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Los Angeles Times – Adults-only hotels are all over California. Are they even legal?

By Christopher Reynolds, LOS ANGELES TIMES https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2025-03-18/adults-only-hotel-ban-children-is-it-legal Can hotels legally ban children? With spring breaks starting momentarily and summer vacations not far away, the question is puzzling a wide scope of California travelers...
Consumer Watchdog -
Accountability

Office of Senator Tom Umberg – Umberg Introduces SB 82 to End Infinite Arbitration Clauses

By The Office of Senator Tom Umberg (Sacramento, CA)—Senator Thomas J. Umberg (D-Santa Ana) announced the introduction of Senate Bill 82, which aims to restrict overly broad terms and conditions...
Consumer Watchdog -
Accountability

KCBS-AM (Radio) – San Francisco, CA: Trump Administration Has Ordered The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau To Stop Its Work

By Staff Reporters, KCBS-AM - San Francisco, CA Click below to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment.
Jamie Court -
Accountability

New York Port – LA Mayor Karen Bass’ office hit with scandals over hush money, bribes and accusations of ‘legalized corruption’

By Isabel Vincent, NEW YORK POST https://nypost.com/2025/01/17/us-news/la-mayor-karen-bass-office-hit-with-accusations-of-legalized-corruption Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass got into office promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and promising to tackle homelessness and pollution but she never promised...
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Accountability

Mother Jones – California’s Rent Control Ban Hits Disabled Tenants Hardest

By Julia Métraux, MOTHER JONES https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/10/california-proposition-33-34-rent-control-landlords/ California’s statewide rent control law, the Costa-Hawkins Act, has been contentious since it was signed into law in 1995. California politicians saw Costa-Hawkins, which made it illegal...
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Accountability

CalMatters – ‘Notoriously slow:’ Lengthy investigations into California politicians leave voters in the dark

BY YUE STELLA YU AND  JEREMIA KIMELMAN, CALMATTERS https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/10/campaign-finance-california-fppc-enforcement/ A $1,044 outing at a glitzy Hollywood nightclub. A $1,316 meal at a Los Angeles steak and seafood restaurant. A $4,500 experience to see the...
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Accountability

Politico – Sactown Squabbles

By DUSTIN GARDINER and LARA KORTE, POLITICO https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2024/10/07/lisa-middleton-isnt-talking-about-making-history-00182662 A newly resurfaced video has reignited a feud between two of Sacramento’s feistiest political actors. Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, is lambasting longtime Democratic consultant Steve Maviglio over...
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Accountability

Reuters – Consumer activists, experts advise against buying ZTE phones

By Jim Finkle, REUTERS https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1HQ38Q Consumer activists and technology experts are advising consumers to hold off on buying Android handsets from China's ZTE until the company clarifies whether U.S. sanctions against the...
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Accountability

North Bay Biz – Legislature walks back ‘honest pricing law’ for restaurants

By Jason Walsh, NORTH BAY BIZ https://www.northbaybiz.com/2024/07/02/legislature-walks-back-honest-pricing-law-for-restaurants We’ve all been there: When that $12 burger shows up on the receipt as a surprising $25 splurge after several hidden fees are tallied...
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Accountability

Cal Matters – Who are the wealthiest California legislators? Good question.

By Jeremia Kimelman, CALMATTERS https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/06/california-legislator-stock-investment Four legislators reported at least $1 million invested in the stock market in 2023, but California's limited disclosure laws don't provide a complete picture of each...
Consumer Watchdog -
Accountability

News Tribune – Travel price tags may soon spike in California — and it’s a good thing

By Tribune News Service https://www.newstribune.com/news/2024/jun/30/travel-price-tags-may-soon-spike-in-california If you're making travel plans for summer or fall, brace yourself for a jump in some advertised prices -- which is, believe it or not, good news...
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Accountability

The Los Angeles Times – Hotel and Airbnb price tags may soon spike. For travelers, that’s a good thing

By Christopher Reynolds, LOS ANGELES TIMES https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2024-06-18/california-law-sb-478-hotels-rentals-airbnb-prices-junk-fees If you’re making travel plans for summer or fall, brace yourself for a jump in some advertised prices — which is, believe it or not,...
Mary Kozanian -
Accountability

Daily Journal – State Bar action is overdue in city attorney corruption scandal

By DAILY JOURNAL https://www.dailyjournal.com/articles/379087-state-bar-action-is-overdue-in-city-attorney-corruption-scandal The State Bar of California is confronting its most significant test yet in proving its reformation efforts. This comes as the FBI suspects former Los Angeles City...
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Accountability

Los Angeles Times – Restaurants may be able to keep service fees if menu shows the charges

By Jon Healey, LOS ANGELES TIMES https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-06-06/restaurants-may-be-able-to-keep-service-fees-if-menu-shows-the-charges#:~:text=Under%20the%20proposal%20by%20Sen,%2C%20“clearly%20and%20conspicuously.” A new state law to prohibit hidden surcharges and other "junk fees" tacked onto customers' bills is slated to go into effect July 1, with businesses having...
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Accountability

Cal Matters – The cost to inform California voters? $118,000 a page for official guide

By Sameea Kamal, CAL MATTERS https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/05/california-election-voter-guide-cost/ What’s the cost of democracy in California?  If we calculate that based just on the pages informing the state’s 22 million voters about Proposition 1 in...
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Accountability

Whittier Daily News – Did Mike Feuer tell investigators the whole truth?

By Susan Shelley, WHITTIER DAILY NEWS https://www.whittierdailynews.com/2024/05/22/did-mike-feuer-tell-investigators-the-whole-truth/ In February, former Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer acknowledged to the editorial board of this newspaper that he was under investigation by the...
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Accountability

Daily Journal – FBI believed Feuer ‘obstructed justice’ in litigation investigation, documents show

A trove of investigative materials from the U.S. Attorney's Office relating to the LADWP billing scandal were released Wednesday. By David Houston, DAILY JOURNAL https://www.dailyjournal.com/articles/378802-fbi-believed-feuer-obstructed-justice-in-litigation-investigation-documents-show Former Los Angeles City Attorney Michael Feuer...
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Accountability

Yahoo! News – FBI alleges former LA City Attorney Mike Feuer lied during probe of DWP scandal

By CNS Staff, YAHOO! NEWS https://www.yahoo.com/news/fbi-alleges-former-la-city-193034282.html LOS ANGELES - Court documents released this week allege former Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer lied to investigators probing the city's handling of litigation filed over the botched...
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Accountability

The Los Angeles Times – Secret FBI files: Former L.A. city attorney lied to federal investigators and likely obstructed justice

By Dakota Smith and Matt Hamilton, LOS ANGELES TIMES https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-16/former-la-city-attorney-mike-feuer-lied-to-investigators-and-obstructed-justice-according-to-fbi-affidavit Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer lied to government investigators and likely obstructed justice during a massive federal probe into a fraudulent lawsuit...
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Accountability

NBC Los Angeles- Unsealed FBI files show agents believed former LA City Attorney was involved in DWP lawsuit coverup

By Eric Leonard and Andrew Blankstein, NBC LOS ANGELES https://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/unsealed-fbi-files-show-agents-believed-former-la-city-attorney-was-involved-in-dwp-lawsuit-coverup/3414296/#:~:text=FBI%20files%20unsealed%20Thursday%20show,says%20is%2C%20%22absurd.%22 FBI files unsealed Thursday show agents investigating corruption at the LA Department of Water and Power, and the city's role in manipulating over-billing lawsuits, believed...
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Accountability

San Francisco Chronicle – Here’s the legal argument California restaurants have taken up to get out of surcharge ban

By Bob Egelko, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/restaurant-surcharge-ban-19456033.php When you sit at a restaurant table and order food and drink, are you receiving “goods and services”? That issue apparently never came up in...
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Accountability

The Epoch Times – Federal Judge Unseals Warrants in Case of Botched LADWP Billing

By City News Service, EPOCH TIMES https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/federal-judge-unseals-warrants-in-case-of-botched-ladwp-billing-5631503 LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A Los Angeles federal judge issued a final order today on an application to unseal 33 FBI search warrants and...
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The Los Angeles Times – Documents will be unsealed in L.A. city attorney and DWP corruption case, judge rules

By Dakota Smith, LOS ANGELES TIMES https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-12/documents-unsealed-city-attorney-dwp-corruption More than 1,000 pages of confidential documents from a federal criminal investigation into the Los Angeles city attorney's office and the Department of Water...
ConsumerWatchdog -
Accountability

CalMatters – How California legislators got more than $1.4 million in travel and gifts in 2023

By Jeremia Kimelman, CALMATTERS https://calmatters.org/digital-democracy/2024/04/california-legislature-gifts-travel/#:~:text=Free%20travel%20for%20legislators&text=Special%20interest%20groups%20and%20nonprofits,%24950%2C000%20in%20travel%20in%202022.
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Accountability

NPR – Millions of customers’ data found on dark web in latest AT&T data breach

By Chloe Veltman, NPR https://www.npr.org/2024/03/30/1241863710/att-data-breach-dark-web AT&T announced on Saturday it is investigating a data breach involving the personal information of more than 70 million current and former customers leaked on the...
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Accountability

The Los Angeles Times – What the DOJ’s antitrust suit against Apple means for everyone with an iPhone

By Wendy Lee, LOS ANGELES TIMES https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2024-03-21/apple-doj-lawsuit-consumers Cheaper app subscriptions. Additional payment options. Greater freedom for app developers on the App Store. More consumer choice. Those are some of the possibilities that...
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Accountability

The San Diego Union Tribune – John Gomez withdraws his lawsuit against San Diego attorneys’ group he once presided over

By Jeff McDonald, THE SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2024-03-14/gomez-withdraws-his-lawsuit-against-san-diego-attorneys-group-he-once-led SAN DIEGO — John Gomez, the firebrand San Diego litigator known locally through several high-profile lawsuits and frequent television commercials, has dismissed an eye-popping legal...
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Accountability

Yahoo! News – More info could become public in years-old scandal associated with congressional candidate

By Cameron Kiszla, YAHOO! NEWS https://news.yahoo.com/more-could-become-public-years-152841449.html As Election Day grows ever closer, one candidate for Congress is facing the possibility of new revelations related to a years-old scandal. Mike Feuer, one of...
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Accountability

KNX-AM (Radio) – Los Angeles, CA: CW Teams Up With LA Times To Unseal 3 Dozen FBI Warrants Related to The Corruption Investigation With LADWP

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

The Los Angeles Times – L.A. Times and consumer group ask judge to unseal records in DWP scandal 

By Dakota Smith, LOS ANGELES TIMES https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-02-22/l-a-times-and-consumer-group-ask-judge-to-unseal-records-in-dwp-scandal#:~:text=The%20Los%20Angeles%20Times%20and,Department%20of%20Water%20and%20Power. The Los Angeles Times and Consumer Watchdog asked a federal court Wednesday to unseal evidence related to the criminal investigation of former City Atty....
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Accountability

San Diego Union-Tribune – In Chula Vista, when it comes to public records, not much is public 

By Jeff McDonald, SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2024-02-04/in-chula-vista-not-much-is-public-when-it-comes-to-public-records In Chula Vista, even when public records have been retrieved, reviewed, redacted and released, they almost never remain public. That’s because Chula Vista officials...
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Accountability

KCRA-SAC (NBC) – Sacramento, CA: Struggle To Get State Records

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTQ_NemK5Lw CW litigation director, Jerry Flanagan, says unless there is the threat of public scrutiny, you have no way of knowing that the investigation was nothing more than a sham.
Jerry Flanagan -
Accountability

SF Gate – Experts say top Shasta official may have broken California records law

By Alec Regimbal, SFGATE https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/top-shasta-official-may-have-broken-state-laws-18563995.php Three months ago, I emailed Shasta County Board Chair Patrick Jones a list of straightforward questions about a board resolution he’d sponsored, which allowed county officials to ignore...
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Accountability

Politico – Jamie Court’s tactics are finally working

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...
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Accountability

The Los Angeles Times – Questions remain as feds signal an end to DWP billing probe

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...
Consumer Watchdog -
Accountability

Daily News – Court filing says officials used app to delete texts

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...
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Accountability

San Francisco Chronicle – Safeway was caught overcharging. How to find out if your grocery store is doing the same

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...
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Accountability

San Diego Union-Tribune – Opinion: California needs stronger open-government laws — and for officials to follow existing laws

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 —...
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Accountability

East Bay Times – California voters made public records a right, will they give it more teeth?

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...
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Accountability

The Ukiah Daily Journal – The Observer: Paying the price for progress

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...
Consumer Watchdog -
Accountability

KNX-AM (Radio) – Los Angeles, CA: Benefits The Government Transparency Act Will Provide If Passed

By Staff Reporters, KNX – Los Angeles, CA Click below to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment.
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CalMatters – California voters could force more sunlight on public records

By Alexei Koseff, CALMATTERS https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2023/08/california-public-records/ Californians have a legal right to “information concerning the conduct of the people’s business,” but actually getting those public records is easier said than done. In the past few...
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The Los Angeles Times – California ballot proposal could make more government records public

By Mackenzie Mays, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-02/government-transparency-measure-could-force-california-politicians-to-disclose-more-info SACRAMENTO —  An initiative proposed for the 2024 ballot could reform California’s public records laws and force politicians to disclose more information — a move...
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Accountability

The Sacramento Bee – Proposed ballot measure would force California lawmakers to disclose lobbyist meetings

By Andrew Sheeler, SACRAMENTO BEE https://www.sacbee.com/article277892943.html A proposed ballot initiative would force California lawmakers to disclose meetings with lobbyists and make investigations into alleged misconduct subject to public scrutiny. The measure...
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Politico – Sweeping ballot proposal would force California lawmakers to reveal lobbyist ties

By Christopher Cadelago and Melanie Mason, POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/02/california-lawmakers-lobbyist-meetings-ballot-proposal-00109316 SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A ballot initiative likely to come before California voters next year would overhaul the state’s open records law, forcing unprecedented...
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Accountability

CNN Business – Are you owed a slice of the $100 million fine Bank of America has to pay?

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/14/business/bank-of-america-fine/index.html Bank of America was fined $250 million this week by US federal regulators for allegedly harming customers by double-dipping on fees, withholding credit card rewards and opening fake accounts. Of...
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Accountability

The Los Angeles Times – California’s Malpractice Payouts Would Rise Under A Deal To Avoid A Costly Ballot Fight

By Melody Gutierrez, LOS ANGELES TIMES April 27, 2022 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-04-27/california-malpractice-payouts-would-rise-under-deal-to-avoid-costly-ballot-fight SACRAMENTO — Cash payments in California medical malpractice cases would go up for the first time in nearly five decades under a deal between...
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Accountability

Column: Rohit Chopra, Biden’s Pick To Head CFPB, Finally Gets Senate Nod (Barely)

By David Lazarus, LOS ANGELES TIMES September 30, 2021 https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-09-30/column-rohit-chopra-cfpb President Biden nominated Rohit Chopra to serve as the nation’s top consumer financial watchdog eight months ago. On Thursday, he finally got past Republican...
Mary Kozanian -
Accountability

Why Instacart and Doordash Workers Don’t Always Receive The Tips You Give Them

“For a consumer to somehow glean that this tip is in fact just subsidizing what the company would have paid on the back end is a completely deceptive practice,”...
Mary Kozanian -
Accountability

Consumer Confidential: Why Are Glasses So Expensive? The Eyewear Industry Would Prefer Keeping That Blurry

By David Lazarus, LOS ANGELES TIMES January 22, 2019 https://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-why-are-eyeglasses-so-expensive-20190122-story.html It’s a question I get asked frequently, most recently by a colleague who was shocked to find that his new pair of...
Mary Kozanian -
Accountability

Editorial: Lawmakers Here Today, Gone To Maui

By Editorial Board, THE DAILY NEWS OF LOS ANGELES January 17, 2019 https://www.dailynews.com/2019/01/17/lawmakers-here-today-gone-to-maui/ The following editorial ran in The Long Beach Press-Telegram, Redlands Daily Facts, and The San Gabriel Valley Tribune in...
Mary Kozanian -
Accountability

California Lawmakers, Lavish Junkets Are Burning Your Constituents

By The Editorial Board, THE DESERT SUN January 10, 2019 https://www.desertsun.com/story/opinion/editorials/2019/01/10/california-lawmaker-lavish-junkets-burn-constituents-desert-sun-editorial-board/2529551002/ Picture this: As the deadly Camp Fire was ravaging Butte County and leveling the town of Paradise, some California legislators were...
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