At a California Senate hearing yesterday, legislators probed claims that price gouging, not low supply as claimed by the oil and gas industry, has been responsible for the wildly swinging gasoline prices of the last few months. Tiffany Hsu has the story for the Los Angeles Times:
“Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) chaired the hearing and returned several times to one suspicion: that the tiny pool of refiners responsible for producing California’s unique fuel blends may be colluding to keep prices artificially high.
“’Do we have monopolies on fuel in California?’ he asked. ‘We want to know if we don’t have a competitive-enough market to keep prices low.’
“Gas prices soared about $1 a gallon last month in California, making the fuel more expensive than anywhere else in the country. Prices have fallen this month, but at an average of $3.25 a gallon Tuesday, gasoline in the state still costs 82 cents a gallon more than elsewhere in the U.S.”
California senators will hold the first hearing today on SB 128, a right-to-die bill introduced after the death of Brittany Maynard, a terminally ill California woman who moved to Oregon in order to take advantage of that state’s Death With Dignity law. Maynard’s family will testify. Meanwhile, some right-to-die activists are already helping suffering people end their lives. Lisa M. Krieger has the story at the San Jose Mercury News.
"’The sneaking around ... feels awful. It shouldn't have to be that way,’ said Myriam Coppens, a Santa Cruz resident who has served as a ‘guide’ in the deaths of 16 people with advanced cancer, neurological diseases or incurable illnesses.
"’This right is so fundamental to me,’ said Coppens, a 74-year-old grandmother, retired nurse, family therapist and volunteer with the Final Exit Network, a right-to-die group that sees its guidance as a legally protected form of free speech. ‘How can you say no to someone who has a legitimate need -- people struggling with crippling pain that cannot be taken care of with medication, or who face unbearable indignities?’"
Democratic members of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus yesterday announced a package of legislation aimed at addressing pay equity and other issues they say negatively impact California women.
From Patrick McGreevy at the LA Times: “The half-dozen bills include a measure by Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) that would repeal a rule for the state’s CalWORKS system that prohibits additional aid for a child born into a family already receiving assistance from the welfare system….
The caucus members also backed legislation by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) that would require food and retail employers with more than 500 workers to provide work schedules at least two weeks in advance and would require additional pay for last-minute changes… [and] Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), the caucus chairwoman, has introduced legislation aimed at closing the pay gap between men and women.
California is the first state in the nation to get more than 5% of its power from solar energy. David Baker has the story at the San Francisco Chronicle:
“The federal government reported Tuesday that California has become the first state to get 5 percent of its electricity from large-scale solar power installations. In 2014, solar power plants in California generated 9.9 million megawatt hours of electricity, more than all other states combined.
“And the report, from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, doesn’t even count the output of rooftop solar arrays on homes and many businesses. Only installations capable of generating at least 1 megawatt of electricity were included.”
Secretary of State Alex Padilla has proposed automatically registering every eligible Californian to vote.
Western water expert Pat Mulroy issued a blunt warning at the California Water Policy Conference in Claremont last week: resolve Delta water issues before California’s farms are decimated.
“’Is California really going to exit the global food chain? Does California really believe that exiting the global food chain is not going to have consequences in other parts of the world? It is. You can’t add two billion people to the planet and not think about global food supply,’ she said…
“’Think about the concept. You protect the system in order to avoid it going into shortages – not to benefit yourself alone but to benefit the larger system.’
“Mulroy urged leaders to take action now. ‘Our world is changing; everything is changing around us,’ she said. ‘Can we get along with one another long enough to help mitigate against the environmental impacts? Because just saying “no” won’t do it. Just saying no won’t solve the problem.’”
What did it take for renters in Milton, Massachusetts to earn the coveted title “Worst Tenants EVER”? For starters, they poured cement down every drain. To take it up a notch, they rewired the house to explode the first time a light switch was thrown.
“The homeowner, his attorney and an electrical inspector were conducting a pre-sale inspection when the electrician discovered the mechanism, Milton Police Chief Richard G. Wells Jr. told reporters Tuesday. Boston police bomb specialists worked in the house, on Craig Street in Milton, for several hours before declaring it disarmed and safe.
"’It took some work to put it in there,’ said Wells, who described the mechanism as involving wires meticulously snaking through several rooms from a gallon container of an incendiary substance, which was ‘secreted inside the house,’ to a particular light switch.
“Milton police were called on a vandalism complaint last week to the house, which was being occupied by renters. When they arrived last week, officers found that the house's drains had been plugged with cement.”
"’..I have never seen anything like this,’ said Wells, who said the would-be bomber or bombers ‘definitely had malicious intent in what they did.’"
