Controversies
Anti-Gay Prop. 8 Backers Join Fight against New Transgender Law
NOM announced on Friday that it would join a campaign to repeal a law, passed by the Legislature in August and signed by Governor Jerry Brown, that guarantees transgender students equal access to school facilities and activities. The law is the first of its kind in the nation. read more
PUC Says UberX and Others Are Legal, but Don’t Call It “Ride-Sharing”
The state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) issued a framework for regulating the controversial “ride-sharing” alternatives (UberX, SideCar, Lyft, etc.) to traditional taxicabs with one major caveat—stop calling it ride-sharing. The agency created a new category, Transportation Network Company (TNC), and drafted a new set of rules to govern them. They are regarded as the nation’s first. read more
California Legislature Approves Driver’s Licenses for Illegal Immigrants
Supporters of the controversial plan said providing undocumented immigrants with driver’s licenses would make California roads safer, improve national security and allow immigrants to fully contribute to the state economy. The bill passed with overwhelming support, 28-8 in the state Senate and 55-19 in the Assembly. read more
SoCal School District Quietly Monitoring Student Social Media
The district signed up with Geo Listening—“Tuning you into the student conversation”—last year and pays it $40,500 a year to snoop on 14,000 middle- and high school kids and report any suspicious activity. The company makes daily reports to the district, including screen grabs of the offending exchanges, but does not participate in the aftermath. read more
Acting San Diego Mayor Reverses Filner, Orders Medical Marijuana Crackdown
One of Democrat Bob Filner’s first acts in January as the newly-elected mayor of San Diego was to end the city’s crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries.
One of the first acts of acting Mayor Todd Gloria, after Filner was driven from office three weeks ago by a barrage of criticism for alleged sexual harassment, was to reinstate the crackdown. read more
Fight over Ride-Share Companies, like Lyft and Uber, Shifts to Courts
A class-action lawsuit was filed in San Francisco last month against Uber by two drivers who claim that the company cheats them out of money by banning tips. Uber’s website says its fares already include a 20% gratuity. The drivers also claim that they are being unfairly categorized as independent contractors, depriving them of access to unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation.
Another lawsuit, filed last week against Lyft, makes many of the same arguments. read more
Los Robles Wineries Proliferate while Groundwater Sources Evaporate
Wells counted on by dozens of homeowners in the San Luis Obispo County wine country have run dry as the huge 790-square-mile aquifer that supplies them begins to feel the strain of agricultural expansion in the area. Acreage used to grow grapes for the burgeoning wine industry has tripled in the past 15 years, while aquifer levels have dropped 80-100 feet in some areas. read more
Driver’s License on Steroids Stalls in the Legislature
Enthusiasts envision its future use in grocery stores, banks, hospitals and just about anywhere that an enhanced ID with the capability to access stored information on an individual might come in handy. Civil libertarians envision RFIDs as tracking devices by the authorities to monitor the movements of law-abiding citizens. read more
Oakland’s New Surveillance Contractor Is Fresh from “Fraudsters’ Field Day”
Last June, SAIC paid $11.75 million to settle allegations filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico that it charged the federal government inflated prices to train anti-terrorism first responders between 2002 and 2012. As usual, the settlement did not involve an admission of guilt.
SAIC paid $500.4 million in May 2012 to settle claims that it defrauded New York City over a payroll project that ran amok. A $60 million project ballooned to $690 million. read more
Black Youths in Oakland Study Arrested More Often, but Often Not Charged
During a five-year period, 78% of the 13,684 arrested juveniles referred to the Alameda County Probation Department were black youths. Of the total number of youths arrested, 56.6% were not pursued. But 78% of all the non-sustained arrests were African-American.
The study’s conclusion was that police were arresting black juveniles for non-serious, non-criminal conduct, which should have been handled through professional intervention that didn’t involve the police. read more
Court Rebuffs State, Lets Battery Recycler Stay Open and Test for Neighborhood Pollutants
Exide appealed to the Los Angeles County Superior Court—arguing the arsenic stuff was already taken care of and other accusations were just political posturing—and was allowed to stay open pending a hearing on the claims. A state spokesman said, “We want to bring assurance to the community that if contaminants from the facility are in their yard, Exide will clean them up.” read more
State Will Poison a Creek to Save Endangered Fish
Biologists will dump poison in an 11-mile stretch of Silver King Creek south of Lake Tahoe in an effort to kill off invasive hybrid trout that helped land the Paiute cutthroat trout on the federal Endangered Species List in 1967. The plan has been hotly contested and was the subject of three lawsuits. Fishing enthusiasts support the plan and environmental groups have tended to oppose it. read more
Complaints and Use of Force Drop after Rialto Police Don Tiny Video Cameras
“[T]he results from the first 12 months [were] striking. Even with only half of the 54 uniformed police officers wearing cameras on any given day, the department overall had an 88 percent decline in the number of complaints filed against officers, compared with the 12 months before the study,” according to the New York Times.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the study found that officers with cameras used force 60% less often. read more
Mono Lake Accord May Mark End to 70 Years of Exploitation and Rancor
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a settlement of a dispute that has pitted thirsty urban inhabitants against conservationists since L.A. routed water to the aqueduct from tributaries feeding the lake in the early 1940s, according to the Los Angeles Times. read more
San Diego Mayor Set to Resign after 18 Women Allege Sexual Harassment
Exuberance among progressives in San Diego over the election of a Democratic mayor in the Republican stronghold last year was short-lived, as Bob Filner quickly came under fire for allegedly groping women before and during his tenure.
On Thursday, he reportedly cleaned out his office and sources close to him said he would resign. read more
Navy Blows off Coastal Commission Call Not to Use Sonar, Explosives near Whales
The Navy says its plan to detonate 50,000 explosions during more than 10,000 hours of high-intensity sonar testing off the Southern California coast will cause the deaths of only 130 marine animals and impair the hearing of perhaps another 1,600. The Navy characterized the impact as “negligible.” “We’re talking about a staggering and unprecedented amount of harm to more than 40 species of marine mammals,” said Zak Smith, an attorney with NRDC’s marine mammal project. read more