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

“Tanaka had a large role in institutionalizing the illegal activities in the Sheriff’s Department,” Acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie Yonekura said in announcing the indictment. Seven Los Angeles County deputies were convicted last year of obstructing an FBI probe of the county jail system. At one point, deputies moved FBI informant Anthony Brown from jail to jail in 2011, dodging the bureau while trying to find out what the feds’ sting operation had on them.   read more

State Senator Fran Pavley, the author of legislation requiring the report, told the Times the agency didn’t hint at a problem until the deadline passed. “The department's failure to comply with the law is another example of poor management and lax regulation of the oil and gas industry that has implications for California's economy and the public health,” she said. “The public—during a serious drought—needs to know where this water comes from and where it's going.”   read more

Researchers for the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) stuck their tracking equipment on Google Street View mapping cars, gathered information from more than 1,100 miles of driving and mapped it. They found 250 leaks—a methane leak, on average, every four miles in Pasadena and every five miles in the other two cities.   read more

Judge Donald S. Black told the Clovis Unified School District, “Access to medically and socially appropriate sexual education is an important public right,” and their abstinence-only sex ed curriculum “violated California law for many years.” But by the time he ruled, the lawsuit, filed in 2012, had already been settled. His ruling came during an argument over court costs. And he sounded a little pissed off.   read more

Airbnb officials failed to have an appreciation for Santa Monica’s innovative government model for regulating the company that not only taxed the hosts who rent out their homes but required them to be in town when occupants are there. They said that had never been done before and the Los Angeles Short-Term Rental Alliance threatened legal action.   read more

Congressmen Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) and Sam Farr (D-Carmel) filed an amicus brief with the court as it tries to sort out the meaning of a measure they co-authored last year, which bars the feds from spending a dime to prevent states from “implementing their own state laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana.”   read more

There is more than wasted money at stake. The bridge was designated, and designed, as a key, reinforced, transporation corridor in case of a giant earthquake and city survival strategies revolve around that. MTC chief Steve Heminger said that he thought the big bridge picture was positive. But “Caltrans didn’t sweat the details,” he said. And broken rods might be some of them.   read more

Two of the accidents occurred while the driver controlled the car (it can switch back and forth) and all four were the fault of the other driver. AP got the story first, but details are TK because the California Department of Vehicles (DMV) can’t give them out and the companies are selective in their talking points. DMV said there were four accidents, but nothing else. No information on locations or details on the accidents.   read more

A biennial homeless survey, conducted in three days across 90% of the county by 5,500 volunteers, found 25,686 homeless folks in the city and 44,359 in the county in 2015. More than 70% are unsheltered. Perhaps the most stunning number was an 85% increase in the number of tents, makeshift shelters and vehicles.   read more

The bacteria causes stunted tree growth and bushy tops, and can spread. It is known as Bushy Top Syndrome. The trees don’t root very well and most don’t bud. Farmers started ripping up their stocks, hoping that something evil wasn’t being left behind in the soil, lurking on farm implements or floating through the air. But the Visalia Times-Delta said that farmers weren’t told that Stanislaus County-based Duarte Nursery was probably the sole source of the problem until last month.   read more

The city recently reiterated its commitment to keeping the lake. But things change. In 2008—dry times, but before this current drought began—U-T San Diego asked city officials if they would consider not pumping drinking water into the lake. They said only if the situation got worse and the city entered a Stage 2 water emergency. It’s been Stage 2 since October 2014.   read more

According to a report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), California had the fifth worst ratio of 1% income earners to the 99% as of 2012, the last year data was available. The top 1% averaged $1.6 million a year compared to $45,775 of the other 99%. And it’s getting worse—thus the report’s title: “The Increasingly Unequal States of America: Income Inequality by State, 1917 to 2012.”   read more

Three retired judges from other jurisdictions, including former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, will review cases handled by 14 officers. Around 1,600 of the arrests reportedly resulted in prosecutions. The review is part of a task force that will also report on whether a “culture of bias” exists in the department. That report is expected by the end of the year.   read more

Crystal Geyser is planning to open a new bottling plant near Mount Shasta’s glaciers in Siskiyou County, where it will tap into an aquifer that feeds the Sacramento River, a major source of water for the state. Residents worried that the plant would exacerbate damage from the state’s mandated 25% water cuts, but also wanted to know what could be done about truck traffic, effluent generation and power needs. The answer was: not much.   read more

Board member Monica Ratliff said the graduation policy shouldn’t be enforced and suggested a “C” average for the 15 classes would be more realistic. “Of course, I don’t want our graduation rates to plummet but this isn’t about that,” she told KPCC. “This is about the idea that we’re going to deny students diplomas because they received one D in one A through G course. To me, that’s outrageous.”   read more

The facts were not in dispute. LAPD estimates it scans the license plates of approximately 1.2 million vehicles a week and stores them in a database. The Sheriff scans more. The judges upheld a lower-court ruling that the records constituted part of official investigations and were not subject to a California Public Records Act (CPRA) request.   read more