The ruling halts implementation of provisions that require police to determine the immigration status of people they stop and suspect of being in the U.S. illegally. An immediate appeal is expected.

By Nicholas Riccardi and Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times

July 28, 2010 | 5:50 p.m.

Reporting from Phoenix and Tucson —

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked most of a controversial Arizona immigration law just hours before it was to take effect, handing the Obama administration a win in the first stage of a legal battle expected to end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton in Phoenix issued a temporary injunction against parts of the law that would require police to determine the status of people they lawfully stopped and suspected were in the country illegally.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

July 28, 2010 | 9:00 pm

With the campaigns in full swing over what are supposed to be lazy summer months, a new survey from the Public Policy Institute of California finds the races for governor and U.S. Senate are both up for grabs.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown is leading his Republican opponent Meg Whitman, 37% to 34%. Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer is ahead of Republican Carly Fiorina, 39% to 34%.

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PoliticsBlog

Posted By: Carla Marinucci | July 28 2010 at 02:18 PM

California Working Families for Jerry Brown, the independent expenditure group working to help the Democratic State Attorney General’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign, just got a powerhouse ally — the 325,000-member California Teachers Association.

CTA President David Sanchez, in announcing the move, called Brown “the education candidate for governor.”

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Yes, Attorney General Jerry Brown repeatedly claims he’s all over the City of Bell salary scandal.

Brown’s office has subpoenaed thousands of city records. He’s giving city officials twenty-four hours to turn them over.

Otherwise one can infer search warrants will be the order of the day.

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Steve Cooley

Investigators are looking into allegations of voter fraud and conflicts of interest, as well as the $100,000 salaries paid to four council members. The D.A. says several elections are targeted.

By Richard Winton, Jeff Gottlieb and Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times

July 28, 2010

Los Angeles County prosecutors have launched a wide-ranging investigation into allegations of voter fraud and conflicts of interest involving municipal business in Bell, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Tuesday.

In an interview with The Times, Cooley described an investigation considerably larger in scope than previously acknowledged by prosecutors, saying that it was “multifaceted, rapidly expanding and full-fledged.” Investigators have been gathering evidence since March, he said.

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11:11 AM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Former Grand Terrace City Councilman Jim Miller pleaded guilty this morning to a misdemeanor charge stemming from payments he voted to approve to his wife’s weekly newspaper.

Miller pleaded guilty to having a financial interest by a state or local official in a government contract. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped a felony conflict of interest charge, which could have included prison time.

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Gutierrez

Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Created: 07/27/2010 03:49:10 PM PDT

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Last Thursday, Councilman Rex Gutierrez mulled a mayoral run, pulling papers just before City Hall closed for a three-day weekend.

On Monday, he changed his mind.

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Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/27/2010 08:04:56 PM PDT

RIALTO – The sex scandal that has rocked the Police Department and attracted widespread attention has not shaken officials’ faith in rank-and-file officers or Chief Mark Kling, based on remarks they made at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

“My confidence in Mark is high,” said City Administrator Henry Garcia. “This is a small step backward.”

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Ed Roski

James Wagner, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/27/2010 07:58:39 PM PDT

Majestic Realty Co. CEO and chairman Ed Roski Jr. said he remains committed to returning professional football to the region and building a state-of-the-art NFL stadium near the junction of the 60 and 57 freeways.

“It will happen,” said Roski, making his first public comments since the emergence of a competing stadium plan in downtown Los Angeles.

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10:15 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

By DAYNA STRAEHLEY
The Press-Enterprise

The Inland area’s laid-off teachers are cutting their household budgets and learning to tell their children no.

They have turned off their air conditioners and no longer can buy the things they used to take for granted.

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Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Created: 07/27/2010 09:25:46 PM PDT

FONTANA – The City Council will continue its version of “Musical Chairs” on Wednesday night.

Council members are set to discuss how to fill a spot on the dais left open when they tapped Frank Scialdone to become mayor earlier this month after former Mayor Mark Nuaimi took a job as city manager in Yucca Valley.

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Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/27/2010 07:35:08 PM PDT

COLTON – At least two City Council members say they’d like to see the city send out requests seeking the exact costs to outsource for police and fire services, following the results of recently completed audits of both departments.

They would also like the city to contact surrounding jurisdictions to examine the viability of forming a joint powers agreement for fire services.

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Deal includes furlough, cuts
July 27, 2010 5:41 PM
Beau Yarbrough

HESPERIA • The Hesperia Unified School District and Hesperia Teachers Association have apparently resolved their differences and have reached a three-year agreement, officials said Tuesday.

The tentative agreement includes nine furlough days (an effective salary cut of almost 5 percent), 1 percent pay cut and 2 percent savings on other monetary benefits for teachers.

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Activists at work

Groups try to raise turnout
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/27/2010 10:21:04 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Call 13,000 people, and you’ll talk to about 3,900. Of those, about 2,300 will like what you have to say. And of those, about 1,380 will show up to vote in November.

That’s a math lesson in voter outreach taught to about a dozen local activists Monday and Tuesday through a program called Mobilize the Immigrant Vote. It’s a program activists hope will help San Bernardino’s Latino community flex its muscles at the ballot box in November.

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10:49 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

By JACK KATZANEK
The Press-Enterprise

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the biggest boosters Tuesday when officials triggered the demolition of the first building to make way for the proposed $3.7 billion March LifeCare campus.

The project could ultimately bring as many as 7,200 permanent jobs to the former March Air Force Base, at a health-care complex that will be anchored by a medical center, the project developer said. The ambitious plans call for a wide range of other medical buildings on the grounds of the former base, including facilities for senior citizens and retirees for ambulatory care patients.

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10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

By JAN SEARS
The Press-Enterprise

Redlands could face a general fund shortfall of $23 million by 2014-15 if the economy doesn’t improve and no steps are taken to correct the city’s financial course.

The City Council heard the gloomy financial report last week, as City Manager Enrique Martinez urged them to adopt a multiyear approach to budgeting.

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By PE News
on July 27, 2010 9:44 AM

Riverside County supervisors this morning voted 4-0 to update the county’s vehicle policy.

The new rules require greater oversight — from detailed mileage reports to stricter controls on employees taking cars home at night.

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10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise

Riverside County’s November ballot is getting crowded.

Supervisors on Tuesday voted to place two competing pension measures before voters Nov. 2, as well as a proposal to increase the amount of money the county’s regional transportation commission can borrow.

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08:33 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
The Press-Enterprise

Traffic at Ontario International Airport dropped by 5.2 percent in June compared to the same month in 2009 and a 37.4 percent decrease since June 2007.

A total of 408,800 passengers used the airport last month, according to statistics from Los Angeles World Airports, the agency that owns and operates Ontario airport and Los Angeles International Airport.

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Meg Whitman

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

July 27, 2010 | 5:58 pm

Facebook users have seen ads soliciting thoughts on everything from their favorite vacation spot to the best engagement ring.

Now Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman is using so-called polling ads to determine what Facebook users see as the most important issue facing California, hoping to boost her online network in the process.

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Carly Fiorina

Senate hopeful meets veterans at Balboa Park

By Michele Clock, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 9:26 p.m.

In a San Diego campaign stop to showcase her support for veterans, Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina again criticized Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer for backing the federal economic stimulus act and questioned her support for the military.

Surrounded by about 60 people, many of them veterans, at the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center in Balboa Park on Tuesday, Fiorina said the stimulus act has actually cost jobs rather than helping create them. Boxer says just the opposite.

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