Controversies
PG&E Says San Bruno Blast May Cost $1 Billion; State Says It Can Afford Twice That
At just about the same time the CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) was telling the press Thursday that the deadly 2010 San Bruno gas explosion might cost the company $1 billion, a court computer mistake inadvertently revealed for the first time a private lawsuit settlement figure from the disaster. read more
Time up, Pencils Down: Teacher Evaluation Bill Dies at Deadline
As seemingly inexorable pressure builds in California schools for some form of teacher evaluations that encompass standardized student test scores, a bill that would have tied a statewide framework to local collective bargaining was withdrawn just before the legislative session ended last week. read more
Exposed Yosemite Visitors Notified of Hantavirus Threat Years after Warnings Were Ignored
Health officials have sent out more than 2,900 emails and letters to people who may have been exposed to the deadly hantavirus that has infected at least six visitors (two fatally) to a Yosemite campsite in California, but they may have missed opportunities twice over the past five years to mitigate the threat. read more
Assembly’s Anti-Semitism Resolution Decried by Free Speech Advocates
A resolution passed overwhelmingly this week by the Assembly, which encourages institutions of higher learning in California to discourage anti-Semitism on campus, was attacked by free-speech advocates who think it goes too far. read more
Want Your Veterans Disability Benefits? Leave the State
Disabled veterans waiting months for benefits is not a new story in California. Congressman Henry Waxman commissioned a report in 2004 that detailed six-month waits for Southern California vets.
Veterans are still stuck in interminable waits for benefits, but now they have an alternative: move to St. Paul, Minnesota, or Lincoln, Nebraska, where the wait times are about one-third as long as California’s. read more
Tijuana Sewage Treatment Lauded Just Before Another Spill Closes San Diego Beaches
What happens in Tijuana doesn’t necessarily stay in Tijuana, especially when it’s a sewage spill.
Beaches in the San Diego area were closed on Tuesday when 1 million gallons of raw sewage washed up in Border Field State Park, Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge Shoreline and Imperial Beach after a pipe broke a mile south of the border. read more
Report Rips Troubled State Facility for Developmentally Disabled
The state’s largest facility for the developmentally disabled, Sonoma Developmental Center, is feeling the heat from federal authorities to upgrade the care of its 500 patients or face decertification, according to California Watch, which obtained a 495-page government report. read more
Slaughterhouse Reopens although Shunned by Big Burger Joints and Schools
A slaughterhouse in Hanford that was shut down last week after secret video revealed inhumane and potentially unhealthy treatment of cows, was allowed to reopen after promising to reform its practices.
No more dragging, pulling or lifting of so-called downer cows that can’t stand on their own. read more
Lawmakers Decide Not to Rewrite Landmark Environmental Law in a Week without Public Input
State lawmakers have decided, upon review, that the 42-year-old cornerstone of enlightened California environmental regulation ought not to be rewritten in a few days without public input.
Although discussion of amending the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has been going on informally for months in the Legislature—and for about 42 years in Republican circles—it only surfaced as a hot topic for debate in the last few days of the legislative session. read more
Toxic Scrap Yards Traffic in Stolen Goods with Virtually No Oversight
The scrap business is booming in Southern California, where a $7 billion metal export trade keyed to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has spawned a proliferation of legal and illegal operations with virtually no oversight by government officials. read more
Disney Reappears in Long-Running Chromium 6 Contamination Saga
State and federal investigators have known for more than 20 years that chromium 6, made famous in the movie Erin Brockovich, was present in groundwater under the sprawling San Fernando Valley in Southern California. read more
Clovis Schools' Sex Education Program Challenged, but the State Has a Bunch Just Like It
The Clovis Unified School District has been sued in Fresno Superior Court for failing to administer a qualified sex education programs as required by the state.
Apparently the district is not alone in its behavior. read more
State Fire Bills in Rural California Add Fuel to the Flames
That crackling out behind the brush in rural California isn’t necessarily the sound of approaching fire; it could be residents bristling with outrage over new bills for fire protection that are popping up in their mailboxes. read more
Safety Board Says Refinery Fire Was “Close Call” for Neighbors, although Contamination Can’t Be Measured
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, after reviewing the August 6 Chevron refinery fire in Richmond that sent a cloud of black smoke billowing into the air before spreading out, said the city survived a “close call.”
But it is hard to say how close a call nearby residents survived because monitoring at the site proved wholly inadequate to the task of measuring what toxic gunk made it into the air that people were breathing. read more
More Water and Shade Might Help “Worst” Farmworker Shortage Ever
Growers in California are complaining that there are too few farm laborers available to pick crops in the country’s largest agricultural state. They point to stronger border controls, a crummy domestic economy and a lackluster guest worker program as reasons for a situation characterized by farmer Craig Underwood as “the worst it’s been, ever.” read more
New Life for Juveniles with Long Sentences
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that life without parole for juveniles not convicted of murder was unconstitutional cruel and inhumane punishment, but that didn’t stop judges in California from conjuring up sentences that were, in effect, for life.
Last Thursday, the California Supreme Court put a big dent in that practice by unanimously overturning the 110-year sentence of Rodrigo Caballero, who was a 16-year-old gang member when he was arrested for attempted murder. read more