California and the Nation
Lawmakers Want Fake Abortion Clinics to Stop Lying to Patients
State lawmakers are considering legislation, Assembly Bill 775, which would require the centers, some licensed medical facilities and some not, to be more forthcoming. If they are licensed, they would have to tell patients about the availability of birth control, abortion and prenatal care. If they aren’t licensed, they have to say so and let patients know about the things they don’t offer. read more
Santa Barbara Oil Spill Fits Nicely on Company’s List of Safety Problems
The Los Angeles Times did a quick database check at the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and found Plains had three times the number of infractions per mile of pipeline than the national average. They were fifth on a list of 1,700 pipeline operators in the total number of infractions. Reporters counted 175 infractions in multiple states since 2006, including pipeline corrosion, operator error and pump failure. read more
Compton Class-Action Lawsuit Argues Students Have Right to Treatment for Trauma
Although serious childhood trauma is generally recognized as being widespread in our culture and a severe detriment to student achievement, K-12 teachers receive little if any training in college or on the job on how to recognize and deal with it in the classroom. That might change soon. The lawsuit seeks judicial recognition that complex trauma prevents students from receiving meaningful access to education, a basic constitutional right, and cannot be ignored. read more
Looking for Methane Leaks in L.A. County? There’s a Map for That
Researchers for the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) stuck their tracking equipment on Google Street View mapping cars, gathered information from more than 1,100 miles of driving and mapped it. They found 250 leaks—a methane leak, on average, every four miles in Pasadena and every five miles in the other two cities. read more
Meet California Lawmakers’ Favorite Marijuana Dealer
Congressmen Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) and Sam Farr (D-Carmel) filed an amicus brief with the court as it tries to sort out the meaning of a measure they co-authored last year, which bars the feds from spending a dime to prevent states from “implementing their own state laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana.” read more
Homelessness Climbs 12% in Los Angeles City and County
A biennial homeless survey, conducted in three days across 90% of the county by 5,500 volunteers, found 25,686 homeless folks in the city and 44,359 in the county in 2015. More than 70% are unsheltered. Perhaps the most stunning number was an 85% increase in the number of tents, makeshift shelters and vehicles. read more
Feds Suggest Stranded Corinthian Students Transfer to Other Suspect For-Profit Schools
Thousands of students stranded when the already diminished, for-profit Corinthian Colleges, Inc. closed for good last month are stuck in a bewildering, expensive, painful morass. The U.S. Department of Education is helping by publishing a list of comparable institutions suitable for transfer within a 25-mile radius of their closed Heald, Everest or Wyotech schools, which includes for-profit schools under investigation by state and federal authorities. read more
Record Number of Whales Snared in Fishing Gear off West Coast
The number of known entanglements doubled to 30 between 2013 and 2014. Seven were killed, seven were freed and the outcome of the others is uncertain. The count is already up to 25 this year. The actual number of entanglements is unknown because reports are based on what NOAA calls “opportunistic sightings.” read more
Utah Wants to Send Trainloads of Coal to California Ports
Utah’s Community Impact Fund Board signed off on a decision earlier this month to invest $53 million in an Oakland shipping terminal nearing construction for the purpose of securing leased space for their coal. Environmentalists are not happy at the prospect, but the terminal’s project manager said there’s nothing they can do about it. read more
Corinthian Closing What's Left of Its Battered For-Profit College Chain
Orange County-based Corinthian announced that its 28 remaining institutions of higher learning, often located in strip malls and office parks, are closing today, stranding their 16,000 students. For-profit companies like Corinthian target low-income students and veterans because they have access to state and federal education financial assistance. Federal money accounted for nearly half of Corinthian’s annual revenue. read more
After 13 Years, U.S. High Court Allows Lawsuit over Natural Gas Price Manipulation
California kicked off the new millennium with an energy crisis, exacerbated, if not precipitated, by manipulation of the national natural gas market, which led to the eventual collapse of Enron. The high court’s decision clears the way for states, businesses and consumers to sue energy suppliers for decade-old losses. read more
Vocal Anti-Vaxxer Minority Stops State Lawmakers in Their Tracks
National polling shows more than 75% of people think vaccinations should be required, and it looked like legislation introduced in February was going to do that. But last week, the rubber hit the road when a very vocal minority showed up at a committee hearing to argue against passage of Senate Bill 277 and told lawmakers they were facing the prospect of 13,000 people with vaccine exemptions pulling their kids from public schools en masse. The legislation was put on hold for a week. read more
Sardines Fall Way Below Minimum Numbers; Fishing Finally Banned
The crucial forage fish’s population is known for being chronically volatile, but its drop from a high of 1.42 million metric tons in 2007 to 97,000 by next season has become hard to ignore. Geoffrey Shester, Oceana’s California campaign director, said the damage would be felt for decades and told the San Francisco Chronicle, “There’s a management failure here." read more
82 Perimeter Security Breaches at California Airports, but No Terrorists
The Associated Press surveyed 31 of the busiest airports in the United States, including five in California, and found 268 incursions between 2004 and 2014. Eighty-two of them were in California. San Francisco International Airport had the most, 37, and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) was third, with 24. Mineta San Jose International Airport was fifth, at 18, but the San Francisco Chronicle noted that five of those were in the last 11 months. read more
Judge Blocks Navy Sonar Testing over “Stunning Number” of Harmed Marine Mammals
After fruitlessly looking through reams of legal submissions for any explanation of how the National Marine Fisheries Service reached its dubious decision that sonar testing by the Navy would have "negligible impact," the judge wrote: “This court feels like the sailor in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ who, trapped for days on a ship becalmed in the middle of the ocean, laments, ‘Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink.’ read more
San Francisco Is First City to Boycott Homophobic Indiana over LGBT Law
Mayor Ed Lee took offense at Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed into law by Republican Governor Mike Pence, which allows individuals and businesses to discriminate against people they are uncomfortable around. “San Francisco taxpayers will not subsidize legally-sanctioned discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people by the State of Indiana,” he said. read more