Newsletter: An unusual move by the San Diego DA after a police shooting, and an update on the massive methane leak

Fatal shooting by police officer leads to unusual move by San Diego DA

Over the past 11 years, the District Attorney’s Office has investigated more than 150 police-involved shootings across San Diego County.

Each investigation has concluded with a formal letter summarizing the findings. These letters analyze evidence and eyewitness statements and, in the end, explain why the officers who pulled the trigger were not charged with a crime.

If you scan through them all, you’ll notice that every letter follows much the same script — except the most recent one.

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Aircraft measure decrease in enormous L.A. methane leak flow

The latest aircraft fly-through measurement of the methane gas plume streaming from a broken Sempra natural gas well in Los Angeles County shows the flow, while still massive, has decreased.

Instruments indicate 21,500 kilograms per hour of methane now billowing from holes in the ground alongside the wellhead in the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Field, owned by Sempra Energy-subsidiary Southern California Gas Co. That marks a two-thirds reduction from the fiercest flow, measured Nov. 28.

But daily greenhouse gas emissions from the site still equal roughly 3.3 million cars on the road for a day. Regulators have said they are unaware of any methane release of this size in state history.

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