Controversies
New Law Takes the Gag off Settlements with Licensed Professionals
Lawyers can’t do it and doctors can’t do it. Now thousands of other licensed professionals in California won’t be able to do it.
Assembly Bill 2570, signed by the governor in September, will kick into effect January 1 and prohibit licensed professionals from adding gag orders to civil suit settlements that prevent consumers from working with authorities conducting investigations of wrongdoing. read more
PetSmart Fined $392,842 for Unregistered Pesticide Products, then Leaves Many of Them on the Shelf
Three months ago, the state fined PetSmart Inc. $392,842 for selling 33 unregistered pesticide products, including antimicrobial cage liners, reptile bedding and anti-flea and tick pet shampoo, in its California stores.
PetSmart paid the fine but, according to an investigation by California Watch, many of the products are still on their shelves. read more
PG&E Scrambles to Catch Up after Firing Workers over Missed Electrical Inspections
The San Francisco Chronicle reported last week that PG&E has hired 48 new inspectors to check more than 1,500 critical pieces of electrical equipment in Alameda County and the South Bay it believes employees skipped over and may have lied about. Eight company employees and 11 contract workers were suspended or fired. read more
Catalina Conservancy Takes a Rocky Turn from Conservation to Tourism
The inherent conflict between promoting tourism and conservation at the Catalina Island Conservancy has been present for years and coming to a head in recent months.
The result has been an exodus of talent from the 40-year-old nonprofit conservancy, the oldest and largest private land trust in California, because they believe that conservancy President and CEO Ann Muscat is focusing too much attention on tourism. read more
San Jose Ends Common Practice of Lobbyists Texting and Emailing City Council While in Session
Two years ago, the San Jose Mercury News reported that a lobbyist trying to influence a city council member’s vote on an issue while the council was in session accidentally texted information to the wrong lawmaker. It was part of a series of stories examining the cozy relationship between lobbyists and the council. read more
Appeals Court Voids “Poison” Deal, Orders Lights Out for L.A. Digital Billboards
Around 100 brightly lit Los Angeles digital billboards―considered a blight by those whose yards and homes are bathed in the intrusive light, and a boon by cash-strapped city officials―were ordered removed by an appeals court on Monday. read more
Retailers Accused of Ignoring State Laws on Carcinogens in Baby Products
The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) went on a California shopping spree earlier this year to Walmart, Target, Kmart, Babies R Us and other major retailers, and returned with a host of baby products it claims are tainted with a cancer-causing flame retardant and lacking a required state warning label. read more
Independent Report Sounds a Familiar Call for Change at Stem Cell Agency
An independent review of the state’s $3-billion, taxpayer-financed stem cell funding agency released last week raised conflict-of-interest questions, addressed issues of mismanagement and called for major restructuring. read more
Oakland Police Dodge Federal Takeover, Sort of
After a year of serious saber rattling in Washington, the troubled Oakland Police Department proclaimed last week it had dodged a bullet and wouldn’t be taken over by the federal government.
While it’s true that the department won’t be in federal receivership, the city’s settlement with attorneys seeking enforcement of decade-old mandated reforms forces it to hire a “compliance director” with broad powers that include the power to fire the police chief. read more
NASA Official and Noted Climate Scientist James Hansen Calls California Cap and Trade “Half-Assed”
With Governor Jerry Brown sitting in the audience at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, James Hansen, a NASA scientist and leading authority on climate change, called California’s newly-launched cap and trade program a “half-assed” way to deal with global warming. read more
Fish and Game Wardens Criticized for Killing Cougar Cubs Near Downtown Half Moon Bay
Wildlife advocates voiced extreme displeasure and disbelief when game wardens from the state Department of Fish and Game shot to death two 25- to 30-pound cubs believed to be about 9 months old near downtown Half Moon Bay over the weekend. read more
Oil Drilling Exemptions from Environmental Law Jumped after Brown Fired Officials
Governor Jerry Brown wants more oil drilling—he fired two top officials when they slowed the state permit process—and now he’s got it.
The state Department of Conservation increased the number of exemptions to the landmark California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) six-fold, to 19, in the months following Brown’s firing of the acting department director and the head of its Division of Gas, Oil, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) last November. read more
Replacement for Notorious Inner-City L.A. Hospital, Shuttered in 2007, Is Running Years Behind Schedule
Born out of the Watts Riots in 1972, Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center in South Central Los Angeles was the premier medical facility in the low-income neighborhood until its closure in 2007 amid tales of medical mistakes, mismanagement and dangerous health conditions.
A target date for a replacement facility was moved to 2012 and has now been pushed to 2014. read more
Feds Pull the Plug on Historic Point Reyes Oyster Farm
The U.S. Department of the Interior ended a century-old practice of oyster farming in Drakes Bay when agency Secretary Ken Salazar ordered the eviction of a company that accounts for 40% of California’s oyster production.
The Drakes Bay Oyster Company, which sought a 10-year extension of its expiring 40-year lease during a long-running dispute, was given 90 days to end its operations in the 2,700-acre estuary at Point Reyes in Marin County. read more
Investigators of 36 Sexual Assaults at 5 Developmentally-Disabled Facilities Skipped Basic Tests
Investigators of 36 sexual assaults at the five state facilities that house developmentally-disabled patients failed to order rape examinations, ignoring a fundamental police procedure and jeopardizing the prosecution of any future suspects. read more
School District Offers Parents Free Drug Testing of Their Children
Want to get your teenage child drug tested at no cost and no hassle—for you? Then move to the Santa Clarita Valley in Southern California, enroll your kid in the William S. Hart Union High School District and sign him or her up for what is believed to be the nation’s only parental-on-demand drug-testing regimen. read more