Top Stories
Waste Company Fined $311,000 for 72 Landfill Spills It Didn’t Report
Although Chemical Waste Management (CWM) didn’t think enough of the 72 hazardous waste spills at its Kettleman City landfill to report them, the state was more impressed.
The dump has been the subject of intense criticism by residents and environmental groups who are trying to block the oft-fined company from obtaining expansion permits, and pressuring the company to drop the expansion plans. read more
Farmers’ Embrace of Sugar Beets for Ethanol Includes a Big Smooch for Monsanto
Driven by the nation’s hunt for alternative fuels, California farmers are about to reintroduce a once-abandoned crop, sugar beets, as part of a pilot program for producing ethanol in a biofuel refinery by 2016.
Nowadays, when you grow sugar beets, you get a bonus: genetically-modified (GMO) crops from seeds made by biofuel giant Monsanto. read more
Bell Corruption Trial Ends after Judge Proclaims: “All Hell Has Broken Loose”
The city of Bell corruption trial staggered to a close Thursday after the judge exclaimed that “all hell has broken loose” and declared a mistrial on the remaining 42 counts.
The bizarre end to the case was marked by a flurry of last-minute notes between jurors and Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy. read more
Tons of DDT “Disappear” from Offshore Palos Verdes Superfund Site
Is one of our toxic Superfund sites missing?
An estimated 110 tons of deadly DDT, lying for years on the ocean floor off the Palos Verdes coast, has been recalculated to be around 14 tons, according to a report in Environmental Health News. And no one is quite sure what happened. read more
Lawsuit Filed to Stop Closures of L.A. Courts Critical to the Poor and Disabled
L.A. County Superior Court is closing 21 of 26 courts that handle “unlawful detainers,” actions that require a landlord to follow a strict eviction procedure for protecting the Fifth Amendment rights of a tenant. By restricting unlawful detainer access to just five courthouses, some tenants could have to travel as far as 32 miles for a court appearance. read more
State Running out of Workers Willing to Toil at Miserable Farm Jobs for Lousy Pay
The solutions proffered include: more mechanization and switching to crops that can make use of it; new laws to encourage seasonal guest-workers; and offering a path to citizenship based on workers signing a multi-year employment contract.
John Carney at CNBC calls it the “campaign to avoid paying farm laborers market wages.”
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Expert Consultant on California Prison Suicides Gives up “Futile” Effort
Dr. Raymond Patterson said it before—over and over again for years—but he probably won’t be saying it again: California prison conditions are so bad, they lead to an intolerably high inmate suicide rate.
On Wednesday, the court-appoint mental health expert filed yet another scathing report , with five other experts, on the state’s miserably overcrowded prisons and said it would be his last because “further recommendations are futile.” read more
Despite Law, State Medical Board’s Info on Outpatient Centers Is Woefully Lacking
Although it’s been more than a year since the Legislature passed a law requiring the state Medical Board to post a list of all the outpatient centers, their doctor-owners and other pertinent accreditation information, the board’s effort is a dismal failure, according to separate studies by Consumers Union and KPCC public radio. read more
Top Officials at State Toxic Control Agency Accused of Owning Stock in Companies They Regulate
Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit organization that advocates on a range of issues— including political reform, insurance, health care, and energy—alleged conflicts of interest among senior officials at the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) last week and said they should be fired. read more
Coastal Commission Rejects Navy Blasting near Whales, but May Not be Able to Stop It
The California Coastal Commission unanimously rejected a plan by the U.S. Navy for explosives and sonar training last week, saying damage to whales and other sea life was badly underestimated.
But the Navy ignored similar opposition in 2007 and 2009, according to the Associated Press, and if they decide to go ahead with the plan the commission may have no recourse but to sue. read more
California Communities Dominate List of Mega-Commuters
The three most onerous work commutes in the country, depending on how you measure them, are in California, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
If you measure the trek by the highest mean distance traveled, the Top Three in the country are San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara and Salinas. read more
County Jails Clogged with Long-Term Inmates Who Shouldn’t be There
The 2011 state realignment plan to reduce the state prison inmate population and comply with federal court edicts over overcrowding has had the not-unexpected result of adding more prisoners to the already over-crowded county jails.
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Miscounted and Over-Hyped: Thousands of Teachers Are Known to Lack Proper Credentials
Thousands of California public school instructors, do not have proper qualifications to teach the classes assigned to them. That number has declined over the past five years, but as a California Watch investigation showed last year, not nearly as much as bogus early state data indicated.
Now, an analysis indicates that the Commission on Teacher Credentialing is misreporting the problem by using a questionable method of calculating so-called “misassignments.” read more
Toxic Water Plume at Superfund Site in Silicon Valley Is Much Larger than EPA Tracked
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) got rid of the contaminated soil in Mountain View and extracted the poisonous vapors, but the toxic groundwater was going to take “many decades” to clean up while they constructed slurry walls and water treatment systems.
Time isn’t always kind. read more
Parolees, Taking Advantage of Overcrowded Jails, Are Ditching GPS Tracking
A lot of parolees, most of them sex offenders, are disabling the GPS tracking bracelets they are forced to wear by the courts with little fear of retribution. They know that a state realignment program, initiated by Governor Jerry Brown in late 2011 to shift responsibility for certain inmates from overcrowded prisons to county jails, is making it difficult for local authorities to control parolees with GPS. read more
California Proves You Don’t Need a Crisis to Fuel Record Gasoline Prices
Four months after record-high gasoline prices—widely blamed on a perfect storm of events—elicited a call by California Senator Dianne Feinstein for an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), prices in Southern California are setting new speed records.
Prices haven’t reached that October level yet, but they are headed there fast. read more