Notices by Tracy Rosenberg (twrling@sfba.social), page 3

"The Martinez #refinery fire spewed at least 500 pounds of sulphur dioxide, a pollutant, into the atmosphere". https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/martinez-refinery-alert-20133703.php?

"Detection of #PFAS — an acronym for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances — in drinking #water wells in San Jose, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Campbell and Gilroy indicate “widespread contamination of the groundwater underlying the Santa Clara County region". https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/02/03/santa-clara-county-accuses-companies-environmental-and-human-health-crisis-forever-chemicals-drinking-water/?

CA will be debating a bill this year to force Internet companies to offer affordable #broadband connections. https://communitynets.org/content/california-lawmaker-files-affordable-broadband-legislation-similar-new-york-law

New FCC chair weaponizes the real problem of commercial #underwriting to attack public media. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/business/media/npr-pbs-fcc-investigation.html

"In 1997, Benner was quoted on the ideal psychology of a #police officer: “To function effectively in our job, you must annihilate, smother, and suppress normal emotions like fear, anger, revulsion, and even compassion.” https://sfstandard.com/2025/01/31/sfpd-doc-preps-recruits-to-be-indoctrinated/

"GoFundMe is a grim monument to our neoliberal age. It has become an essential means to solicit and receive cash assistance during times of crisis. But alongside a demonstration of human resilience and generosity in the face of tragedy, it also produces a steady stream of evidence of the injustice that plagues our society." https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/17/la-fires-gofundme-mandy-moore

Students printed a list of all of the #MIT projects with connections to the Israeli government and Israeli military. MIT then shut down access to the campus grants database. https://theintercept.com/2025/01/16/mit-israel-military-funding-research-gaza/

TX Lt. Gov Patrick threatens to recriminalize the use of medical #marijuana The dispensaries are jammed. ""It took 88 years to end hemp prohibition, and now we're going to set the clock back." https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-thc-ban-20058896.php

Trump's partisan attack on the Privacy and Civil Libertes Oversight Board #PCLOB risks cutting off American #tech companies access to users in the European Union. https://www.techdirt.com/2025/01/27/trumps-pclob-purge-risks-banning-meta-extwitter-google-and-even-truth-social-from-europe/

Kaiser Permanente's IRB halts human #research studies on cardiovascular disease citing insufficient attention to the wellbeing of the human subjects amid an FDA investigation. https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/01/29/kaiser-investigation-research-doctors-disciplined/?

The @voiceofoc newspaper and First Amendment Coalition teamed up to force the Santa Ana City Council to revise proposed rules limiting the filming and recording of City Council meetings. #BrownAct https://voiceofoc.org/2025/01/santa-ana-officials-back-off-on-restricting-photojournalists-after-backlash/

Stanford University says they will not pursue disciplinary action against the 19 year old Stanford Daily #reporter who covered the takeover of a university building by anti-genocide protesters last year. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/stanford-drops-case-against-student-journalist-20047810.php

In a not entirely redacted ruling, Easter District of NY Court finally concludes that #Section702 NSA #surveillance of Americans is unconstitutional, although the specific evidence against the defendant will not be suppressed. https://www.aclu.org/documents/section-702-memorandum-and-order-u-s-v-hasbajrami-11-cr-00623-ldh

After a virulent fire destroyed an affordable apartment building at 22nd and Mission, the owner promised to rebuild affordable #housing. Promise broken. Sign the petition to object. https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/oppose-la-muerte-de-la-mission-the-death-of-the-mission-luxury-development-on-22nd-mission-2

"Allowing nonprofit #OpenAI to repurpose its assets to earn a profit and attract investors could set a dangerous precedent allowing #startups to enjoy the tax writeoffs of #nonprofits even when they intend to eventually become highly lucrative, capitalist enterprises" https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/01/openai-investigation-california/

Kentucky police execute a #searchwarrant for stolen lawn equipment at the wrong address and kill the homeowner at the house two doors away from the warrant address. https://www.wbir.com/article/news/crime/man-dead-after-police-shoot-in-home-wrong-house/51-52359636-a5fa-461c-80d8-d80796a23ac7

Electronic Intifada #journalist Ali Abuminah detained prior to speaking engagement in Switzerland by Swiss police for unidentified reasons. https://electronicintifada.net/content/eis-ali-abunimah-arrested-switzerland/50333

UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism pulls out of Google #news deal negotiated in Sacto. "“Our campus can’t serve as a passthrough for funds from Google and the state to local newsrooms'. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/16/california-google-journalism-uc-berkeley-00198605

Palo Alto school district becomes first in state to refuse to provide a mandated #ethnicstudies course in their high schools. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/palo-alto-school-district-kills-ethnic-studies-20040583.php?

"Instead of a #price or promotion being a static feature of a product, the same product could have a different price or promotion based on a variety of inputs—including consumer-related #data and their behaviors and preferences, and the location, time, and channels by which a consumer buys the product". https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/01/ftc-surveillance-pricing-study-indicates-wide-range-personal-data-used-set-individualized-consumer