Controversies
Air Force Considers Giving Oil Drillers Long-Sought Access to California Coast
California has successfully fought the issuance of new offshore drilling leases since the disastrous Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969, but the U.S. Air Force is processing a request by oil companies to use its Vandenberg base for slant drilling out into the ocean. read more
Privacy Advocates Skeptical of Pilot Program for Digital License Plates
The bill is being sold by its supporters as a money-saving way of streamlining vehicle registration by eliminating the need for new plates, stickers and cards. Privacy groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have been bird-dogging it. Their fear is that the presence of the plates might undo a Supreme Court decision requiring a search warrant before attachment of a tracking device to a vehicle, since the device would already legally be there. read more
Asiana Decides Not to Sue TV Station for Damage to its Reputation
To win a lawsuit it would probably have to show that its reputation, and business, was materially injured by the broadcast. It could be argued there are other factors contributing to Asiana’s diminished brand.
Three people were killed and more than 100 were injured when its Boeing 777 smashed into a sea wall while landing at the airport on July 6. read more
San Diego Mayor Refuses to Resign as Political Brawl Gets Personal
Filner, 70, has a reputation as a political brawler who does not back down, but he was issuing confessions (minus the specifics) and apologies hours after three former political allies called for his resignation amid accusations of sexual harassment. His tenure as mayor—the first elected as a Democrat in the historically Republican city since 1986—has been marked by sharp personal and political exchanges. read more
Popular Fire Pits Get Partial Reprieve on Some Beaches
The dispute pitted advocates of the ban, who argued the pits—often used for bonfires—were a pollution hazard, against those who claimed wealthy people living at the shore were trying to get rid of fire ring attendees, who tended to be of a lower socio-economic status.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) voted 7-6 to allow only those pits that are 700 feet from the nearest residence or are at least 100 feet apart. read more
One in Four California Prisoners Join Hunger Strike
Jules Lobel, the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, told the New York Times the inmates won’t settle for the promises of reform they received in 2011 when 6,000 prisoners participated in a hunger strike that stretched over several weeks. “This could become a very serious situation over time, because it seems we have a substantial group of people who are prepared to see it to the end if they don’t get real change,” he said. read more
Lawsuit Highlights “Political Death Spiral” between San Diego Mayor and City Attorney
The lawsuit opens with a statement that captures the state of San Diego politics. “San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith are locked in what appears to many onlookers like a no-holds-barred political death spiral, with each trying to undermine or humiliate the other on practically every aspect of the other's essential job functions.” read more
3 Ex-Target Workers Sue over Racist “Multi-Cultural Tips” in Training Document
The document allegedly brought the managers up to speed on other known facts about Hispanics: “Not everyone dances to salsa” and “not everyone wears a sombrero.” Cubans are more likely than Mexicans to be educated and political refugees with legal status, while some Mexicans may be undocumented. All of them “may say ‘OK, OK’' and pretend to understand, when they do not, just to save face.” read more
S.F. Sues Teen Startup that Rents out Airport Travelers’ Cars
Last month, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed a lawsuit (pdf) against FlightCar, Inc. in San Francisco County Superior Court for renting cars to airport travelers without paying fees usually associated with the business. The recent startup says it won’t pay because it’s a hybrid ride-sharing/off-site parking enterprise, not a car rental company. read more
L.A. Wants to Clean and Drink Groundwater at a Superfund Site
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) wants to test the water at 26 sites in the northern suburb and figure out a) what’s poisoned, b) what the poisons are, c) how it got there and d) where it might be going, before building the world’s largest water treatment center on top of a Superfund site. read more
State Regulator Backs Expansion of Controversial Hazardous Waste Dump
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
Judge Rules Yoga Is Not Religious and Can Be Taught in San Diego Schools
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
California Rolls out Major Reorganization of Government Agencies
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
S.F. Newspaper War: Examiner Sues Chronicle for Alleged Predatory Ad Rates
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
App-Driven Taxi Services Swarming L.A. Cite State Support in Defying the City
Alternatives to traditional taxicabs—Uber, Lyft and Sidecar—have arrived in Los Angeles with the temporary blessing of the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC), and been slapped with a cease and desist order by the city. They took less than a day to defy the order. read more
Federal Judge Orders Thousands of Prison Inmates Moved Because of Fungus
California blew off a federal court monitor after being told a few months ago that it had to move 3,300 inmates out of two prisons because of a “public health emergency” caused by Valley Fever. Now, the U.S. District Court judge who has been clashing with the state over reducing its grossly overcrowded prison population has given the state 90 days to find new homes for thousand of those at-risk inmates at Avenal and Pleasant Valley state prisons. read more