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

LAPD had destroyed the case files, which are the basis for electronic databases used to track employment litigation, once they were closed. Without the case files, “the Audit was unable to determine the Department’s compliance” with a 2007 mayoral directive on how to reduce the city’s exposure to such lawsuits.   read more

California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) issued a draft expansion permit to Chemical Waste Management, a subsidiary of Waste Management Incorporated, despite community and environmental opposition that dates back years.   read more

Kelly made Capitol Weekly’s 2010 Top 100 List of major players in California politics, checking in at No. 62. The mini-profile that year said, “Brian Kelly is at or near the top of everybody’s list. The detail-driven Kelly used to handle transportation issues specifically, but he has since branched out to become the Senate leader’s top policy person.” The “super staffer” moved up to No. 44 the next year.   read more

Although warning letters were routinely sent out to individuals whose personal data was compromised, many of them may have been unaware of what had happened because the average reading level of the notices was “14th grade.” In other words, those without a college education probably couldn’t understand what they were reading.   read more

The judge likened it to dodgeball and wondered where the plaintiffs came by their obviously incorrect information about what yoga was and how it was being taught in the schools. The Los Angeles Times quotes Judge Meyer as saying, “It's almost like a trial by Wikipedia, which isn't what this court does.”   read more

Marybel Batjer will be the first secretary of the new Government Operations Agency (CalGovOps). She has a long history of government service, but her most recent job was vice president of public policy and corporate social responsibility at Caesars Entertainment Corporation.   read more

A two-year federal investigation of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department found deputies harassed minority groups in the Antelope Valley, northeast of L.A., on a regular basis, unlawfully detaining them, using excessive force and conducting illegal searches. A spokesman for the sheriff denied that the department discriminated but the Justice Department noted that it has already begun to implement federal recommendations to halt the practices.   read more

The court rejected the “novel legal theory” that police could search a closed container without a warrant solely because they think they smell contraband. The written ruling by Justice Goodwin Liu said that the accepted legal principle about seizing illegal material that is “in plain sight” is far different than ripping into packages because something is “in plain smell.”   read more

The governor announced last week that Ana Matosantos is leaving the administration in September and is being replaced by her deputy, Michael Cohen. She was the youngest, the first Latina and the first openly gay person to hold the position. She was also the first finance director to serve two governors of different parties.   read more

Only 17% of workers who complained to the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) about being rooked by their employer and won actually collected any money between 2008-2011. Workers were able to collect just $42 million of the $282 million DLSE said they were owed.   read more

The total number of giant agencies has been reduced from 12 to 10 and dozens of departments, boards and commissions have been eliminated and reconfigured. Carole D'Elia, executive director of the Little Hoover Commission, said it was the most ambitious of the 36 reorganizations her agency has vetted since 1968.   read more

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner defended Olson: “This young man is being persecuted for thirteen counts of vandalism stemming from an expression of political protest that involved washable children's chalk on a City sidewalk. . . . I believe this is a misuse and waste of taxpayer money. It could also be characterized as an abuse of power that infringes on First Amendment particularly when it is arbitrarily applied to some, but not all, similar speech.”   read more

California lawmakers left intact on Thursday a Medi-Cal program cost loophole for major employers large enough for Walmart to ooze through. Companies with more than 500 employees can avoid providing health insurance for part-time workers without paying a penalty under the Affordable Care Act by paying them so little they qualify for Med-Cal totally at the state’s expense.   read more

Bitcoins are called “the currency of the future” by virtual money enthusiasts who have embraced the online substitute for credit cards that is popping up at small retailers around the country. The California Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) calls use of them an illegal money transaction and issued a cease and desist order to the Bitcoin Foundation.   read more

The San Francisco Examiner alleged in court papers that the San Francisco Chronicle violated the California Unfair Practices Act by selling ads to customers at ridiculously low loss-leader rates, often in exchange for promises that they not do business with their cross-town rival. One Examiner lawyer told the Bay Guardian that the Chronicle offered deals to sell advertising for $1,000 that it normally prices at between $59,000 and $92,000.   read more

Despite two U.S. Supreme Court decisions Wednesday affirming that same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits and can marry in California, supporters of Proposition 8 have not given up the fight. “We shall fight in the Legislature, fight in the courts and we will not surrender,” Jennifer Roback Morse, founder of the Ruth Institute and anti-gay marriage activist, told Fox 5 San Diego.   read more