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

Ault was a co-author of a study released last September that used some of the same data to paint an equally bleak picture of the future, but contained a caveat: “We stress that our results have only used precipitation, yet temperature may play a substantial role in driving or exacerbating drought.” The new study focuses on temperature and says higher temperatures from global warming will evaporate whatever water is around at accelerated rates.   read more

The information is critical to preparation of income tax forms and was widely anticipated by the 800,000 people, out of 1.3 million enrollees, who receive the mailings. This is the first year people will need to figure in the cost of subsidized healthcare and there was expected to be some confusion and more than a little consternation. The size of the individual subsidies was determined in 2013, based on estimated income in 2014.   read more

The grants range from $2,000 to $11,000. Heald’s parent company, Santa Ana-based Corinthian Colleges, has been under siege by state and federal officials for more than a year and was forced to sell a big chunk of its 100-plus schools to others in December. The $1 million is small compared to what lies ahead. Another $13 million in award money reserved for payment by the end of June is in jeopardy.   read more

The suit, which was filed by the Disability Rights Law Center (DRLC) on behalf of White and the doctors, seeks a ruling that California’s assisted-suicide statute does not apply to cases where “physicians provide aid in dying to mentally competent, terminally-ill patients.” The lawsuit seeks to protect doctors from being prosecuted for helping ill patients.   read more

Consurmer Affairs' new computer system, BreEZe, was designed to eventually provide a common online interface that would allow all the department’s entities to perform numerous tasks. But the State Auditor reported this week that the system, designed by Accenture and budgeted at $28 million, has cost $96 million, so far, serves less than half the boards, etc. it should by now and doesn’t work very well.   read more

Fines ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 were meted out to medical centers in seven counties for incidents including the improper administering of feeding tubes and surgical materials left behind in a patient. Some of the cases are old—one dates back to 2010—but have only recently been closed.   read more

The Center for Biological Diversity said its analysis found benzene levels at more than 1,500 times the federal limits for drinking water in tests dating back to last April. Center attorney Hollin Kretzmann told the L.A. Times the situation is “a disaster. The aquifer information is a complete mess. They are trying to piece it all together—in some cases decades after these injections started.”   read more

Earlier this week, Southern California Edison (SCE) disclosed that former PUC President Michael Peevey met with then-Edison executive Stephen Pickett in Warsaw, Poland, in March 2013 to talk about the troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant that has since been permanently shuttered. State law requires that contacts made between utility officials and government regulators outside normal business channels be immediately reported.   read more

The lawsuit, filed in federal court by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), is a follow-up to an ignored Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request last July for information about the border agency’s “roving patrol” operations “during which agents stop and detain Southern Californians as far as 100 miles north of the Mexico border.”   read more

The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) crunched data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and counted 562 Oklahoma earthquakes with a magnitude 3.0 or greater, compared to 180 in California. The state averaged 1-3 quakes a year from 1975 to 2008 The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) says scientists lay the blame squarely on the oil and gas industry:   read more

U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar put a hold on a forfeiture action sought by U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag against Berkeley Patients Group (BPG) until the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals hears an appeal by the city of Berkeley that it be included in the case. That might take awhile.   read more

California lawmakers have passed legislation three times in the past four years to protect personal data by requiring law enforcement to get warrants for digital access to smartphones, laptops and other devices. Each time, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the bills. The bill “protects all electronic communications." No warrant, no data unless there is an emergency condition or extenuating circumstances already addressed in existing law.   read more

The state parks system wasn’t designed for them to be self-supporting—they rely mostly on state government funding—so it’s not a surprise to find revenues fell about $300 million short of expenses in fiscal year 2013-14. A new report proposes a new organization, Parks California, be formed to remake the troubled parks system. The governing board would include people with expertise in business and finance, marketing, communications, citizen engagement and, uh, parks.   read more

U-T San Diego quoted from an Edison release that explained the change “will lead to enhancements that deliver faster and more efficient tools and applications for services that customers rely on.” How will hiring different workers enhance Edison’s service? The answer is, apparently, cheaper labor. “This can best be achieved by continuing to be mindful of SCE’s responsibility to spend customers’ money prudently,” Edison said.   read more

The housing complex has been notoriously dilapidated for years. The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) called the Richmond Housing Authority “one of the worst public housing agencies in the country” and Hacienda its worst complex. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has had the Richmond agency on a “troubled” list since 2009.   read more

The hunt for the illusive—some would say mythological—independent centrist voter continues. Holding a single open primary in which the top two vote-getters, regardless of their party affiliation, are the only ones to advance to the general election did not produce less polarization, an increase in turnout or different outcomes.   read more