ICE inks contracts worth billions for private immigration centers

Arlene Martinez, USA TODAY

It's Arlene with news to take you into the weekend.

But first, I'd like to apologize and correct a mistake in yesterday's newsletter. Tulare County is, in fact, in Central California. #facepalm

And later, don't miss our gift-giving recommendations for the cannabis enthusiast in your life.

In California is a roundup of stories from newsrooms across the USA TODAY Network and beyond. Sign up for M-F delivery here!

ICE inks deals with four private prisons in Calif.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has entered into long-term contracts worth billions of dollars with for-profit prison companies to operate four private immigration detention centers in California. The move comes two weeks before a new state law is set to take effect phasing out the use of private, for-profit prisons and immigration detention centers.

A detainee who gave only his first name of Jesus (center with bandaged leg) said he has been denied medical treatment for his swollen leg for more than a week at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing Center in Adelanto, Calif.
A detainee who gave only his first name of Jesus (center with bandaged leg) said he has been denied medical treatment for his swollen leg for more than a week at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing Center in Adelanto, Calif.

The awarding of the contracts caps a contentious, two-month struggle between ICE and state leaders. California’s congressional delegation, lawmakers and immigration advocates have slammed the agency for potentially violating federal procurement law in an attempt to lock in long-term contracts for existing private detention centers in the state before AB 32 takes effect in January.

The contract announcements, posted on a federal website, only say the awards are for four detention centers in ICE’s Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego areas of responsibility. Read more:

'Wine cave' couple donates big; Ford v Ferrari

The couple behind the Napa Valley "wine cave" has donated more than $2 million to Democrats and progressive political action committees.

President Donald Trump accepted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's invitation, offered two days after his impeachment, to give the annual State of the Union on Feb. 4.

Ford v Ferrari movie watchers in the Inland Empire—any of these sites look familiar?

All she wants for Christmas is cannabis

Cannabolish makes candles and sprays to stamp out cannabis odor.
Cannabolish makes candles and sprays to stamp out cannabis odor.

Looking to gift something special to the cannabis enthusiast in your life this holiday season? There's a little something for everyone in this handy guide.

Does sparkling water infused with THC and CBD sound refreshing? Lagunitas Hi-Fi Hops might quench that thirst.

And if you're on the side of that city council chamber that appreciates that scent wafting through your car window, Malin+Goetz Cannabis Eau de Parfum (available at Nordstrom) might be right for you.

What else we're talking about

"You can't tell me it's working," the nation's new homelessness czar says of California's strategy to reduce homelessness.

A Palmdale teacher is on leave for allegedly telling students she wants to "bring back slavery."

Northern California’s largest health care system, Sutter Health, must pay $575 million to employers, unions and the government to settle claims it abused its market share to raise prices.

Daring rescues, snow in the desert, resilience and loss: Powerful moments of 2019, captured through a lens.

A migrant cries as he recounts the treatment his daughter received from Customs and Border Protection in San Diego. The pair was returned to Tijuana, Mexico, under the Migrant Protection Protocol policy and took refuge in the Agape shelter in Tijuana.
A migrant cries as he recounts the treatment his daughter received from Customs and Border Protection in San Diego. The pair was returned to Tijuana, Mexico, under the Migrant Protection Protocol policy and took refuge in the Agape shelter in Tijuana.

PG&E Power shutoffs — worse than we thought?

An Associated Press review shows widespread problems with the four “public safety power shutoffs” the utility started rolling out in 2018, a year before massive blackouts paralyzed much of California in recent months. Interviews and documents obtained under public records requests reveal persistent failures and broken promises that in some cases compromised public safety.

Even as PG&E assured regulators it was fixing the problems, the utility kept making many of the same mistakes, further undermining trust after its outdated equipment and negligence had been blamed for fires that killed nearly 130 people during 2017 and 2018.

Among the findings: PG&E was slow to release maps showing who would lose power, making it harder for emergency responders to know where to go; it balked at providing the addresses of medically needy customers to local officials who planned to check on them in person; and its website crashed as thousands of people sought information at once.

I'll leave you with this throwback, a story that ran on this day seven years ago about an avalanche that killed three people in the Washington backcountry. One was a Bay Area native and the former marketing director of the adjacent ski resort.

Journalism's changed so much, it's easy to forget how revolutionary the interactive "Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek" was when it came out. The story by New York Times' John Branch went on to win the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. It's as riveting now as it was then.

See you next week.

In California is a roundup of news compiled from across USA TODAY Network newsrooms. Also contributing: Daily Beast, New York Times, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ICE inks billions in contracts for private immigration centers