San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos is in full spin mode this afternoon following the release of the long-awaited $140,000 investigation into his conduct involving a former mistress, Cheryl Ristow.

In statements made to local newspapers today, Ramos still denies everything, even the affair.

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Bea Cortes

City of Grand Terrace council member Bertha Bea Cortes is the focus of a complaint submitted to the San Bernardino County District Attorney this week.

InlandPolitics.com received a copy of the complaint by email this morning.

The complaint signed by twelve citizen’s of the city alleges that Cortes committed multiple violations of the Political Reform Act. Specifically, that Cortes engaged in a conflict of interest in violation of section 1090 of the California Government Code, and committed perjury by filing false statements of economic interest, known as Form 700.

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10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, January 26, 2010

By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise

Riverside County might have to lay off as many as 1,600 employees over the next two years as it grapples with a $71 million budget gap, officials said Tuesday.

But to lessen the blow, supervisors voted to extend an early retirement offer to more than 3,500 employees, despite concern from two members that the plan adds to the county’s future pension costs and hurts future taxpayers.

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SPONSOR SAYS BASS ASKED HIM NOT TO SEEK ASSEMBLY VOTE

By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Legislation to crack down on concert tickets, meal tabs, greens fees, Sacramento Kings tickets and other gifts to California lawmakers has been killed before reaching the Assembly floor.

The derailment marks the second time in two years that bills to restrict gift-giving by interest groups have been shelved with no organized opposition and no lawmaker voting against them.

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Attorney General Jerry Brown

Jan 27

It’s been an open secret* for weeks that Jerry Brown planned to hire longtime aide and Brown family retainer Steve Glazer to run his campaign for governor.

With the MSM now trumpeting this “news” to the skies, it seems like a good time to explain what it actually means.

Brown’s political operation quietly moved out of Jerry’s Oakland loft a couple of months ago, into about 5,000 square feet of warehouse space about a mile and a half away. That relocation, coupled with the confirmation of Glazers’ status, means his campaign is finally, if fitfully, under way.

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On Wednesday January 27, 2010, 10:29 am

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of newly built U.S. single-family homes fell unexpectedly in December, data showed on Wednesday, the latest indication that the government-led housing recovery might be losing some steam.

The Commerce Department said sales fell 7.6 percent to a 342,000 unit annual rate from an upwardly revised 370,000 units in November. It was the second straight month that new home sales declined.

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January 26, 2010 11:29 AM
JESSICA CEJNAR Staff Writer

BARSTOW • Barstow Mayor Joe Gomez is being investigated by the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department, The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office confirmed.

D.A.’s spokesperson Susan Mickey said that the district attorney’s office is reviewing a case involving Gomez, but no decision about filing charges has been made yet. The district attorney’s office received the case from the sheriff’s department Monday, Mickey said. Mickey said she could not comment on what the allegations were.

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07:19 AM PST on Wednesday, January 27, 2010

By BEN GOAD
Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON – Two out of three California voters disapprove of the job Congress is doing in Washington, according to a poll released this morning.

But the survey doesn’t necessarily bode well for Republicans angling for big gains this November in the House and the Senate. Most voters here said they were still leaning toward Democratic candidates.

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10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, January 26, 2010

By SANDRA STOKEY
The Press-Enterprise

GLEN AVON – The California Fair Political Practices Commission has rejected a complaint filed against Jurupa Unified School District board member Mary Burns, citing insufficient information that Burns violated the state’s Political Reform Act.

FPPC Executive Director Roman Porter also advises complainant Denis Fitzgerald that violations of Government Code, section 1090 — which also are alleged in the complaint — are investigated by the local district attorney or the state’s attorney general’s office.

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