By Adam Beam, ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 27, 2020
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/11/27/calrecycle-chief-eyes-overhaul-o…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed a new head of the state's troubled recycling agency, who has pledged to overhaul its troubled bottle deposit system that has worsened during the pandemic.
By Janet Wilson, PALM SPRINGS DESERT SUN
November 26, 2020
https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2020/11/26/audit-calge…
California oil regulators ignored their own regulations and issued improper permits for hundreds of new wells last year, according to an audit by the state Department of Finance that was finalized this week.
By Alexei Koseff, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
November 23, 2020
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Newsom-s-French-Laundry-di…
SACRAMENTO - When he dined at the French Laundry in Yountville this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom enjoyed not only fine cuisine at a three-star Michelin restaurant, but also the company of several influential figures with regular business before his administration.
By Magda Ibrahim , THE SUN UK
November 19, 2020
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13239989/fury-california-lawmakers-hawaii…
EIGHT California lawmakers are facing a furious backlash after flying to Hawaii for a conference despite health officials warning against out-of-state travel amid a spike in coronavirus cases.
KCBS AM, San Francisco, CA
November 18, 2020
Click here to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment.
Activist Charles Johnson tells KCBS radio why he is more alarmed than most over Newsom’s French Laundry blunder.
By Lynn Walford, AUTO CONNECTED CAR NEWS
November 15, 2020
https://www.autoconnectedcar.com/2020/11/connected-cars-including-tesla…
The nonprofit, nonpartisan Consumer Watchdog released a video showing how a box it built with the help of technologists could hack into the wireless connection of a Tesla and take over the screen with a “This Tesla’s Been Hacked” message.
By Staff Reporters, KCRW 89.9FM Santa Monica, CA
November 13, 2020
Click here to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment: https://consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/RADKCRW_11-13-…
Jamie Court with Consumer Watchdog explains how easy it was to hack into a Tesla.
By Marivic Cabural Summers, USA HERALD
November 9, 2020
https://usaherald.com/zoom-settles-ftc-allegations-over-its-encryption-…
Zoom Video Communication (NASDAQ: ZM) agreed to settle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over its encryption to secure users’ data on its video conferencing platform.
By Jonathan Greig, TECH REPUBLIC
November 5, 2020
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/california-voters-back-new-data-pr…
Millions of California voters have backed a controversial amendment to the state's consumer privacy laws, voting in favor of Proposition 24 by a 56%-44% margin.
By Jocelyn Gecker, ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 4, 2020
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/11/03/expansion-of-landmark-california…
SAN FRANCISCO — Two years ago, California became the first state to pass a sweeping digital privacy law seen as the strongest of its kind in the United States. Early returns Tuesday showed a measure to refine and expand the law leading with 57% of more than 7 million votes counted.
By Staff Reporters, CBS Sacramento TV-13
November 4, 2020
https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2020/11/04/proposition-24-the-propositi…
Proposition 24 has passed, the Associated Press reports.
By Colin Staub, RESOURCE RECYCLING
November 3, 2020
https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2020/11/03/big-drop-in-califor…
Advocacy organization Consumer Watchdog recently noted the COVID-19 pandemic has slashed California’s beverage container recycling rate. But the state’s recycling agency called that analysis “inaccurate.”
By Max Pringle, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC PRESS
November 2, 2020
https://www.sfpublicpress.org/can-the-ballot-be-used-to-hold-local-gove…
San Francisco has faced many scandals in which public officials abused their power for personal, political or organizational gain. Most recently, the Department of Public Works was rocked by an FBI investigation into alleged kickbacks, slush funds and illicit permitting influence.
Critics worry that the curatives in Prop. 24 are worse than the disease of privacy-rights violations.
By Seth Rosenblatt, DARK READING
November 2, 2020
https://www.darkreading.com/endpoint/californias-prop-24-splits-privacy…
In a letter to the Senate Elections Committee, Consumer Watchdog questions the Big Tech company's motives
By Julia Musto, FOX BUSINESS
October 31, 2020
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/watchdog-group-calls-for-investiga…
By Patrick W. Dunne, DIGITAL PRIVACY NEWS
October 29, 2020
https://digitalprivacy.news/2020/10/29/privacy-experts-split-on-calif-s…
California residents will vote Tuesday on a divisive privacy initiative: Prop 24, also known as the California Privacy Rights and Enforcement Act.
In a year of record fires, record heat and the unprecedented Coronavirus in California, the City Council of Culver City, the site of the largest urban oil field in the U.S, voted on October 26 to phase out oil drilling. This vote took place as the Gavin Newsom Administration has expanded oil and gas drilling in California — and the City Council members hope that Newsom will take note of the historic decision.
By Dan Bacher, RED GREEN & BLUE
October 29, 2020
By Doug Sovern, KCBS AM San Francisco, CA
October 27, 2020
Click here to listen to Carmen Balber of Consumer Watchdog explain how Prop 24 will strengthen privacy protections in California: https://consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/2020-10/RADKCBS_Carmen…
By Nicole Nixon, KPBS, CAPITOL PUBLIC RADIO
October 23, 2020
https://www.kpbs.org/podcasts/san-diego-news-matters/2020/oct/23/candid…
Californians are voting on a dozen ballot propositions this election, including Prop 24, which would tweak the state’s new digital privacy law. CapRadio’s Nicole Nixon reports.
The Newsom administration has established a pattern of approving permits during busy news cycles.
By Steve Horn, CAPITAL & MAIN
October 23, 2020
https://capitalandmain.com/gov-newsom-pledges-to-ban-fracking-californi…
By Wendy Davis, MEDIAPOST DIGITAL NEWS DAILY
October 23, 2020
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/357145/consumer-reports-…
The influential watchdog Consumer Reports has endorsed a ballot initiative aimed at strengthening California's already broad privacy law.
By Lyle Adriano, INSURANCE BUSINESS AMERICA
October 20, 2020
https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/catastrophe/consumer-advoc…
Consumer advocate group Consumer Watchdog has issued a statement accusing the insurance industry of “exploiting” the California wildfires for its own financial gain.
By Dan Bacher, RED GREEN & BLUE
October 17, 2020
http://redgreenandblue.org/2020/10/17/ca-regulators-issue-6-new-frackin…
The agency approved the permits after an independent technical review by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, according to Matt Baker, Deputy Secretary for Energy of the California Natural Resources Agency.
By J. Jennings Moss, SILICON VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL
October 9, 2020
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2020/10/09/prop-24-would-…
By J. Jennings Moss – Silicon Valley Business Journal
10 hours ago
By Dakota Smith, LOS ANGELES TIMES
October 6, 2020
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-10-06/la-fined-serious-ab…
A Superior Court judge on Tuesday ordered the city of Los Angeles to pay a $2.5-million fine, ruling in favor of a consulting firm that accused City Atty. Mike Feuer’s office of concealing evidence in a high-profile lawsuit involving the Department of Water and Power.
By John Woolfolk, THE MERCURY NEWS
October 5, 2020
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/10/05/prop-24-big-tech-quiet-in-califo…
Proposition 24 on the November ballot is pitched as an expansion of California's already robust consumer data privacy law, an iron cuff on the claws of companies that profit handsomely from tracking and selling your online search, travel and purchase habits to marketers.
Host - Larry Mantle, AIR TALK - KPCC 89.3 FM SCPR Pasadena, CA
September 30, 2020
Click here to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment: https://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2020/09/30/66072/a-new-bill-aims-…
This November, Californians will find a new privacy bill on their ballots.
By John Wildermuth, THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
September 24, 2020
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Californians-could-sign-ba…
A consumer advocacy group wants to pull most of the rickety card tables, dog-eared paper petitions and pushy initiative signature gatherers from California's shopping centers and sidewalks and move it all to the internet.
By Janet Wilson, THE DESERT SUN
September 24, 2020
https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2020/09/23/newsom-aims…
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday vowed to work with the state legislature to phase out new permits for hydraulic fracking by 2024, but left untouched a more widely used oil extraction technique in the state that has been linked to hundreds of oil spills.
By Don Thompson, ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 23, 2020
https://apnews.com/article/legislature-climate-hydraulic-fracturing-env…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom moved Wednesday to end issuing new hydraulic fracturing permits by 2024, a delay criticized by many environmental groups but characterized as legally and politically realistic by another.
The U.S. as a nation spends more on health care than any other developed country but has worse health outcomes. How is this possible?
By Maura Hohman, TODAY
September 22, 2020
https://www.today.com/tmrw/why-healthcare-so-expensive-united-states-t1…
