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

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

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

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

The Oakland Police Department doesn’t need any more bad news. The federal government says it may have to take over the department after a decade of failed reform attempts. Now a new report by City Auditor Courtney Ruby documents that the budget crunch could have been less painful if the police department hadn’t wasted $1.8 million on equipment it used rarely or not at all. Police Chief Howard Jordan did not dispute the findings.   read more

One of the great secrets about arts-rich San Francisco is that in addition to its fine museums and programs for the arts it has one of the finest city-owned art collections in the country, worth an estimated $90 million. According to a recently-released San Francisco Civil Grand Jury report called “Where There’s Smoke . . .”, the reason many people aren’t aware of this art cache is because the city’s Arts Commission that manages it is a mess.   read more

A week after finding $54 million stashed in two Department of Parks and Recreation accounts, the discovery of a suspect accounting “honor system” in the rest of the government’s 500+ special funds held out the possibility that billions more might be just a keystroke away. On Friday, the administration announced its findings and initial news reports were confusing.   read more

An 88-year-old Kern County woman became the first confirmed death from the West Nile virus in California this year, just days after the State Water Resources Board widened the ground game against its mosquito carriers.   read more

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

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

While it wrestles with a determination on the true extent of the problems at San Onofre that led to the release of radioactive steam from damaged tubes in one of its nuclear generators, weighs the possibility of extensive repairs and listens to arguments that the plant should be shuttered for good, the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) must also decide who pays for it all.   read more

Randy Adams made more money as chief of the 46-member Bell police force than the top cops in the city and county of Los Angeles. But when eight top officials in Bell were arrested in 2010 and charged with felonies in a case described by one prosecutor as “corruption on steroids,” he wasn’t one of them. The city refused to pay Adams severance when he left and he has now sued them for that compensation.   read more

When Mitt Romney was in Israel last week, he praised that country’s national health care system and its cost controls (while recommending we not try that sort of thing here). The United States spends about 18% of GDP on health care, while Israel spends less than half that.   read more

California is afraid it might be about to spring a leak. As the state approaches a launch of its innovative cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon-dioxide pollution, it is worrying that big companies will leave rather than pay for the environmental costs of their pollution. So, the state is considering offering millions of dollars in free permits to certain industries to encourage their participation.   read more

Facebook did more than break the hearts of investors when its IPO tanked. Governor Jerry Brown factored a tax windfall of $1.9 billion over two years into his budget calculations through 2012-13, based on a Facebook trading price of $35 per share. The stock’s opening price at its initial public offering in May was $42. The price fluctuated between $38 and $45 before plummeting. As of August 1, it was trading at $20.88.   read more

Voters in Los Angeles County will decide in November whether adult film actors should be required to wear condoms. The initiative, approved for the ballot by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, was spearheaded by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which collected 371,000 signatures supporting the plan. The city of Los Angeles passed a similar ordinance in January.   read more

Until last week, the 500+ special funds that receive a fourth of the money to run state government hadn’t been properly audited. Ever. Finding $54 million hidden in a couple of Parks and Recreation accounts a few weeks ago and the promise that billions more might be stashed away elsewhere have ignited public interest in the little-known special funds.   read more