California Attorney General Kamala Harris and eight other state attorneys general sent a heated letter to Congress protesting a bill that has a high potential of gutting a range of environmental protections enjoyed by Golden State residents. The letter protests “unduly broad” language that would preempt state laws and “seriously jeopardize public health and safety.”   read more

On Tuesday, the California Supreme Court rejected a plea from San Diego County Clerk Ernest J. Dronenburg Jr. that performances of gay marriage be put on hold until it has pondered his arguments as to why Proposition 8 is still the law despite a crushing defeat in the U.S. Supreme Court last June.   read more

If the city council approves acceptance of a $2 million federal grant at its July 30 meeting, the Domain Awareness Center would look beyond the port for data streams—to schools, the Coliseum, law enforcement agencies, license plate readers, digital license plates, private security cameras, red-light cameras, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the state Department of Transportation and others.   read more

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, differs from other legal action taken over the agency’s secret collection of citizens’ communication records. Rather than focus on the loss of constitutionally guaranteed privacy, the lawsuit argues that the spying violates the First Amendment “right to communicate anonymously, the right to associate privately, and the right to engage in political advocacy free from government interference.”   read more

MOOCs have been hailed as a modern substitute for an outdated form of education—a better, more efficient way to teach. The philosophy department at San Jose State thinks that description is disingenuous. “Let’s not fool ourselves; administrators at the CSU are beginning a process of replacing faculty with cheap online education. In our case, we had better be sure that this is what we want to do because once the CSU or any university system is restructured in this way it will never recover.”   read more

The study said there was a direct connection between a 9.0 earthquake in Japan in 2011 and a swarm of smaller quakes in a West Texas oil field that used fracking. A 4.1 quake near fracking wells in Prague, Oklahoma, was linked to an 8.8 quake in Chile in 2010. The Chile quake also shook the ground in Trinidad, Colorado, near natural gas fracking sites.   read more

A stream of emails, many from Japan, protested the city’s decision, reflecting a surge in revisionist sentiment which denies that the women, many of them not yet adults, were coerced into being prostitutes, and if they were, it was, to quote Japan’s Osaka Mayor Tōru Hashimoto, “necessary.”   read more

The Luna Rossa contingent, which is backed by Prada fashion billionaire Patrizio Bertelli, claimed that the rule changes were unnecessary and designed to favor Oracle Team USA. In the ensuing spat, Oracle Team USA CEO Russell Coutts called Luna Rossa “a bunch of spoiled little rich kids dressed in Prada,” according to the Mercury News. Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena responded, “He can say what he wants. He’s way more rich than me, trust me.”   read more

What does California have in common with the poorest states in the nation, located in the Southeast, Southwest and Appalachia? Together, they are the 17 lowest-ranked states when it comes to taking care of kids, according to a report (pdf) by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. California ranked 41st out of 50 states in child well-being.   read more

Despite two U.S. Supreme Court decisions Wednesday affirming that same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits and can marry in California, supporters of Proposition 8 have not given up the fight. “We shall fight in the Legislature, fight in the courts and we will not surrender,” Jennifer Roback Morse, founder of the Ruth Institute and anti-gay marriage activist, told Fox 5 San Diego.   read more

The counties of Monterey, Yuba and Kings will no longer have to get pre-clearance from the federal government to change their election rules, despite a history of discrimination against Latinos and Asians. The high court’s 5-4 ruling Monday ends use of a formula Congress prescribed for determining where discrimination was occurring.   read more

A decline in snowfall poses a direct threat to drinking water, agriculture and tourism that would ripple through the economy. In some areas, at lower elevations, precipitation that would have been snow will, instead, be rain, which could impact flood control and cause damage to mountain and river ecosystems.   read more

According to the Complaint, local and federal records readily available to ICE agents clearly show that Gonzalez is a native-born U.S. citizen born in the Pacoima community of Los Angeles. Noting that low-level agents can request holds with no supervision and no finding of probable cause, the Complaint alleges that this has caused 834 U.S. citizens and more than 20,000 legal, permanent residents with no criminal records to be detained—both violations of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.   read more

Skilling, who was Enron chief operating officer, was found guilty in 2006 of securities fraud, insider trading, conspiracy and lying to auditors, and sentenced to 24 years in prison. Its demise cost investors billions, employees their pensions and corporate pirates their reputations as brilliant, innovative entrepreneurs. Enron nearly bankrupted California in the process.   read more

When Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Orange County announced last month that it would no longer be performing elective abortions, the reason given was a lack of demand for the service. Critics suspected the decision was related to its recent merger with Catholic healthcare provider St. Joseph Health Systems, and on Thursday the Los Angeles Times confirmed that was the case.   read more

Democrat Elijah Cummings of Maryland enraged Issa when he made public Tuesday the entire five-hour transcript of an interview with the IRS manager in Cincinnati whose office targeted for scrutiny conservative groups like the Tea Party seeking 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status. The conservative Republican manager pointedly rebutted Issa’s allegations that the White House proposed or directed his office’s activities.   read more