Controversies
Out-of-State Prisoners Are Coming Home to Crowded Prisons
After embarking on a plan to meet court-ordered inmate reductions by shifting prisoners from state prisons to local jails, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has announced that it will bring home thousands of prisoners it outsourced to other states. read more
Five Years after State Recall, L.A. Sheriff Asks Politicians to Turn in Badges
It wasn’t the picture of a woman brandishing two guns and wearing Cudahy City Councilman Osvaldo Conde’s honorary badge that spurred Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to ask 200 politicians to please turn in their honorary badges, according to a department spokesman.
It was a five-year-old plea by then-Attorney General Jerry Brown that did the trick, although there was no explanation what caused the delay. read more
High-Tech Device Shortage Threatens Cargo Plane Wildfire System
When a U.S. military C-130 cargo plane crashed in South Dakota while fighting a wildfire on July 1, the crash destroyed one of only eight special devices—no longer being manufactured—that are used to spray retardant over vast areas. read more
Your Credit Is No Good at Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
California’s arguably largest cash crop, marijuana, is becoming a cash-only purchase at medical marijuana dispensaries, escalating a fight between the state, which regards them as legal, and the federal government which considers the product they sell illegal. read more
Prisoners Shifting to Local Jails with Incentives to Not Rehabilitate Them
California, compelled by the U.S. Supreme Court last year to reduce its prison population, is nine months into the shift of inmates from state facilities to local jails and just beginning to gauge the ramifications.
Research analyst Priscilla Hamilton at the Milken Institute says that, for now, don’t count on help from rehabilitation. read more
State’s Biggest Community College Calls Imminent Closure a “Teachable Moment”
City College of San Francisco, the largest community college in California, is fighting for its life after receiving official notice that its accreditation will be yanked in June 2013 if it doesn’t correct a number of long-standing problems. read more
Pasadena Turns off Red-Light Cameras that Didn’t Put the City in the Black
Pasadena has joined a growing list of cities which have turned off the red-light cameras that enraged drivers and raised revenues for cash-strapped state and local governments. read more
Water Bond off Crowded Ballot That Still May Tax Voters’ Patience
In August 2010, a deteriorating economy, bad poll numbers and a worried Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger compelled the Legislature to pull an $11.1 billion water bond measure from the ballot and delay it until November 2012.
Nothing has really changed since then—other than a new worried occupant in the governor’s office—and last week the Legislature voted again to pull the measure, delaying it until 2014. read more
California’s White Abalone About to Fulfill Prediction of Extinction
Scientists predicted 12 years ago that “without protection and intervention the white abalone is likely to go extinct in California within 10 years.”
They were wrong. It took about 12 years to reach the precipice. read more
Loophole Allows Spousal Rapists to Collect Alimony
The story of a woman who was told by a judge that she will have to pay alimony to the spouse who raped her—once he finishes serving time for his crime—has caught the attention of the California Legislature.
AB 1542, which would prevent victims from being forced to pay support to ex-spouses who have been convicted of a violent sexual crime against them, was unanimously approved by the Assembly and cleared its first Senate hurdle Tuesday in the Judiciary Committee. read more
Will Monsanto Win the Genetic Food Fight in California as It Did in Congress?
Although 93% of Americans favor labeling genetically modified food (GMO), Congress followed the lead of agriculture-biotech giant Monsanto last week in rejecting legislation similar to a bill proposed in California. read more
ALEC Places Local Call for Less Internet Phone Service Protection
California legislation to guarantee deregulation of low-cost internet phone service (VoIP) through 2020 has roots that can be traced to a model bill drawn up by ALEC, the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council whose nonprofit status has recently been challenged. read more
State Court Guts Local Ban on Marijuana Dispensaries Although Feds Have Closed 500 Pot Shops
It all may be moot if the federal government amps up its crackdown on California medical marijuana, but for now lower state courts are setting the stage for a Supreme Court showdown over city and county bans on dispensaries.
On Monday, California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal struck down Los Angeles County’s 2010 ban on medical marijuana dispensaries because state law allows collectives to grow and distribute pot. read more
PG&E Says Its Shoddy Gas Lines Are Dangerous, Wants Big Rate Increase
Pacific Gas & Electric, citing a new report that it has identified 239 shoddy natural gas lines that could explode like the San Bruno blast that killed eight people two years ago, has asked for a big rate increase to help pay for repairs.
The $12-a-month rate boost would generate $2 billion over three years. read more
Jerry Brown Blows up the Boxes Schwarzenegger Left Behind
In Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2004 State of the State address, he said: “Every governor proposes moving boxes around to reorganize government. I don’t want to move the boxes around; I want to blow them up.”
He didn’t blow them up, but Jerry Brown did. read more
UC Berkeley Police Harassment of Journalists Costs School Thousands
The University of California agreed to pay $162,500 to photographer David Morse, who was arrested by UC Berkeley police and had his photographs seized during a 2009 campus protest. Morse works for Indybay, an online publication from the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. read more