If the unencrypted medical records of 4 million people vanish with a stolen desktop computer, has there really been a security breach? Sutter said unless there was proof that the files had been read, there had been no breach of confidentiality. A Superior Court disagreed but was overruled by an appellate court. Last week the California Supreme Court issued a one-line statement that it would not get involved.   read more

A CBS Los Angeles investigation uncovered public documents from the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) that indicate trucks leaving the plant are leaking their toxic materials onto streets and sidewalks, which would invariably lead to them being washed into the Los Angeles River via storm drains. DTSC Chief of Enforcement Paul Kewin told CBS it was apparent the leaks had been going on for a long time and said, “I can’t explain how that got past us.”   read more

Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee acknowledged that many of those being sent notices of deficiency may not actually be culpable. “We are quite confident where people have not provided information it's not because they are not citizens,” Lee reportedly told a CC board meeting. “Rather, it's a challenge of getting the information to us.”   read more

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) reviewed state documents that report at least nine of the wells, used to dispose of water loaded with noxious chemicals and materials extracted using hydraulic fracturing (fracking), contributed to the illegal disposal of 3 billion gallons of dangerous wastewater into Central Valley aquifers. Another 19 injection wells may also have contaminated aquifers, the state said.   read more

An internal report by the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) found ghost patrols “during multiple shifts at different times of day, involved officers of differing ranks, and was carried out differently depending on who was involved and where they were assigned.” Supervisors or other people assigned to a desk were logged in as on patrol. The patrol cars they were allegedly driving were parked at the stations.   read more

Alon USA wants to re-animate its shuttered Bakersfield complex and transform it into a massive facility for accepting and refining shipments of oil by rail—instead of conventional pipeline or tanker delivery. The lawsuit, filed by Earthjustice on behalf of the Association of Irritated Residents, Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity, alleges the county’s environmental impact report (EIR) severely underestimated the danger from air pollution and catastrophic train derailments.   read more

Railroads would have to participate in a state program that plans for oil-spill threats to surface water from pipelines, oil wells, tanker ships and them. It finances a beefed-up safety program with fees on oil companies and requires railroads to have disaster response plans that pass muster with the state. The railroads say none of that stuff is the business of the state.   read more

PG&E self-reported the PUC e-mails amid reports that the U.S. Attorneys Office is looking at the past five years worth of communications, 65,000 e-mails, as part of an investigation of improper contacts between the two. They really aren’t supposed to have off-the-record contact, much less a relationship that might tax a couple of texting teens.   read more

“Our research finds that extreme atmospheric high pressure in this region—which is strongly linked to unusually low precipitation in California—is much more likely to occur today than prior to the human emission of greenhouse gases that began during the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s,” researcher Noah Diffenbaugh said.   read more

College campuses across California will soon have to adopt “yes means yes” policies to thwart sexual assaults, under a new law signed by Governor Jerry Brown. But some are uncertain the legislation will be effective. Some schools that have embraced an affirmative consent policy claim the approach has produced positive results. “Culture change is generally slow, but we have made some headway” since the plan went into effect at the University of Texas at Austin, said Jane Bost.   read more

Brown signed Senate Bill 270 on Tuesday, echoing laws already passed in 127 California cities and counties. The American Progressive Bag Alliance (APBA) immediately announced it was beginning an effort to gather signatures to put repeal of the law on the 2016 ballot.   read more

While Brown thought the legislation too restrictive, some civil libertarians thought it too broad. For instance, the bill prohibits weaponizing the drones—“unless authorized by federal law.” Bill author Assemblyman Jeff Gorell (R-Camarillo) said, "It's disappointing that the governor decided to side with law enforcement in this case over the privacy interests of California.”   read more

Generating that much electricity is not without environmental costs. The report says: “The development of large-scale renewable projects in Development Focus Areas would also impose dramatic visual changes to high-value recreational areas. Over 40 percent of the Development Focus Areas for any of the action alternatives are within 5 miles of Legally and Legislatively Protected Areas,” including Death Valley, Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve.   read more

In a letter to the council, the commission said the city’s abysmal turnout—23% in the 2013 mayoral election—could be substantially boosted by offering incentives for people to vote. The commission proposed a lottery of sorts for people who cast a ballot. Anticipating legal problems down the road, the prizes could not be offered in elections when candidates for federal office are on the ballot.   read more

The depth of Kushner and Spitz’s pockets was questioned almost from the moment they bought Freedom. Freedom owed $24.7 million to creditors, according to the Los Angeles Times. Those creditors include the Times itself, which delivers the competition’s newspapers. The company immediately began laying off workers.   read more

“If you were trying to sabotage California’s open records law, you couldn’t do much better than SB 1300,” Peter Scheer at the First Amendment Coalition said. That “will establish a toxic precedent for other regulated industries and interest groups to keep the public permanently in the dark about their activities,” he warned.   read more