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| State report sheds light on snooping into UCLA Medical Center files on Farrah Fawcett and Britney Spears The passwords of 14 more people affiliated with the hospital, including four doctors, were apparently used to improperly view records By Charles Ornstein, Los Angeles Times California health regulators have connected 14 more people affiliated with UCLA Medical Center, including four physicians, to the improper viewing of celebrity medical records, bringing the number of current and former workers apparently implicated in the snooping scandal to 68. The additional violations came to light in a report by the California Department of Public Health, which was sent to the hospital Friday. The findings are the latest to stem from reports in The Times about UCLA employees' prying into records of celebrities and co-workers. The regulators faulted UCLA for failure to maintain patient confidentiality and report the breaches to regulators. The key findings relate to the activities of Lawanda J. Jackson, a longtime administrative specialist who allegedly pried into the medical records of 61 patients, including celebrities and co-workers. |
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Nunez leaves mixed legacy as Assembly speaker By Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee Often, Núñez was his own worst enemy. His early days as speaker were marked by a tendency to butcher syntax, leaving listeners wondering whether he really knew anything about the topics on which he was expounding. He later became more polished, but his association with Schwarzengger's movie star lifestyle led to some excesses, such as spending many thousands of dollars of campaign funds on high-flying foreign travel. In the Governor's office: Schwarzenegger drops plan for early release of 22,000 inmates By Andy Furillo, Sacramento Bee Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has dumped his plan to release about 22,000 lower-risk inmates from prison before they complete their terms, The Bee learned Monday. The revised budget he will present on Wednesday will jettison the plan, which would have freed prisoners doing time for crimes such as drug possession and car theft who had less than 20 months to go on their terms. The governor had sought the change as part of a 10 percent, across-the-board general fund budget cut to deal with a multibillion-dollar deficit. His plan was unlikely, however, to win support in upcoming budget negotiations. Not a single legislator in the state had expressed support for the idea. Press secretary Aaron McLear confirmed that Schwarzenegger will drop the early release plan but declined to comment further. In the Legislature: Lawmakers see potential, untapped gold mine in surplus land By Steve Geissinger, Contra Costa Times Legislators plan to grill state officials today about failure to sell surplus land, call for a full accounting of unneeded property, and question the University of California about retaining a donated parcel in the South Pacific. Spurred by MediaNews reports last month, lawmakers want to explore whether longtime but ignored recommendations for streamlining sales of surplus property in high-value markets, such as the Bay Area, could finally be implemented to reduce a budget deficit of perhaps $20 billion. "Many legislators are pointing to the millions of acres of land and thousands of buildings, some in high-end real estate markets such as the San Francisco Bay Area, as an overlooked and vital resource," according to a statement by the Senate Governmental Organization Committee. Watchdog organizations that have urged reform in the past — the State Auditor's Office and the Legislative Analyst's Office — will update their suggestions. Senate passes casino limits Measure bars Indian gaming compacts without land deals By E.J. Schultz, Fresno Bee In a sign that lawmakers aren't pleased with the recent Highway 99 casino deal, the state Senate on Monday passed a bill that would prohibit the governor from negotiating gambling compacts with Indian tribes until they have qualified gaming land. Campaign and election news: Acting Orange County sheriff orders opponent's fundraising e-mails deleted By Stuart Pfeifer and Christine Hanley, Los Angeles Times In yet another political skirmish within the Orange County Sheriff's Department, acting Sheriff Jack Anderson ordered his staff to delete an e-mail sent to hundreds of deputies inviting them to a fundraiser for Anderson's political rival, the department said Monday. Anderson said he made the decision last week because he believed the e-mail violated department policy -- and perhaps state law -- that prohibits the use of county resources for political campaigns. The e-mail was sent to the deputies' departmental e-mail accounts. Fargo can't explain Sacramento's rising crime rate By Daniel Weintraub, Sacramento Bee After seven years as mayor of Sacramento, Heather Fargo apparently lacks even a basic grasp of one of her city's biggest problems: its rising crime rate. In an interview with The Bee's editorial board last week, Fargo not only downplayed the issue, she did not seem to know that Sacramento had the second-highest crime rate among California's 10 largest cities, trailing only Oakland. Nor did Fargo know that Sacramento's crime rate has soared on her watch, while crime in many other large California cities has dropped. Education news: Pair charged in abuse case are back at school Prosecutors criticize L.A. schools chief for allowing officials who allegedly failed to report a molestation claim to return to their campus jobs By Richard Winton and Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times Los Angeles County prosecutors were sharply critical Monday of L.A. school district Supt. David L. Brewer's decision to send two high school administrators back to work on campus after they were criminally charged with failing to report a student's claims that she was sexually abused by a substitute teacher. David Demerjian, head of the Los Angeles district attorney's Public Integrity Division, said it's "very unusual" for public officials accused of a crime to be allowed to return to their jobs -- particularly when they deal with children. EdFund executives seek at least $3 million in severance By Judy Lin, Sacramento Bee The executive staff of EdFund, the student loan guarantor the state plans to sell to a private investor, has crafted its own severance package worth more than $3 million. According to a copy of the severance agreement obtained by The Bee, seven members of EdFund's executive staff could each receive two years' worth of salaries, bonuses and medical coverage. They would be entitled to as much as $20,000 each to help them find new jobs. EdFund would also be on the hook for any "golden parachute tax" they would have to pay the state and federal governments. The severance package, which requires approval from EdFund's board of directors, is raising eyebrows in the Capitol. Sen. Bob Margett, a Republican from Arcadia who sits on the Senate budget subcommittee on education, said the package smelled of "cronyism." CSU trustees to consider 10 percent fee increase By Bill Lindelof, Sacramento Bee California State University trustees will be looking at a fee increase for college students at a Wednesday meeting. Faced with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $386 million budget reduction proposal for the 23-campus university system, the fee increase proposal for undergraduate, graduate and teacher credential students would go up by 10 percent. Fees would increase by $276 for undergraduate students, $324 for teacher credential students and $342 for graduate students effective in the fall 2008. The university system would set aside one-third of the fee increase revenue to bolster financial aid for needy students. Around the state:
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Pensions for all By the Los Angeles Times With the baby boom generation beginning to retire, it's past time for us to reverse course on savings. Let public in on government labor deals By the Sacramento Bee Peter Scheer, who heads the California First Amendment Coalition, has a novel idea: End the secrecy surrounding local government labor contract negotiations. You can understand the logic and the urgency behind his idea when you consider the situation in Vallejo. That city is filing for bankruptcy. Why? Local officials approved salary and benefits costs for current employees and retirees that are more than the city can afford. Dems, Republicans join to fight state `Lexus lanes' By the Los Angeles Daily News Bipartisanship can come in two forms, the good and the bad. Good bipartisanship is when parties put their differences aside to work for the public interest. Bad bipartisanship is when they put their differences aside to work against it. And in the drive to create "Lexus lanes" on California's freeways, we're seeing plenty of the bad kind of partisanship. Democratic Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Bush administration all want to turn a few state HOV lanes into toll roads. They would, in effect, charge the public to use roads that the public itself paid to build. Let's talk taxes By Karen Bass, Los Angeles Times I believe part of that job has to involve looking at the big picture. We have to ask the question of whether a tax structure that was established in the 1930s is sufficient to meet the needs of Californians in 2008. In budget fight, put classrooms first By Murtaza Baxamusa and Susan Duerksen, San Diego Union-Tribune The San Diego Unified School District board will vote this afternoon on laying off more than 900 teachers. The consequences of that vote will ripple far beyond the careers of those educators and into San Diego's economic future. |
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