Controversies
Public Records Bill Buried by the Legislature
The San Francisco Chronicle hit a wall last year when it went hunting for documents at the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) as part of an investigation of dangerous pipelines owned by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) that were running beneath Bay Area neighborhoods.
A 60-year-old state law made the documents, which are routinely available in other states, off-limits in California unless the PUC votes to release them. read more
Moody’s Joins the War of Words Aimed at Struggling California Cities
As beleaguered cities wrestle with the dilemma of choosing between legitimate obligations to both workers and bondholders, Moody’s Investors Service has weighed in with a threat to municipalities that making the wrong choice could hobble them forever.
“We are considering . . . potential across-the-board adjustments of debt ratings for California cities to reflect the new fiscal realities and the governmental practices in addressing them,” Moody's said in a report released last week. read more
Treasure Island’s Secret Booty: Radioactivity
Toxic contamination was not an unknown factor when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 11-0 in June 2011 to approve a $1.5 billion commercial/residential development on the former Treasure Island Naval Station site that would be home to 19,000 people. read more
Night Aerial Firefighting: 3 Years Late and Still Counting
Three years after the devastating Station Fire in Southern California raised questions about the state’s policy of not fighting fires from the air at night, the U.S. Forest Service has reversed a 30-year policy and will allow helicopters to fly missions over federal land. read more
Court Rules L.A. Schools Can’t Ignore Union Seniority When Laying off Teachers
In a case that pitted liberal constituencies against each other, a state appellate court ruled that union seniority trumped the needs of poor schools to hang on to trusted teachers.
California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal reversed an earlier trial court compromise in Reed v. L.A. Unified that let the Los Angeles Unified School District, wrestling with difficult budget cuts, keep teachers at struggling schools while releasing others with more seniority elsewhere. read more
State Sued after Dithering for 8 Years over Standard for Toxic “Brockovich” Chemical
The movie “Erin Brockovich” made the chemical carcinogen chromium-6 infamous in 2000. A state law was passed the next year requiring formulation of a standard limiting its presence in drinking water by 2004.
Eight years later, two environmental groups sued the state not only for its failure to put a standard in place; it hasn’t even agreed on one. read more
Upon Review, Maybe Canceling TV Coverage of Important Assembly Hearings Isn’t a Great Idea
High-profile hearings in the state Senate routinely receive television coverage, and the one scheduled for last week on controversial tax-related initiatives appearing on November’s ballot was to be no exception.
And then Senate President Pro Tem Darryl Steinberg pulled the plug. read more
Hospitals Vastly Underreport Infections Contracted In-House
A recent finding by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that hospital-acquired infections had declined nationally in 2010 has been undercut by a California review of 100 hospitals that found up to one-third of cases were not reported. read more
California Unemployment Rate Steady but Payouts Cut in Half
Although California has the third-highest unemployment rate in the country, 93,000 long-term jobless residents had their benefits cut off prematurely in May when the state fell short of eligibility requirements for federal extensions.
That contributed mightily to a 50% drop in unemployment payments from two years ago, bringing those expenditures down from $2 billion in June 2010 to $1 billion in June 2012. read more
City Council in Race-Torn Anaheim Rejects Switch to Voting Districts
The city of Anaheim, staggering through intense racial animosity after two recent fatal police shootings, resisted calls to create a district voting system that would almost certainly result in more diversity on its 5-member council.
On a 3-2 vote, council members rejected the proposal and elected, instead, to create a citizens advisory panel on elections. read more
Caltrans Finds Problems with Tests on New Bay Bridge and Others
A special team of investigators within the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has identified 1,000 files containing suspect testing data on roads and bridges, including critical work on the new $6.4 billion San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
At least 23 cases involve suspect radiation testing of reinforced concrete foundations in the Bay Bridge, Benicia-Martinez Bridge, Dumbarton Bridge and Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. read more
Refinery Fire Means Gas Prices “Could Get Very Ugly, Very Fast”
There has barely been time to assess the health ramifications for Richmond residents subjected to dense black smoke from the Chevron refinery fire Monday night that sent hundreds of people to the hospital.
But it is a foregone conclusion that California’s gasoline prices, already highest in the nation, are headed higher quickly. GasBuddy.com petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan predicted, “It could get very ugly, very fast.” read more
Record Number of Real Estate Bad Actors
After years of complaints that it was too soft on the industry it was supposed to be policing, the California Department of Real Estate announced it revoked a record number of licenses during the last fiscal year.
A total of 781 real estate licenses were revoked, compared to 686 the year before. Another 190 were suspended for cause—an increase of 80% from a year ago—and 138 people surrendered their licenses while disciplinary action against them was pending. read more
Felons Cooperate With New Realignment, Skip Out on Parole Less
Heeding a directive from the U.S. Supreme Court to reduce its overcrowded prison population quickly, California has shifted 38,000 felons from state to local control and one result has been fewer felons skipping out on parole.
A report by the Chief Probation Officers of California found that the 58 counties are reporting just a 4% rate of failure-to-report by parolees compared to 14% under the previous system. read more
Ruling Reverses Decision that Let California Debt Collector Write to Employers
A U.S. District Court judge in California was reversed and chastized by an appeals court for his finding that a debt collector could send a debt notice to a woman’s employer in apparent violation of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. read more
Feds Tell State Supreme Court Not to Let Illegal Immigrant Practice Law
The U.S. Department of Justice, at the request of the California Supreme Court, has weighed in on the application for admittance to the State Bar by an illegal immigrant.
The feds’ 17-page amicus brief is unequivocal in its opposition to the request by 35-year-old Sergio C. Garcia that he be given a license to practice law. read more