Controversies
State Lawmakers Take Another Shot at Protecting Digital Privacy from Cops
California lawmakers have passed legislation three times in the past four years to protect personal data by requiring law enforcement to get warrants for digital access to smartphones, laptops and other devices. Each time, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the bills. The bill “protects all electronic communications." No warrant, no data unless there is an emergency condition or extenuating circumstances already addressed in existing law. read more
Richmond Finally Rehabbing “Uninhabitable” Public Housing Complex
The housing complex has been notoriously dilapidated for years. The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) called the Richmond Housing Authority “one of the worst public housing agencies in the country” and Hacienda its worst complex. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has had the Richmond agency on a “troubled” list since 2009. read more
State Toxic Releases Climbed 50%, Mostly Because of One Waste Disposal Facility
Around 82% of California’s releases of toxic materials into the environment in 2013 occurred at a single hazardous waste facility. Clean Harbors Buttonwillow LLC in Kern County, as usual, was the clear California leader thanks to an abundance of copper waste. The commercial hazardous waste storage, treatment and disposal facility near Bakersfield released about 10 times more toxic materials than the runner-up, Mesquite Mine. read more
DNA Privacy Bill Targets Massive State Biobank Holding 16 Million Samples
Last month, Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale) introduced Assembly Bill 170, which would allow a parent or guardian to have a baby’s blood sample destroyed or not used for research. Anyone at least 18 years old could ask the same of their sample. People could also find out who had accessed their sample data. read more
Third Parties Lose Court Appeal of “Top-Two” and Their Place on California Ballots
The top-two system, despite what other virtues it may have, effectively keeps third parties off the final ballot. Third parties suspect that it is not an unintended consequence of a law ostensibly aimed at increasing voter turnout, reducing ideological zealotry and avoiding legislative gridlock. They also think it violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws. read more
Tiny, Cash-Strapped Adelanto Won’t Get Its Fifth Prison—for Now
Adelanto (pop.31,304), in the high desert of San Bernardino County, has three prisons, just OK’d a fourth and was giving serious consideration to a fifth. But on Wednesday, Geo Group Inc. dropped its plans for a 1,051-bed facility in the face of community opposition on the eve of a City Council vote that was not expected to go their way. read more
Feds Settle Lawsuit over Misuse of Veterans Campus in Los Angeles
It remains to be seen if the settlement will get the estimated 4,200 homeless veterans off the city’s streets by the end of the year—a promise made by L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti. But it may do something about the spectacle of officials using the 387-acre site for a wide range of activities that don’t benefit veterans while a new long-term care facility languishes half-occupied. read more
Falling Oil Prices Stop Giant Carson Drilling Project that Residents Could Not
California Resources Corporation (CRC) announced this week that it was abandoning a plan to drill some 200 oil wells in the Dominguez Oil Field, despite having the personal support of Governor Jerry Brown. The company, a spin-off of Occidental Petroleum Corporation’s California assets last year, still holds the lease to the property and could change its mind anytime. read more
DMV Folds Fast: Uber and Others Don’t Need Commercial Plates
“We jumped the gun, and we shouldn’t have,” DMV Director Jean Shiomoto said in a statement. “There remains uncertainty about the interaction and effect of this law governing vehicle registration requirements with the more recent regulatory and statutory changes affecting ride-share operators.” read more
Harvard Buys Heavily Into Drought-Stricken Paso Robles Wine Country
Some observers wonder whether Harvard is making a play in California’s impressive wine market or its stressed water market. The purchases began close to when the three-year drought began. Harvard quickly bought the rights to drill 16 new water wells, twice the depth of normal residential wells, just before restrictions on new pumping took effect in August 2013. read more
Uber and Others Buck DMV on Registering Vehicles as Commercial
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said this past week that his ride-sharing company’s annual $500 million in gross revenue from operations in San Francisco is three times bigger than the city’s entire taxi industry. But if he is going to continue the meteoric rise of his 4-year-old startup in California, he is going to have to get past one small stumbling block. read more
Protesters Rake Santa Barbara Newspaper for Calling Immigrants “Illegals”
News-Press co-publisher Arthur von Wiesenberger defended the use of “illegals” at the rabid anti-immigrant website run by the Minuteman Project, where “illegal aliens” is still the go-to description. He invoked the name of revolutionary Che Guevara, who's been dead for 48 years, to highlight the threat to free speech posed by the protesters. read more
State Fine-Tunes Regulation of Noxious Strawberry Pesticide
The regulations are the strongest in the nation, but scientists, farmworker advocates and environmentalists say they still fall short of protecting people—especially children. Chloropicrin was the Number 1 pesticide, measured by pounds applied within one-quarter mile of a school, in 15 key counties surveyed by a state and federal program in 2010. read more
S.F. City College Wins a Begrudged 2-Year Reprieve from Death Sentence
The commission started the clock ticking as the college fixes up 32 areas of deficiency. The school needs to add more classified staff and administrators, more efficiently operate and maintain existing facilities, secure its technology infrastructure, manage its finances better to avoid “excessive” short-term borrowing, improve assessments of student learning and achievement, and do a better job of reporting its financial information. read more
Orange County Register Countersues Los Angeles Times “Bully”
The Orange County Register countersued the Times for $8.5 million over claims that someone screwed someone over distribution of the OC paper. The Register’s counterclaim accuses the Times of “strong-arming distributors, bribing distributors, having its agents intimidate drivers and other improper actions to make sure that OC Register would not be able to have a full and complete delivery service,” according to Courthouse News Service. read more
California Judge Will Allow Jury to Peek at More Boy Scouts “Perversion Files”
The Boy Scouts kept so-called “perversion files” between 1960 and 2007. Hundreds were released in previous legal cases. Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Donna Geck ruled that the files from 1971 to 2007, including previously unreleased documents since 1991, were relevant in the upcoming civil trial of Al Stein, a former Scout leader. read more