June 17, 2020
PG&E CEO Pleads Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter in Camp Fire It’s pretty extraordinary to hear the CEO of a big company plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, but it happened in a Butte County courtroom Tuesday. Pacific Gas and Electric CEO Bill Johnson entered guilty pleas again and again for the deaths of 84 people, all of them victims of the 2018 Camp Fire which was sparked by PG&E equipment near the town of Paradise. As Coronavirus Spreads in Prisons, Non-Violent Inmates Can Get Early Release The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says it will allow for the early release of inmates who have 6 months or less left on their sentences. The non-violent offenders will have to prove they have a place to live once they’re free. Cases of COVID-19 inside California prisons continue to balloon. Reporter: Alice Woelfle, KQED Developments in Case of Black Man Found Hanging in Palmdale The family of Robert Fuller, the 24-year-old Black man found hanging from a tree in Palmdale, says they will seek an independent autopsy to determine Fuller’s cause of death. City officials initially called his death a suicide, until that conclusion was challenged by protests. Reporter: Darrell Salzman, KCRW Statues Coming Down in Sacramento You might’ve heard about statues being pulled down around the country, and around the world. The artworks commemorate historical figures, once hailed as heroes, but who now are seen by many as oppressors and exploiters. In Sacramento, a statue of John Sutter was removed from a hospital and the state legislature promised to remove statues of Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain. Fort Bragg Considers a Name Change There’s a push to rename U.S. military bases that are named for Civil War-era generals who fought for the Confederacy. The small Northern California coastal town of Fort Bragg now confronts the issue. Like the Army Base in North Carolina, the town is named for Braxton Bragg, a slave-owning Confederate general. Guest: Mayor Will Lee, Fort Bragg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
