Unusual News
Surgeon Gets Probation for Removing Wrong Kidney from Inmate
Streit made the mistake, at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, when he chose to operate from memory and what turned out to be faulty paperwork after CT scans were mistakenly left in the offices of one of the surgical team’s doctors. The board said the goof was “an extreme departure from the standard of care.” That standard required a review of image scans before slicing open the patient. read more
California Sends Its First Revenge Porn Perp to Jail
On Monday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David R. Fields sentenced Noe Iniguez to a year in jail and 36 months probation on three criminal counts for bad things he did to his ex-girlfriend on the Internet. He was the first person convicted and sentenced under California's revenge porn law, one of the few in the nation and a cause for concern among civil libertarians. read more
Panga Boats Load with Marijuana Are Steady Visitors to California Beaches
The panga boat incursions, which authorities say began around six years ago but intensified recently, have drawn the attention of Homeland Security types, who worry about surreptitious visits of a more serious nature. Here are some of this year’s busts from all along the coast: read more
San Luis Obispo DA Drops Charges against Last of the “Doobie Dozen”
The last six of the Doobie Dozen weren’t absolved of their transgressions until this week when the county district attorney’s office finally dropped charges—four years after they were busted for operating mobile medical marijuana dispensaries. At least half a dozen agencies and 50 agents participated in the investigation and arrests. read more
Did Ballot Weirdness Lead to Upset Election Win in the Assembly?
A friend of winner Patty Lopez described her to the Los Angeles Times as “a candidate that had no political endorsements. She had no credibility, no recognition—she didn't have any funding.” So how did she defeat the incumbent, potential Democratic superstar Raul Bocanegra, for an Assembly seat? Some people are suspicious of the ballot in the 39th District. read more
Wrongly-Convicted Man Freed after Record 36 Years in Prison
It wasn’t until years later that lawyers for the Innocence Project took up the case and questions were raised about the evidence. Files were discovered that indicated evidence pointing to other perps had been suppressed. Ventura County prosecutors subsequently got involved and new DNA testing from the crime scene implicated an unknown man, not Michael Hanline. read more
Child Abuse Scandal Costs L.A. Schools $139 Million
Mark Berndt, who is in his 60s, was accused of blindfolding the mostly Hispanic students and feeding them semen in spoons and baked into cookies. A CVS photo processor saw pictures he had taken of his exploits and called the authorities. The district shut down the school and shipped all the students to other elementaries while it sorted things out. read more
Rap Album Could Land San Diego Musician in Prison for Life
He is being charged under provisions of Proposition 21, passed by voters in 2000. The law allows the authorities to prosecute gang members who profit from crimes of other gang members, even if they aren’t directly involved. Duncan’s record sales were said to get a boost from the gang’s activities. read more
Scientists Think They Found the Virus Wiping out Starfish on the West Coast
Using DNA sequencing and other analyses of potential pathogens, the scientists settled on a likely prospect and testing of the virus provided quick and disgusting confirmation. Researchers found the virus all over the place: in sick starfish, healthy starfish, 20 varieties of starfish, seawater, sediment, sea urchins and 70-year-old museum specimens. That raises a number of questions, including: why now? read more
Caltech Prof Files Whistleblower Suit against School over Alleged Spying
Did the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) try to dump a professor because she blew the whistle on an Israeli spy in their midst or because she named her cat as a co-writer on a research paper? Those questions and more might be addressed in court after physics professor Sandra Troian sued Caltech for violating its whistleblower policy and allegedly harassing her the past four years. read more
2,595 Apply for 18 Affordable Housing Units in San Francisco
The applicants were placed in a lottery to pick out 400 finalists. The drawing was held in an auditorium in the Chronicle building and more than 100 people showed up. “A gold cylinder on a table held thousands of red tickets,” the Chronicle reporter wrote. “The wheel was turned, a ticket was picked and a number and name read out. Amy Anderson, who was attending her third apartment auction, said, “It’s like they are auctioning off hope.” read more
Young People Are the Worst in California at Voting by Mail
The school’s Center for Regional Change found that voters 18-24 made up 8.1% of the electorate voting by mail in California’s 2012 statewide election, but cast 23% of the 69,000 screwed up Vote-by-Mail (VBM) ballots. Sixty-five percent of the rejected youth VBM ballots were tossed because they arrived late. Twenty-three percent were bounced because matching signatures didn’t match and 7% forgot to sign them altogether. read more
Drunk, Helmetless California Bicyclists Help State Top National Death List
“Despite the association of biking with healthy lifestyles and environmental benefits, a surprisingly large number of fatally injured bicyclists have blood alcohol concentrations [BOC] of 0.08% or higher,” the report said. The report does not make a direct correlation between drunk bicyclists and the proclivity for riding without a helmet. Sixty-five percent of dead bicyclists weren’t wearing helmets, compared to 17% who were. read more
Silicon Valley Leaders Blame the Public for Tech Threats to Privacy
Sixteen percent of those who participated in The Atlantic's first “Insiders Poll” blamed threats to privacy on “unconcerned citizens and our complacent culture” and 8% pointed a finger at government. Facebook garnered the most support as the most abusive tech company at 14%, followed by Google at 11%. Third-party data brokers also checked in at 8%. read more
Customer Sues Comcast, Claims Company Got Him Fired after Complaint about Bill
O’Rourke claims he was overcharged for services, denied free premium services he had been promised and eventually sent equipment he didn’t order, for which he was charged $2,000 after signing up for Comcast television and Internet service in February 2013. O'Rourke said in his lawsuit that his employer, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, fired him after a top Comcast executive called to complain about his complaining. read more
Report Says Bay Area Earthquake Faults Are “Locked and Loaded”
Scientists believe that there is almost certainly going to be a big quake in California within the next 30 years, but have usually considered the state’s southern portion as being most at risk. The new study bears down on the northern half. The analysis predicts a 70% likelihood that one of the four faults, segments of the 800-mile San Andreas Fault, will rupture within the next 30 years. And by “the next 30 years,” they mean it could happen tomorrow. read more