Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 19h

"#Flock has been touting new features to their #Raven product. The online ad for the product shows the image of police getting an alert for “screaming.” www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

Flock’s Gunshot Detection Microphones Will Start Listening for Human Voices

Flock Safety, the police technology company most notable for their extensive network of automated license plate readers spread throughout the United States, is rolling out a new and troubling product ...

www.eff.org

Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 19h

#Shasta County election clerk accuses local nonprofit #newsroom Shasta Scout of #election interference and being "illegitimate". firstamendmentcoalition.org/2025/10/09/s...

FAC Represents Newsroom After Shasta Elections Official Illegally Excludes its Journalists from Media Release Distribution

firstamendmentcoalition.org

Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 19h

“We’re trying to prevent a situation where the most vulnerable people take way less than they should be getting,” Joy Chen, executive director of the #EatonFire Survivors Network, said in an interview with CalMatters". calmatters.org/economy/2025...

Edison’s Eaton Fire compensation plan isn’t enough, residents say

Thousands of residents from Altadena and surrounding areas say Eaton fire victims are excluded and shortchanged by Edison’s compensation plan

calmatters.org

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Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 19h

Second federal judge issues a TRO against the use of munitions, chemical #weapons and arrests against journalists and protesters not presenting any threat during #ICE protests. This time in #Chicago. www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/fede...

Federal judge orders DHS/ICE to halt arrests and use of chemical weapons on Chicago press, peaceful protestors - Editor and Publisher

A federal judge barred Department of Homeland Security agents, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs & Border Patrol, from using force against journalists and protesters who don’t po...

www.editorandpublisher.com

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Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 2d

"It’s troubling that companies are making a product that by design is taking biometric information from people who are doing the innocent act of walking onto a porch". #Ring mashable.com/article/amaz...

Amazon Ring plans to use facial recognition scans

Amazon added facial recognition, branded as “familiar faces,” to Ring cameras — sparking fresh privacy and consent concerns.

mashable.com

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Reposted by Tracy Rosenberg

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 3d

Update from the war zone in Portland.

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Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 3d

2 days after Newsom vetoed stronger protections for license plate reader data, AG Bonta sues a CA police department in El Cajon for sharing license plate reader data with law enforcement in more than two dozen other states in violation of state law. #ALPR calmatters.org/justice/2025...

California sues city over surveillance data, warns it can be shared with federal agencies

California limits how police store and share data they collect with automated license plate readers to protect residents' privacy. The state is suing El Cajon, alleging it's misusing that data.

calmatters.org

Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 3d

SF's new speed cameras are largely ticketing people exiting and entering #freeway ramps in SOMA and on Bayshore. www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/s...

S.F. speed cameras are generating mountains of tickets and fines. Here are the totals so far

August was the first month that San Francisco’s automated speed cameras generated citations with a fine. One camera accounted for a quarter of all the tickets, according to data.

www.sfchronicle.com

Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 3d

"It's a textbook example of #disastercapitalism, where people are targeted while they're grieving and overwhelmed" #EatonFire laist.com/news/climate...

Corporations are buying up Altadena lots. Policies to counter that trend have so far failed

More than half of sales through September have been to corporate developers. Grassroots community efforts continue to work to combat the trend.

laist.com

Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 3d

Attorney's fees are only paid for a plaintiff if they WIN their lawsuit, so by definition the cases aren't "baseless". The city and the cops are breaking the law and they want to do so consequence-free. #Surveillance #MattDorsey www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

Hey, San Francisco, There Should be Consequences When Police Spy Illegally

A San Francisco supervisor has proposed that police and other city agencies should have no financial consequences for breaking a landmark surveillance oversight law. In 2019, organizations from across...

www.eff.org

Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 3d

"In Kern County, where 3 #detention centers operate, the #health officer said in testimony before a federal judge that he has “no intention” of exercising his new authority to inspect the facilities to ensure they comply with state and local health standards". calmatters.org/justice/2025...

California gave counties power to inspect ICE detention centers. They’re not using it

California's seven ICE detention centers have to open their doors to local health departments. So far, county officials aren't making much use of that power.

calmatters.org

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Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 3d

📚 It’s Banned Books Week. Book bans don’t protect kids — they censor them. Stand with libraries, stand with readers, stand for the #FreedomToRead. ✊ #BannedBooksWeek #StopBookBans Sign the pledge today! via @everylibrary.bsky.social

action.everylibrary.org/bookbanpledge

Pledge to Protect the Freedom to Read

This Banned Books Week (October 5–11, 2025), join EveryLibrary and We Believe in standing up for every reader’s right to read and access every story.

action.everylibrary.org

Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 4d

California Court of Appeals rules that former mayor Jesse Arreguin and the #Berkeley City Council violated the #BrownAct during discussions of a Gaza ceasefire resolution, reversing the lower court. www.berkeleyside.org/2025/10/03/b...

Berkeley council’s back-room meetings amid Gaza protests violated transparency law, appeals court says

A group sued Berkeley over three City Council meetings that were moved to a private conference room after protesters interrupted them.

www.berkeleyside.org

Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 4d

"The new lawsuit describes repeated raids on workplaces despite agents having no #warrants nor suspicion that specific workers were in the US illegally, and a string of US citizens – many with Latino-sounding names – who were detained" #ICE www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

US citizen sues after twice being detained by immigration agents

US-born Leo Garcia Venegas says ‘I just want to work in peace’ after agents in Alabama said his ID card was fake

www.theguardian.com

Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 4d

"The East Bay Regional Communications System Authority spent more than $1.5 million from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2024, on an “#encryption update,” according to budget documents for the agency". #PoliceRadios www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/10/02/a...?

After tech snafu, most East Bay police radio channels to go silent soon

The switch, which is years in the making, has cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

www.eastbaytimes.com

Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 4d

"An Emmy-winning, Spanish-language reporter who covers immigration, Guevara was arrested June 14 after livestreaming a protest. The federal government has argued that his filming of law enforcement activities created a risk to public safety." #reporting cpj.org/2025/10/jour...

Journalist Mario Guevara to be deported from US in unprecedented case - Committee to Protect Journalists

Update: Mario Guevara was deported from the United States on a 4 a.m. flight on October 3, 2025. Washington, D.C., October 2, 2025—In response to news that journalist Mario Guevara will be deported on...

cpj.org

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Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 4d

“Her death was preventable. She was alive after the crash. She called out for help. And she couldn’t get out" #Tesla #Cybertruck www.mercurynews.com/2025/10/02/f...?

Families of Piedmont Cybertruck crash victims sue Tesla over alleged design flaws

The lawsuit alleges that a design flaw with the vehicle’s doors led to her death.

www.mercurynews.com

Reposted by Tracy Rosenberg

Our Children’s Trust @youthvgov.bsky.social · 16d

🚨 Breaking: 15 young Americans have filed a historic human rights petition against the U.S. for fueling the climate crisis. They’re calling on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to take urgent action and protect their rights and futures. PR: bit.ly/petitionfiling

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Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 8d

New class action lawsuit filed against the federal government's consolidation of personal information. #PrivacyAct www.npr.org/2025/09/30/n...

A lawsuit tries to block the Trump administration's efforts to merge personal data

A class action lawsuit argues that the administration's efforts to combine databases of personal information on Americans violate privacy laws and the Constitution.

www.npr.org

Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 8d

"The idea that #broadcasters could essentially pay extra to remove themselves to buy their way out of regulatory constraints would be an unprecedented change to a system firmly in place since the landmark Red Lion ruling in 1969" radioink.com/2025/10/01/c...

Carr Floats FCC Auction for Licenses Without Public Interest Rules - Radio Ink

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr suggested broadcasters might one day bid in an auction to shed public interest obligations.

radioink.com

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Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 8d

The yogis have won the pitched beach #yoga battle with the City of San Diego. www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/09/29/n...

Ninth Circuit unanimously rejects San Diego’s attempt to reinstate beach yoga ban

The order keeps in place an earlier ruling that teaching yoga in public parks is protected speech under the First Amendment.

www.sandiegouniontribune.com

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Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 8d

Judge dismisses police union challenge to San Francisco's ban on pretextual #trafficstops saying the union had failed to come up with a single example of when the policy would have prohibited them from enforcing state laws. missionlocal.org/2025/09/judg...

Judge dismisses S.F. police union suit targeting policy that limits traffic stops

Judge Joseph M. Quinn found "legal defects" in suit attempting to undermine San Francisco's policy limiting minor traffic stops

missionlocal.org

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Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 9d

And finally the boat-sinking #orca whale gang in Portugal are back and they sunk another boat. Passengers were rescued.

Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 9d

3 years after Berkeley secretly borrowed #drones to fly over the Solano Stroll, the City is moving to openly purchase their own drones. www.berkeleyside.org/2025/09/29/b...

Berkeley will look into giving drones to police and firefighters

Berkeley’s council once toyed with trying to ban drones entirely. Now some council members want first responders to be able to use them.

www.berkeleyside.org

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Tracy Rosenberg @twrling.bsky.social · 9d

Lousiana issues a #warrant seeking the arrest of a California physician for dispensing #abortion drugs by mail order. www.cbsnews.com/news/louisia...

Louisiana seeks arrest of California doctor accused of mailing abortion pills

Louisiana is pursuing a criminal case against an out-of-state doctor accused of mailing abortion pills to a patient in the state, court documents filed this month revealed.

www.cbsnews.com