The Inquisitr » california

Disability claimant caught out working… on TV

Kim LaCapria — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:07:40 +0000

Insurance companies work hard to root out claimants with false injuries and unreported secondary income.

It makes their jobs a lot easier when your secret source of income springs from appearing on HGTV. California disability recipient Ronald E. Hunt, 56, kept on working as a designer for the channel (the pic above is a dazzling redo of a tired A-frame courtesy of Hunt), and his dual source of cash flow remained intact until an insurance company employee spotted Hunt on the channel and snitched to the California Department of Insurance.

A statement by the California Franchise Tax Board says:

“An investigation confirmed Hunt intentionally and knowingly concealed his secondary employment from his disability insurance company by falsifying written statements and deceiving a company field representative.”

Official say that while on disability, Hunt earned in excess of $400,000 and did not pay income tax. Hunt was slapped with 60 months of probation and 200 hours of community service, as well as $180,000 in fines and restitution.

Feds ease up on cancer-stricken tokers

Kim LaCapria — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:08:11 +0000

Medical marijuana has evolved into a state vs. federal law argument, with the notable example of a thriving medical marijuana industry in California.

Aside from California, 13 other states allow use of marijuana for medical reasons ranging from anxiety and insomnia to glaucoma and cancer- Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Colorado is also notable for the presence of dispensaries, and Rhode Island and New Mexico are working on licensing providers for medical marijuana.

Attorney General Eric Holder stated in March that feds should pursue medical marijuana users that violate federal laws, but a memo was expected to be sent to states advising that prosecuting medical marijuana cases is not a prudent usage of law enforcement manpower. While those who are operating within state guidelines can breathe a little more easily, feds acknowldge they will be just as aggressive in pursuing parties that use medical marijuana as a cover for other illegal activity.

Holder clarified the change of heart and policy in a statement:

“It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal,” Holder said in a statement accompanying the new guidelines. “This balanced policy formalizes a sensible approach that the Department has been following since January: effectively focus our resources on serious drug traffickers while taking into account state and local laws.”

Mud, Rain Hit California Counties Razed By Summer Wildfires

AHN — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:30:15 +0000

Santa Cruz, CA (AHN) – After being hit by wildfires that raged for weeks, counties in Southern California are now under heavy rain and darkness, as a strong October storm downed power lines and brought as much as 10 inches of rain in some areas. Officials and residents are on alert for erosion from the surrounding hills stripped of vegetation by summer fires.

About 60 homes along Swanton Road in Santa Cruz County, where the Lockheed Fire had burned, have been evacuated. The San Lorenzo Valley high school, middle school, and elementary schools are closed, as are a number of roads due to fallen trees with wires, flooding, and mudslides.

The Lockheed Fire had burned 7,817 acres and for nearly two weeks before it was fully contained by more than 800 fire personnel late August. The blaze had cost $26.6 million to extinguish.

The area burnt by Lockheed received 10.68 inches of rain on Tuesday, according to the California Forestry and Fire Protection. The downpour is expected to continue through the rest of the week.

In Santa Barbara County, the site of a massive 89,489-acre fire over the summer, up to 5 inches of rain is expected. A flash flood warning has been issued and residents have been filling sandbags to protect from mudslides.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County has issued a mudflow forecast. The level of erosion is expected to reach Phase I in Acton, Glendale, La Canada, La Crescenta, and Tujunga — all areas near where the 160,577-acre Station Fire, the 10th largest blaze in the state since 1933 and the largest in the county’s history, killed two firefighters, injured 12 people and destroyed 82 homes in August.

Schwarzenegger Signs Two Historic Gay Rights Bills

AHN — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:15:20 +0000

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two bills on Monday that add further positive momentum to the gay rights struggle. California’s top lawmaker signed a bill that to gives the state a day to celebrate fallen politician Harvey Milk and another recognizing the rights and benefits of legally married same-sex couples.

Schwarzenegger attached the following statement to the same-sex couple law: “As required by Proposition 8, California will not recognize such couples as ‘married.’ However, Senate Bill 54 will provide the same legal protections that would otherwise be available to couples that enter into civil unions or domestic partnerships out-of-state. In short, this measure honors the will of the People in enacting Proposition 8 while providing important protections to those unions legally entered into in other states.”

The announcement of his signature on the Milk bill is one that came as a surprise to many since Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill last year. His office declined to say what prompted the change in his position.

Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. According to the bill, Milk garnered his place in history as being the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in a major U.S. city. However, in 1978 he was assassinated by a disgruntled former supervisor.

California Teen Sweethearts In Murder-Suicide

AHN — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:26:22 +0000

Fremont, CA (AHN) – A 17-year-old girl was shot dead Friday by her boyfriend, who then turned the gun on himself and was seriously wounded, according to police in Fremont, California.

Police only identified the girl and the boy, who is in grave condition at a local hospital, as sweethearts who were exchanging a mobile phone along Millard Avenue when the shooting took place at 7 p.m. The motive of the shooting is still being determined by investigators.

Police responding to gunfire found the two teenagers lying on the street in front of a home. The girl had a gunshot wound in the head, A small-caliber handgun was found in the scene.

Death Penalty Sought For CA Sunday School Teacher In Rape, Murder Case

AHN — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:00:50 +0000

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in a case against a former California Sunday school teach who allegedly murdered an 8-year-old girl. In addition to murder, Melissa Huckaby, 28, is also charged with kidnapping along with lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14 and rape by instrument.

In July, Huckaby was indicted on a murder charge and three special circumstances in the death of Sandra Cantu. According to court documents she allegedly killed the young girl during the commission of a rape making her eligible for execution if convicted. Huckaby was also accused of sexually assaulting a child younger than 10.

Eight-year-old Sandra Cantu’s body was found April 6th in the bottom of a lake stuffed into a suitcase. The victim was last seen alive March 27 in the mobile home park where her family resides. Huckaby’s daughter was a playmate of the victim and they also lived in the same Tracy, California mobile home park.

Huckaby’s grandfather Clifford Lane Lawless serves as pastor of the nearby church, Clover Road Baptist where she taught Sunday School. During the initial investigation the church was thoroughly searched by law enforcement officials.

In addition to the charges surrounding Cantu’s death, Huckaby also faces charges for allegedly poisoning two people, one being a 7-year-old girl.

During Thursday’s hearing in San Joaquin County Superior Court, Huckaby pleaded not guilty. In a move believed to be foreshadowing a strategy by the defense Judge Linda Lofthus revealed that Huckaby’s lawyer had hired a change-of-venue expert from California State University Chico, suggesting that Huckaby wants to move her trial elsewhere.

Lofthus also denied Huckaby’s motion to remove her lawyer Deputy Public Defender Sam Behar, from the case. However, she did enact a gag order, thereby preventing lawyers from talking about the case outside court.

Huckaby’s next court date is Sept. 25, at which time the judge could set a trial date, possibly in March.

In addition to the charges surrounding Cantu’s death, Huckaby also faces charges for allegedly poisoning two people, one being a 7-year-old girl.

Huckaby’s next court date is Sept. 25, at which time the judge could set a trial date, possibly in March.

Fire truck falls into sinkhole [Video]

Steven Hodson — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:38:44 +0000

Firemen are use to strange and unusual things to happen while their on the job but I somehow doubt that they ever expected to find themselves and their truck falling into a sinkhole.

This was the case though today in Valley Village, Los Angeles, as the truck and crew were on their way to a reported water main break when they found themselves in a flooded area that was hiding the sinkhole. The truck ended up in the hole with the backend protruding at a 45-degree angle.

It took crews with a crane the better part of five hours to extract the truck from the hole. Luckily none of the firemen were injured in the incident.

View more news videos at: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/video.

Investigators Test Bone Found In Yard Near Garrido’s Home

AHN — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:30:52 +0000

A bone fragment has been found in a backyard near the Antioch home of a convicted rapist who kidnapped a girl and held her as a sex slave for 18 years.

DNA test is being conducted on the likely human bone as part of a parallel investigation of a serial killing in the 1990s, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s office Tuesday.

Phillip Garrido, 58, together with his 54-year-old wife, had been charged with the kidnapping of Jayceen Lee Duggard in 1991 when she was 11 years old. Garrido is also facing charges of sexually abusing Duggard over the years until her rescue on Aug. 26.

Duggard was discovered by police living in a tent at the back of Garrido’s home he shares with his wife. Also found were two daughters of Duggard believed to be fathered by Garrido.

Investigators suspect that Garrido may also be behind the killing of several young women in the 1990s and the bone fragment found last week may give clues to the said crimes.

Garrido and his wife are detained at the El Dorado County Jail.

A bone fragment has been found in a backyard near the Antioch home of a convicted rapist who kidnapped a girl and held her as a sex slave for 18 years.

DNA test is being conducted on the likely human bone as part of a parallel investigation of a serial killing in the 1990s, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s office Tuesday.

Duggard was discovered by police living in a tent at the back of Garrido’s home he shares with his wife. Also found were two daughters of Duggard believed to be fathered by Garrido.

Investigators suspect that Garrido may also be behind the killing of several young women in the 1990s and the bone fragment found last week may give clues to the said crimes.

Garrido and his wife are detained at the El Dorado County Jail.

Wildfire Arsonist Could Face Death Penalty

AHN — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:00:22 +0000

A suspicious substance has been found in the brush off the highway in the area where officials believe the wildfire that scorched almost 150,000 acres of land near Los Angeles and killed two firefighters started.

If investigators can show the fires were started intentionally, the arsonist, if caught, could face the death penalty, law enforcement officials told the Los Angeles Times.

The fire was almost half-way contained by Sunday. It has cost almost $40 million in damages. The Times reported that even if the fire was started accidentally, the person or people responsible could face involuntary manslaughter or negligent homicide charges.

Investigators have not identified the substance they found. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or people who started the blaze.

If investigators can show the fires were started intentionally, the arsonist, if caught, could face the death penalty, law enforcement officials told the Los Angeles Times.

Update: Angeles National Forest Fire Now Over 140,000 Acres; Emergency Declared In San Bernardino County

AHN — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:20:36 +0000

California firefighters continue to battle a number of wildfires. The one in the Angeles National Forest is now at 140,000 acres and a state of emergency has been proclaimed in San Bernardino, where there are two wildfires, one of which has cost $3.6 million so far to contain.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday made the declaration after visiting the fire south of Oak Glen and Potato Canyon. So far 1,012 acres have been burned since the blaze, dubbed the Oak Glen fire, began on Aug. 30. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

Containment is now at 75 percent, and full containment is expected next Monday. A total of 1,744 personnel are working to control the fire using 182 engines, seven air tankers, 10 water tenders and 14 bulldozers.

Three injuries have been confirmed, and one home has been damaged. Thousands of structures are still in danger of being burned.

An evacuation center has been set up at the Yucaipa Community Center. A shelter for large animals is at Yucaipa Equestrian Center along California Road. Oak Glen Road from Chagall Road to Wildwood Canyon Road is still closed.

In Yucaipa still in San Bernardino, the Pendleton fire has grown to 860 acres. Authorities are still investigating what caused the blaze on Monday. So far $655,000 has been spent trying to extinguish it; complete containment is expected by Friday.

Meanwhile, the fire near Acton in the Angeles National Forest that killed two firefighters on Sunday is now at 140,150 acres. Located on Highway 2, north of La Canada and Flintridge, the massive blaze dubbed Station Fire has 4,128 personnel battling it.

Efforts have been impeded by the extremely difficult terrain, vegetation that has not burned for over four decades and hot and dry weather conditions. Authorities first estimate full containment by Sept. 15, but they now say the fire will be extinguished next Tuesday.

Mandatory evacuations are still in effect in Altadena, Acton, Tujunga, while voluntary evacuations are being implemented in Juniper Hills, Littlerock, and Glendale.

Evacuation centers are at Crescenta Valley High School, Golden Valley High School, La Canada High School, Marie Kerr Park and Verdugo High School.

Shelters for small animals are at Augora Humane Society, Baldwin Park Shelter, Lancaster Humane Society, Palmdale Humane Society and the Pasadena Humane Society. Large animals can be brought to Antelope Valley Fair Grounds and Pierce College.

Angeles National Forest covers more than 650,000 acres that have elevations ranging between 1,200 to 10,064 feet. Officials had raised the fire danger level in the forest from high to very high in July, citing the continued drying out of vegetation and the 79 wildfires in and around the forest in the previous two months.

California Fires Finally Contained

AHN — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:06:37 +0000

Los Padres National Forest, CA (AHN) – After weeks of work by hundreds of personnel, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection over the weekend finally declared the fires in the Los Padres National Forest and in Santa Cruz county extinguished.

The La Brea fire that began in the afternoon of Aug. 8 in Santa Barbara County was 100 percent contained on Saturday, but some areas of Los Padres National Forest remain closed. A total of 901 personnel using 56 helicopters and 17 bulldozers had worked to control the blaze, which was started by a cooking fire at a marijuana drug trafficking operation.

The fire grew to 89,489 acres, burning 10,000 acres a day and over 20,000 in one mid-week day.

In Santa Cruz, the Lockheed fire was successfully contained late Sunday after burning 7,817 acres since the night of Aug. 12. All evacuations have been lifted, but CalFire says threat levels remain low in parts of Bonny Doon and Swanton and that residents should be on the lookout for possible fire activity in the areas.

Fifty engines, five bulldozers and 28 water tenders were used by 819 personnel to extinguish the Lockheed fire, the cause of which is still being investigated. Costs of the operation totaled $26.6 million.

Schwarzenegger embraces open source digital text books, shame it won’t solve the budget problem

Duncan Riley — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:38:33 +0000

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has embraced open source digital text books for California schools as a way to save the state money.

The proposal, as part of Schwarzenegger’s plan to cut California’s budget deficit, would save the state around $350 million a year. The figure would usually be highly impressive, until you consider that the California is currently suffering a $24 billion budget gap.

Pundits though consider the move a positive one (despite the small saving), and note that California embracing open source digital text books could be the start of a national movement. Other states, many desperate to make cuts of their own, may follw California’s lead.

Another reason in favor of the move is the ability for digital text books to remain up-to-date; print text books in California are only refreshed on a six year basis. “So just think about the last six years, all the things that happened,” Schwarzenegger said. “For instance, the Iraq war, the country’s first African-American president … all of this you wouldn’t have in those textbooks.”

NIMBY, or why most green efforts will fail

Steven Hodson — Sun, 10 May 2009 17:49:02 +0000

Six months ago sixty-one percent of Peninsula, California, residents voted to support a statewide measure to pledge $9.95 billion for a high-speed rail system. It would ultimately provide high-speed rail travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco making the trip in two hours and 40 minutes. The proposed project is estimated to carry some 94 million passengers by the year 2030.

Part of the green movement is the idea of using massive wind and solar farms located in areas outside of large cities. These farms are estimated, depending on who you talk to, to provide up to 40 percent of needed electrical power in the short term.

The problem is that these efforts to make our cities and society more environmentally responsible are facing some serious roadblocks. It isn’t anything to do with the technology as in many cases we already have the abilities to pull off such projects. The biggest roadblock, once the initial flush of ‘doing the right thing’ has worn off is that old bugaboo – Not In My Backyard, otherwise known as NIMBY.

This is one of the biggest problems facing wind and solar farms. While the actual farms are in outlying areas where they are able to collect all that renewable energy without bothering most people the problem comes in trying to get that energy to its destination point – the cities. To do this means putting up transmission lines and nobody wants these monstrosities anywhere near their homes, which at some point they will have to.

Now we come to the high-speed rail project in California and find that this NIMBY attitude is starting to show its head as people start worrying about the effect the rail system will have on their property values. The people involved try and cover up much of the rhetoric with phrases like “ … no socio-geographic distinction to being on one side of the tracks.” and where the residents were given enough information before the vote.

But when push comes to shove the underlying principal behind NIMBY is an economic one as pointed out by Martin Engel in an San Francisco Examiner post by Will Reisman

“Our home values will absolutely plummet with the prospect of 200 trains a day going by outside,” he said.

The reality is that going ‘green’ isn’t going to be cheap. What is in question though is if a better environmental future is something we really have the stomach to reach for even if it means having to be in your backyard. As it stands right now we mouth the words about how important it is to go green but when it comes down to it costing us personally that all changes. It’s okay to be green as long as it is someone else’s backyard that they need to use but the moment it is your backyard, or wallet, going green suddenly needs more consultation and expensive reviews.

Ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman confirms California Governor run

Duncan Riley — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:17:32 +0000

Ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman has confirmed that she is running for Governor of California.

Whitman took the first formal step today, launching a committee to back her campaign.

“California faces challenges unlike any other time in its history – a weak and faltering economy, massive job losses, and an exploding state budget deficit,” Whitman said in a statement. “I refuse to stand by and watch it fail.”

Whitman also launched her website at megwhitman.com, with a slogan of Meg 2010, and the following opening statement

A New California, simply put, is returning California to the time when it ranked first among the nation in prosperity, education, and quality of life. Meg Whitman believes that, together we can rebuild our Golden State.

Despite its liberal voting base, California has a history of voting for Republican Governors.

(in part via Reuters)

High speed rail coming to California

Steven Hodson — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:08:08 +0000

The U.S. election has come and gone, the Prop8 nay and yea teams are still smacking each other around and one of the more interesting things to come out California since the election is being missed by just about everyone. You see the folks in California voted for another proposition that was on their ballots and could see the state reduce greenhouse gases by up to 12.7 billion pounds per year. Yup that billions with a capital ‘B’ folks and given that California is the 12th largest source of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet this is pretty cool stuff.

So how are they going to do this?

Well they voted in favour of an 800 mile long high speed train system that will run from Sacremento to San Diego and stop in every major city along the way. As well the the construction; which is slated to begin in 2011, will create some 450,000 jobs and in the end will reduce dependence on foreign oil by about 12 million barrels a year.

You can see more rendering and videos about the rail system at the Newlands & Company site.

[hat tip to Inhabitat]

You can take your Non-compete and….

Duncan Riley — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:10:48 +0000

In a decision that has interesting repercussions for the web industry, the California State Supreme Court has ruled that non-compete clauses in employment contracts are not enforceable in California.

Non-competes, for those who have never dealt with them, restrict employees who leave their existing jobs from taking a similar role in another company or to start a new company for a set period of time. The idea being that an employee cannot immediately use skills or knowledge gained from one employee for the benefit of others until a cooling off period has passed.

The court found that state law since 1872 has forbidden non-compete clauses that restrict management employees’ options after they leave a company, with lawyer Richard Frank telling the Chronicle that the decision “advances the strong California policy favoring open competition and employee freedom…Those have been drivers of the state’s economy, especially in the technology area.”

BoingBoing quotes an interesting study on the effects of a non-compete in generating innovation and growth:

I’m reminded of the study from the Duke Center for the Public Domain that concluded that the reason that the tech corridor on Route 128 near Boston had grown so much more slowly than Silicon Valley was that Massachusetts has enforceable non-competes, while California does not. The researcher concluded that in California, the best talent moved to the best companies, while on Route 128, crummy companies could lock up great people for years at a time through non-compete agreements.

I can see the side of the employer in this case: you invest in an employee, they gain intimate knowledge in the sector they work, but can walk out and use that knowledge to compete against you immediately and without restraint. Mark Zuckerberg worked on ConnectU then built Facebook while still working (sort-of) for ConnectU, a product both similar and a direct competitor.

From an employee viewpoint is it fair that employment contracts extend beyond the period of employment? In a free society, the freedom to move from one job to another without restraint should be a fundamental right, a right that encourages open freedom in corporate innovation.

I’ve been under a non-compete before, and despite it being a contract clause in a foreign country, so quite possibly unenforceable in my own country, I respected it none the less, because I believed it the right thing to do. However I walked away with some small financial reward so I was fortunate in not needing to find alternative employment, but my situation is rare. People are entitled to eat, and if their skill sets are defined within one specialty, a non-compete restricts the ability of employees from leaving a company and being able to put bread on the table, and no fair minded person could support that.

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