Category: California

By Piper French / Nation Magazine / August 1, 2024

California’s two most marginalized constituencies, its homeless and its imprisoned, each represent about half a percentage of the state’s 39 million residents. Both groups are vulnerable to abuse and untimely death, suffer from the deprivation of vital resources, and have little say in political discussions about their future. Black people are notably overrepresented in each category.

There is a reason the latter population passes basically unremarked upon and why the former is considered the marquee problem of the state, synonymous with the supposed crisis of California itself,

Another “We’re Just a Platform” Excuse

By Trudy Grundland

Here’s my take on the story about the class action filed against Airbnb in Nevada, June 2024, in Giller v. Airbnb, Inc. using the Nevada Deceptive Trade Practices Act. There must be someone in California who wants to do the same.

Nevada state and local laws require Airbnb to investigate its new host applicants to confirm the person is authorized to rent the property on a short-term basis. Airbnb is aware that a person may be in violation of a lease homeowner or condo association rules, and city zoning laws that restrict short-term rentals.

by Branden C. Sigua and Geneviéve Jones-Wright / Voice of San Diego / July 15, 2024

[Please go to original for links]

In his January State of the City address, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said we “should be locking up criminals, not laundry detergent,” an unduly callous statement meant to discredit Proposition 47, which passed into law in 2014 with the support of 55 percent of San Diego’s voters. Ironically, in the same speech, Gloria proudly declared San Diego “one of the safest large cities in America.” Two months later, he praised the two-year downward trend in San Diego’s crime rate.

Mayor Gloria should give credit where credit is due. In the decade since its passage, Proposition 47, also known as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, has been a social and fiscal game-changer for our region and state. The truth is, Proposition 47 is a success for all Californians.

By Lori Weisberg / The San Diego Union-Tribune / June 29, 2024

San Diego restaurateurs, who had been fretting for months about the prospect of having to stop tacking surcharges onto diners’ bills to help cover rising costs, have gotten an 11th-hour reprieve.

With just two days to go before a new law barring so-called junk fees was to go into effect, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday [June 29] signed emergency legislation that will free California restaurants

By Leo Collis / Yahoo News / Wed, June 26, 2024
The beaches of southern California are bucket list destinations for plenty of people. But those dreaming of the clear waters and golden sands might want to hasten their plans to make the trip.

What’s happening?

A study published in the Shore & Beach journal, summarized by Surfer, has mapped out the alarming future of California’s shoreline. The “Sea level rise impacts on coastal access” provides data about which areas will be affected by coastal water rises of

by Marisa Kendall /CalMatters/ June 28, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court today granted cities more power to arrest, cite and fine people who sleep outside in public places — overturning six years of legal protections for homeless residents in California and other western states.

In Grants Pass v. Johnson, the court sided with Grants Pass in a 6-3 decision, ruling that an ordinance passed by the Oregon city that essentially made it illegal for homeless residents to camp on all public property was not unconstitutional. 

Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels famously said that if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes the truth. We’ve definitely seen how this has played out at the national level with Trump denying he lost the 2020 election. But it also happens at the local level.

And this is what has happened since mid-June when the developer-aligned group Circulate SD issued a report claiming the California Coastal Commission is worsening the housing crisis.

The so-called “report” which is full of half-truths and exaggerations was picked up by several other local media as gospel,

The Aratina Solar Project is about to BULLDOZE Nearly 4000 Ancient Joshua Trees! Who Approved THIS???

Sign the petition at Change.org here.

I Thought They Were Protected!

Ancient Joshua Trees are going extinct, and we must save them. The Aratina Solar Project in Boron, California, is approved to destroy nearly 4000 ancient Joshua Trees in this forest (Each Blue Dot on the map represents an old growth Joshua Tree). These iconic trees have stood for centuries, providing habitat for numerous species and contributing to the unique biodiversity of our region.

On Friday, June 14, Food 4 Less workers across California, announced an overwhelming membership vote in favor of authorizing their bargaining committee to call for an unfair labor practice strike should one become necessary. They’re represented by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Locals 8GS, 135, 324, 770, 1167, 1428 and 1442, together representing more than 6,000 Food 4 Less/Foods Co.

Bargaining resumes today, Monday, June 17.

by Khari Johnson / Cal-Matters / June 3 Updated June 6, 2024

[Please see original for links]

Your children could be some of a growing number of California kids having their writing graded by software instead of a teacher.

California school districts are signing more contracts for artificial intelligence tools, from automated grading in San Diego to chatbots in central California, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

By Miranda Ceja / Patch San Diego / June 2, 2024

Despite fears of sharks swimming close to California beaches, shark experts say the apex predators of the ocean are unlikely to bite. Still, it has happened.

Last year, a total of 2 people were injured — and one man died — in unprovoked attacks in the waters off California, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark File, a scientific database of global shark attacks.

There were 36 shark attacks in U.S. waters last year, more than half of the 69 bites reported worldwide. More recently, a Southern California beach was shut down during a busy Memorial Day weekend after an “aggressive” shark knocked a surfer from his board.