Censure is the toughest discipline the commission can impose short of removing the judge. It mostly consists of saying harsh things about the judge’s failure to conduct himself in an ethical fashion. Both jurists acknowledged their indiscretions and “expressed great remorse and contrition.”   read more

The remains were discovered in 1976 at the Chancellor’s House at the University of California, San Diego by a university excavation team. UC San Diego had dragged its feet on giving up the remains, questioning which Native American group was the rightful owner. However, the university in 2012 agreed to return the remains to the Kumeyaay. But a lawsuit filed against the university by three scientists who wished to study the skeletons halted the repatriation.   read more

Elan Filler, who was looking for a science fair project, embarked upon a quest to identify trees in the region with the fungus. Her father helped hook her up with Deborah Springer, a postdoctoral fellow at Duke University who studies C. gattii, according to NPR reporter Nancy Shute, and Filler shipped the researcher fungi she swabbed from trees and grew in Petri dishes. They matched fungus from the three trees to infections in people now and 10-12 years ago.   read more

Google wants to build a car within five years that drivers won’t have to steer, brake or accelerate, but new California rules that go into effect next month require the Mountain View company’s test vehicles to, at least temporarily, have all those little extras. Google will simply tack on a steering wheel and pedals for the short-term.   read more

Charles Belk wrote on his Facebook page: “Within an evening, I was wrongly arrested, locked up, denied a phone call, denied explanation of charges against me, denied ever being read my rights, denied being able to speak to my lawyer for a lengthy time, and denied being told that my car had been impounded. . . . All because I was mis-indentified as the wrong ‘tall, bald head, black male,’ . . . fitting the description.”   read more

With as few as 8% of registered voters showing up to vote in some recent elections, the Los Angeles Ethics Commission has urged the City Council to consider improving turnout with a lottery pilot program. No actual vote would be required, but those participating would have to show up at the polls to participate. There was no decision on what the grand prize for participating in the democratic process.   read more

A suit was filed last week by two men, at least one of whom has ties to the No Berkeley Beverage Tax campaign, which receives funding from the American Beverage Association. It claims that the city substituted the phrase “high-calorie, sugary drinks” for “sugar-sweetened beverage” in the ballot language. The plaintiffs, Anthony Johnson and Leon Cain, would prefer the phrase “sugar-sweetened beverage products” to be used.   read more

The 11-count indictment alleges that Amaral and Singleton directed Corda and Cabrera to dodge U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors by cutting off the heads of cows with eye cancer and placing healthy cow heads next to the carcasses. Cows that had already been stamped unacceptable had the stamps removed on the kill floor. The indictment says meat from 101 condemned cows and 79 with eye cancer was processed for shipping.   read more

“Order in seconds. Delivered in minutes,” its website proclaims. The S.F.-based startup launched last month in its hometown with an online program that is still awaiting Apple Store approval to be distributed as an app. Unlike other dispensaries that deliver (and often don’t have a storefront), Eaze provides a link between a customer, a driver and pot from a number of facilities.   read more

She reportedly snuck onto the plane in San Jose by staying close to a family, but it wasn’t explained how she bypassed two security checkpoints where authorities ask to see identification and tickets. She was discovered onboard during a head count. In April, a 16-year-old boy climbed a fence, walked across a San Jose airport runway and crawled into the wheel well of a jet bound for Hawaii. He miraculously survived the long, cold flight.   read more

Kashkari spent a week in Fresno pretending to be homeless and jobless. He wrote about his trials in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, which can only be read by people with enough money to get past the newspaper’s paywall. For those who can’t afford that, Kashkari posted a video shot by his accompanying videographer. The Rev. D.J. Criner, a pastor in Fresno, likened Kashkari's role-playing to a white man putting on black face.   read more

Fines ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 were meted out to medical centers in five counties for incidents including the improper mixing of medications and surgical materials left behind in a patient. Some of the cases date back to 2012, but have only recently been closed.   read more

The Great Bull Run, attended by 2,500 paying customers, was just like the famed runs in Spain, except instead of hurtling through town from the stockyards to a bullring, they ran briefly around a racetrack. Unlike in Spain, there is no 700-year tradition and no bullfight and more animal abuse afterward. That is illegal. Around 40 animal rights protesters chanted slogans and waved signs near the entrance, but a crowd about to risk their lives dashing ahead of snorting bulls was not deterred.   read more

California cities captured nine of the top 10 “hot spots” in the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) 2013 report of per-capita car thefts in the country. Spokane, Washington, was the only non-California city on the list at No. 7. California also snatched the No. 11, 14, 15, 16 and 18 spots. While conventional wisdom might point toward wealthy cities with expensive automobiles or port cities for quick shipment overseas, the top 3 cities were all in the state’s farm belt.   read more

Laura Whitney and her husband, Michael Korte, weren't quite sure what lesson to draw from the dual warnings. “My friends in Los Angeles got these letters warning they could be fined if they water, and I got a letter warning that I could be fined for not watering,” Whitney told the Associated Press. “I felt like I was in an alternate universe.”   read more

On Tuesday, the police released a new 12-page report that says the officer who originally took the report said he saw no evidence of cellphone use, but the investigator who handled the case could not make any determination. The accident occurred about a week after Quan, who is running for re-election in November, was photographed driving while talking on the phone without a hands-free device. That is against the law.   read more