Not everyone has access to cell service. In some rural areas, a landline is the only option, and many elderly people still depend on them. So what happens if that landline phone no longer works?

For months, 7 On Your Side Investigates has been reporting on AT&T customers who have lost their landline service due to copper theft.

California AG vows crackdown on copper wire thefts

Now, AT&T wants to withdraw from being the so-called “carrier of last resort” and end its obligation to provide landline phone service across California. The Public Utilities Commission rejected that proposal last year, but now, the fight is in the legislature.

At a hearing of the Senate Communications Committee on Monday, AT&T was clear in its intent.

“To put things plainly, our current Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) policy no longer reflects the reality of today’s competitive communications landscape in California,” said Terri Nikole Baca from AT&T.

It comes down to copper landline service, which was once the only way to make a phone call. Now, according to the company, less than 5% of Californians have landline phones.

Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor from Inglewood authored a bill saying it’s time to modernize.

“Most residents are using either a wireless phone service or a fiber-based phone service for their telecommunication needs,” McKinnor said.

But, some say that 5% who still use landlines are in rural areas where they might not have other services. A number of users are older people who have had landlines for decades. 7 On Your Side Investigates has shared the stories of several people who depend on landlines for their service, including life alert systems that don’t work with cellular.

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) mentioned Eyewitness News’ reporting at the hearing.

READ MORE: 7 On Your Side helps 95-year-old woman get her phone service restored after 2 months without it

“There was a news story in L.A. just a short while ago where a 90-year-old woman, homebound because of a stroke and other health conditions, went without her landline for two months because the phone company would not repair her phone lines,” said Frank Arce from CWA.

The union claims the old phone service is not as profitable and more expensive to repair compared to new fiber optic technology.

“They are pushing people off of phone service in low-profit areas as a strategy to increase profits for shareholders,” Arce said.

Proponents of the bill say there are safeguards, and before AT&T can stop any service, there needs to be alternatives in place.

“Two wireless lines, one hard line. They have to have two other services, and the cost has to be equal to what they’re paying now,” McKinnor said.

The bill was approved in a vote of 9-2. It moves to the Senate Judiciary Committee next.

MORE ON LANDLINE OUTAGES:
More South Los Angeles residents say they need life-saving landline phone service restored
Copper wire thieves leaving Silver Lake neighborhood in the dark
Copper wire thefts are leaving neighborhoods in the dark. Here’s what LAPD is doing to stop it
South LA customers still without landline service. 7 On Your Side demands answers from AT&T.

A California professor was arrested for allegedly chucking a tear gas canister at ICE agents during a raid on a marijuana farm being investigated for child labor violations. 

Jonathan Anthony Caravello — a math and philosophy professor at California State University Channel Islands — was arrested by federal agents conducting a raid at Glass House Farms in Ventura County on Thursday, ABC 7 reported.

US Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X that Caravello was arrested for “throwing a tear gas canister at law enforcement.”

Essayli said Caravello was charged with “a violation of 18 USC 111,” for allegedly “assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees,” according to federal law.

The US attorney also denied claims that the educator was “kidnapped” by federal agents.

On Friday, the California Faculty Association shared that Caravello was “kidnapped” by federal agents after protesters and law enforcement clashed during Thursday’s raid.

The post claimed that “4 masked agents dragged Jonathan away into an unmarked reason without identifying themselves, without giving the reason for arrest, and without disclosing where they are taking him.”

However, a criminal complaint obtained by the Ojai Valley News revealed “dozens of protestors attempt to obstruct the execution of the high-risk search warrant” near Glass House Farms.

The affidavit claims that Caravello was seen holding a “megaphone” walking along the yellow police tape, “loudly playing a siren sound” towards agents.

Protestors then later began throwing “rocks” at government vehicles, causing “large-scale damage, including broken windows, broken side view mirrors, and frame damage to the vehicles.”

As the escalation continued, agents deployed tear gas among the protestors to disperse them. Caravello was allegedly caught on an agent’s body camera footage attempting to “kick the canister,” but missed.

“Caravello turned around, ran towards the canister, picked it up, and threw the canister overhand back at BP agents,” the complaint claims.

“A BP Agent reported that the canister was thrown at law enforcement and recalls that the canister came within approximately several feet above law enforcement’s heads.”

Caravello then allegedly left the scene, but about “two hours later,” an individual matching his description returned wearing different clothes, according to the affidavit.

After determining he was the individual who threw the canister, two border patrol agents attempted to arrest him just before 6 p.m., according to the criminal complaint.

“As BP agents arrested Caravello, they placed him on his stomach on the ground. BP Agent R.C. gave Caravello verbal commands to give law enforcement officers his arms but Caravellowould not comply and attempted to grab a BP Agent’s leg,” the complaint alleged.

“As BP Agent R.C. and other BP agents attempted to detain Caravello, Caravello continuously kicked his legs and refused to give the BP agents his arms.”

Caravello has since been released from custody on $15,000 bail, with an arraignment set for Aug. 1.

California State University Channel Islands released a statement following his arrest, ABC 7 reported.

“At this time, it is our understanding that Professor Caravello was peacefully participating in a protest-an act protected under the First Amendment and a right guaranteed to all Americans. If confirmed, we stand with elected officials and community leaders calling for his immediate release,” the statement read.

“The California State University remains committed to the principles of free expression, academic freedom, and due process, and will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

Federal agents said they served a warrant on Glass House Farms after it was accused of hiring and harboring undocumented workers.

More than 350 undocumented workers were arrested in the raids at its locations in Carpinteria and Camarillo on Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

Officials said that “violent and dangerous criminals” were arrested during the operation, and “as of July 13, at least 14 migrant children have been rescued from potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking.”

Officials also said that “more than 500 rioters attempted to disrupt operations,” leading to “four US citizens” being “criminally processed for assaulting or resisting officers.”

Glass House Farms is now facing alleged child labor law violations.

Glass House Brands stated in a press release that they complied with the federal warrants issued and “never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors.”

with Post wires

SACRAMENTO — With diversity programs under full assault by the Trump administration, California lawmakers are considering a measure that would allow state colleges to consider whether applicants are descendants of African Americans who were enslaved in the United States.

The bill, which would probably face a legal challenge if passed, is part of a package of 15 reparations bills supported by the California Legislative Black Caucus being considered in the current legislative session.

Assembly Bill 7, introduced by Assemblymember Isaac G. Bryan (D-Los Angeles), if passed, could potentially skirt around the state’s ban on affirmative action. California voters in 1996 approved a state ballot measure, Proposition 209, that bars colleges from considering race, sex, ethnicity, color or national origin in admissions under Proposition 209. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 also ruled those programs were unconstitutional.

Bryan, however, says his has nothing to do with race and doesn’t use the terms “Black” or “African American” in its text.

“Descendants of people who are enslaved could identify in a variety of racial ways, and then phenotypically even present in different ways than they racially identify,” he said in an interview with The Times. “But if your ancestors were enslaved in this country, then there’s a direct lineage-based tie to harms that were inflicted during enslavement and in the after lives thereafter.”

The bill, and others in the reparations package, had seen widespread support within the Legislature’s Democratic supermajority and are representative of California’s values, Bryan said.

“I think California is quite clear where it positions itself in this moment, and that is in the support of all people, recognizing the harms of the past and trying to build a future that includes everybody. And if that appears in conflict with the federal government, I think that has more to do with the way the government is posturing than who we are as Californians,” he said.

Last year, when only 10 of 14 bills in the reparations package passed through the Legislature, reform advocates felt the efforts were lackluster. Lawmakers believed it was a foundation they could build upon, Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City) said in September.

AB 7’s focus on lineage, said Taifha Alexander, a professor at UCLA and expert in critical race theory, could face legal trouble if a judge believed it used lineage as a proxy for race. It could be ruled unconstitutionally discriminatory under the 14th Amendment.

A separate reparations bill, however, could help offer a legal definition to separate race from lineage. Senate Bill 518 would create a state bureau for descendants of American slavery. The state agency would verify a person’s status as a descendant and help applicants access benefits.

Comprehensive reparation legislation isn’t a novel idea and has been enacted before, Alexander said. In the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, the federal government formally apologized to Japanese Americans for their illegal incarceration in detention camps during World War II, and included a one-time payment of $20,000 to survivors.

Reparations — in the form of cash payments — fell flat with voters when last polled by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Times in 2023. More than 4 in 10 California voters “strongly” opposed cash payments and 59% opposed the idea, with 28% in support. None of the bills currently before the Legislature includes cash reparations.

Other forms of reparations, such as a change to the college admissions process and social programs, are still valid ways to address inequities, Alexander said.

But a bill like AB 7, which looks to circumvent existing law, could face headwinds from the public who could see it as unfair, she said.

With the outcome of the 2023 Supreme Court case which banned college admissions processes from using race, she said the policy was unlikely to be popular.

Opponents argue the bill’s distinction between race and ancestry is not enough to survive judicial review, and believe a court will find lineage to be a proxy for race to circumvent the ban.

“Suppose, instead, that a state passed a law making university admission more difficult for descendants of American slavery. Would anyone argue that such a law should be upheld? Of course not,” Edward Blum, president of Students for Fair Admissions and the lawyer who argued and won the case to ban affirmative action, said in a statement to The Times.

“It would be struck down immediately as unconstitutional racial discrimination. That hypothetical reveals the core defect of AB 7 — it makes a race-linked classification under the guise of ancestry and will not withstand judicial review. If enacted, this legislation will face a swift and vigorous legal challenge in federal court and be struck down. It takes Herculean stupidity to believe otherwise,” Blum wrote.

Other bills still working through the legislative process include measures that would set aside home purchase assistance funds for descendants of American slavery that are buying their first homes and direct state agencies to address mortgage lending discrimination.

The reparations legislation that has failed to advance includes a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have banned prisons from requiring inmates to work, which some consider state-sanctioned slavery or indentured servitude.