"The tally provided by the Corrections Department is less than half the amount – 29,000 to 30,000 – that has been cited in published reports of inmates as participating in the event, which has been described as the state’s largest prison inmate protest."
"The protest targets conditions faced by prisoners, including prolonged solitary confinement. Prisoners have also filed a federal class action suit against the state claiming a violation of Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights."
"Judge Lawrence Karlton said prisoners' lawyers said severe staffing shortages, wait lists and even "denial of basic necessities including clean underwear" may be harming mentally ill prisoners. His order requires a court-appointed monitor to report back in 75 on those conditions. The judge said he is holding off on issuing further orders until he receives that report."
"The Department of State Hospitals had no immediate response. Michael Bien, lead attorney for prisoners in the long-running class-action suit, called Karlton's latest ruling "pretty much a victory."
And as all this was going on, the prison system got a new leader -- the Senate confirmed Jeffrey Beard as the new secretary of corrections.
From the AP's Don Thompson: "The state Senate on Thursday confirmed Gov. Jerry Brown's choice to lead California's troubled prison system on the same day that a new challenge arose from a federal judge...."
"State Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, chairwoman of the Senate Public Safety Committee, said the corrections system is in crisis and she supported Beard's appointment because of his experience as the reform-minded head of Pennsylvania's corrections system for nine years before he came to California."
"Republicans objected to Beard's confirmation because of the prison system's ongoing shift in sentencing thousands of lower-level criminals to county jails instead of state prisons to ease crowding. Though that law was passed before Beard's appointment to the $225,000-a-year job in December, he is carrying out the law that "continues the darkness of risk to our families," said Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber."
Heading southward, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, under fire for sexual harassment, has refused to resign.
From Reuters' Marty Graham: "San Diego Mayor Bob Filner admitted on Thursday to behaving inappropriately toward female staff members but indicated he would not resign, saying he wants to prove he is "capable of change."
"He was responding to calls for his resignation made at a news conference by a former city councilwoman and two lawyers who said at least one woman has accused the mayor of dubious behavior. The former councilwoman said Filner, 70, had sexually harassed female staff members."
"The two attorneys, Marco Gonzalez and Cory Briggs, declined to provide details and said the alleged harassment did not rise to the level of criminal behavior. They said the woman or women who made the accusations wanted to remain anonymous."
The fate of hundreds of beach "fire rings" -- where people for generations have built bonfires on the sand -- may be decided today by the Southern California Air Quality Management District.
From the LAT's Tony Barboza: "The dispute, raging for months and fed by underlying claims of elitism by wealthy oceanfront neighborhoods, is expected to come to a head today. The South Coast district board will hold a public hearing in Diamond Bar before voting on new restrictions proposed for beach fire rings. Hundreds of beach bonfire boosters are expected to turn out in support of a ritual they consider synonymous with the California lifestyle."
"The dispute began earlier this year as Newport Beach proposed removing all 60 of its beach fire rings near the Balboa Pier and at Corona del Mar State Beach. The state Coastal Commission, which has jurisdiction over coastal land use and access, opposed the move, saying it would limit the public's right to low-cost oceanfront recreation."
"Beach fires have been exempt from air quality regulations for years. That's why air quality regulators stepped into the dispute. They didn't want the Coastal Commission using that exemption to suggest that open fire rings pose no health risk."
And from our "Hot Brits" file comes word that folks in the UK are bracing for a ferocious heat wave as temperatures hit just under 86 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Celsius). You have to be kidding: In Sacramento at 86 degrees, we put on our sweaters.
"Temperatures are expected to climb close to heatwave thresholds across the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions during Friday and Saturday, with highs of 29°C expected. The highest temperatures transfer southwards to affect East of England, Southeast England, London and parts of Southwest England during Saturday and Sunday. Saturday will see the hottest day of the year with temperatures reaching the low 30s in the south east."
"The Heat-Health Watch system operates in England from 1 June to 15 September each year in association with the Department of Health."
"The Heat-Health Watch system comprises four levels of response based upon threshold maximum daytime and minimum night-time temperatures. These thresholds vary by region, but an average threshold temperature is 30 °C by day and 15 °C overnight."
