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

One of the counties hardest hit by the housing debacle that helped crash the U.S. economy has been quietly considering a plan to use its eminent domain powers to seize underwater mortgages to fight foreclosures. Banks are not happy with the aggressive plan—first discussed by San Bernardino County in January talks with a private investor group but not publicized until recently—that might help 20,000 to 30,000 families remain in their homes.   read more

While budget shortfalls threaten dozens of state parks with closure, 56 officials in the Department of Parks and Recreation have claimed unauthorized vacation buyouts worth at least $271,264, according to the Sacramento Bee.   read more

As California’s income inequality becomes more pronounced, stories proliferate about giant paydays for top corporate executives pressured to leave their posts. A study by the California Budget Project shows that between 1987 and 2009, the income pie in the state expanded, but the wealthy received, by far, the biggest slices.   read more

When Apple announced last month that it was withdrawing 39 of its products from a U.S. government-backed registry of environmentally friendly products, Steren Agee analyst Shaw Wu said, “At the end of the day in a business it’s really about what works.” By the end of last week, what worked for Apple was to reverse its decision and rejoin EPEAT, the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool.   read more

Even if you listened closely you wouldn’t have heard the sound of decaying tubes carrying radioactive steam through the now-shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station between San Diego and Los Angeles. And you would have to look very closely now to see data—buried on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) website—detailing just how bad that decay is.   read more

Less than one month after being arrested by the FBI, former Cudahy Mayor David Silva and one-time City Manager Angel Perales agreed to plead guilty to bribery and extortion for their roles in the opening of a medical marijuana dispensary, but won’t face additional charges about election fraud and other corrupt practices they have admitted.   read more

After embarking on a plan to meet court-ordered inmate reductions by shifting prisoners from state prisons to local jails, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has announced that it will bring home thousands of prisoners it outsourced to other states.   read more

Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez called it “a simple story” of discrimination. And now that it has been told, Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $175 million to settle a complaint by the U.S. Department of Justice that the bank ripped off African Americans and Latinos by steering them into more expensive subprime mortgages at the height of the housing boom. The settlement awaits final approval by a federal judge.   read more

The state Legislature is considering a name change for the Department of Fish and Game that has some hunters up in arms. Assembly Bill 2283 would change the agency’s name to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, enhancing its recreational and conservation image while de-emphasizing its historical hunting mission.   read more

It wasn’t the picture of a woman brandishing two guns and wearing Cudahy City Councilman Osvaldo Conde’s honorary badge that spurred Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to ask 200 politicians to please turn in their honorary badges, according to a department spokesman. It was a five-year-old plea by then-Attorney General Jerry Brown that did the trick, although there was no explanation what caused the delay.   read more

When a U.S. military C-130 cargo plane crashed in South Dakota while fighting a wildfire on July 1, the crash destroyed one of only eight special devices—no longer being manufactured—that are used to spray retardant over vast areas.   read more

The state Commission on Judicial Performance rarely publicly admonishes judges for their behavior, but it made an exception for Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson. Jacobson was disciplined for “abuse of the contempt power and abuse of authority" after a 2010 courtroom exchange with attorney Anne Beles, who he told to “work all today, work all night, get up early tomorrow morning” after she requested a routine delay of a preliminary hearing in an attempted murder case.   read more

A longtime government haven for ex-lawmakers between legislative gigs will have fewer slots for those seeking a soft landing. Governor Jerry Brown wanted to eliminated the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and wrap its functions into a bureau under the Employment Development Department (EDD). He’ll settle for reducing its governing board from seven members to five, thus eliminating two positions he’s avoided filling since he took office.   read more

A week ago, critics of the embattled San Onofre nuclear power plant were exasperated to find that it received special protection from whistle-blowers because it sat on federal property and was not subject to certain state laws. Now a restaurant is trying to dodge a new, week-old state law banning foie gras by claiming that its location on federally-owned land in the Presidio National Park gives it a special exemption.   read more

San Bernardino became the third California city in recent weeks to seek bankruptcy protection from its creditors and, like Stockton before it, was immediately threatened with retaliation from the bond markets.   read more

After suing a timber company for $700 million, seven times the previous largest settlement for a California wildfire, the U.S. government reached agreement last week on ending a raucous four-year legal battle over who caused the Moonlight Fire that ravaged 46,000 acres of national forest in Northern California.   read more