California and the Nation
Third of State’s Water Supply Threatened by Worst Snowpack in at Least 500 Years
Data from growth rings of trees in the area show the situation is much worse than back in April when snowpack was measured at 6% of normal and Governor Brown delivered the bad news from a barren Sierra Nevada meadow that hadn't been snowless in 75 years. The combination of low precipitation and high temperatures has ratcheted up dire assessments of future snowpack. read more
U.S. Ninth Circuit Reverses EPA’s OK of Pesticide that Is Destroying Honeybees
The EPA admitted that it was aware that sulfoxaflor was “very highly toxic” to bees, but reasoned that rules for its application could be devised that would mitigate any harm. The court said the EPA had no basis for saying that. Dow Agrosciences, maker of the insecticide, and the EPA argued to the court that although there were studies linking the product to bee deaths, they were not conclusive. Judge Schroeder wrote, “Neither logic nor precedent can sustain this position." read more
U.S.-Appointed Egg Lobby Board Campaigned Against Egg-Replacement Startup
The Guardian and the Associated Press say they uncovered emails from lobbyists representing egg producers that targeted the sales of Hampton Creek, which produces a mayonnaise that contains no eggs. The egg replacement company was seen as a threat to the $5.5 billion-a-year egg industry, prompting the American Egg Board (AEB) to launch a campaign to keep Hampton Creek from becoming successful. read more
State Agency Says It Is Going to Put Monsanto’s Roundup on Cancer List
The OEHHA cited a monograph by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which called glyphosate “probably carcinogenic to humans,” as the basis for its decision. More than 300 million pounds of glyphosate are used annually in the United States. It is the most commonly applied agricultural chemical in the country. read more
Feds Now Need a Warrant to Use Stingrays, but Not Cops in California
The policy change, outlined in a seven-page document, will not affect federal agencies outside the DOJ or state and local law enforcement. As near as anyone can tell, the cell-site simulator technology is popular in California. The feds will continue to hand out grants to local law enforcement to purchase the technology. The DOJ will require its officials to delete data inadvertently gathered from non-targeted phones but won't give annual reports to Congress on how the new policy fares. read more
Can Ships Carrying Water from Alaska Save California?
Alaska Bulk Water CEO Terry Trapp told USA Today last week his company was this close to bringing the complex deal together and would begin shipping water by tanker to California by the end of the year. His company has rights to 9 billion gallons of water in Sitka’s Blue Lake. One can almost hear thirsty Californians salivating at the prospect, but it might be advisable for them to preserve their precious bodily fluids. read more
Californians Sue Nestlé over Cat Food from Fish Caught by Asian Slave Labor
“Knowing that much of the fish sold in Nestlé’s pet food is likely the product of slave labor is material to consumers not wishing to support slave labor with their purchasing power,” the 32-page complaint claims. The legal action follows by one week a class-action lawsuit filed against Costco Wholesale Corporation on behalf of a California woman who claims the company buys its farmed prawns from Thailand, where they are fed fish caught by slave labor on boats. read more
California’s Obamacare Networks Are Fourth Narrowest in the Nation
Seventy-five percent of California’s marketplace plans have narrow networks. The nationwide average is 41%. Twelve states managed to avoid any narrow networks. There is no way for a consumer to find out the size of a particular network when shopping for a plan. “It is difficult for a consumer to assess network size, even as a broad concept,” the report says. “As a result, the trade-off between network size and premiums is not at all transparent.” read more
Hungry Russia Is Destroying Food and Banning California Wines
Russia has been the subject of trade restrictions by the West because of belligerency in Ukraine and Crimea. This week, it was revealed that Russia's consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has banned three California wines, although the reason given is health, not retaliation. Rospotrebnadzor said the wines were banned because they showed high levels of phthalic acid and pesticides. read more
Donald Trump Has a Plan for Deporting Millions of California Illegal Immigrants
For those who have a problem following the free-associated thoughts of the New York billionaire, he published his first formal position paper (pdf) on a subject that has netted him almost as much publicity as comments about Fox News host Megyn Kelly bleeding from her eyes “and whatever.” Although Trump’s blueprint on immigration doesn’t explicitly call for all undocumented immigrants to be deported, he reiterated his demand, on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, that they “have to go.” read more
California First State to Ban Grand Juries in Deadly Police Encounters
The bill’s author was explicit about why she thought SB 227 was necessary. “The use of the criminal grand jury process, and the refusal to indict as occurred in Ferguson and other communities of color, has fostered an atmosphere of suspicion that threatens to compromise our justice system,” state Senator Holly Mitchell (D- Los Angeles) said in a statement. read more
Latest L.A. County– U.S. Jail Settlement Is “Historic” and a “Landmark”
It’s a year or two, depending on the source, until the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Justice Department’s (DOJ) first official attempt at cleaning up the Los Angeles County jail system, an occasion certain to be enhanced by the presence of the newly-appointed federal monitor. The county has agreed to accept federal oversight of the jails while a wide range of reforms involving excessive use of force and suicide prevention is put in place. read more
State Drops Opposition to Letting Thousands of Low-Level Ex-Cons Vote Again
More than 45,000 convicted felons out on probation—no, NOT PAROLE—will be allowed to vote in California after Secretary of State Alex Padilla reversed a decision by his predecessor, Debra Bowen, and dropped an appeal of a judge’s ruling last May. There is no uniform national law governing voting rights for felons. read more
Federal Judge in S.F. Blocks Release of Anti-Abortion Recordings
The judge ruled, “NAF would be likely to suffer irreparable injury, absent an ex parte temporary restraining order, in the form of harassment, intimidation, violence, invasion of privacy, and injury to reputation, and the requested relief is in the public interest.” He also said the federation “is likely to prevail on the merits of its claims” read more
38% of Californians, Mostly Republicans, Deny Climate Change Affects the State
Just 37% of Republicans in the state believe the effects of global warming are being felt, compared to 73% of Democrats and 65% of independents. Thirty-one percent of Republicans said the effects will never be felt. Only 26% of Republicans think the threat is very serious.The skepticism mirrors national ideological and political splits over perceptions of climate change. read more
California Urban Roads Are Still the Worst and Cost Motorists Even More
TRIP deems 74% of major urban roads in the San Francisco-Oakland area to be “poor.” That’s the worst large metropolitan area in the nation, followed closely by Los Angeles-Long Beach (73%) and Concord (62%) in the Bay Area. The report calculated that the lousy S.F.-Oakland roads cost an average driver $1,044 per year. Two years before, 56% of the roads were rated poor and cost drivers $782. read more