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

CIT has offered to pay $3.4 billion to the private equity and hedge fund investors, including George Soros, John A. Paulson, Michael Dell and former Goldman Sachs partner Steven N. Mnuchin, who created OneWest from the charred remains of IndyMac Bank after costing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) $9.4 billion. CIT pissed off a lot of people when it declared bankruptcy in 2009, especially after the government gave them $2.3 billion in bailout money that didn’t get paid back.   read more

The oil industry’s chief money source for lobbying nearly doubled its spending from $4.7 million to $8.9 million, far outdistancing Service Employees International Union (SEIU) affiliate California State Council of Service Employees at $5.9 million. The oil industry also claimed the third spot on the list, with Chevron Corp. and its affiliates spending $4.3 million.   read more

S&P will pay $210 million to California as part of a deal with 18 other state attorneys general and the District of Columbia that will net them and the federal government $1.37 billion to end litigation over the shenanigans that supercharged the housing bubble and facilitated the subprime mortgage meltdown. S&P will pay CalPERS an additional $125 million for its fine work on three other mortgage securities.   read more

“California does not treat the driver’s license application as a voter registration application—instead it makes voters complete an entirely separate voter registration application,” Demos lawyer Stuart Naifeh said. The department also fails “to properly transmit voter registration applications and changes of address from the DMV to election officials,” according to the complaint filed with the state.   read more

“This is the third year that we’ve seen these mass die-offs, but this is the worst so far,” Shawn Johnson, director of veterinary medicine for the Marine Mammal Center, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “If this continues, there will be some long-term effects on the sea lion population.”   read more

California's largest for-profit health insurer said the records of 80 million customers and employees were potentially at risk. That included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and employment information. So far, Anthem does not believe medical records or credit card information was stolen.   read more

Kevin Bollaert was found guilty of identity theft and extortion—27 felony counts in San Diego County Superior Court—for posting sexually explicit photographs of women (often stolen or submitted by former companions) on his website, YouGotPosted.com, and charging to have them removed. The site housed 10,000 photographs.   read more

Around 82% of California’s releases of toxic materials into the environment in 2013 occurred at a single hazardous waste facility. Clean Harbors Buttonwillow LLC in Kern County, as usual, was the clear California leader thanks to an abundance of copper waste. The commercial hazardous waste storage, treatment and disposal facility near Bakersfield released about 10 times more toxic materials than the runner-up, Mesquite Mine.   read more

On Sunday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that state records show government allowed the companies to drill at least 171 waste-disposal wells into aquifers of drinkable water and 253 more into aquifers that could be (or had been) drinkable with treatment. Another 40 wells pumped water into aquifers for which there is no known data on water quality.   read more

The extraordinary January 8 hearing of Baca v. Adams, at which Judge Alex Kozinski ripped into state Deputy Attorney General Kevin R. Vienna, was videotaped and posted to YouTube. The judge said, “It’s a little disconcerting when the state puts on evidence, the evidence turns out to be fabricated, nothing happens to the lawyer and nothing happens to the witness. I have to doubt the sincerity of the state when it says this was a big mistake.”   read more

While the average private loan at Corinthian is around $4,700 per student, federal loan debt ranges from $9,000 to $28,000. Corinthian peddled its Genesis loans, with interest rates around 15%, to students to meet a federal requirement that 10% of school revenues come from private sources, then harassed them for payment. More than 60% of Corinthian students defaulted on their loans within three years.   read more

Congress took action years ago when it required newly-manufactured trucks and rigs to run “clean diesel” starting in 2007-08. But California one-upped the feds by eliminating a provision, in 2008, that allowed older rigs to legally keep going for decades. That put pressure on other states to conform to California’s higher standards or become a dumping ground for heavier-polluting trucks. So far, none have.   read more

Last month, Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale) introduced Assembly Bill 170, which would allow a parent or guardian to have a baby’s blood sample destroyed or not used for research. Anyone at least 18 years old could ask the same of their sample. People could also find out who had accessed their sample data.   read more

The number of immigrants nationally waiting to see a judge is staggering; about 430,000 are currently backed up. In California alone, there are more than 85,000 people, the population of a medium-sized city, whose cases are pending. Texas is next with more than 74,000 people waiting. All those people are waiting for a spot on the calendars of only 230 immigration judges. The average wait in California is 705 days.   read more

Snowpack in the mountains was 25% of normal. “Clearly not good news,” Frank Gehrke, the chief of snow surveys for California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR), told National Geographic. “With this paltry a snowpack, the runoff is going to be pretty sparse.”   read more

The top-two system, despite what other virtues it may have, effectively keeps third parties off the final ballot. Third parties suspect that it is not an unintended consequence of a law ostensibly aimed at increasing voter turnout, reducing ideological zealotry and avoiding legislative gridlock. They also think it violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws.   read more