The Grapevine: 2/11/23

Good morning. California's largest environmental cleanup fails to produce results, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego says they may declare bankruptcy, and a Los Angeles County law banning certain types of firearms faces a fraught future. Here's what you need to know:

• California's largest environmental cleanup, a six-year, $750 million effort to remove pollution from areas near a massive battery recycling plant in East Los Angeles, has failed to bring lead levels in many homes below state limits, and, in some cases, may have spread contaminated soil and dust to other areas, including a preschool in Huntington Park. (https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-10/exide-lead-cleanup-leaves-fear-and-frustration-in-its-wake)
• The fastest growing subset of California's homeless population is seniors 55 and over, many of whom are on fixed incomes that have not kept up with the state's soaring rents. (https://calmatters.org/health/2023/02/california-homeless-seniors/)
• Police have arrested an unidentified suspect on charges of manslaughter and drug manufacturing in connection with an explosion and fire in a San Francisco residence that left one person dead. (https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/blast-17778172.php)
• The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego may declare bankruptcy in the face of hundreds of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by its priests, as the diocese says it lacks the funds to pay all potential settlements. Attorneys for the plaintiffs in those cases say the move is part of a protracted strategy by church authorities to conceal assets that might otherwise be used to compensate their clients. (https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2023-02-10/san-diego-roman-catholic-diocese-bankruptcy-sex-abuse-lawsuits)
• An LA County measure to ban .50-caliber guns in unincorporated areas of the county, such as East LA and Altadena, and ban people from carrying any firearm on county-owned property, is likely to face fraught legal challenges, according to a UCLA law professor. (https://laist.com/news/gun-control-la-county-supreme-court-laws-legal-challenges)

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