ICE agents have reportedly claimed to be police officers to gain consent to enter a person’s home – a tactic that is viewed as unethical, but within the powers granted to the officers. Civil rights groups supported Kalra’s bill, looking to stymie the Trump administration’s promise to use any and all available tools to deport undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. Many groups fear Trump will expand deportations to include all undocumented immigrants, their families and relatives.   read more

The bolts, which are actually special galvanized rods up to 24-feet long, were prohibited by Caltrans on bridges in 2000, according to the Chronicle, because of their vulnerability to hardening and cracking. The federal government has warned about using them for decades. But in 2002, Caltrans decided to use them anyway with “eyes wide open,” according to Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty.   read more

At the Contra Costa West County Detention Facility (WCDF) in Richmond, one of the differences is the cost of making a phone call. A couple of weeks ago, protesters gathered outside the facility that houses 1,100 prisoners to argue that what amounts to upwards of a $20 charge for a 15-minute phone call is cruel and inhumane treatment of inmates.   read more

Wells Fargo placed Delassus into default after the bank incorrectly charged him for back property taxes, which it turned out was really owed by his neighbor, not Delassus. Even after Delassus pointed out the mistake, which Wells Fargo acknowledged, the bank refused to correct the situation or help him bring his account current, resulting in the condo being seized and sold off.   read more

Tesoro, the second largest oil refiner in California, received permission to buy the state’s BP refinery and Arco assets, despite anti-trust concerns that further market consolidation will hurt consumers. Tesoro and Chevron will own nearly half of California’s oil refining capacity, including its three largest refineries. California consistently has the highest gasoline prices in the country, generally attributed to erratic refinery production and low supplies of gasoline.   read more

Supporters of the change argue that the “willful defiance” rule unfairly penalized minority students and facilitated a school-to-prison pipeline for them. While African-American students are 9% of the LAUSD student population, they receive 26% of the suspensions. Supporters of the status quo include the only African-American member of the board, Marguerite LaMotte, who characterized the change as fostering a soft bigotry of low expectations.   read more

Dr. Christine Daniel pitched her witch’s brew of suntan lotion and beef flavoring, which she promoted as the herbal product C-Extract, on Trinity Broadcast Network, online and at her Sonrise wellness center in Mission Hills. She charged dozens of terminally-ill patients up to $150,000 for treatments but cured no one.   read more

Extended benefits for more than 1 million recipients have run out, those still getting benefits are seeing their checks slashed and customer service hours are about to be whacked. The cuts are a combination of sequester slashing and already existing administrative underfunding by the federal government.   read more

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have detected swine flu in elephant seals off the Central California coast, the first time a human pandemic strain has been found in marine mammals. Their research indicates it is the same flu that swept through human populations, but they don’t know precisely how it was transmitted to elephant seals.   read more

The senator rejected an appeal from laboratory scientists and 26 members of the House of Representatives to help restore $110 million in budget cuts proposed by the Obama administration that might be critical in saving the $3.5 billion project from shutting down.   read more

The law that set up the cap-and-trade program, AB 32, did not earmark exactly how money in the GHGR Fund would be spent. But the legislation’s formal name, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, and an accompanying directive that its proceeds support its goals, seemed to indicate that the money wasn’t meant to be dumped in the General Fund.   read more

Other financial institutions offer better deals. Only 1,300 loans were issued in 2003, a miniscule 83 in 2012 and 59 so far this year. Altogether, around $1.1 billion in bonds sits untouched while veterans go begging for other assistance. Activists have long agitated for more job training, mental health counseling and other services.   read more

They established for the first time that the frogs are spreading Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, known as Bd or chytrid, which was first described by scientists in 1999. The disease causes cardiac arrest in amphibians by thickening and hardening the skin, which interferes with their electrolytes. Frogs are dying en masse in Australia, Europe, Latin America and western U.S. states. The Caribbean has been devastated.   read more

Commercial property owners have known about the loophole for years, but it didn’t get much publicity until the Los Angeles Times wrote about the sweet deal billionaire Michael Dell received in 2006 when he purchased the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica. By including his wife and two investment advisors as partners, the deal avoided having a majority owner, which would have triggered a reassessment under Prop. 13.   read more

Five of them continued to inform their co-workers, and complain, about what they considered to be a looming, unwarranted invasion of privacy. That drew disciplinary action. The five appealed the punishment and last week a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge ruled (pdf) that JPL had engaged in unfair labor practices and ordered it to remove letters of reprimand it had placed in their files.   read more

California led the way in formulating common-sense rules for keeping animal contaminants away from produce that inspired similar regulations across the country. It worked, sort of. At least, the wildlife disappeared. In the process, pollution increased as pesticides and fertilizers had a clearer path to water sources, soil erosion buffers disappeared, and the land became more vulnerable to flooding and the future ravages of global warming.   read more

Last week, the Obama administration unveiled a database that lets consumers see the vast cost disparities, locally and nationally, between hospitals for common inpatient procedures. The database covers 3,300 U.S. hospitals and the top 100 procedures and treatments in 2011, but does not factor in quality of care.   read more