Top Stories
Governor Vetoes a Bunch of Gun Control Bills, but Right-Wing Still Calls it the “Great Gun Grab”
Brown vetoed seven bills and signed 11, but still drew the wrath of the right-wing Washington Times, which decried “California’s great gun grab” and echoed a warning from critics that one of the signed bills “would effectively end hunting as a sport in California.” The seven bills he vetoed included Senate Bill 374, which would have effectively extended the definition of assault rifle by banning semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines. read more
PG&E Ordered to Shut Down Major Gas Pipeline after E-mails Surface
The engineer wrote: “It is thin wall pipe and now we have found external corrosion on it. Could the recent hydrotest [have] contributed to additional cracking on this pipe and essentially activated a threat? Are we sitting on a San Bruno situation? With fatigue crack growth over many years? Is the pipe cracked and near failure? I don’t want people to panic but seems like we should consider this and probably move this pipe up the PSEP priority for replacement.” read more
$1.9 Billion L.A. Airport Upgrade Missed the People's Choice: Decent WiFi
According to AirFair Watchdog, 33 out of 52 major airports nationally offer free wi-fi, with no strings attached, including California airports in Ontario, Orange County, San Diego, San Jose, Sacramento and San Francisco. But when Los Angeles International Airport debuted its $1.9 billion upgrade of the Tom Bradley International Terminal last week, it was still using the same slow, wi-fi system used throughout LAX, which is free for just the first 45 minutes. read more
New Law Lets Government Shut Down Cell Service, but Only in an “Emergency”
Senate Bill 380 requires that court permission must be obtained by the authorities before cell phone service is cut unless there is an “extreme emergency situation” that involves immediate danger of death or great bodily injury. In that case, the authorities must get permission within six hours of having service carriers whack electronic communications, or 24 hours if the six-hour requirement proves inconvenient. read more
Is Watered-Down Domestic Workers Law Even Enforceable?
Brown vetoed a broader version of the bill last year as the state struggled with a giant budget deficit. Mandatory meal and rest breaks were stripped out of the current bill, along with protections for part-time baby-sitters, and it passed the Senate and Assembly along strict party lines. It is expected to affect between 100,000 and 200,000 workers. read more
Is the State Going to Replace One Awful Pesticide with an Even Worse One?
So methyl iodide is out. And methyl bromide is on the way out. Organic solutions aren’t being given any serious consideration by the powers that be, which begs the question: What’s next? Chloropicrin is getting a lot of attention. Paul Towers, organizing director for Pesticide Action Network, calls it “methyl iodide 2.0.” read more
Ungrateful Sacramento Doesn’t Want Air Force Radioactive Waste Dump
But now—as it bears down on a 2019 deadline for finishing the job of scraping potentially dangerous materials from 326 waste areas before delivering what’s left of the base-turned-industrial-hub into nonmilitary hands—the Air Force wants to bury the last of the radioactive waste on the property, close to residential neighborhoods. read more
Leaked L.A. Coliseum Commission Emails Add Fuel to Fight with the Times
The expletive-laden emails give a good account of the kind of rough-and-tumble politics rarely seen by the public. For example, then-commission President David Israel, a Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointee who is now chairman of the California Horse Racing Board, makes reference to fellow Commissioner William Chadwick’s “massive ego” and calls Commissioner Parks “Col. Klink,” after the hapless Nazi in the television show “Hogan’s Heroes.” read more
Coastal Commission Denied Power to Enforce Its Rulings with Fines
So, for now, the commission will have to settle for enforcing its rulings by negotiating with parties it finds in violation of the law or taking them to Superior Court via the state Attorney General’s Office. It’s an expensive and cumbersome process that contributes mightily to the commission’s backlog of around 1,900 enforcement cases and its perennial funding problems. read more
Lawmakers OK Fracking Legislation with Giant Loopholes
Environmentalists are apoplectic because, they say, it fails to deliver safeguards against groundwater contamination, air pollution, releases of methane gas, micro-earthquakes and sinkholes.
The bill allows fracking to continue unabated until 2015 while regulations are drafted. A mandated statewide environmental impact report on the practice isn’t due until July 2015. read more
Three’s a Charm: Feds Launch Another Probe of L.A. County Jails
The investigation of the “pattern and practice of inmate” abuse, which will also look at how the department treats mentally ill prisoners, will overlap another FBI investigation that was scheduled to end sometime later this year. That one, begun in 2011, is focused on excessive force and other bad stuff by deputies. read more
Safeway Agrees to Fix Refrigerant Leaks of Ozone-Destroying Gases at 659 Stores
The settlement addresses Safeway’s failure to promptly fix leaks of HCFC-22, a hydro-chlorofluorocarbon that is a greenhouse gas used as a refrigerator coolant. Safeway agreed to pay a $600,000 penalty and make repairs estimated to cost $4.1 million, but, in a not-unusual move, admitted no liability. read more
Impoverished Lake County Death Rate Is Double the State Average
The age-adjusted death rate from all cancers was 23.6% higher than the state average, led by a 57.8% higher death rate from lung cancer. Lake County residents smoke a lot. They also eat and drink a lot. Only one-third has what the foundation considered a “healthy weight” and 22% drink too much. They die of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis nearly twice as often as the rest of the state.
They are also poor. read more
Court Rules VA Is Misusing Sprawling L.A. Site, but Offers No Remedy
The judge’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed in June 2011 alleged the VA violated federal law when it leased portions of its West Los Angeles campus to 11 businesses and organizations that had nothing to do with helping veterans. The VA argued that the revenues it received indirectly helped the vets by swelling the government coffers.
Judge Otero agreed with the plaintiffs and voided nine lease agreements, pending further action. read more
Finally, California Secure Enough to Repeal 1941 Law on Subversives
The law did not ban subversive groups from doing their subversive thing, including attempts to overthrow the government. It just required that groups register with the state and not pass their subversive materials to nonmembers. Violation of the law was a felony, punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment. read more
Governor Proposes More Prison Capacity, Instead of Inmate Releases, to Meet Court Deadline
The proposal split the state’s Democratic Party. Republican legislative leaders and Democratic Assembly leader John Pérez appeared with Brown at a press conference announcing his plan to shift inmates to private prisons in and out of state and local jails, while Democratic Senate President pro tem Darrell Steinberg expressed opposition. read more