Controversies
Parents Sue after Losing Kids for a Year over Medical Marijuana
Coronado police came to the Lewis-Taylor home in August 2011 after an anonymous tip that the couple was operating an unlicensed day care center. They were not. Officers found marijuana while there, but made no arrests after seeing Lewis’s medical pot papers. Three days later, agents from the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency came and took the couple’s children, 4 and 2 years old. read more
L.A. Building Another Rail Line that Just Misses the Airport
It will miss by about a mile and a half and there are no plans to really connect it to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), unless one considers musings about shuttles and people movers as a plan. It’s the second time mass-transit planners have aimed in the direction of the airport and just missed. read more
Quake Threat Puts Hollywood Skyscraper Project on Hold, Raises Questions about Others
Nearly 40 years after an earthquake destroyed most of Los Angeles—in a movie—the city continues to consider large building projects in poorly mapped areas thought by many to be at risk.
One twin-tower project, Millennium Hollywood, was abruptly put on hold two weeks ago when California’s state geologist said that a nearby earthquake fault is active and might be running under the site. read more
Appeals Court Shakes off High Court and Tells L.A. County to Clean up Storm Water
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the county is, indeed, responsible for the crap that runs through the Los Angeles River on its way to the Santa Monica Bay. The flood control district maintains it is not the responsible party because it doesn’t generate the pollution. Local governments essentially argued that so many communities along the rivers were dumping so much stuff in them that it was virtually impossible to assign blame to anyone for the pollution. read more
Transparent Costa Mesa Labor Negotiations Are Not a Pretty Sight
The city’s 200 employees, who have been without a contract since March, were offered across-the-board 5% pay cuts. Top-step employees would get an additional 5% cut if they weren’t ranked “outstanding” in their next performance evaluation. New hires would start at 10% less. Employees would pick up all future health care cost increases and give up the right to be warned they are getting laid off. read more
State Audits Give Defiant, Bankrupt Stockton a Hard Time
A three-audit report on bankrupt Stockton by State Controller John Chiang identifies chaotic mismanagement in the swirl of economic upheaval, but fails to find corruption ala the city of Bell. Stockton City Manager Bob Deis thought the audits were nitpicking, unnecessary and conducted in an unprofessional manner. read more
NRA’s “Hunt for Truth” about Lead Ammunition Leads to California Zoos
The National Rifle Association (NRA) has spiffed up its website devoted to the Hunt for Truth “behind the assault on traditional lead ammunition,” where it has compiled lists of “propagandists” and purveyors of “faulty science” it must overcome to defeat proposed California legislation. The San Diego Zoo is apparently a “primary” environmental activist in an “influential and well-funded network” intent on misleading people about lead ammunition. read more
Catholic High School Fires Gay Department Head after He Marries His Partner
The firing came days after a photo of the wedding appeared on the front page of the local Daily Bulletin newspaper, but years after students and staff at the all-girl school knew of Bencomo’s sexual orientation. Bencomo and Christopher Persky were among the first gay couples to line up July 1 at the San Bernardino County Assessor-Recorder's Office to get married after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriages to resume in California. read more
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects State Plea to Delay Inmate Release
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the state’s appeal for a stay while it appeals a lower-court edict—to the justices—that it shed another 9,600 inmates from its dangerously overcrowded prison system by the end of the year. The 6-3 vote was the second time the high court has ruled against the state and, although the ruling was more emphatic than the first, the Brown administration is not done. read more
Richmond Protests and Sues Chevron on Anniversary of Devastating Refinery Fire
In what amounts to as much a political statement as a quest for reparations, the city of Richmond sued Chevron Corporation over the Bay Area oil refinery fire a year ago that darkened the skies with toxic smoke and sent residents scrambling for medical assistance.
The introduction to the 39-page lawsuit leads with a condemnation of corporate practices that pose an immediate threat to the community and long-range threats to the planet. read more
State Warns Women and Kids to Skip Mercury-Tainted Fish in California Lakes
The state has posted a statewide advisory that women of child-bearing age and children should stop eating bass, carp and large brown trout caught in state lakes and reservoirs because of excessive methylmercury. Women over 45 and men can eat those fish once a week. Women 18–45 and kids can eat rainbow trout twice a week, while women over 45 and men can chow down on it six out of seven days. read more
City of Carson Declares Emergency over Toxic Material Left Behind by Shell
The 4-0 vote by the city council asks Governor Jerry Brown, Attorney General Kamala Harris and state environmental agencies to demand an immediate cleanup.
The underground toxic stew wasn’t discovered until 2008 when testing of a nearby manufacturing plant led back to the Carousel neighborhood. Testing immediately turned up high concentrations of benzene (a recognized carcinogen) and methane (a gas that poses a fire and explosion hazard). read more
Are “Acid Jobs” a Bigger Environmental Threat than Fracking for Oil and Gas?
Acidization injects large amounts of hydrochloric or hydrofluoric acid into wells to dissolve rock formations and allow easier access to gas and oil. It would be especially effective if California moves forward on tapping the Monterey Shale in Central California, where an estimated 15.3 billion barrels of oil trapped in porous rock has energy industry officials and politicians salivating. read more
Embattled L.A. Museum of Contemporary Art Director Announces Resignation
Deitch had been under the gun almost from the moment the board, led by billionaire and founding Chairman Eli Broad, picked him to head the museum in 2010. Deitch had carved out a reputation in New York for promoting art that relied on more popular forms of expression like graffiti art, fashion and commercialism. He replaced an artist favorite, Jeremy Strick, and immediately clashed with longtime chief museum curator Paul Schimmel. read more
Poll: Obama’s Biggest California Supporters Sour on His Performance
The president’s popularity held steady at 57% since the last time the question was asked in February, with 35% expressing a negative impression. But approval by California registered voters of his performance dropped 10 percentage points, from 62% to 52%. The overwhelming source of that drop was disenchantment by his own supporters. read more
California Prisons on Media Lockdown as Hunger Strike Enters Third Week
“They just seem so paranoid to let any information out about what’s going on,” Jim Ewert of the California Newspaper Publishers Association told KPCC, a public radio station. KPCC was denied permission by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to tour any of the four state security housing units where prisoners are held in solitary. Last week, prison officials banned prominent inmate attorney Marilyn McMahon from talking to prisoners. read more