Controversies
“Out-of-Date” Caltrans and Its Culture of “Fear” Gets Another Bad Review
An independent review (pdf) of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), ordered last year by the governor, found a “culture of risk aversion and even fear,” an “out-of-date” highway department that should be a “mobility department” and an agency “out of step with best practice in the transportation field.”
It recommended what the Associated Press described as a “sweeping overhaul.” read more
State Threatens to Close Private Computer Coding “Bootcamp” Schools
The software boot camp companies say they are filling a desperate, immediate need in the tech industry for trained computer code writers. The state Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPEE) wants to rein them in. Christina Farr at VentureBeat reported this week that the bureau sent cease-and-desist orders to a handful of the schools earlier this month and gave them two weeks to conform to standards it would have imposed if they had bothered to get licensed by the state. read more
State Senator Wright Loses Felony Court Case, but Not His Job
The charges grew out of a grand jury investigation in 2010. Wright, elected to the Senate in 2008, claimed his residence was in a 4-unit rental property he owned in Inglewood. The Los Angeles County Superior Court jury agreed with prosecutors that he really lived in a home he owned since 2000 in nearby upscale Baldwin Hills. The apartment he claimed to live in was occupied by his “common law” stepmother. read more
Feds Find “Serious Threat” to Health and Close Enrollment in County Medi-Cal Plan
In curtailing enrollment in CalOptima’s OneCare program, which that straddles Medi-Cal and Medicare, auditors for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) noted that participants were denied access to properly prescribed drugs covered by the plan, and were refused payment for legitimate emergency services. Medical providers weren’t paid in a timely fashion, and appeals by patients and doctors that coverage was incorrectly denied were improperly ignored. read more
S.F. Cabbies’ Database Feeds Insurance Companies and CHP Info about Startup Competition
Taxi drivers in the association have been taking photographs, writing down license plate numbers and gathering other information about the startup drivers, who are using their own vehicles to tote passengers around, and compiling it in a searchable online database. Access to the information is given to member companies of the “Personal Insurance Federation, the San Francisco MTA, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and the California Public Utilities Safety Enforcement Division." read more
Smith & Wesson Holsters Its Handguns; Won’t Comply with California’s “Microstamp” Law
Smith & Wesson said it will have to halt sales of the weapons in the state. The 2007 legislation, passed when Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor, didn’t take effect until May 2013 when the technology addressed in the bill became widely available. Microstamping puts an indelible mark on bullets that are identifiable when fired, a feature that law enforcement agencies support. read more
Will 222,000 Californians Losing Jobless Benefits Help EDD’s Abysmal Phone Record?
A review of agency records by the Los Angeles Times found that on a good day, less than 20% of callers to EDD phones successfully make a human connection. On a bad day, that drops to 10%. Anecdotal research indicated that staying on hold for lengthy waits and repeated rapid-fire re-calls don’t work. read more
Whooping Cough Cases in State Soar Despite Change in Vaccine Law
The California Department of Public Health reported last December 18 that reported pertussis cases had already reached 1,904 and when the final numbers are reported in the spring they may show a doubling from the year before. Three years after an epidemic of whooping cough—largely eliminated from the general population for 53 years—struck 9,120 people in California in 2010 and killed 10 infants, researchers blamed the outbreak on parents who refused to vaccinate their kids. read more
FBI Will Look at Beating Death of Homeless Man after Police Acquitted
The beating of Kelly Thomas was captured by a security camera at a transit parking lot in the city of Fullerton and the broadcast video horrified the nation. Thomas repeatedly says he is sorry and tries to cooperate with the officers’ instructions. They find his actions a tad impudent and resistant. After putting Latex gloves on, one officer leans over, makes a fist next to Thomas’ face and says, “Now see these fists? They’re going to fuck you up.” read more
Two Years after Richmond Fire, Feds Drop Proposal for Safety Overhaul
Federal safety officials have been suggesting since the Richmond refinery fire in August 2012 that California overhaul its safety systems for industrial complexes and switch to a system called "safety case." They like it in the United Kingdom, Australia and Norway. Board Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso wants it, and the staff strongly recommended it in a recently-released 115-page draft report. Last week, the board rejected the idea, 2-1. read more
EPA Joins the Fray, Hits Allenco for Violations at L.A. Oil Facility Where Investigators Suffered
On Wednesday, two months after investigators for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suffered some of the same symptoms while touring the facility, Allenco was hit with a series of citations for violating the federal Clean Water and Clean Air Acts.. EPA regional administrator Jared Blumenfeld told the Los Angeles Times that findings from the November 6 inspection were worrisome because they “go to the heart of how a safe operation is supposed to be run.” read more
Stockton Catholic Diocese to File for Chapter 11 after Decades of Child-Sex Court Losses
Although insurance companies paid out $18 million on behalf of the Catholic Church, the diocese has had to pony up $14 million of its own money in settlements and judgments, and at least $1 million more in legal fees. To date, damages have been awarded in 38 local clergy sexual-abuse cases and more cases are pending. read more
Brown Budget Anticipates Surge in Inland Oil Spills from Out-of-State Rail Transports
Infrequent trainloads of crude are being brought to refineries in Richmond and Bakersfield from North Dakota by BNSF Railway, but McClatchy said that will probably change when six new refinery locations are retooled to accept rail shipments. Five or six 80- to 100-car trains a day are envisioned hauling in 25% of California’s oil needs. read more
Trade School Suddenly Closes Its Doors, Stranding Students and Unpaid Teachers
Early last week, teachers who have not been paid for months began to bail and students in San Bernardino, South Gate and Los Angeles realized that the for-profit trade school was in danger of closing. The campuses were shut a few days later and students started the process of recovering tuition, dealing with federal loans they had taken out and figuring out where, if anywhere, they might continue their education. read more
Document Dump Profiles EDD Whistleblower’s Rejected Warning about Disability Claims Software
O’Brien complained about not having the promised personnel to install the system. He said the project design was incomplete, new software was incompatible with existing programs, problems were deemed fixed although they were not and he was forbidden from discussing these problems with co-workers and other responsible parties. read more
Foster Farms Plant, Linked to Salmonella, Shut Down for Cockroaches
The department ordered that operations be suspended Wednesday at the plant near Modesto after multiple inspections found “egregious insanitary conditions” caused by an infestation of roaches. Inspectors found live roaches near the “liver tumbler/belt,” next to a faucet, in a tub “that is a direct product contact surface” and next to a sanitary dispenser box beside the ice machine. read more