LATimes: State Supreme Court to leave boundaries intact for Senate races

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 27, 2012 | 10:19 am

A correction has been added to this post. See below for details.

The California Supreme Court, faced with a possible ballot measure to scrap newly drawn election districts, decided Friday to leave the boundaries in place for this year’s state Senate races.

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Friday, January 27, 2012 – 09:45 a.m.

Well we finally have it.

San Bernardino  County Board of Supervisors Chair Josie Gonzales admits she’s in it for the dough.

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San Bernardino County supervisors have too much to do, the chairwoman says after a union backs the idea

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 26 January 2012 09:27 PM

A proposal to reduce San Bernardino County supervisors’ positions to part-time status would leave little time for them to meet and respond to constituents’ needs, board Chairwoman Josie Gonzales said Thursday.

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The Sun: Million Air operating without license

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/26/2012 12:53:12 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – Million Air, the upscale jet refueling facility at San Bernardino International Airport, has been operating without a business license since April, city officials said Thursday.

The facility, which caters to private and corporate aircraft, has been the most high profile business drawn to the airport and has been touted by airport officials as an example of the airport’s potential prosperity. It began operations in 2010.

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Rep. Mary Bono Mack

BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com

Published: 26 January 2012 11:52 AM

WASHINGTON — Newt Gingrich is an “erratic” thinker who “abandoned his conservative principals” before leaving Congress, Inland Rep. Mary Bono Mack said Thursday on behalf of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

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Cities hoping for extra life for redevelopment agencies are told to focus on a future without them as a Feb. 1 deadline nears

BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.co

Published: 26 January 2012 09:04 PM

SACRAMENTO — Legislation to extend the life of redevelopment agencies beyond Feb. 1 seemed all but dead Thursday despite a last-ditch push by local officials and other groups.

The California Supreme Court last month upheld a state law ending redevelopment, which for decades has helped local governments pay to revitalize downtowns and build new streets and also been criticized as a taxpayer subsidy for politically connected developers. Inland Southern California has some of the most active agencies in the state.

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DailyBulletin OpEd: Is there nothing better to do?

Assemblyman Curt Hagman

Assemblyman Curt Hagman
Created: 01/26/2012 11:31:48 AM PST

California’s Legislature has a full plate this year: crafting a responsible budget, protecting our schools, encouraging job creation, reforming public pensions and much more. Gov. Brown has just proposed a 7 percent increase in his 2012-13 budget and again asking voters for more tax increases when the state’s economy remains stalled by already high taxes and slow growth. Yet in my time in the state Assembly, it never ceases to amaze me when liberal politicians introduce unnecessary legislation that has nothing to do with the priorities of California’s citizens.

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DailyBulletin: Fontana mayor vows to join fight for LA/ONT

Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren delivers her state of the city address on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at the Jessie Turner Community Center in Fontana.

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Created: 01/26/2012 11:35:17 AM PST

FONTANA – Mayor Acquanetta Warren on Thursday vowed to join forces with Ontario city leaders in the quest to wrestle ownership of L.A./Ontario International Airport from Los Angeles’ control.

That pledge was part of broad strategy focused on regional cooperation as Fontana moves forward with 2012 and in the succeeding years.

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Will Bigham, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 01/26/2012 10:42:20 AM PST

A committee of the Cal State University Board of Trustees is set to begin the search for a new president at Cal State San Bernardino. President Albert Karnig is retiring at the end of the school year.

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Patrick Fite, For the Daily Facts
Posted: 01/26/2012 04:25:15 PM PST

Practicing simple energy efficient methods can add up to huge savings, as the Redlands Unified School District (RUSD) has shown during the past 26 months by saving more than $900,000 in energy costs.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 26, 2012 | 8:12 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday urged 1,500 Los Angeles political and business leaders to back his proposal for higher taxes and implored them to pressure lawmakers in Sacramento to overhaul the state’s pension system this year.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Last Tuesday, the Public Policy Institute of California issued a new poll that found, among other things, just 17 percent of the state’s voters like the Legislature’s performance.

Simultaneously, the Legislature’s top leaders provided another reason for Californians to harbor such scorn.

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Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye

January 26, 2012

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye today urged the defeat of Assembly legislation that would undermine the authority of the Judicial Council, and give courts in as few as two counties authority to veto any statewide judicial project.

Cantil-Sakauye, who became chief justice in 2010, is showing herself to be a tough fighter as she lobbies to kill legislation by Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, himself the consummate inside player.

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POLITICS

By Shane Goldmacher
Updated: January 26, 2012 | 5:34 p.m.
January 25, 2012 | 9:30 p.m.

A sleepy race for a California Legislature seat is turning into a fractious family feud that pits a former top staffer to Buck McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee, against the congressman’s wife.

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Mitt Romney left. Newt Gingrich right.

By Mark Z. Barabak and Maeve Reston
January 26, 2012, 7:11 p.m.

Reporting from Jacksonville, Fla. and Miami, Fla.— Picking up where their last debate left off, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich resumed battling Thursday night over personal integrity and the tenor of their respective campaigns, each accusing the other of unfair character attacks.

Romney, clearly itching for a fight, turned an early discussion on immigration policy into an assault on Gingrich over a radio spot he ran earlier this week on Florida’s Spanish-language airwaves. Gingrich pulled the ad, which described Romney as “anti-immigrant,” after it was criticized by Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a rising national star in Latino politics who is staying neutral in the primary.

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The PE: GOVERNOR: Northerners dominate appointments in first year

Most of his appointments in the first year went to people who live in Northern California, but 20 Inland residents got posts

BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com

Published: 25 January 2012 09:45 PM

SACRAMENTO — As Gov. Jerry Brown put his stamp on California government in the past year, his appointments leaned heavily toward the state’s less-populated northern half.

Since taking office in January 2011, Brown had made almost 580 appointments to administration jobs and state boards and commissions through last week. Of those, two-thirds listed residences in 10 Northern California counties, with a third, 194, from Sacramento County alone. Almost 70 percent are Democrats.

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San Bernardino County supervisors Brad Mitzelfelt, First District; Janice Rutherford, Second District; Neil Derry, Third District; Gary Ovitt, Fourth District; and Josie Gonzales, Fifth District (File photos)

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/25/2012 04:21:42 PM PST

A proposed initiative to make county supervisors’ jobs part-time would spell doom for residents desiring a stronger presence of government in their communities, San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Josie Gonzales said Wednesday.

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Trends favor apartments
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Created: 01/25/2012 03:20:18 PM PST

Residential developers will remember the past year as the third-slowest in California history – and the slowest ever in terms of permits for new single-family homes.

Golden State developers are finding a better market for apartments and other multi-family living options than new homes.

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DailyBulletin: Underground route requested for power lines

By Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 01/25/2012 04:20:13 PM PST

CHINO HILLS – Southern California Edison has been ordered to investigate another underground power-line route for the power lines due to carry 500 kilovolts of wind-generated electricity through the city.

Earlier this month, Edison turned over a 96-page document to the state Public Utility Commission that detailed “feasibility, cost and timing” on 16 possible options for building the high-voltage Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project through Chino Hills.

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VVDailyPress: Supervisors eye pension ballot measure

Safety union announces push for part-time supervisors
January 25, 2012 10:31 AM
Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO • On a split vote Tuesday morning, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors directed staff to draft a ballot measure that would require voter approval for any future pension increases for county employees.

A few hours later, the county Safety Employees’ Benefit Association announced it was funding an effort to reduce the Board of Supervisors to part-time status.

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California Gov. Jerry Brown presents his proposed state budget, which needs tax hikes to balance. (Lezlie Sterling / MCT / January 5, 2012)

By Marc Lifsher
January 25, 2012, 10:43 a.m.

California’s combination of business, sales, income and other taxes ranks it close to the bottom of the 50 states for being business-friendly, according to an index put out by a conservative Washington think tank.

California placed 48th, ahead of only New York at 49th place and New Jersey at 50th, said a report released Wednesday by the Tax Foundation.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 25, 2012

Less than a week after Gov. Jerry Brown claimed widespread business support for his ballot initiative to raise taxes – including donations from big healthcare and oil companies – the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and California chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business urged business groups this afternoon to resist any effort by Brown to “cajole” them.

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California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris walked away from talks with the banks last year, saying not enough was being offered for California homeowners. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

By Alejandro Lazo

January 25, 2012, 2:57 p.m.

Calif. Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris’ office has called a proposed $25-billion settlement with the nation’s mortgage industry “inadequate.”

“We’ve reviewed the details of the latest settlement proposal from the banks, and we believe it is inadequate for California,” Shum Preston, a spokesman for Harris, said in a statement. “Our state has been clear about what any multistate settlement must contain: transparency, relief going to the most distressed homeowners and meaningful enforcement that ensures accountability. At this point, this deal does not suffice for California.”

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The PE: AIRPORT: LA councilmen want to research Ontario transfer

BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
STAFF WRITER
kpierceall@pe.com

Published: 24 January 2012 09:02 PM

The last time a Los Angeles councilman proposed taking a serious look at what it would take to transfer control of Ontario International Airport back to the city of Ontario, the Inland city didn’t have a serious proposal.

Now it does.

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San Bernardino County supervisors Brad Mitzelfelt, First District; Janice Rutherford, Second District; Neil Derry, Third District; Gary Ovitt, Fourth District; and Josie Gonzales, Fifth District (File photos)

Joe Nelson, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 01/23/2012 03:05:32 PM PST

The president of San Bernardino County’s most powerful labor union announced Tuesday it is bankrolling an initiative to reduce county supervisors’ jobs to part-time status.

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Supervisor Josie Gonzales

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 24 January 2012 07:08 PM

San Bernardino County supervisors moved forward Tuesday with a proposal to require voter approval of future pension increases but face opposition from employee unions who quickly announced plans for a competing measure aimed at supervisors.

The board agreed to have county staff draft a ballot measure requiring voter approval before retirement benefits for county employees, legislative officers and elected officials could be increased. But final approval is not assured with supervisors split 3-2 on whether to consider the proposal.

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By Jim Steinberg Staff Writer
Posted: 01/24/2012 08:43:11 PM PST

The Fontana and Rialto city councils scrambled on Tuesday night to approve measures paving the way for a Feb. 1 deadline for the dissolution of their redevelopment agencies.

Meanwhile, because of the complexity of what needs to be accomplished in a short time frame, two bond-rating agencies have taken negative actions toward billions of dollars in California bonds secured by redevelopment tax increment revenue.

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VVDailyPress: VVUHSD, teachers union strike tentative deal

Agreement delays decisions on furlough days, benefits cuts
January 24, 2012 3:29 PM
Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer

VICTORVILLE • Three months after declaring an impasse, the Victor Valley Union High School District and its teachers union have struck a tentative agreement. (Click here to read the agreemment.)

But rather than resolve contentious compensation issues, the proposed deal essentially delays the hard decisions until negotiations resume in March for the 2012-13 school year.

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Details of the president’s annual speech to Congress came under harsh fire from members of the Inland region’s Republican delegation./AP

BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com

Published: 24 January 2012 09:18 PM

WASHINGTON — The central initiatives laid out in President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night seem tailored to address Inland Southern California’s largest problems: unemployment and the home foreclosure crisis.

Yet the details of his plan raised concerns from some area officials and came under harsh fire from members of the region’s predominantly Republican congressional delegation, signaling a contentious election year in Washington and a tough road ahead for the president’s agenda.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 24, 2012

California voters like Gov. Jerry Brown’s idea of making high earners pay more taxes, but otherwise are of mixed minds about solving the state’s chronic budget woes, according to the Public Policy Institute of California’s latest poll on the topic.

Here are a few findings from the poll, released today:

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California State Controller John Chiang

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 24, 2012 | 1:51 pm

Democratic lawmakers sued state Controller John Chiang on Tuesday seeking limits on the controller’s right to withhold lawmakers’ pay during a budget stalemate.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

As the Legislature reconvened this month, California’s judges resumed their civil war over money and power.

It pits Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and the State Judicial Council, along with one faction of trial and appellate judges, against a rebellious faction, organized as the Alliance of California Judges, over how to allocate pain as the courts adjust to reduced financing.

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The PE: RIVERSIDE COUNTY: Union plans one-day strike

BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com

Published: 23 January 2012 10:39 PM

Riverside County’s second-largest union is planning a one-day general strike next week to protest the pension and benefit changes imposed on employees last year.

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San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 23 January 2012 08:14 PM

San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry will return to normal voting at today’s board meeting even as he sparred with federal officials over the exact nature of his eight-month suspension.

Due to criminal charges he faced last year, Derry had not taken part in votes involving federal funds.

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County supes to approve $2.63 million for SVL fire station
January 23, 2012 4:57 PM
Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO • Two weeks after slashing their own benefits, San Bernardino County’s supervisors Tuesday will consider extending the compensation cuts to all county elected offices.

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By Joe Nelson, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 01/23/2012 03:05:32 PM PST

Two San Bernardino County supervisors are requesting that benefits for all county elected officials, not just the Board of Supervisors, be reduced to be in line with elected officials in other counties.

Supervisors Neil Derry and Janice Rutherford are pushing for the ordinance, which comes less than two weeks after the board approved a similar ordinance that reduced total compensation for future supervisors by roughly $48,000 annually.

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Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/23/2012 03:37:18 PM PST

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is poised to direct county administrators to draft a ballot measure that would require voter approval for any proposed increases to county employee retirement benefits.

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BY ALICIA ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
arobinson@pe.com

Published: 23 January 2012 07:06 PM

“Let the next mayor’s campaign begin,” Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge declared in his final State of the City speech late last week.

Apparently the candidates listened, because a day later, the barbs began flying in what had so far been a quiet race.

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By Art Marroquin and Liset Márquez, Staff Writers
Created: 01/23/2012 04:05:25 PM PST

The president of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners on Monday called for a resolution stating that LA/Ontario International Airport will not be available for a transfer or sale for at least two years.

The move comes less than one week after Ontario embarked on a new public relations campaign known as “Set Ontario Free” to wrest control of the midsize airport from Los Angeles.

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Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 01/23/2012 10:37:37 AM PST

CHINO – City Council members agreed last week to hire an outside agency to find candidates to replace City Manager Patrick Glover, who will retire next month.

The agency – Bob Murray and Associates – will conduct a search for an outside candidate.

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LATimes: CalPERS earns 1.1% on investments in 2011

It falls short of the 7.75% average that actuaries say CalPERS needs to meet obligations. Calendar-year results are just indicators — the public pension fund’s fiscal year ends in June.

By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
January 24, 2012

Reporting from Sacramento— The nation’s largest public pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, posted a 1.1% return on its investment portfolio in 2011, Chief Investment Officer Joseph Dear told his board.

The 2011 performance was well below the estimated average annual return of 7.75% that the fund’s actuaries say is needed to meet current and future obligations to its members.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The state budget contains hundreds of specific provisions but none is bigger, more complicated, more politicized, more emotional – or more important – than the 30 or so billion dollars that it spends on K-12 education.

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Rep. Nancy Pelosi needs a gain of 25 House seats.

Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Washington — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is predicting that Democrats will recapture the House in November, a move that could open the possibility of the San Francisco Democrat regaining the speakership and becoming the first politician to return to that office after a defeat since Texas Democrat Sam Rayburn in 1955.

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January 23rd, 2012, 9:20 pm
Posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer

As the lights are fading to black for California’s 425 redevelopment agencies, their successors will inherit $29.8 billion in unpaid long-term debt, according to the latest figures from the state controller’s office.

And that doesn’t include the wild-eyed issuance of at least $700 million in new debt last year, when the agencies had a hunch they’d soon be dismantled.

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InlandPolitics: Elder Hansberger tells it like it is

Monday, January 23, 2012 – 11:00 a.m.

You gotta hand it to Leroy Hansberger these days.

Yep, the truth hurts.

The life-log county resident, and father to former County Supervisor Dennis Hansberger, has been making it known his son ran a piss-poor campaign four years ago. A campaign in an election where his son lost to Supervisor Neil Derry.

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InlandPolitics: Ellis orchestrated anti-recall effort fails

Monday, January 23, 2012 – 09:30 a.m.

An anti-recall effort meant to protect certain members of the Fullerton city council flopped last week when recall backers turned in an overwhelming number of signatures to qualify a recall ballot.

The city council targets?

  • Don Bankhead: 17,064 signatures
  • F. Richard “Dick” Jones: 17,587 signatures
  • Patrick McKinley: 17,603 signatures

Of interest is news that the anti-recall effort was mounted by a figure familiar to San Bernardino County political circles.

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Looming retirements, especially of the Inland area’s Rep. Jerry Lewis, could leave the region without political heft for years

BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com

Published: 22 January 2012 08:39 PM

WASHINGTON — When Inland Rep. Jerry Lewis leaves office at the end of the year, he’ll take with him one attribute that none of his potential successors can promise to replicate: seniority.

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Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley/The Press-Enterprise

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
Published: 22 January 2012 07:52 PM

Workin’ It

When Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. visited Riverside last week, a lot of the discussion was about the jobs created by goods movement and related construction projects such as the Magnolia Avenue underpass.

Add Laurence Parker to the job-creation list. Parker, waving an American flag and dressed as the Statue of Liberty, crashed Boxer’s presser to get a little attention for Liberty Tax Service, which has an office on Magnolia just north of the underpass. Usually he just stands in front of the office to draw the attention of drivers, much like a sign-spinner.

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Molly Davis, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/21/2012 03:24:10 PM PST

REDLANDS – Oranges. They’re all over Redlands. In the groves, on the street signs, on the city’s logo, even on the masthead of this newspaper.

And for the past few weeks, oranges have had members of the city baffled as they try to understand who has been managing the city’s groves.

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DailyBulletin: Battle picking up to represent 40th

Neil Nisperos and Benjamin Demers, Staff Writers
Created: 01/22/2012 06:22:41 PM PST

For two Rancho Cucamonga businessmen, the road to victory on Election Day in November got a tad easier in the wake of Rep. Jerry Lewis’ retirement earlier this month.

But before being able to represent the newly drawn 40th Assembly District, Republican Mike Morrell and Democrat Russ Warner will have to get past each other.

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Dan Walters

Published: Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Whenever someone suggests that California’s public employee pension systems need reform, civil service unions react dismissively, often with attacks on the credentials or even the morals of critics.

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LATimes: George Skelton: The pension clock is ticking

George Skelton

By George Skelton, Capitol Journal
January 23, 2012

It’s the norm in January: After the governor proposes a new budget and delivers his State of the State address, legislators slide into hibernation until spring.

Oh, there’s some rustling around in the dens — a few committee hearings, brief floor sessions — but no strenuous activity, no risk taking until May, when deadlines sprout and the governor revises his budget proposal.

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By Ed Mendel
Monday, January 23, 2012

A new advisory panel, following a move by CalPERS last year, recommends that public pensions take a small step that touches on a big issue: What happens if pension fund earnings fall below the forecast?

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Sunday, January 22, 2012 – 09:45 p.m.

San Manuel Casino boss James Ramos is doing a pretty good job of whoring himself with his Tribe’s dough.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sunday, January 22, 2012 – 09:30 p.m.

Upland’s finance are heading in the wrong direction fast.

One major factor?

Legal fees!

Read the rest of this entry »

InlandPolitics: Feds clear Derry to resume voting

Derry

Saturday, January 21, 2012 – 06:15 p.m.

The highway funding arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation has cleared San Bernardino County Third District Supervisor Neil Derry to resume voting on federally-funded expenditures in his duties as an elected official.

The Federal Highway Administration gave Derry the green light effective Friday.

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InlandPolitics: Romney implodes in South Carolina

Gingrich left. Romney right.

Saturday, January 21, 2012 – 06:00 p.m.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who sported a double-digit lead just ten days ago, has lost the South Carolina Presidential Primary to former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich by double-digits Saturday night.

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The PE: S.B. COUNTY: Officials’ benefits debated

San Bernardino County Auditor/Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector Larry Walker

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 21 January 2012 05:49 PM

After slashing their own benefits earlier this month, San Bernardino County supervisors on Tuesday will start taking aim at extra compensation for other county-wide elected officials.

The board will vote on a proposal by Supervisors Janice Rutherford and Neil Derry to direct the county administrative and counsel offices to prepare an ordinance that would cut benefit packages for the assessor-recorder, auditor/controller/treasurer-tax collector, district attorney and sheriff. If a majority of supervisors agree, the ordinance will return to the board at a future meeting for a vote.

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Regional transportation planners focus funding, planning on local connections, not bullet train to Nevada

BY DUG BEGLEY
STAFF WRITER
dbegley@pe.com

Published: 21 January 2012 05:24 PM

Transportation planners once dreamed that super-fast trains would whisk Southern Californians at more than 300 mph across the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas.

But the idea of a magnetic levitation train didn’t stick around for long in regional transportation plans developed by the Southern California Association of Governments. Local planners instead are concentrating on connections within Southern California, so that when — and if — bullet trains ever come, conventional trains have a steady and direct route to get to them.

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Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 01/21/2012 05:12:56 PM PST

UPLAND – The city may expect another budget deficit in the next fiscal year, with expenditures continuing to grow more quickly than revenues, according to estimates by City Manager Stephen Dunn.

Dunn outlined several of the city’s challenges in 2012 during a special City Council meeting Saturday at the Carnegie Library.

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VVDailyPress: Prime Healthcare named among top 15 in country

January 21, 2012 10:13 AM
From Staff Reports

ONTARIO • Prime Healthcare Services, owner and operator of Victorville’s Desert Valley Hospital, was recently named one of the top 15 health systems in the United States by Thomson Reuters.

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By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 – 9:59 am

“My father built the water plan. I want to complete it. So, whether it’s high-speed rail or water or education or public safety, I’m going to invest and build for the future, not steal from it.” GOV. JERRY BROWN, son of former Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown

Before leaving Southern California last week, after urging greater infrastructure spending in a “land of dreams,” Gov. Jerry Brown recalled how long he has made that case and how wary of his ideas people can be.

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Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Sunday, January 22, 2012

Sacramento –Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to finally fix California’s finances relies on several dubious assumptions, including that voters approve his proposal to raise taxes in November and that the revenue from those come in at the level the administration projects.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Jerry Brown evidently does not want to join the nascent movement to overhaul – perhaps radically – California’s dysfunctional political structure.

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The PE: REDEVELOPMENT: Bill aims to save agencies improving former bases

A state Assembly plan to continue revamping ex-military bases could be expanded to Inland sites

BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com

Published: 19 January 2012 06:19 PM

SACRAMENTO — Redevelopment agencies focused on bringing new businesses and other projects to decommissioned military bases could keep operating if legislation taking shape in the Capitol becomes law.

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The PE: S.B. COUNTY: Pension reform voter measure proposed

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 20 January 2012 10:26 PM

Future retirement benefit increases for San Bernardino County employees could be decided by voters under a proposal that will go before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

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By Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Created: 01/20/2012 10:52:09 AM PST

The Inland Empire’s unemployment rate fell to 12.2 percent last month as employers in San Bernardino and Riverside counties added 5,200 non farm jobs, state officials reported Friday.

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The PE: REPORT: Inland job market continues its comeback

BY JACK KATZANEK
STAFF WRITER
jkatzanek@pe.com

Published: 20 January 2012 04:08 PM

December was an excellent month for the job market in Inland Southern California, and the typical seasonal opportunities in stores, restaurants and movie theaters had very little to do with it.

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By Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Created: 01/20/2012 03:29:05 PM PST

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – As Ontario steps up efforts to gain autonomy of L.A./Ontario International Airport, leaders from neighboring Rancho Cucamonga are joining a growing number of agencies calling for local control.

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VVDailyPress: SCLA bonds fall further into ‘junk’ status

January 19, 2012 12:43 PM
Brooke Edwards Staggs, City Editor

VICTORVILLE • A recent default on debt payments triggered one of the top credit rating agencies to downgrade $51 million in Southern California Logistics Airport Authority bonds another two notches, with Moody’s Investor Services predicting the airport won’t catch up on debt payments until 2029.

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LA/Ontario International Airport has has suffered a 32 percent decline in airline passengers since 2007. The airport had once been projected to server 30 million passengers by 2030. (Bulletin file photo)

Liset Márquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 01/19/2012 09:15:13 AM PST

ONTARIO – The battle has begun in earnest.

Officials on both sides of the LA/Ontario International Airport dispute this week lashed out at each other for information they say is misleading and a misrepresentation.

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U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer

BY DUG BEGLEY
STAFF WRITER
dbegley@pe.com

Published: 18 January 2012 06:35 PM

Riverside’s Magnolia Avenue underpass served as the backdrop Wednesday for a push by Sen. Barbara Boxer to encourage more federal investment in local projects that create jobs, ease traffic and get trucks and trains to their destinations quicker.

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BY ALICIA ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
arobinson@pe.com

Published: 19 January 2012 08:06 PM

With a speech that noted his 32 years in public office and was book-ended by standing ovations, Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge laid out policy goals for his final months in office on Thursday.

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The Sun: Dutton eyes Congress bid

Bob Dutton, left. Gary Miller, right.

Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/19/2012 11:19:19 AM PST

The race for the 31st District got more interesting this week with state Sen. Bob Dutton officially tossing his hat in the ring.

Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, will face a field of contenders that includes Rep. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar; Renea Wickman, the cofounder of a nonprofit aimed at helping juvenile offenders readjust to society; Justin Kim, an attorney from Loma Linda; and Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar.

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DailyBulletin: CVB Financial reports record profits

Bank company rakes in $81.7M
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/19/2012 09:00:39 PM PST

ONTARIO – CVB Financial, parent company of Citizens Business Bank, earned its largest ever reported profit in 2011 – $81.7 million.

The amount signifies an increase from the $62.9 million profit earned in 2010.

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