Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. Google and Microsoft agreed to install kill switches on their smartphones in a compromise deal with law enforcement officials, the LA Times$ reports. The companies, however, stopped short of making the kill switches automatic — as law enforcement had requested — and instead will install them on phones, but make them optional for users. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, nonetheless, praised the decision by the industry giants, noting that thefts of iPhones have dropped since Apple installed similar optional kill switch devices.
[jump]
2. California prison doctors have performed sterilizations on 27 female inmates without their consent since 2006, the LA Times$ reports, citing a new report from the State Auditor’s Office.
3. The Berkeley City Council moved forward this week with new regulations designed to limit the number of chain pharmacies in the city, Berkeleyside reports. The new rules would block a controversial Walgreens store from opening on Solano Avenue.
4. The Berkeley council also moved forward with plans to permit a fourth medical cannabis dispensary in the city, Berkeleyside reports.
5. And drought conditions are worsening in California, with about one-third of the state now considered to be in an “exceptional” drought, the LA Times$ reports.
$ = news stories that may require payment to read.
