Controversies
ICE Locked up U.S. Citizen for Seven Months, then Challenged Her Citizenship
Her lawsuit provides a detailed, almost daily, account of Yost’s requests to speak with someone in ICE about her claims of citizenship, and the Orwellian responses she received denying her inquiries. She filled out numerous Detainee Request Forms and gave the authorities relevant documents supporting her claim. The law is clear that persons who are picked up by ICE and claim U.S. citizenship must have those claims immediately addressed. read more
More Offshore Fracking Discovered in Southern California Waters
While the state waits for recently-passed legislation that regulates fracking of oil and gas wells to take effect in 2015, a records search prompted by the Associated Press has found more than 200 previously unpublicized instances of its use at vulnerable offshore sites. One of the fracking sites was identified as Platform Gail, in federal waters of the Santa Barbara Channel. It is near Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and Anacapa Island and has a long history of spills. read more
Los Angeles, UC Researchers Squabble over Quake Info on More than 1,000 Vulnerable Buildings
University of California researchers have gathered a list of 1,500 such buildings but don’t want to turn it over to the city because its raw data, underlying a larger study, is derived from public records and hasn’t been verified on the ground.
Putting aside the question, “Why doesn’t the city already have the information UC gathered?” the question remains: Should this information be immediately made public? read more
Feds Get Mendocino County to Turn over Medical Marijuana Records
It’s not known how many people or what type of information is involved, but as many as 500 growers paid $830,000 to participate in the landmark program, which had, at the time, assurances from the county that their participation was lawful. But that was before the federal government began a crackdown on dispensaries and growers in California at the end of 2011. read more
Can $10 Million Buy Republicans a Do-Over with Latino Voters?
Last week, national GOP officials targeted a $10 million outreach campaign at California and 16 other states, with the hope of reconnecting with Latino voters they have long scorned. It could be argued that the GOP in California already started its outreach last week at its annual state convention, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. read more
Government Shutdown Takes Toll on California’s Largest Tribe
Susan Masten, vice chairwoman of the tribe, told Reuters’ Jonathan Kaminsky before the government shut down on October 1 that the cutoff of federal funds would force her to suspend childcare for 50 families, stop paying college scholarships to 100 students, suspend tutoring for 1,900 students and furlough 60 of the tribe’s 310 employees. read more
New California Law Gives Journalists 5-Day Warning of Records Seizure by State
The five-day notice is intended to give journalists and publishers time to challenge the subpoena or narrow the scope of information the third party would be required to disclose. The new law, which was drafted by Democratic state Senator Ted Lieu of Torrance, also requires the notice to include an explanation of why the government wants the records and why it can’t obtain the information through alternate sources. read more
Baseball Successfully Invokes Anti-Trust Exemption to Block Move by Oakland A’s
San Jose sued MLB after a four-year struggle to obtain the Oakland franchise. Baseball did not want the move and invoked a league rule that gave the San Francisco Giants territorial rights to the San Jose area in 1990. Each of the 30 league franchises has veto power over a club moving into its operating territory. read more
Brown OKs Two-Tier Plan for Community Colleges that Favors Wealthy Students
On Thursday, Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation that implements a two-tier pricing program at selected schools during summer and winter terms, allowing students who have the cash to pay extra for “high demand” classes. If you have the money, you can get through the school quicker and easier. And the schools make a few dollars, too. read more
State’s Toxic Substances Permit Process Is Terrible and the Department in Charge Knows It
The 115-page review by CPS HR Consulting essentially said the department takes twice as long to do its job as it should because the staff has been decimated and very few people really know how the permit process works. The primary reason given for delays was staffing. The second main reason for delays was crappy management. Third, the staff doesn’t know how the permitting process works. The people who knew how it worked are gone and it’s not written down anywhere. read more
California Expands Abortion Access, While Two Universities Curtail Insurance Coverage
Loyola Marymount University and Santa Clara University announced they wouldn't include coverage for elective abortions in policies made available to employees. Meanwhile, Governor Brown signed a bill allowing non-physician clinicians to perform abortions under certain conditions. He also signed a bill that orders the repeal of any section of the state building code that doesn’t treat clinics that perform abortions as any other primary-care clinic. read more
Is the Price of Exide's Vernon Battery Plant Pollution Just $7.7 Million?
Exide Technologies has been battling state regulators and residents living near its battery recycling plant in the densely populated Los Angeles County city of Vernon since at least 2007. The company has been accused of poisoning more than 100,000 people, been temporarily shut down, been forced to test the surrounding area for arsenic and lead contaminants and compelled to make repairs to its plant. read more
Coliseum Commission Secrecy Broke the Law, but Judge Won’t Overturn Secret Decision
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Luis A. Lavin indicated he was loath to tear up the contract, opting instead to badmouth the commissioners, order the release of documents they were sitting on, require them to record their closed-door sessions for three years and issue an injunction barring them from doing what they’d already done. read more
Kindergartners to Learn about Copyright Law from Hollywood Pros
The publication Wired says a nearly-completed draft of a curriculum being developed for California K-6 schools presents a one-sided view of intellectual property which, in the words of Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Mitch Stoltz, is “thinly disguised corporate propaganda” that is “inaccurate and inappropriate.” read more
L.A. Schools Buy iPads for Students while Ignoring a More Powerful Low-Tech Aid: Eyeglasses
While the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) grapples with the disastrous rollout of its $1 billion program to equip every student with an iPad, more than 250,000 kids statewide are lacking a much older, more basic technology essential to learning: eyeglasses. Austin Beutner, founder of Vision to Learn, wrote in a Los Angeles Times op-ed piece that 95% of students entering public schools who need glasses don’t have them. read more
South L.A. Residents Are Sick of Oil-Drilling, Acid-Job Neighbors
The Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend that residents of the low-income University Park had complained to state air quality officials 251 times over three years, prompting 15 citations for the operator over the smells, Allenco Energy Inc.
But the situation was deemed safe by the South Coast Air Management District.
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