This article is the fifth in a series of in-depth stories related to the controversy surrounding the settlement of Quiet-Title litigation between the County of San Bernardino Flood Control District, County of San Bernardino, and Colonies Partners, L.P.

In this segment, we make available to you the 2006 Intended Statement of Decision by Christopher Warner, Supervising Superior Court Judge of the Civil Division.

The litigation was resolved prior to the Warner decision being entered as a final judgment.

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GOP candidates could make history in November
Rebecca Kimitch, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/22/2010 06:09:37 PM PDT

When Sarah Palin burst onto the scene in 2008 as the Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee, it signaled the Democratic Party didn’t have a monopoly on women candidates with far-reaching ambitions.

Sure, 75 percent of the women in Congress are Democrats and Democrat Hillary Clinton has come closest to becoming a nominee for president. Some states have never elected a female Republican to Congress or the governor’s office, but a Republican could have shattered one of the few glass ceilings left.

In the end, it didn’t happen.

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GOP candidate undeterred
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/22/2010 05:54:25 PM PDT

Scott Folkens is a Republican, and a quite conservative one at that. He supports school vouchers, a tougher line on illegal immigration, and is an avid opponent of the health-care bill approved Sunday.

And for the second time, he’s running for Congress against Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, a liberal lawmaker who, given the outcomes of his five re-election campaigns, seems to have the overwhelming support of his constituents.

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March 22, 2010 3:44 PM
Brooke Edwards

VICTORVILLE • The city’s request for the grand jury to hire on a firm to investigate its finances has stalled, with no answers from the San Bernardino County body as to why.

Councilman Ryan McEachron called for the investigation in early December, asking for a third party to take a closer look at the city’s payroll and accounts payable records plus all city contracts, in hopes of putting to rest persistent claims that malfeasance has occurred.

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March 22, 2010 1:38 PM
The Orange County Register

Average pay and benefits in December for state and local government workers cost 44.4 percent more than for private-industry employees, reports the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Total compensation for public employees averaged $39.60 compared to $27.42 for their private counterparts. Government wages averaged $6.70 an hour higher and benefits were $5.49 more.

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10:00 PM PDT on Monday, March 22, 2010

By DAYNA STRAEHLEY
The Press-Enterprise

Some Inland teachers unions are pressing their districts to cut more waste and offer more early retirement incentives to avoid laying off hundreds of their colleagues.

Other districts have already cut enough that teachers are ready to consider pay cuts or furlough days to save some jobs.

Their union, California Teachers Association, has sent analysts to go over budgets, looking for dollars to save jobs, local union presidents said.

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Marion Ashley

By PE Politics
March 22, 2010 3:03 PM

Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley is running unopposed for a third term on the board and already is dancing in the end zone.

Ashley is holding an election victory celebration and party March 25 at the Morongo Casino & Resort in Cabazon. “Your overwhelming support has helped Marion Ashley run unopposed!” the invitation reads. The event requests $100 donations.

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10:00 PM PDT on Monday, March 22, 2010

At least five of seven candidates for the 37th State Senate District special election have indicated they will participate in a forum scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the campus theater at Mt. San Jacinto College’s San Jacinto campus.

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Created: 03/22/2010 05:33:19 PM PDT

When the economy began to decline in 2008, investments through the California Public Employees’ Retirement System took a hit.

As a result, cities in the Inland Empire have been juggling losses in revenue while making sure they meet employees’ retirement obligations.

This is the status of pension obligations of some Inland Empire cities:

COLTON

CONTRIBUTION: $5.75 million in 2008-09
PENSION OBLIGATION BOND: $31.14 million
EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION RATE: 19.498 percent fire, 20.052 percent police, 7.060 percent misc.
EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTION RATE: 9 percent fire, 9 percent police – paid by city. 8 percent misc. – city pays 4 percent.

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Meg Whitman

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

March 22, 2010 | 7:49 pm

Republican Meg Whitman spent $27 million on her campaign for governor in the first 11 weeks of this year, according to a disclosure report she filed today. The record-shattering pace stems largely from a television ad blitz intended to portray Whitman positively in the minds of voters and tarnish her opponents.

By contrast, Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, the leading Democrat in the governor’s race, spent $142,000 since Jan. 1. Although Brown is not facing a serious primary opponent and Whitman is, that difference would not normally result in one candidate spending 190 times more than another in less than three months. In an appeal to donors on his campaign website, Brown said the “spending binge to purchase California’s airwaves is shocking.”

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
March 22, 2010

The anti-Meg Whitman independent expenditure committee Level the Playing Field raised $228,681 between January 1 and March 17, well short of the $1 million that it said it had commitments for at its debut last month, according to a campaign finance report filed with the Secretary of State’s office this afternoon.

The committee, run by veteran Democratic strategists such as Chris Lehane and Sean Clegg, had spent $202,386 in that period. The group has run radio ads and launched a Web site targeting Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. The committee is not currently running any ads, although Clegg said it would start running a TV ad soon.

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