Steve Miller, Author at CalWatchdog.com

Posts From Steve Miller

Steve Miller

New report alleges work abuses by Apple’s Chinese suppliers

A statute passed by California lawmakers in 2010 to stem labor abuses abroad has been of meager help in policing tech giant Apple, a group that studies labor abuses in China claims. The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, heralded

Deaths in police custody up, half attributed to natural causes

Steve Miller February 23, 2016

Manuel Ornelas died as he battled Long Beach police officers who were trying to subdue him in response to a Saturday morning call for help last September. Ornelas was apparently intoxicated and bleeding. He was subdued with an “an electronic control

County payroll hikes stay ahead of population increases

Steve Miller January 30, 2016

Sierra County, tucked in the foothills once traversed by the Donner Party along the Nevada border, has seen its population dip 7 percent since 2010 to 3,000 souls. Meantime, though, the county’s payroll increased from $7 million in 2013 to

Union funding endangered by pending Supreme Court case

Steve Miller January 23, 2016

The average K-12 teacher in California pays at least $30,000 in union dues over the course of a 30-year career, at a minimum of $1,000 a year. But not all teachers want to pay that much; 12,212 teachers in 2014

California giving needed relief on traffic fines, fees

Steve Miller January 12, 2016

Financially strapped motorists are catching a break through the state’s traffic citation amnesty law, which began in October and gives discounts of up to 80 percent on unpaid traffic tickets due before Jan. 1, 2013. In Los Angeles Superior Court,

Education sector bond spending continues to spike

Steve Miller January 5, 2016

Schools and universities from the smallest unified school district to the top-tier university systems in the state issued more bonds in 2015 than they had in any year since the boom times of 2005, before the Great Recession. The result

Suit filed over shooting of mentally ill man by L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies

Steve Miller December 24, 2015

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies are accused of shooting a mentally ill teenager in the street in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court just two weeks after the county settled a 2009 shooting case for $8.85 million. The lawsuit

Boxer’s claim of 56 percent reduction in gun violence includes suicide, accidental death

Steve Miller December 14, 2015

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer made the day of conservative media outlets when, in the wake of the San Bernardino massacre, she said, “In California, since the ‘90s, we have passed a number of important gun safety laws. And over that

State Community College accreditor determined unfit after five decades

Steve Miller November 30, 2015

In deciding last week to remove the body that accredits community colleges in California, state commissioners erased five decades of authority and opened the door to a new oversight body. The move to get a new accreditation plan in place

Judiciary establishment shuns cost-cutting as alleged overspending continues

Steve Miller November 17, 2015

The state’s Judicial Council plans to shutter one of its satellite offices in 2017 but refuses to heed other cost-cutting measures urged by an audit released earlier this year that found the agency’s “questionable” spending has cut court funds. The