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Health

LA County Deploys 40-Foot ‘Condom Mobile’ To Help Encourage Safer Sex

By Tara Culp-Ressler on May 22, 2013 at 5:35 pm

(Credit: Queerty)

The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health wants to help promote safer sex practices by passing out one million and one condoms by the end of this year. In order to accomplish that goal, city officials are hitting the road — in a 40-foot “condom mobile” featuring the images of professional athletes reminding people to “suit up.”

Last year, the county’s health department sponsored its first-ever condom contest to give residents the opportunity to design an official Los Angeles branded condom wrapper. And now, the new bus will be handing out free condoms packaged in the winning design. The county has also partnered with local LGBT intramural sports leagues that will help them distribute additional free condoms.

This isn’t the first creative initiative to address California’s rising STD rates by expanding access and exposure to prevention methods. A new state-sponsored initiative called the “Condom Access Project” makes it easier for California teens tp obtain sexual health resources by allowing them to order free condoms online. And Los Angeles voters recently endorsed a measure requiring adult film stars to wear condoms on screen.

Education campaigns about safer sex may be especially necessary since not all of California’s students are receiving that type of instruction in school. Last year, the ACLU sued a Fresno County school for failing to provide accurate sexual health education to students. Students there were taught that sexually transmitted infections can be prevented by going out in groups with friends and getting plenty of rest.

Justice

California Police Beat Man Nearly To Death For Asking To Read His Ticket

By Zack Beauchamp on May 21, 2013 at 1:30 pm

Olegs Kozacenko after the police assault. (Credit: NBC Bay Area)

A Berkeley truck driver is suing the California High Patrol for a brutal assault that brought him to the brink of death — provoked, according to a report by the local NBC affiliate, only by the man’s request to read the ticket he was being given before he signed it.

 

On September 2nd, 2011, Russian immigrant Olegs Kozacenko was driving his truck when he was pulled over by Officer Andrew P. Murrill of the California Highway Police. Murrill attempted to ticket him for driving too many hours in the truck. Kozacenko refused to sign the ticket before reading it.

At this point, NBC Bay Area reporters learned, Murrill decided he needed to make a “forcible arrest.” He and his partner, Officer Jim Sherman, claim that Kozacenko was “actively resisting” and “exhibiting extraordinary strength” in doing so. The consequences were “life-threatening injuries including a crushed left orbital eye socket, multiple facial fractures, a broken left arm, a concussion, unconsciousness and possible neurological damage.”

Kozacenko nearly died, as the nearest hospital did not have an emergency room advanced enough to treat his injuries.

According to court testimony obtained by NBC, Murrill concedes that Kozacenko was not even guilty of the offense he was attempting to ticket the driver for:

In his testimony during an evidentiary hearing on a defense motion to suppress evidence gathered after the ticket was written, officer Murrill admitted that he was confused, either by the law governing the hour limits for truck drivers or by reading the truck driver’s log book. Murrill also admitted on the witness stand that he was not a trained commercial vehicle specialist and did not call to ask for a commercial vehicle specialist to help at the scene. And he admitted on the stand that the hours Murrill was reading on Kozacenko’s truck driver log book were recorded two days earlier when Kozacenko was driving through Nebraska, Iowa and Wyoming.

NBC reports that “the Valley Division, where Murrill works, led the state in the number of disciplinary actions against officers for 2011, the same year of Kozacenko’s arrest.” Police officials claim that there is no video of the altercation and that all associated radio logs have been deleted by system malfunctioning for this time period.”

Murrill and Sherman remain employed by the CHP. Olegs Kocazenko is currently unemployed and seeking legal redress from both the Highway Patrol and the state of California.

Climate Progress

California Farmers Explore Water-Conserving Agriculture For A Drought-Filled Future

By Aviva Shen on May 20, 2013 at 10:51 am

Credit: Community Alliance with Family Farmers

After this year’s dismal snowpack survey predicted a serious water shortage for huge swaths of California’s farmland, some farmers are investigating an ancient technique called “dry farming.” As the Sacramento Bee highlighted last week, farmers in the Central Valley, which supplies a quarter of the American food supply, have started experimenting with conserving reservoir water and relying only on rainwater to sustain crops.

Dry farming is risky, as it requires farmers to gamble on rainfall, trap it in the soil, and sustain it for long dry spells. Much of the state experienced record low rainfalls in the past year. And climate change threatens to reduce precipitation even more. But immediate concern over the valley’s fast-depleting groundwater stores has prompted farmers to take the risk — with some success.

According to a study by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, a 250-acre vineyard practicing dry farming in Napa has conserved roughly 64,000 gallons of water per acre each year. About 2,000 out of half a million acres of vineyards are dry-farmed.

Dry-farming, a common practice for centuries, seemed to dwindle in popularity in the past few decades as farmers relied more on surface irrigation. But proponents of the practice swear that dry-farmed crops, while smaller than their conventional counterparts, have more concentrated nutrients and stronger flavors due to lower water absorption.

The past year’s record low rainfall has left California farmers desperate for solutions. Bracing themselves for droughts that will only grow longer and more severe with climate change, farmers are looking for water-conserving alternatives to currently unsustainable practices. Besides dry-farming, farmers are adopting more efficient irrigation systems, creating water storage areas like on-farm ponds, and developing drought-resistant crops.

Farmers were hit hard by last year’s dry growing season, with yields in corn-heavy states plummeting to 30-year lows. The nation’s wheat and livestock supplies have also been decimated over the past year. The USDA has been forced to bail out drought-stricken farmers by buying up millions of pounds of meat. As a result, food prices are sky-high and many experts fear a global food shortage.

Related Post:

Immigration

Strawberry Pickers Fired For Fleeing California Wildfire

By Annie-Rose Strasser on May 9, 2013 at 3:31 pm

(Credit: NBC LA)

Fifteen farm workers have won back their right to work after being fired last week for fleeing wildfire smoke.

The workers, who pick strawberries for Crisalida Farms in Oxnard, California, were warned by their foreman that they’d lose their jobs if they left. But the raining ash and blowing smoke caused by the fast-burning wildfires proved too much to bear. As one worker told NBC’s southern California affiliate, “it was hard to breathe.”

Though none of the farm workers were part of a union, United Farm Workers stepped in to help with their case this week, stressing the idea that “No worker shall work under conditions where they feel his life or health is in danger.” Crisalida Farms has since agreed to give the workers their jobs back.

Like any huge agricultural economy, California’s farms employ significant numbers of low-wage migrant workers, not all of whom are in the country with proper documentation. Such workers usually lack bargaining power in negotiations, and it’s easy for farm owners to take advantage of those employees. A new set of bills in California aims to address this by creating punitive measures for farms that threaten to report workers to immigration authorities.

Farmworkers’ rights have also been a point of contention during the debate over comprehensive immigration reform, with growers and House Republicans pushing for lower mandatory wages for agricultural employees.

Justice

California Law Funds Confiscation Of Illegally Owned Firearms

By Annie-Rose Strasser on May 3, 2013 at 4:10 pm

On Thursday, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) approved a law that will allot additional funding to the California police to confiscate illegal firearms.

SB 140 will dedicate $24 million toward tracking and confiscating weapons possessed by people who aren’t permitted them under state law — such as criminals and those with mental illness. This addresses a major problem in California, where it’s estimated that, nearly 20,000 felons or the mentally ill posses a total of 39,000 guns. California is the only state that keeps a list of people who once qualified but are no longer eligible to own a gun.

The money is just under what California’s chief of the Bureau of Firearms Stephen Lindley said the department would need. It will allow the state to hire 36 agents dedicated to confiscating illegal firearms.

The law was part of a package of 30 bills, proposed in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, aimed at curbing gun violence. The NRA staunchly opposed the effort, which it deemed “steal[ing] from law-abiding gun owners.”

Climate Progress

‘Mother Nature Turned Off The Spigot’: California Wildfires Fueled By ‘Remarkable’ Dry Weather Conditions

By Katie Valentine on May 3, 2013 at 12:35 pm

AP photo

A Southern California wildfire that burned through 8,000 acres yesterday has marked an early and ominous start to the state’s fire season.

The fire, fueled by unusually dry conditions and 25 to 60 mph winds that usually aren’t seen until late fall, has damaged 15 homes and forced the evacuation of hundreds of Ventura County residents. As of today, the so-called Springs fire spans more than 15 square miles, with weather forecasts predicting temperatures in the 90s and continuing strong winds.

California has experienced record low rainfall since the “rain year” began in July 2012, with Los Angeles receiving only about five inches of rain since then. Though the winter and early spring months are typically some of Califorina’s wettest, since 2013 began, downtown L.A. has received less than two inches of rain — a fraction of the 11 inches that’s typical for the region at this time of year. The year’s low rainfall coupled with strong Santa Ana winds have created perfect conditions for wildfires in the region, as climatologist William Patzert told the L.A. Times:

It was promising up to December and then all of sudden Mother Nature turned off the spigot,” he said. “It’s remarkable to get Santa Anas in May.… Every way you look at it, it’s been remarkable, unusual and incendiary.

So far, firefighters in California have responded to more than 680 wildfires this year — 200 more the average for this point in the season. In addition to the Springs fire, a wildfire in Riverside County east of L.A. burned through at least 2,950 acres and destroyed two homes before being contained on Thursday, and several fires erupted in Northern California this week as well. The fire risk isn’t expected to let up as the summer goes on — forecasters doubt the Southern California region will receive substantial rain this summer, which has led federal officials to warn of a potentially “devastating” fire season for the state.

And California’s isn’t alone. Multiple studies have linked the risk of stronger, more frequent wildfires to the effects of climate change — most recently, a federal report warned that climate change will double the area of the U.S. burned by wildfires by 2050. Thanks to dry, hot conditions in much of the western U.S., the National Interagency Fire Center predicted this week that fire season could begin early in Oregon and Washington this year as well as in California.

In addition to California’s low rainfall, the state is experiencing decreased snowpack this year, a problem that, as well as exacerbating the state’s dry conditions, spells trouble for California’s freshwater supply. California’s snowpack levels are only at 17 percent of normal readings for this time of year. Water from snowpack usually accounts for up to 75 percent of western California’s freshwater supply and 30 percent of freshwater to the state as a whole.

Health

California Insurance Commissioner Blasts Insurance Giant For Its ‘Unwarranted’ Rate Hikes

By Sy Mukherjee on May 2, 2013 at 5:35 pm

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones on Wednesday slammed UnitedHealth Group — the nation’s largest private insurance company — over its decision to cut benefits and raise premiums for health plans used by close to 5,000 California small businesses. The combination of cuts and hikes would amount to a nearly eight percent rate hike for small business owners and their employees.

“At a time when small businesses are struggling to survive, UnitedHealthcare’s rate increase is just one more unwarranted economic burden on California’s small business owners and their employees,” said Jones. He estimated that close to 45,000 small business employees could be affected by the hikes.

Jones’ comments were quickly dismissed by UnitedHealth, as a spokesman argued that the annual increase would merely be two percent for customers. But that two percent figure likely only take into account the requested premium rate hike, not the cuts to benefits provided on relevant health plans. Previous, seemingly-arbitrary rate hikes by UnitedHealth and other insurers have led Jones to become a vocal advocate for greater insurance commission authority on the issue, and he has been pushing for the passage of a 2014 popular referendum that would “grant state officials the power to reject unreasonable rate increases for health coverage.”

This certainly isn’t the first time that UnitedHealth has engaged in profit-seeking behavior at the expense of government and employer health expenditures and workers’ benefits. The company recently complained that it wasn’t receiving enough government money despite massive profits and favorable Medicare reimbursement rates, and is one of several companies using Obamacare as a scapegoat for its extravagant rate increases.

In fact, arbitrary rate increases were par-for-the-course long before Obamacare’s passage, and the reform law actually contains protections against sticker shock and fallback measures for Americans who cannot afford private insurance coverage. But given UnitedHealth’s and other insurers’ quests for ever-increasing profits, many state insurance commissioners are looking to more closely scrutinize rate requests to see if they are reasonable.

Health

New California Program Allows Teenagers To Order Free Condoms Online

By Sy Mukherjee on May 2, 2013 at 10:45 am

Through a new state-sponsored initiative called the Condom Access Project, California children living in areas with high STI and teen birth rates will soon be able to get condoms — and instructions on how to use them — delivered for free to their doorsteps after ordering them online. The project is intended to stem the rising tide of teen births and sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis in the Golden State.

The website for the service — TeenSource.org — includes information on teen mental and physical health support services, resources for family planning, and maps of facilities that conduct STI testing. Teens between the ages of 12 and 19 will be able to receive as many as ten free condoms per month through the site, which also points users to additional free condom resources and clinics. Once an order is placed, “a package of condoms, lubricant and an educational pamphlet arrives at teenagers’ homes in a nondescript yellow envelope” within several days.

Critics and abstinence-education advocates have lashed out at the effort, asserting that “the overwhelming majority of parents” would be opposed to such a service — but given the failure of abstinence-only sex education, the difficulty of accessing contraception, and California’s recent health trends, it may be necessary one. According to comprehensive data on the California Department of Public Health’s website, California teenage girls between the ages of 10 and 19 make up about 30 percent of all chlamydia and gonorrhea cases, and the teen live birth rate is about 3.5 percent. Those numbers represent rises over previous years, and are comprised of a disproportionate number of poor and minority populations.

Campaigns to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted infections are also important considering the rise of antibiotic resistant pathogens. Researchers recently identified the first cases of gonorrhea — the second-most common STI — that are immune to antibiotics.

Immigration

California Bills Would Punish Employers Who Take Advantage Of Immigrant Workers

By Aviva Shen on May 1, 2013 at 10:04 am

Farm workers in Bakersfield, CA (Credit: Ricardo DeAratanha/Los Angeles Times)

Two bills to protect immigrant workers from exploitation cleared California’s Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday. The legislation targets California employers who hire undocumented workers and those who threaten their employees with deportation if they complain about dangerous working conditions.

S.B. 516 would ban California employers from hiring foreign workers brought to the U.S. by labor contractors who are not registered with the state, allowing the Labor Commission to determine which contractors are violating workers’ rights. Contractors would also be banned from charging workers recruitment fees, a common gouging tactic used by human traffickers. The other bill, S.B. 666, levels fines up to $10,000 and revokes operating licenses from businesses caught threatening to turn in workers to immigration officials for complaining about their conditions.

If passed, the proposed legislation could help countless immigrants who have endured decades of horrific abuse in silence, as one abused immigrant-turned-activist detailed:

“Angela” came to the United States from the Philippines with the dream that many immigrants hold: to improve her life and seize opportunities. When she arrived in Southern California, however, the foreign labor contractor who had gotten her a visa, helped her travel and promised to find a good job, told her she owed $12,000 and that she’d have to work 10 years to pay off her debt.

For two and a half years, the immigrant, who asked that her real name not be used, worked 18-hour days, seven days a week at a home for the elderly, sleeping in the hallways of the facility and “eating scraps of food” to survive, she said. She was threatened with deportation if she tried to escape.

The bill would also address rampant exploitation in California’s enormous agriculture industry, which runs largely on immigrant workers. These workers, the overwhelming majority of whom are undocumented, suffer dangerous and unsanitary working conditions for a pittance far below the state’s minimum wage. Women who work on these farms endure frequent sexual harassment and violence, but few report their employers for fear of retribution.

Since California farm workers are directly exposed to massive amounts of harmful pesticides, punishing heat without breaks, and injury, they have a death rate five times higher than other employees. Stories of employees being worked to death, such as a 17-year-old pregnant vineyard worker who collapsed and died from heat exhaustion, are common in the state.

Anti-immigrant activists have opposed the bills, claiming that these basic labor protections are “rewarding” immigrants and “aiding and abetting criminal behavior.” The American Farm Bureau has also tried to make it easier for farms to continue paying foreign workers unlivable wages.

LGBT

Conservatives Condemn California ‘Gay Infertility’ Insurance Bill

By Zack Ford on Apr 23, 2013 at 2:03 pm

Anti-gay conservatives are very concerned about a new bill proposed in California that would require insurance companies to cover fertility treatments for same-sex couples just like they do for opposite-sex couples. AB 460 stipulates that such coverage cannot be denied because of sexual orientation — in other words, any couple that is unable to conceive “after a year or more of regular sexual relations without contraception” would be entitled to coverage equally.

Conservatives like Breitbart.com’s Ben Shapiro and WorldNetDaily’s Bob Unruh described the bill as “bizarre,” claiming it takes “pro-homosexual actions to a whole new level.” The American Family Association published the following quote from fellow hate group leader Peter LaBarbera:

This is about biology. Biologically, homosexuals cannot produce children, so politics cannot trump biology. The sad part is, we do have kids being placed in homes which are intentionally motherless or intentionally fatherless – and that’s very sad. But to force insurance companies to provide infertility treatment benefits to homosexual couples is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, and hopefully the taxpayers of California will restore some common sense to the Legislature and say no.

And in her condescending fashion, Maggie Gallagher added, “The fantasy continues…”

Currently, 15 states, including California, require insurance companies to cover infertility diagnosis and treatment in some fashion. In other words, heterosexual couples in those states who want to have children will have the same opportunity to do so without financial burden whether they can conceive the old-fashioned way or require some medical assistance to do so.

Same-sex couples currently must spend tens of thousands of dollars in order to have a child through methods like surrogacy and egg donors. This is an unfair financial burden that punishes same-sex couples and deprives them of the same opportunity to raise a family. Under this bill, all couples would have the same support to have children. It has nothing to do with “trumping biology”; it’s about creating equity for all California families.

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