Hoover up, agreed to pay $95.5 million to settle allegations it violated several state and federal provisions of the False Claims Act by “operating essentially as a recruitment mill,” according to U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch. Federal aid accounts for around 90% of the company's revenue.   read more

Federal regulators ordered Plains All American Pipeline (PAAP) to purge Line 903 immediately because there is a “likelihood of serious harm to life, property, or the environment.” The unprocessed oil contains natural gas and a host of contaminants. “It does not appear that Plains has an effective corrosion control program,” the PHMSA wrote in its order.   read more

Governor Jerry Brown issued a new executive order Friday that extends to November 1, 2016, the drought restrictions he announced last April after declaring a state of emergency three months earlier. But the extension doesn’t kick in if the four-year drought is deemed over by January 31. The governor did not mention El Niño is his order, but many in the climate biz think it will drench the state beginning in January and ending in March.   read more

The leak is located in the Santa Susana Mountains, one mile from San Fernando Valley homes and 1,200 feet higher. Nearby residents have been complaining of the godawful smell and headaches for nearly three weeks while the company tries to plug a leaking 40-year-old gas pipe at the bottom of an 8,750-foot-deep well. On Friday, they were warned to stay in their homes for hours in the afternoon to avoid an oily mist generated by the latest repair effort.   read more

When Freedom Communications Inc., parent company of the Orange County Register, filed for bankruptcy last week it revealed that among the debtors queuing up in line for the assets are pensioners and future pensioners at the newspaper. Former owner Aaron Kushner apparently did not make mandatory payments of $15.5 million to the pension fund and it doesn’t look certain that the government is going to bail out retirees and current employees.   read more

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District unanimously overturned U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney’s 2014 ruling that California’s entire death penalty process was unconstitutional because of all the delays and arbitrariness. Judge Carney said it violated the Eighth Amendment ban on “cruel and unusual punishment.”   read more