#Millbrae voters recall 2 councilpersons for not opposing an affordable #housing projects for formerly #unhoused people in an unused La Quinta hotel. This begs the question: where do we expect people to go if they can't camp and we won't house them?
https://www.kqed.org/news/11997219/millbrae-voters-recall-council-members-who-didnt-oppose-affordable-housing

"Lorena Gonzalez, who as an assemblymember authored the 2021 bill that strictly restricted officers’ use of “less lethal” #munitions #AB48 has called the police actions “a total training failure by #CHP” https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/07/ucla-palestine-protests-use-of-force/

After ratepayers were told soaring rate increases were required to keep #PG&E solvent, the company posted a 28% increase in #profits over last year on the back of punishing bills. https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/07/25/pge-electric-gas-profit-earn-fire-wildfire-economy-bay-area-california/?

#Texas judge shuts down Ken Paxton's interrogation of Catholic Charities by ruling that the McAllen, TX director does not need to provide a deposition to the Texas Attorney General on the charity's work with #migrants. https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/24/texas-border-charities-migrants-attorney-general-investigation-court-r/

High-speed #carchases on surface streets have frequently injured passersby and done significant property damage. They should not be normalized, especially for #traffic infractions. https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/newsom-oakland-police-chase-19597534.php?

CA's #cable companies are slowly snuffing out public channels which provide access to government meetings and to the public. The Public Utilities Commission is holding public hearings on imposing new customer service standards on cable companies, including protecting public channels as well as not screwing over their customers. You can help by making a public comment. More info here: acmwest.org/cpuc

LA City Attorney interferes with transparency audits by LA City controller Ken Mejia into SF-based #homelessness nonprofit Urban Alchemy. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/urban-alchemy-los-angeles-homelessness/

Oakland announces locations for the 16 authorized #speedcameras allowed by the State in the #AB645 pilot program. https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/oakland-speed-camera-locations-announced/

"More than a dozen congressional Democrats excoriated the companies for allegedly abusive industry practices that heap #debt onto vulnerable people who are already living in #poverty." #electronicmonitoring https://theappeal.org/private-probation-electronic-monitoring-congress-democrats/

Prop 34 is a hit job against one nonprofit that ignores political donation efforts in every other sector besides rent control. Selective enforcement is bad. Californians should reject this hamhanded proposal from the CA Apartment Assn. https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/aids-healthcare-ballot-measure-19578138.php

Documents show that the LA Sheriff Department under Villanueva pursued a multi-year investigation against #oversight officials that their own legal advisors called unfounded and state DOJ refused to pursue. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-07-19/inside-the-sheriffs-departments-secretive-investigation-into-oversight-officials

2.6 million Californians live dangerously close to #oil wells that are in #wildfire zones. https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-07-21/wildfires-pose-increasing-risk-to-california-oil-wells

Media Alliance's summer action alert has three things you can do to protect communication rights now. https://takeaction.salsalabs.org/ca-actions-summer-2024/index.html

#Immigrant detainees at GEO Group facilities ask the state to enforce their labor rights by filing an OSHA complaint for forced labor. https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/07/detainees-immigrants-labor-rights/

Academic publisher Taylor and Francis sells the content of its books to Microsoft for infusion into #ai Nobody asked the authors. https://www.thebookseller.com/news/academic-authors-shocked-after-taylor--francis-sells-access-to-their-research-to-microsoft-ai

Sonoma County sheriff #oversight board IOLERO sues the sheriff for failure to complay with an agency subpoena. https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/sheriff-oversight-whistleblower-subpoena-fight/

Elon Musk still trying to challenge #AB587 years later. The bill requires social media companies to share information about how they combat #disinformation on their platforms with the CA Department of Justice. https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/musks-x-asks-us-appeals-court-block-california-content-moderation-law-2024-07-17/

"The one major study of land-use reforms across the United States shows that, during the three to nine years after a city enacts upzoning and other density-increasing measures, new housing supply increases by less than 1 percent". #Housing https://newrepublic.com/article/179147/case-against-yimbyism-yimbytown-2024

3 actions you can take right now to support communication rights. MA summer action alert. https://takeaction.salsalabs.org/ca-actions-summer-2024

Tennessee judge rules that the release of a school shooter's manifesto and artwork to the Tenneseean newspaper via a #publicrecords request can de denied because it violates #copyright law. FPF is right that this is a scary precedent. https://freedom.press/news/copyright-and-public-records-dont-mix/