Top Stories
Owner May Lose Building with Medical Pot Dispensary in City that Hosted “World's Biggest Marijuana Festival”
The federal government and the city of Anaheim—deploying a strategy used throughout the state—are trying to take a $1.5 million commercial building away from its owner because he allowed a legal medical marijuana dispensary to operate within its premises.
The irony of this duplicity is that last month Anaheim Convention Center hosted Kush Expo, billed as the “World’s Biggest Marijuana Festival.” read more
CalPERS Prunes Its Health Insurance Rolls on the Eve of Obamacare
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) announced that its three-month amnesty, which ended June 30, removed 6,700 ineligible dependents from the insurance rolls.
Now CalPERS has launched a series of audits to scrub thousands more of them from the insurance rolls of the nation’s second-largest purchaser of health insurance with little regard for what fate awaits them. read more
State Proposes Carcinogen Standard 500 Times Less Strict than CalEPA “Goal”
Environmentalists were as horrified by the decision as water treatment officials were gratified. Fourteen years after the state began a process to set standards for the known chemical carcinogen chromium-6—made infamous by the movie Erin Brockovitch—it finally settled on one 500 times more lenient than the safe, non-enforceable level determined by the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA). read more
Another Company Agrees to Pay Millions for 2001 Energy Rip-off, but Admits Nothing
British Columbia’s Powerex, Inc. admitted no wrong-doing but joined 40+ companies who have paid in excess of $4 billion to compensate California for the market manipulations that caused rolling blackouts, nearly bankrupted the state and cost utility ratepayers dearly. It is the largest settlement reached to date.
The deal still awaits approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). read more
Redwoods Faring Better than Humans in the Age of Global Warming
The first results from a four-year study of California’s most impressive trees indicates they have thrived since the 1970s. No conclusions were reached about why the trees were faring so well. Longer growing seasons from higher temperatures may have helped the sequoias, and more sun from reduced fog might have aided the redwoods. A study three years ago found 33% less fog in redwood coastal areas than a century ago. But there are other factors to consider. read more
Accreditor that Whacked S.F. City College Faces Challenge to Its Own Accreditation
A six-page letter from the U.S. Department of Education outlined four areas where the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) violated federal regulations and warned that its own accreditation would be revoked if the problems were not addressed. The department conducted the review after receiving a 300-page complaint from the California Federation of Teachers and other groups complaining about how the commission treated the college. read more
S.F. Green Power Alternative to PG&E Hits Political Wall
“It’s the whole political establishment coming down against public power,” San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos said after the PUC voted against setting rates for CleanPowerSF, a renewable power program approved by the board of supervisors last year that would automatically enroll half the city’s 375,000 residential users. The program has been nine years in the making. read more
State to Drop Quality Ratings from Health Insurance Pricing Website
Covered California had planned to post ratings of insurance company offerings alongside prices that will be charged when the exchange opens on October 1 for an expected 5 million healthcare shoppers. And then the state changed its mind. Covered California claimed that the data it was going to use is too old (2011) and doesn’t accurately reflect the health plans that will be offered in the exchange. read more
Eight California School Districts Dodge the Worst of No Child Left Behind
Until now, only states could receive a waiver from the 2002 law passed under President George W. Bush, and California had been rejected, based on its unwillingness to accept certain federal standards, including the use of standardized student test scores as part of teacher and administrator evaluations. The decision potentially cost the state millions of dollars in federal aid. read more
While Fracking on Land Comes Under Fire, Energy Companies Quietly Do It Offshore
The Associated Press reported last week that at least a dozen permits have been issued by the state since the late ‘90s for offshore use of the controversial process, formally known as hydraulic fracturing. The drilling is taking place in Santa Barbara waters, where a giant oil spill in 1969 prompted a state moratorium on new offshore oil leases all along the coast. read more
Feds Investigating Corruption in Conservative Bastion of Orange County
A law enforcement task force that includes the FBI, the IRS, the U.S. Attorneys office and the Orange County District Attorney’s office is investigating allegations of widespread public corruption. It is still unclear if the probe has a particular focus. A grand jury report in May gave an indication of at least one potential target, CalOptima. read more
Unemployed to Lose Extended Benefits Because the State Economy Is Doing So Well
The feds cut off money for the additional 10 weeks when the state’s three-month average of unemployment dipped below 9%. The state’s Employment Development Department (EDD) said 100,000 Californians who are already on the third tier of federal benefits will be the first to feel the pain.
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Auditor Gives High Marks to PUC Consumer Support Program Disliked by Utilities and Corporations
Auditors found that compensation levels for intervenors were not too high, and in fact chastised the PUC for underpaying in some cases because it wasn’t applying market rates. The auditors found the intervenors to be uniformly suitable to assist consumers and were, in many cases, consumers themselves. It called the process of determining their compensation “robust” and thorough. read more
Federal Agencies Have Harsh Words for State’s $24.5 Billion Delta Tunnel Plan
The Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Marine Fisheries Service took turns, in a 44-page report, blasting the EIR produced for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) as “biased,” “insufficient” and “confusing.” The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the only member of the group that is not a designated lead agency in the project, had eight specific criticisms but expressed them in a less harsh fashion. read more
Class-Action Lawsuit Seeks Medical Care for Inmates Freed with Valley Fever
Attorney Ian Wallach told the Associated Press that the state regularly releases severely infected prisoners with a 30-day supply of medication that costs $2,000 a month to obtain. “Without the medicine, they will die,” Wallach said. “With the medicine, their quality of life is still unbearable.” read more
Judge Adds Probe of State Mental Health Facilities to Ongoing Scrutiny of Prisons
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ordered an independent review last week of mental health facilities run by the Department of State Hospitals that provide services to prisons. He cited an “urgency of the issues at hand,” including doctor shortages, treatment delays, premature release of patients from inpatient care and a “denial of basic necessities, including clean underwear.” read more