Today’s News: State ordered to move 3,000 inmates

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Prison problems. California is going to need to find a place to put more than 3,000 inmates currently serving time at the Pleasant Valley and Avenal prisons. The federal official responsible for overseeing healthcare in state lockups says prisoners who are at high-risk for contracting valley fever will have to be housed elsewhere. That includes inmates with chronic illnesses, such as HIV infection, but also Africans-Americans and Asians. It’s not clear why, but health officials say those ethnic groups are more susceptible to the potentially deadly fungus. Since 2006, the L.A. Times reports that more than 350 prisoners at Pleasant Valley and Avenal have been infected with valley fever, and at least 34 have died. Federal prison overseer J. Clark Kelso says the state has known for years that some groups are more likely to get sick from the fungus than others. His order comes just days before Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration is required to present a plan to reduce the state’s prison population by 9,000 inmates more inmates by the end of the year. California has already released thousands of inmates or transferred them to local jails as part of Brown’s prison realignment program. The governor insists the state has done enough to improve healthcare in California prisons – but the courts say the lockups are still too crowded. San Francisco Chronicle

Airport expansion. The L.A. City Council is scheduled to vote today on a controversial multi-billion-dollar expansion of LAX that would move a runway closer to Westchester homes. L.A. Times

Planes collide. The FAA is investigating a mid-air collision over the Santa Monica Mountains that left one pilot dead and forced another to make an emergency landing at a Westlake golf course. AP

Morning meals. In-class breakfasts will continue for nearly 200,000 LAUSD students despite opposition from teachers. L.A. Times

Fracking controls. A trio of bills that would temporarily prohibit hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – in California have passed their first legislative hurdle. AP

Jackson trial. Testimony is expected to begin today in the billion dollar negligence lawsuit that Michael Jackson’s family has brought against concert promoter AEG. ABC News