News

Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Steven Tavares, East Bay Express
 
A secret software program created by Ticketmaster to help buyers purchase large quantities of tickets to sporting events and concerts and then later re-sell them on the secondary market with huge mark-ups in price has caused an uproar in the ticket-selling industry ever since the practice was highlighted in an investigative report last year.
 
A bill introduced by Hayward Assemblyman Bill Quirk banning the use of software by ticket sellers in California was unanimously approved by the State Legislature two weeks ago and signed into law Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
 
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Wednesday, July 24, 2019
West Nile virus is here to stay. Aedes mosquitoes, which can transmit Zika, have been found in 12 counties
 
East Bay Times
 
In the past year, California has experienced multiple public health crises. Last October, San Diego County health authorities declared an end to a Hepatitis A outbreak that killed 20 people and sickened nearly 600. That same month, health officials warned the public of a typhus outbreak in downtown Los Angeles. And now public health departments across the state are scrambling to prevent a widespread outbreak of measles.
 
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Friday, July 19, 2019
Karen Kidd, NorCal Record
 
 
SACRAMENTO – Conclusions issued last month by California's Environmental Health Hazard Assessment Office that coffee doesn't require a warning label in the state was the right decision, a 20th Assembly District representative said.
 
"I believe that OEHHA made the right decision to no longer require a Proposition 65 warning on coffee," California Democrat Assemblyman Bill Quirk said. "I’m not convinced that these warning labels deterred consumers from drinking coffee."
 
Studies also have not backed up any need to warning labels on the popular roasted bean-based beverage, Quirk said.
 
"The studies I have read regarding the effects and health impacts of coffee point to positive health effects and encourage the consumption of coffee, in moderation of course," he said.
 
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Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Steven Tavares, East Bay Citizen

 

A secret software program created by Ticketmaster to help buyers purchase large quantities of tickets to sporting events and concerts and then later re-sell them on the secondary market with huge mark-ups in price has caused an uproar in the ticket-selling industry ever since the practice was highlighted in an investigative report last year.

 

A bill introduced by Hayward Councilmember Bill Quirk banning the use of software by ticket sellers in California was unanimously approved by the State Legislature two weeks ago and signed into law Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

 

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Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Ruth Schneider, Eureka Times-Standard

A new California law aims to make it easier to offer forever homes to kittens. The bill is among the first signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“I was surprised to learn that shelters are required to hold kittens for three days before turning them over to qualified individuals for adoption,” Assemblyman Bill Quirk (D-Hayward), the author of AB 1565, said in a prepared statement. “These tiny animals require 24-hour care, and limitations at shelters mean that a lot kittens, are sadly, being unnecessarily euthanized.”

The new law limits the amount of time a kitten is required to be held before it can be adopted out.

Quirk said being a pet owner himself played a role in his authoring the legislation.

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Thursday, June 13, 2019

Kyung Mi Lee, Sacramento Bee

 

California’s stray kittens can be adopted more easily, thanks to a new law signed by the governor on Wednesday.

The law will allow people to adopt kittens under 8 weeks old at animal shelters, waiving a mandatory six-day waiting period that California had required for stray cats since 1998.

Advocates for stray cats worried that the holding period slowed the adoption process and decreased kittens’ chances of finding a home. Animals directly surrendered by their owners are eligible for immediate adoption or transfers for placement.

“Kittens need extra and attention and care. Finding them forever homes as quickly as possible should not be hindered by law,” said Assemblyman Bill Quirk, D-Hayward, who wrote Assembly Bill 1565.

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Thursday, May 9, 2019

Investigative Reporters Robert Cribb and Marco Chon Oved, The Star

Ticketmaster is the target of proposed legislation in California that would ban its scalper program for doing the same thing that bots do — help resellers buy and sell vast quantities of tickets and make it harder for fans to get in the door at face price.

TradeDesk, a service the world’s largest ticket seller quietly markets to its high-volume customers, was the subject of an undercover investigation by the Star and CBC at a Las Vegas scalping convention last year that revealed how it allows scalpers to link dozens or hundreds of Ticketmaster accounts to gather vast quantities of seats in breach of ticket purchasing limits.

A proposed California consumer protection law draws parallels between ticket-harvesting software, which is already illegal there, and Ticketmaster’s TradeDesk program.  (CBC)

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