By CAMILLE VON KAENEL and BLANCA BEGERT, POLITICO https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-climate/2023/10/19/jamie-courts-tactics-are-finally-working-00122633 DAY IN COURT: Jamie Court is on the ascent. The president of advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, long dismissed as a Sacramento gadfly, has chalked up some significant policy wins as the costs of climate change have started...

By Dakota Smith, LOS ANGELES TIMES https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-09-20/los-angeles-dwp-billing-investigation-ending-questions-remain It was a shocking sight on a July morning in 2019: An FBI van parked outside Los Angeles City Hall and agents upstairs, scouring the headquarters of the city attorney's office. The government was...

By Jason Henry, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS https://www.dailynews.com/2023/08/28/el-monte-officials-used-disappearing-message-app-to-coach-cannabis-applicant/ El Monte’s city manager and then-mayor used an application that automatically deleted text messages, potentially in violation of state law, to coach an applicant attempting to secure a retail cannabis license from...

By Kellie Hwang, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/grocery-stores-overcharging-18303789.php# Grocery stores and other retailers across the Bay Area have recently been caught overcharging customers, according to county inspectors — a problem that experts say happens far more than most people realize. In early...

By Staff Reporters, KQED – San Francisco, CA Click below to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment.

Requiring a more transparent Legislature and making agencies keep public records longer are good ideas. But will officials actually change their ways? By The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-u-t-editorial-board-staff.html Consumer Watchdog — the crusading organization that for decades has sought to...

By Staff Reporters, KPCC – Los Angeles, CA Click below to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment.

Consumer advocates say agencies' delays in producing records often exceed their own deadlines By John Woolfolk, EAST BAY TIMES https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/08/07/california-voters-made-public-records-a-right-will-they-give-it-more-teeth/# Nearly 20 years after California voters made access to government records a constitutional right, requests are being met with interminable delays,...

By Jim Shields, THE UKIAH DAILY JOURNAL https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2023/08/06/the-observer-paying-the-price-for-progress/ It’s amazing how many bright people we have in this county to educate us on the causal factors of what at first may appear to be unfathomable dilemmas. Case in point, how do...

By Staff Reporters, KNX – Los Angeles, CA Click below to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment.