Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
Hon. Edward Panelli (Ret.)
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Created: 08/19/2010 06:26:26 PM PDT
San Bernardino County prosecutors could have legal documents relating to the county’s $102 million settlement with Rancho Cucamonga developer Colonies Partners in their hands as soon as today, officials said.
State and local prosecutors want to review the documents as part of their investigation into whether the landmark settlement in November 2006 was tainted by bribery and extortion.
By PE News
on August 20, 2010 9:20 AM
San Bernardino City Manager Charles McNeely has down-sized his estimates of how much the city will have to trim its cash-strapped spending program.
McNeely, who warned the City Council last month that across-the-board cuts might be as deep as 15 percent to plug a $24 million budget gap, now estimates the need at 8 percent.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 08/19/2010 07:33:12 PM PDT
The federal Bureau of Land Management announced Thursday that it has suspended the license of a company that hosted an off-road racing event near Lucerne Valley on Saturday night that culminated in the deaths of eight people.
The suspension of Mojave Desert Racing’s permit is pending the outcome of a joint investigation by the BLM and the California Highway Patrol, BLM spokesman David Christy said.
McNeely
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 08/19/2010 09:13:46 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – City Manager Charles McNeely spoke to the local branch of the NAACP for nearly two hours Thursday about the importance of uniting the city with a common vision to solve the many problems he identified.
But as frequent questions and comments from his audience of 27 people demonstrated, not everyone agrees on the substance of that vision or how to implement it.
Carly Fiorina
09:41 PM PDT on Thursday, August 19, 2010
By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise
Republican U.S. Senate nominee Carly Fiorina on Thursday touted her plan for a two-year suspension of federal payroll taxes for businesses hiring unemployed workers.
08:43 AM PDT on Friday, August 20, 2010
Richard K. De Atley The Press-Enterprise
A preliminary hearing on charges of perjury and campaign money laundering is scheduled today for six people who are relatives of defendants in a sweeping San Jacinto political corruption indictment.
The hearing, which could last several days, is in the downtown Riverside Hall of Justice courthouse.
10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, August 19, 2010
By GAIL WESSON
The Press-Enterprise
Two people have qualified as candidates if San Jacinto Councilman Jim Ayres loses a recall election, and one has qualified and a second has filed to run if Councilman Jim Potts is recalled, officials in the city clerk’s office said.
Potential candidates had until 5 p.m. Thursday to file nomination papers for the recall election, which will be on the same Nov. 2 ballot as the general election.
Meg Whitman
By Jack Chang
jchang@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Aug. 20, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Since Republican Meg Whitman and Democrat Jerry Brown won their parties’ nominations in June, tens of millions of dollars have been spent trying to break the statistical tie that’s gripped the race for months.
Whitman, in particular, has blanketed the state in radio and TV ads touting her corporate experience and depicting Brown as a failed career politician. Brown hasn’t spent anything on advertising yet, but his union allies have aired commercials attacking Whitman as the heartless former CEO of the online auction firm eBay.
Posted By: Drew Joseph (Email) | August 19 2010 at 05:13 PM
Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman is sounding tough in her new radio ad, calling out the cases of waste, fraud and abuse in California. She’s proposing a “statewide grand jury of civic-minded Californians” that has the power to investigate and indict to get rid of these problems in the state.
“The message will be very clear — if you’re caught robbing the taxpayers, you’ll go to jail,” Whitman says in the ad.
California Republicans have high hopes for November, but the gubernatorial candidate’s shifting tone on illegal immigration will likely raise tension at their convention.
By Seema Mehta and Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Times
August 20, 2010
As California Republicans gather in San Diego on Friday, enthusiasm about their ticket’s competitiveness in this left-leaning state is being tempered by concerns about gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman.
By Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times
August 20, 2010
Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina cited the continuing rise in first-time jobless claims as evidence that the Obama administration’s economic policies were not working as she renewed her call Thursday for making the Bush-era tax cuts permanent.
In a campaign event in Riverside, Fiorina also called for slowing the rate of government spending — in part through a federal hiring freeze, although her spokesperson later said the freeze would exempt the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, CIA, FBI and other agencies that collectively account for well over half of the payroll of the executive departments.
The Fair Political Practices Commission is looking into whether laws were broken when employees of the pension fund took private jet trips at investment firms’ expense.
By Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times
August 20, 2010
Reporting from Sacramento —
State ethics officials launched an investigation Thursday into the private jet trips and other luxury travel that the embattled public pension fund allowed its top investment staff to accept, without public disclosure, from financial firms with whom they were doing business.
By Ed Mendel
CalPERS will begin showing state and local governments how much their costs will go up if investment earnings fall short, a risk critics say has been concealed in the past.
The giant public pension fund told legislators that a major benefit increase for state workers a decade ago, SB 400 in 1999, could be paid for with investment earnings, leaving state costs unchanged for a decade.
By Kim Christensen and Sam Allen, Los Angeles Times
August 20, 2010
Bell isn’t the only city that has paid huge salaries: In neighboring Vernon, a former city administrator who now serves as a legal consultant has topped the $1-million mark for each of the last four years, records show.
Eric T. Fresch was paid nearly $1.65 million in salary and hourly billings in 2008, when he held the dual jobs of city administrator and deputy city attorney, according to documents obtained by The Times through the California Public Records Act.
Squeezing out amateurs, private equity funds and wealthy individuals are buying distressed properties at public auctions, refurbishing them and selling them for quick profits.
By Walter Hamilton and Alejandro Lazo Los Angeles Times
August 20, 2010
Hoping there are big profits to be made in the aftermath of California’s housing collapse, professional investors are flocking to the business of buying foreclosed homes at distressed prices.
By Laurel Rosenhall
lrosenhall@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Aug. 20, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
It is a perilous time to be a college student depending on the state of California to get through school.
Some 335,500 students going to California colleges this fall have qualified for Cal Grants because their family incomes are so low. They need the grants to pay tuition, buy books or cover basic living expenses.
Justin Ho, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
San Francisco Chronicle
Thursday, August 19, 2010
(08-19) 04:00 PDT Sacramento – —
Party hosts now face the threat of a civil lawsuit if they provide alcoholic beverages to people under the age of 21.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law Wednesday that would allow adults to be sued if they serve alcohol to people under the legal drinking age who are subsequently injured or killed as a result of the intoxication.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
August 19, 2010
California lawmakers unveiled a six-bill package of legislation today in response to a scandal involving sky-high salaries paid to council members and top officials in the tiny city of Bell in Los Angeles County.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
August 19, 2010
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown said this morning that he opposes furloughing state workers to cope with the budget crisis while accusing current legislators of not dealing with the mess until the last minute.
Brown made the comments on his weekly call in to San Francisco radio station KGO where he was also asked about his use of a state plane as attorney general and of the state pension he would receive when he retires. Listen to the call here, which starts around time mark 42:30.
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
August 19, 2010 | 11:48 am
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown has a standing date with radio station KGO-Am in San Francisco, but Thursday morning, the radio hosts were perplexed when they couldn’t find the attorney general for their weekly phone interview at 8:15 a.m.
Half an hour later, Brown appeared on the radio show and said he had been jogging.