Written by Administrator
April 15th, 2010 at 12:59 pm

Imagine being a seasoned, well-respected prosecutor of 30 years or more.  Now imagine sitting in the judge’s chambers discussing one of the most high-profile criminal cases in the past decade in your county.  And then imagine having to ask the judge to not be required to turn over all evidence to the defense.

Preposterous?  Anyone in the legal community would think so as they understand  the rules of evidence.  Surprise witnesses and damning evidence is only allowed on Perry Mason.  In the real world, by law, both sides have the right to all evidence in their favor or against them prior to the commencement of trial.

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***Couldn’t resist posting this one.

As book sales soar, Obamas earn $5.5 million in 2009, pay $1.8 million in federal income tax

Charles Babington, Associated Press Writer
On Thursday April 15, 2010, 4:00 pm

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thanks to revived book sales after he became president, Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, made $5.5 million last year. They paid about one-third of it in federal income taxes.

The Obamas gave $329,100 to charities in 2009. The president, who released his tax returns Thursday, also donated his entire $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize award to 10 charitable groups. He never received the $1.4 million, and it was not included in his 2009 income.

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By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of people applying for unemployment benefits jumped 24,000 in the latest week, but the increase appeared to stem largely from the Easter holiday and other factors that distorted the data.

Whatever the case, one thing is clear: companies aren’t on a hiring binge.

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US homes facing foreclosure jumped 16 percent in 1st-quarter as banks take back more homes

Alex Veiga, AP Real Estate Writer
On Thursday April 15, 2010, 7:32 am EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A record number of U.S. homes were lost to foreclosure in the first three months of this year, a sign banks are starting to wade through the backlog of troubled home loans at a faster pace, according to a new report.

RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday that the number of U.S. homes taken over by banks jumped 35 percent in the first quarter from a year ago. In addition, households facing foreclosure grew 16 percent in the same period and 7 percent from the last three months of 2009.

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Incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer now receives no more than 43% support against any of her top three GOP opponents in her reelection bid for U.S. Senate in California, but they aren’t gaining ground either.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of likely voters shows Boxer barely ahead of Congressman Tom Campbell 43% to 41% for the second straight month. Only six percent (6%) of voters would choose some other candidate in this match-up, while 10% are not sure.

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11:23 PM PDT on Wednesday, April 14, 2010

By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

Assemblyman Bill Emmerson represents a district centered in San Bernardino County and lived there until late last year, but he carried the day across virtually all of Riverside County’s sprawling 37th Senate District in Tuesday’s special election, according to unofficial results.

Emmerson, R-Hemet, was the top vote-getter in the seven-way race, receiving 41.67 percent of the total. He easily bested his main GOP competition, former Assemblyman Russ Bogh, of Beaumont, who got 21.94 percent of the vote.

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By PE News
on April 14, 2010 8:44 AM

It falls far short of Bloombergian heights, but the price-per-vote in the Republican donnybrook leading up to Tuesday’s special election in the 37th Senate District could set a record for an Inland legislative seat.

The campaigns for Assemblyman Bill Emmerson and former Assemblyman Russ Bogh, along with independent groups, spent at least $1.8 million in the fast and furious race that attracted just a fifth of the electorate. The spending total is certain to grow as late financial reports come in.

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10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Cassie MacDuff

Riverside City Manager Brad Hudson went further than I thought he would in his statement Tuesday about the Internal Affairs investigation into how police handled the drunken driving case of its chief.

I commend him for that.

Hudson said from the start he’d be able to say little about the outcome of the probe because the Peace Officers Bill of Rights keeps police discipline secret.

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10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, April 14, 2010

By DAYNA STRAEHLEY
The Press-Enterprise

As Riverside Unified School District tries to close the last $3.9 million of a projected $43.6 million shortfall, board members can’t agree on cuts to schools’ clerical staff.

Reduced hours for high school health assistants and a shorter work year for elementary school secretaries will come back at a future meeting, the board requested on a 3-2 vote. Superintendent Rick Miller said he thought he could find $100,000 to keep the secretaries on 11-month schedules and high school health assistants for six hours a day.

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Rebecca Kimitch, Staff Writer
Created: 04/14/2010 07:53:07 PM PDT

CLAREMONT – Four of the Republican candidates vying to replace Assemblyman Anthony Adams in the 59th Assembly District will make their case to voters at a forum Monday night.

Claremont Councilman Corey Calaycay, business owner Tim Donnelly, businessman Ken Hunter, and Los Angeles Newspaper Group advertising executive Chris Lancaster have all confirmed their attendance at the forum, which is being sponsored by the Mountain View Republican Club.

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Pit maverick Republican Congressman Ron Paul against President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 election match-up, and the race is – virtually dead even.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of likely voters finds Obama with 42% support and Paul with 41% of the vote. Eleven percent (11%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.

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We have five defendants, Jim Erwin, Bill Postmus, Rex Gutierrez, Greg Eyler, and Dino DiFazio.  So, we have five criminal defense attorneys; five criminal defense attorneys who have reviewed the discovery provided by the District Attorney’s Office; five criminal defense attorneys who have compared notes; five criminal defense attorneys who have come to realize that Confidential Informant No. 1, our favorite yellow singing Canary extraordinaire, “persona au gratin,” one half of the team known as “Hansel and Gretel,” none other than the young Mr. Adam Aleman has a problem with the truth.

This is hardly new news to readers of this blog.  But there is a new twist.

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April 14, 2010 5:35 PM
Brooke Edwards

APPLE VALLEY • A request from Councilman Rick Roelle to reconsider how much Apple Valley’s incoming finance director will make led to heated discussion over the town manager’s authority.

Councilman Scott Nassif adamantly opposed Roelle’s suggestion that they hire an outside consultant to review compensation for the assistant town manager of finance and administration, a position created during a reorganization by Town Manager Frank Robinson with the help of a consultant shortly after he took the helm in 2008.

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Brown

CAPITOL JOURNAL

The Democratic former governor has so far been relying on his experience as a selling point for voting for him. But he’s going to have to do better than that.

By George Skelton Capitol Journal

April 15, 2010

From Sacramento

Jerry Brown’s problem isn’t just that he doesn’t have enough money to advertise a campaign message. It’s also that he doesn’t have a very strong message.

The Democratic attorney general’s basic pitch to voters about why he should be returned to the governor’s office after an absence of 28 years is that unlike his potential Republican opponent, he won’t need training wheels.

But to go where?

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

April 14, 2010 | 9:42 am

Last year, when the state was gripped by a budget crisis, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered hundreds of state cars to be sold to save money.

But that didn’t stop the Legislature from spending $529,000 to buy a new fleet of 2009 model cars for 16 lawmakers, according to documents released Tuesday.

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Stimulus audit shows funds were left unused
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Created: 04/14/2010 05:39:59 PM PDT

California’s inspector general says San Bernardino County will need to pay back more than $3 million in federal stimulus funding that should have gone to other counties.

After auditing the use of stimulus funds for social services projects in San Bernardino and Sacramento counties, Inspector General Laura Chick, who is tasked with tracking stimulus funding, said San Bernardino County wasn’t using enough of its existing resources to qualify for stimulus funds.

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Meg Whitman

Capitol Alert

April 14, 2010

Republican heavyweights such as former presidential candidates Sen. John McCain and Mitt Romney and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are scheduled to hit the campaign trail this month for GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, according to the Whitman campaign.

The appearances follow an endorsement from former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, now a political science professor at Stanford University, at a Whitman event last night in San Diego.

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