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 announcement last week was greeted with relief by some, enthusiasm by others and skepticism by those who think insurance companies are just laying low until after November’s election, when California voters will have a chance to tip the balance of power in the health insurance market. Lawmakers put a measure on the ballot, Proposition 45, which will let the insurance commissioner reject rates found to be unreasonable.   read more

California employs about 4,000 inmate firefighters. They’re “low-level” offenders who earn $2 a day in canteen credits, as well as two days off their sentences for each day they spend at fire camps. Although fighting fires is hardly akin to working on a chain gang, human rights observers question where the line lies between rehabilitating prisoners through meaningful work opportunities and exploiting cheap labor sources.   read more

The newspapers argue that the serious corruption charges swirling around Senators Lee and Calderon are “compelling” reasons to release the information and point out that they have targeted their requests at specific time periods. Senators are unmoved. Unlike many California public officials, they have a blanket policy against releasing any calendar or schedule information. Governor Jerry Brown releases all of his and other officials release them under a wide range of conditions.   read more

Wolk found that, “At least nine top bridge engineers, scientists, and other distinguished bridge construction experts who worked on the project have similar stories of being gagged and banished” for their contrarian opinions. “When silencing people didn't seem sufficient, it appears those top managers ultimately punished dissidents by either dissolving their contracts or transferring them to other assignments.”   read more

The L.A. Bureau of Street Services audit, released Thursday, said the worst streets in the city, which make up 40% of 6,500 miles of public roadway, have been left to deteriorate while the 18% of roads with fewer problems have received attention. The report said that auditors had trouble reaching those conclusions because “a great deal of information about the Bureau’s activities is incomplete or simply missing.”   read more

Kashkari spent a week in Fresno pretending to be homeless and jobless. He wrote about his trials in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, which can only be read by people with enough money to get past the newspaper’s paywall. For those who can’t afford that, Kashkari posted a video shot by his accompanying videographer. The Rev. D.J. Criner, a pastor in Fresno, likened Kashkari's role-playing to a white man putting on black face.   read more

The 5-0 vote, with the mayor and vice mayor abstaining, rejected the recommendation of its city planning commission that Chevron put in more pollution controls, replace its piping and contribute a quarter billion dollars to local green projects through 2050. The commission also wanted Chevron to reduce all toxic air contaminants, put domes on its storage tanks and upgrade its tug boats.   read more

Race horses die at the track all too frequently―between 200 and 400 a year in California. It is estimated that 24 horses die every week on U.S. racetracks. But a cluster of deaths like this is unusual. So far, Del Mar authorities have focused on the track itself. They waxed the synthetic Polytrack and watered and aerated the turf track to slow things down. They also moved a rail to give the horses more room on turf.   read more

The 93-year-old water main that blew in Los Angeles this week—gushing 75,000 gallons a minute at its peak and 1,000 a minute once it was under control—was spectacular, but not unpredictable. Two-thirds of the city's 7,238 miles of pipes are more than 50 years old but only 43 miles were replaced during a recent 15-year period, according to a 2012 study by the USC Center for Sustainable Cities.   read more

The GAO report said that the EPA doesn’t conduct annual on-site evaluations with any regularity and hasn’t updated its guidelines to the states since the 1980s. The result is that “safeguards do not address emerging underground injection risks, such as seismic activity and overly high pressure in geologic formations leading to surface outbreaks of fluids.”   read more

The indictment replaces an earlier one in April, adding the obstruction charge and raising from 12 to 27 the number of criminal violations of federal law. PG&E could be liable for $1.4 billion in penalties. PG&E was charged with obstruction for allegedly lying to investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the aftermath of the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion that killed eight people and leveled a neighborhood.   read more

Fines ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 were meted out to medical centers in five counties for incidents including the improper mixing of medications and surgical materials left behind in a patient. Some of the cases date back to 2012, but have only recently been closed.   read more

Caltrans would get a couple of revenue-producing “Lexus lanes” and people willing and able to pay for a more luxurious driving experience would have a less-encumbered thoroughfare. Less fortunate Orange County motorists would have the same five free lanes that drove them to pass Measure M2 eight years ago and spend $1.3 billion, when there were fewer drivers on the road.   read more

Fifty-six percent of Blackstone residents in Los Angeles County reported troubles with their pipes, according to a survey of renters in 1,400 Southern California properties owned by the firm. In Riverside County, 38% of respondents complained about having roaches or insects in their homes. Ninety-six percent of the tenants in Los Angeles County, and 85% in Riverside County, were people of color. Their rents were, buy and large, unaffordable by HUD standards.   read more

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced on Friday that seven of the center’s 11 units will lose their certification and federal funds, just as the other four did last year. But the center, located in Sonoma County’s Eldridge community, did not lose its state license and can stay open for now.   read more

Critics point to a decline in groundwater in the surrounding Cabazon area, the drought, and the wisdom of pumping and bottling water in the desert for shipment elsewhere. The Morongo, who hooked up with Nestle after paying the Cabazon Water District $3 million for the water rights, aren’t subject to the same oversight or reporting requirements as other entities because they are sovereign.   read more