Legal

The Orange County Board of Supervisors has weighed in on the ongoing debate over beach bonfires, opting to oppose a region-wide ban on fire rings in a unanimous vote on Tuesday. The board is now urging the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AMQD) to drop its proposal, which would extinguish the redolent fire pits across Los Angeles and Orange County beaches. Instead, the board is hoping for a more pragmatic approach, which takes community-specific factors—such as proximity to residents—into consideration.

We reported the other day on the issues surrounding Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s decision to give his employees time off. County Officials ruled that the amount of time off Rosen was giving his employees was “irregular and excessive,” and ordered him to immediately cease giving extra time off to his employees.

On Tuesday, the Madera County Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to drop the county’s lawsuit against the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), which oversees the implementation of the $68 billion bullet train slated for California. The County of Madera was one of 6 parties filing a lawsuit against the CHSRA in 2012 in relation to the Merced-Fresno portion of the project. They claim that the agency’s environmental assessments were inept and that the project would, in fact, cause significant harm to the area.

The very mission of county child protective services is to ensure the safety of children. But now, Fresno CPS has been blamed, at least in part, for the death of a young boy. Late last week, a verdict was reached in a civil case against Fresno CPS, in which the agency was deemed 65% responsible for the death of 10 year-old Seth Ireland who was killed four years ago at the hands of his mother’s boyfriend Lebaron Vaughn.

While California already has some of the toughest guns laws in the nation, several state legislators and local governments are looking at steps to further regulate guns. For instance, the Chronicle reports that “Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, has authored legislation that would require ammunition buyers to provide identification and undergo a background check, and force sellers to apply for a state license and report all transactions to California authorities.”