| LA County Supervisor Proposes Restrictions on E-Cigs - NBC Southern California |
| Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas Tuesday previewed a move to regulate tobacco and e-cigarette retailers countywide, echoing alarms of an "epidemic" raised by the Food and Drug Administration.
Ridley-Thomas said he will ask for an ordinance that would require tobacco shops -- including retailers of electronic and flavored tobacco products -- to obtain a county business license that would be tied to new regulations. [Article] |
| by , KNBC Los Angeles. 2018-09-19 |
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| LA County Is Slow to Resolve Harassment Complaints - NBC Southern California |
| An agency charged with managing reports of sexual harassment by county employees is slow to discipline offenders and departments often impose less stringent penalties than recommended, according to an audit reviewed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
In December, the board hailed the policies of the County Equity Oversight Panel as robust and said the county held employees to a higher standard than required by law. [Article] |
| by , KNBC Los Angeles. 2018-09-19 |
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| LA County Urges Eligible Voters -- In Jail or Out -- to Register Now - NBC Southern California |
| Los Angeles County is stepping up efforts to register eligible voters in jail and on probation as the November election nears.
"Voting While Incarcerated," a program run in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, registered about 2,000 people in the run-up to the June primary election, Registar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan told the board.
Another 1,000 inmates at Pitchess Detention Center have since been registered, Logan said. [Article] |
| by , KNBC Los Angeles. 2018-09-19 |
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| A landmark 2016 law praised as an 'unbelievably powerful tool' against gun violence remains scarcely used |
| Two weeks after a gunman in Parkland, Fla., zigzagged from one classroom to another in his former high school, killing 17 people, a Beverly Hills High employee dialed 911 to report a stranger mumbling to himself and following her as she left campus.
Police confiscated a loaded handgun in the man’s glove box and arrested him. But they felt compelled to do more. What if he was a copycat killer inspired by the Parkland shooting and obtained another gun after posting bail? Beverly Hills officers decided to try something they’d never done before and persuaded a judge to temporarily bar the man from having guns.
It was a successful use of a legal tool that proponents believe will help reduce gun violence as more members of the public and law enforcement learn about it.
In 2016, California became the first state in the nation to allow family members, roommates and police officers to ask a judge to block individuals believed to be dangerous from having firearms for up to a year. The legislation followed a 2014 mass shooting in Isla Vista, near UC Santa Barbara. Relatives of the gunman, Elliot Rodger, had previously alerted authorities to his potential danger.
But so far, the gun violence restraining orders have been rarely used. Fewer than 200 were issued across the state during the law’s first two years on the books, according to the state Department of Justice. With 32, Los Angeles County had the most, but some smaller counties, such as Santa Barbara and San Diego, had higher rates for their size with 21 and 18, respectively. Several counties had none. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2018-09-19 |
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| Last year, she was sleeping in her car. Today she's proof homeless stories can have happy endings |
| One thing I never understood about Meg Shimatsu was how she kept her spirits up, given her health problems and her circumstances.
When I wrote about the former legal secretary a little over a year ago, she was living in a 1990 Toyota Corolla but figured things could be worse, given how many people she saw in tents.
“I consider myself luckier than most homeless people,” she told me at the time.
Shimatsu has spent years on a waiting list for a kidney transplant, and for more than a year, she parked the Toyota in the lot of the Glendale hospital where she gets dialysis treatment. At night, unable to afford a home on her disability check, she curled up in the back seat of the Corolla, closed her eyes and went to sleep.
We’ve stayed in touch since then. Shimatsu reads the paper and sends me her thoughts on current events. But 10 days ago she had another reason to check in.
“Hey Steve,” she wrote, “just wanted to let you know that I’m no longer homeless.”
So that’s one down, more than 50,000 to go here in the homeless capital of the United States. If you look at it that way, you can easily get discouraged about the monumental human catastrophe and the sprawl of tent cities. But rather than dwell on that now, I decided to take a look at how Shimatsu made it home, and to see if there’s something we can learn from her experience. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2018-09-19 |
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| Is L.A.'s homeless population closer to 100,000? Nonprofit offers an alternative view of the data |
| The Los Angeles homeless count has become an annual civic drama, starting with thousands of volunteers spreading across the county on three nights in January and ending five months later with the unveiling of the new number: 52,765 this year.
The practice has been criticized for its implied precision — as if it were possible to count a diffuse and reclusive population down to the last individual. But the effort has also faced criticism for leaving out important information, such as how many people become homeless during the year and how long they remain on the street.
To fill in those gaps, the Economic Roundtable examined data collected by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority in 2017.
After months of analysis, the group came up with a new statistical approach that yields a very different number: 102,278 — reflecting the number of people who become homeless at one time or another during the year. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2018-09-19 |
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| Business improvement districts are 'anti-homeless,' new UC Berkeley report says |
| In a scathing review of the state’s proliferating business improvement districts, a student project released Tuesday by the UC Berkeley law school accuses the nonprofit groups of systematically abusing homeless people.
The report by the Policy Advocacy Clinic at UC Berkeley School of Law alleges that business improvement districts, or BIDs, are exacerbating the plight of the homeless “by excluding homeless people from public places without addressing the causes and conditions of homelessness.”
The research paper, released online and at events in Los Angeles and other cities Tuesday, links the rise of the districts, which now number about 200 in California, to an increase in the number of anti-homeless laws.
“BIDs seek to enact, maintain, and strengthen laws that criminalize activity like sitting, resting, sleeping, panhandling, and food sharing in public spaces,” the report said.
“To enforce such laws, BIDs collaborate closely with local police departments and hire or contract with private security.”
The report was prepared for the Western Regional Advocacy Project, a San Francisco homeless advocacy group, which released it with a caustic statement. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2018-09-19 |
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| California's children fall behind before they start school, and some never catch up, study finds |
| When students enter school in California, they learn at a pace on par with — if not better than — those in other states.
The problem is that they arrive far behind their national peers, and they never catch up.
This conclusion, from a sweeping research project aimed at charting future education policy, focuses new attention on what is often overlooked: infant and toddler care, parenting skills, preschool and early childhood education.
The researchers argue that if California wants to improve student achievement in schools, it has to start much earlier so that children are prepared when they show up for kindergarten.
Many “don’t have access to any care, let alone quality care,” said Stanford University education professor Deborah Stipek, one of the lead researchers. “It’s not just a problem for low-income families, although affordability is a serious issue. It’s a problem for many, many families because fewer people are going into being providers for child care.” [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2018-09-19 |
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| New California law to help sidewalk vendors operate legally - Story | KTVU |
| SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill to make it easier for sidewalk vendors to operate legally in the state.
It's one of dozens of bills Brown announced signing Monday, including measures to help voters ensure their mail ballots are counted and standardize balcony inspections.
The new sidewalk vending law will let cities and counties create permit programs for vendors and limits when they can be criminally prosecuted. [Article] |
| by , KTVU SF-Marin-Sonoma. 2018-09-19 |
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| Exclusive: US police 'using Tiger Text app to conceal evidence' | USA News | Al Jazeera |
| Long Beach, Southern California - Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit has discovered that a self-deleting messaging app called Tiger Text has been adopted by at least one US police department, which may have used it to share sensitive and potentially incriminating information that they wouldn't want to be disclosed to a court.
Current and former officers from the Long Beach Police Department in Southern California have told Al Jazeera that their police-issued phones had Tiger Text installed on them.
The Tiger Text app is designed to erase text messages after a set time period. Once the messages have been deleted, they cannot be retrieved - even through forensic analysis of the phone. [Article] |
| by , . 2018-09-19 |
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| Jerry Brown Made Climate Change His Issue. Now, He’s Not Sure How Much Politicians Can Do. - The New York Times |
| SAN FRANCISCO — It was a big act, one of the last in the final days of a long political career, and it was about one of his life’s passions: safeguarding the environment.
Jerry Brown, 80, the four-term governor of California who is to retire in January, was the principal organizer and reluctant star of the Global Climate Action Summit, a high-octane gathering of lawmakers, executives and scientists working to beat back global warming.
But even as he sought to rally other politicians to the cause, Governor Brown’s conference underscored the limits of what politicians can do to avert the most catastrophic effects of climate change — even the politician who leads California, the wealthiest state in the country and the world’s fifth-largest economy.
“We can spread it, encourage it. I’ll try to do that,” he said in an interview in his office in the State Capitol in Sacramento. “But at the end of the day, this takes a conversion. It’s almost a quasi-religious transformation that has not occurred but must occur. Or the world will pay a very heavy price in life and economic detriment.” [Article] |
| by , . 2018-09-19 |
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| California leads subnational efforts to curb climate change - Global problems, local solutions? |
| SUPPOSE Britain’s prime minister ordered civil servants to make the world’s fifth-biggest economy fully carbon-neutral by 2045, and thereafter to extract more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than it emits. In a sense that is what happened on September 10th, when Governor Jerry Brown of California—whose economy last year overtook Britain’s—inked an executive order mandating state agencies to begin such preparations.
He had just signed into law a bill setting the same 2045 deadline for the state’s complete transition to renewable and other zero-carbon electricity. The bill could be revoked by a future legislature, and the order by Mr Brown’s successor. But the Golden State’s inveterate environmentalism makes that unlikely. Californians, the outgoing governor has made clear, remain committed to the Paris agreement of 2015, in which countries vowed to keep global warming “well below” 2°C relative to pre-industrial levels, and ideally to no more than 1.5°C. [Article] |
| by , . 2018-09-19 |
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| Backcountry Developments in Limbo - Voice of San Diego |
| Several major new housing developments are now in limbo because a judge found the County Board of Supervisors has been relying on a legally dubious plan to ensure new developments don’t contribute to global warming.
Over the past nine years, the County Board of Supervisors has repeatedly signed off on “climate action plans” that courts have found weak and inadequate. Under state law, the county is supposed to be working to curb the release of greenhouse gases. In its latest plan, though, the county allows developers to pollute more, if they plan to offset that pollution by planting trees or otherwise reducing pollution in other areas. [Article] |
| by , Voice of San Diego. 2018-09-19 |
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| Outgoing Law Enforcement Watchdog Hopes Group Opens Up About Its Processes - Voice of San Diego |
| When the county’s Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board hired Paul Parker in June 2017 to be its executive officer, he seemed like an ideal choice. CLERB independently investigates misconduct allegations against Sheriff’s deputies and probation officers, and the fact Parker had been a police officer for 10 years gave him credibility with law enforcement officials who are sometimes wary of civilian review boards.
Parker also spent two decades as a medical examiner investigator and coroner, most recently in Nevada’s Clark County, giving him expertise in CLERB’s crucial task of investigating deaths in county jails or during the process of arrest. [Article] |
| by , Voice of San Diego. 2018-09-19 |
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| County Jails Struggle To Treat Mentally Ill Inmates | KPBS |
| DeVonte Jones began to show signs of schizophrenia as a teenager. His first public episode was nine years ago at a ball game at Wavering Park, in Quincy, Ill.
"He snapped out and just went around and started kicking people," says Jones' mother Linda Colon, who now lives in a Chicago suburb.
The police were called. Jones was arrested, charged with aggravated battery and placed in Adams County Jail. Colon says Jones had no recollection of what happened.
Her son got out on probation and went to therapy. He started on medications, but Colon says they didn't help. When he got caught self-medicating with marijuana, he ended up back in jail.
Jones has been in and out of the criminal justice system ever since. He's among the estimated half a million people incarcerated in the U.S. who have a serious mental illness. [Article] |
| by , KPBS - San Diego. 2018-09-19 |
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| San Diego County ballot will be bigger, cost more to mail - 10News.com KGTV-TV San Diego |
| SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - San Diegans will receive a bigger ballot that will cost more to mail ahead of the November election, according to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters Office.
Due to a large number of contests in the November 6 election, voters will need to fill out a two-card ballot. Issues and candidates will be listed on the front and back of each page. [Article] |
| by , . 2018-09-19 |
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| San Diego trauma centers tracking scooter injuries - 10News.com KGTV-TV San Diego |
| SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, and internal bleeding - just some of the injuries doctors are seeing in patients hurt while riding motorized scooters.
It's a new trend alarming trauma doctors across San Diego County and the nation. [Article] |
| by , . 2018-09-19 |
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| Clairemont residents voice concerns about proposed affordable housing project | fox5sandiego.com |
| SAN DIEGO -- Residents in Clairemont voice their concerns during a community planning meeting Tuesday about a planned affordable housing project.
San Diego County officials said the goal is to build multi-family residential units on Mount Etna Drive where the former San Diego County Crime Lab now stands.
According to a "frequently asked questions" document provided by San Diego County, half of the units would be dedicated to help those who are in need -- including people with special needs, mental illnesses, substance abuse issues and those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. [Article] |
| by , KSWB - Fox News San Diego. 2018-09-19 |
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| Sycuan Begins Hiring 700 as Hotel and Resort Expansion Nears Completion - Times of San Diego |
| Sycuan Casino announced Tuesday it has begun to fill over 700 new positions for its hotel and resort expansion in the East County community of Dehesa.
The $226 million project hotel is scheduled to open early next year. It includes a 12-story, 300-room hotel, restaurants, meeting and conference spaces, pool and gardens and a lazy river.
The casino has scheduled a job fair on Thursday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the East County Career Center in El Cajon. Additional hiring events will be held Oct. 9 at the South County Career Center and Oct. 10 at Grossmont College. [Article] |
| by , Times of San Diego. 2018-09-19 |
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| Sex offenders working for Riverside County? Officials offer conflicting answers – Press Telegram |
| An audit from Riverside County’s Auditor-Controller, Paul Angulo, matches two registered sex offenders’ names to two employees working for Riverside County’s health care network.
But other county officials say the audit names the wrong people, noting there are discrepancies in middle names and that the photographs don’t match. And a sentence within the audit says the employees could not be “positively confirmed” as registered sex offenders.
Still, Angulo stands by his audit, noting that even the discrepancy highlights a flaw in the county’s vetting process.
An elected official in his third term who ran unopposed in June, Angulo drew a rebuke Tuesday, Sept. 18, from Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley.
“His false claims erode the trust in our public institutions,” Ashley said.
Angulo countered Tuesday, saying “I make no apology fighting for the taxpayers and the vulnerable.” [Article] |
| by , Long Beach Press Telegram. 2018-09-19 |
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