Bear Hound Ban Passes in Committee

I sent Twitter updates live from the hearing this morning, into a ban on the use of hounds in bear and bobcat hunting.  I sent messages along with pictures, to let you see how the hearing played out.  Here are a few of them:

9:01am Overflow crowd at Bear Hound Ban hearing. Nice -- both sides in issue thanked me for last night's balanced report.

9:08am The hunters are wearing this button, complaining that the ban is in response to Bill Richards killing mountain lion.

9:19am Sponsor of bill and witnesses testifying. Hundreds of people in hall and overflow room.

9:56am Wildlife biologist from Oregon testifies dogs are important to bear research, and that they help "catch and release".

10:16am Hundreds of hunters are here opposing the bill. Still lining up.

10:46am LaMalfa calls bee expert who says bears are a threat to declining bee population.

1:14pm Hound ban passes 5-3. Now on to Appropriations Committee.

Bear Hounds Ban

Tuesday morning at 9am, the California Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee takes up a bill to ban the use of hounds in the hunting of bears and bobcats.  You can read the proposed measure here and contact the members of the committee through this site.

Senator Ted Lieu is sponsoring the bill.  He says dogs with their radio collars give the hunters an unfair advantage, that it's unsportsmanlike.  He also says the chase is cruel, stressing the bears even if a hunter does not wind up shooting them.  Further, Lieu says the hounds attack other wildlife, pets and livestock on private land.

It was important for me to have a balanced report, so I spent a Saturday night in Red Bluff with the California Houndsmen for Conservation -- 500 members at a fundraiser.  They are concerned about their rights being preserved.  They believe this bill is just the first step in a vegan agenda.

What do you think?  Leave a comment below.

You can research more on the number of bears killed in legal hunts here on the California Department of Fish and Game website.

Senator Lieu introduced the bill after California Fish and Game Commission President Bill Richards bagged a mountain lion in Idaho using hounds.

The Trouble We Go Through for Answers

 

Congress Demands Answers on "Death Wobble"

In response to our investigation last month, Silicon Valley Representative Anna Eshoo and the ranking member on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Henry Waxman, demanded answers from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).  They want to find out what the agency knows about "death wobble" complaints from Jeep owners, and they question whether NHTSA should launch an investigation and/or a safety recall.  You can read the full letter here.

The Congress members request answers by April 2nd, and we'll report back to you.

San Francisco Pays Big for Claims and Lawsuits

How much of your tax money is going to claims and litigation?  We asked San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose for all their legal payouts from January 1, 2007 through October 2011. These included claims and lawsuits, as well as expenses associated with each case. The San Francisco total is over $212 million.  Oakland comes in second with just under $50 million.  San Jose said they paid out just over $10 million.

San Francisco’s City Attorney’s Office took exception to any comparison.  It said San Francisco is “a unique beast” because it's a city and county.  So, we asked Alameda and Santa Clara County for their numbers, too.  Alameda spent about $38 million and Santa Clara said it paid out just under $41 million during that same time frame.  When you add the numbers up, they look like this:

San Francisco = $212 million

Oakland/Alameda County = $88 million

San Jose/Santa Clara County = $51 million

Here’s where the numbers get interesting.  San Francisco officials say San Jose may be larger when talking about population, but it is a smaller government.  Oakland is smaller still in both population and government.  Here’s how operational budgets breaks down:

City and County of San Francisco -- $6.8 billion

 

City of San Jose -- $2 billion 

Santa Clara County -- $4 billion

Total -- $6 billion

 

City of Oakland -- $1 billion   

Alameda County -- $2.4 billion

Total -- $3.4 billion

 

When you look at the city/county budgets along with the legal payouts, it plays out like this:

City and County of San Francisco -- 3% of the total budget

City of San Jose /Santa Clara County -- 0.8% of total budget                     

City Oakland/Alameda County –- 2.5% of total budget

 

Personal injury attorney Doug Seltzer says, “When you have $200 million over 5 years being paid on totally preventable claims, the system is broken.”

By the way, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority paid $11,241,591.65 in claims and lawsuits in the last five years.  This includes expenses.

No numbers from AC Transit yet.

"Peace. Love. Foie"

Just got an email from Sonoma Foie Gras.  Guillermo Gonzalez is contacting customers about placing their orders for Valentine's Day.  And, he has a new t-shirt.

Dear Friends, "Peace. Love. Foie" During good times or those of adversity, we wish to keep these special words on the forefront, as they capture the essence of this gastronomic treasure, and ultimately the reason why our family learned the art of producing it, 26 years ago... To spread the love, and share a special gift with our supporters, we're pleased to announce that we're offering our special edition 2012 T-shirt. We appreciate your continued patronage! Be sure to check back with us for an update you (sic) on the latest regarding the upcoming Foie Gras Ban in the state of California (effective July 1, 2012), in the coming weeks.   Cheers, The Gonzalez Family

As I reported, the California ban on Foie Gras takes effect July 1st.  I tried several times to contact Gonzalez for comment, to find out about his plans.  It would appear he has two options -- shut down his Foie Gras farm near Stockton, or take his business out of state.

 

Ducks want to be force-fed?

As part of any investigation, I ask people to back up what they say.  During our interview about ducks being force fed to produce the gourmet delicacy foie gras, Chef Dan Scherotter from Palio d'Asti repeated something you hear frequently from the foie gras industry -- that ducks don't mind being force-fed.  They actually walk to the worker to be fed.  Here's video of Chef Dan's comment:



Chef Dan Scherotter, Palio d'Asti:  "The last 2-3 weeks are uncomfortable, I think the first couple days what I've seen, but then the ducks are going to the feeders, so they don't really care so much."

Dan: Really? The ducks actually go to the feeder? You've seen that."

"I've seen it."

Scherotter claimed he's seen the video -- something I haven't seen in all those reports I did, starting eight years ago, including a tour inside Sonoma Foie Gras.  Three times a day for the final three weeks of their lives, a worker grabs each duck, shoves a 10-inch metal pole down its throat, and an air pump sends a pound of corn into the bird.  During the process, the liver swells to more than ten times its normal size.  Many of the ducks I've seen become lethargic, some suffer perforations to their necks, others can't walk.  In our original reports in 2003, we showed the activists' video of rats eating ducks alive -- the birds couldn't move or defend themselves.
 
So, Dan Scherotter never provided the video of the duck walking toward a worker to be fed.  Here's part of our email exchange:
 

From Dan Noyes
To Chef Dan Scherotter
January 30, 2012
 
Thanks again for the interview, Chef.  The story airs this Thursday at 6.  Please direct me to any video of ducks coming toward a worker to be speed fed.  I'd really like to see it.
 
Best,
Dan
 
From Chef Dan Scherotter
To Dan Noyes
January 31, 2012
 
Thanks Dan, if I find some free time, I'll look for it.  Then again, I could also show you a hotdog eating contest.

Scherotter finally referred me to a video produced by Hudson Valley Foie Gras of New York, the only other foie gras producer in the country:
 

 
The company invites you to visit any time.  It would be interesting if they produced a video showing the last three weeks of a duck's life while being force fed, day-by-day.
 
Volunteers from the Animal Rescue & Protection League also went undercover at Hudson Valley recently, and here's their new video which includes some of those pictures:
 

 
Bottom line, I've never seen a duck -- in person at Sonoma Foie Gras or on any video -- wanting to be force-fed.  

I'll be back to update when the law banning foie gras takes effect July 1st.

*** Update 12:22pm 2-3-12: Comments are now working on this post.  Thanks, Dan ***

The Choking Game

This was one of the most difficult stories I've ever had to report.  With a teenage son, this hit very close to home.  Dylan Piefer was fourteen years-old when he died this past Saturday.  Watch the story here.  The San Mateo County Coroner told the mother, it appeared he's the latest victim of the Choking Game.  Kids are using several different methods to restrict their airways and cutoff oxygen to the brain.  As they pass out and revive, they get a rush, similar to what a person experiences using inhalants.  But, the experts say the Choking Game is not easily controlled and can be very dangerous.

I wanted to pass on the warning signs for parents, from the CDC website:

• Discussion of the game or its aliases
• Bloodshot eyes
• Marks on the neck
• Wearing high-necked shirts, even in warm weather
• Frequent, severe headaches
• Disorientation after spending time alone
• Increased and uncharacteristic irritability or hostility
• Ropes, scarves, and belts tied to bedroom furniture or doorknobs or found knotted on the floor
• The unexplained presence of dog leashes, choke collars, bungee cords, etc.
• Petechiae (pinpoint bleeding spots) under the skin of the face, especially the eyelids, or the conjunctiva (the lining of the eyelids and eyes)

And here are some of the aliases:

• Pass-out game
• Space monkey
• Suffocation roulette
• Scarf game
• The American dream
• Fainting game
• Something dreaming game
• Purple hazing
• Blacking out/blackout
• Dream game
• Flat liner
• California choke
• Space cowboy
• Airplaning
• Purple dragon
• Cloud nine

We found those videos all over the internet, on YouTube and parents' group, the Dangerous Behavior Foundation.  Click here for more information. 

*** Update December 13th at 10:30am ***

I spoke with Dylan's father, Phillip.  He's devastated by his son's death; they were very close.  He says he knows that Dylan did not commit suicide.  Phillip has been out of work, and he's asking if anyone would like to help pay the funeral expenses, please donate to the "Dylan Piefer Memorial Fund" at any Bank of America Branch.

Al Davis' FBI File

After Al Davis passed away in October, we wondered if the FBI ever investigated the owner of the Oakland Raiders and what his file might contain.  We've found some fascinating stories in the past from FBI files, about famed San Francisco attorney Melvin Belli, members of Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead.

So, the I-Team filed a Freedom of Information Act request and obtained 24 pages from the FBI in two installments about a death threat.

The Raiders did not move to Los Angeles until 1982, but when the idea surfaced in 1980, some Bay Area fans were not happy.  One fan took their dislike for the proposed move a step further than others, sending Davis a veiled death threat through the Oakland Tribune.
The newspaper received it on January 18, 1980.  The threat on "Just a Note" stationery reads, 

"Maybe though (sic) the media we can get the word to Al Davis if he moves to L.A. He will not live to see the first game played there.  A season ticket holder for 18 years"

The Oakland Tribune never printed the letter, but they did turn it over to the Oakland Police Department, then to the FBI.  The FBI sent the documents, including the letter and envelope, to their lab for fingerprint testing.  No prints were found.  The FBI did conclude that the typewriting on the note "most closely corresponds to laboratory standards for a Smith Corona pica style of type.”

Davis was staying at The Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles when an FBI agent informed him about the death treat.

The FBI forwarded the case to the US Attorney's Office, which declined to take it further because "facts of the case did not merit federal prosecution", characterizing the threat as "ambiguous in nature".  The FBI photographed the evidence and essentially closed the case.  The file never mentions Davis’ reaction to the threat.

Where's the Meth House?

On this evening's investigation, the I-Team revealed how people are moving into homes that used to be meth labs, without even knowing it.  Sellers or owners who rent homes are supposed to disclose it, but sometimes don't, and county officials who are supposed to ensure a proper cleanup are often dropping the ball.

As promised, here's the state's database on meth busts since 1995, and here's their disclaimer and key for the database.  

Tomorrow on the news at 6, we explore why California has one of the loosest regulations on the amount of meth allowed to remain in a home after a meth lab cleanup.