Oil jumps above $90 per barrel for the first time since 2008; gasoline may hit $3 by Christmas

Chris Kahn, AP Energy Writer, On Tuesday December 7, 2010, 12:29 pm EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices on Tuesday jumped above $90 a barrel for the first time in more than two years, a key milestone for Wall Street analysts who say tightening supplies will eventually send prices above the $100 mark next year.

The recent surge in oil pushed gasoline and other fuel prices higher as well. Average heating oil and diesel prices are expected to increase year-over-year for the first time since 2008, and the Oil Price Information Service said gasoline prices may hit a national average of $3 per gallon before Christmas day.

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Tuesday, December 7, 2010 – 10:40 a.m.

Interest rates on U.S. Treasury securities continued climbing today with the rate on the 10-year treasury bond now hitting 3.13% this morning.

The 10-year treasury instrument remains the benchmark for mortgage loans.

Posted: 12/06/2010 09:47:29 PM PST

We have every hope a new era of more open and transparent government has begun for San Bernardino County.

Monday’s swearing-in of Janice Rutherford as the new 2nd District representative on the Board of Supervisors should be one more step on the way to a cleaner, more responsive government for the county.

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Lewis

By PE Politics
on December 6, 2010 1:26 PM

PDF: Read Tea Party leader’s letter of support for Jerry Lewis.

Throughout his campaign for the coveted chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee, Inland Rep. Jerry Lewis has repeatedly insisted that he has support from the fiscally conservative Tea Party movement. Now he has it in writing from one leader of a national Tea Party group.

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11:32 PM PST on Monday, December 6, 2010

By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO – California lawmakers Monday appeared to dismiss departing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new proposal to reduce the state’s budget problem by $9.9 billion.

Within an hour of new and re-elected legislators taking their oaths of office, Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency and ordered lawmakers into special session immediately to start tackling an estimated $25 billion budget hole through June 2012.

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Holgate

10:00 PM PST on Monday, December 6, 2010

By DUG BEGLEY and DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise

PDF: Read the most recent grand jury indictment against Stephen Holgate

Special Section: San Jacinto Corruption Probe

More charges were filed in Riverside County Superior Court against Stephen Holgate, the embattled San Jacinto developer accused of filling local election coffers with covered-up contributions to skirt election finance laws.

Holgate was indicted Friday by a Riverside County grand jury with one felony and nine misdemeanors, related to contributions to John Benoit’s successful state Senate election.

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10:39 PM PST on Monday, December 6, 2010

By JOHN F. HILL
The Press-Enterprise

A judge on Monday denied Wildomar’s attempt to shut down a storefront medical marijuana collective operating despite the city’s ban on dispensaries.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark E. Johnson denied the city’s request for a temporary restraining order. The order would have closed the facility while a judge decides whether the city has the right to ban dispensaries.

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San Bernardino County
Rutherford starts new job
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Created: 12/06/2010 10:42:21 PM PST

Former Fontana Councilwoman Janice Rutherford was sworn in Monday as San Bernardino County Supervisor for the 2nd District – the largest district in the county in population and third largest in size.

Flanked by her husband, Steve Lim, and 3-year-old son Ethan, Rutherford stood before the dais in Board of Supervisors chambers in the San Bernardino County Government Center. Former assemblyman and state senator Bill Leonard, who mentored Rutherford during her early days as an up-and-coming politician, swore her in.

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Donnelly

Proposal modeled after Arizona’s controversial law
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Created: 12/06/2010 10:41:19 PM PST

As promised, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly’s first official act as a state lawmaker was to introduce a stiff new immigration bill.

Donnelly, a Republican from Twin Peaks, introduced Assembly Bill 26 on Monday after being sworn in on the Assembly floor.

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Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco Chronicle
Tuesday, December 7, 2010

(12-06) 18:10 PST SAN FRANCISCO — The federal appeals court in the Proposition 8 case hinted Monday at a ruling that would allow gays and lesbians to marry in California while leaving other states’ laws intact – a restrained approach seemingly designed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
December 6, 2010 | 5:25 pm

Even as Gov.-elect Jerry Brown has been virtually invisible to the news media, holding just one brief news conference in the last month, he continues to hold private meetings with lawmakers, interest groups and other budget decision makers and stakeholders.

On Monday he could be found at a major resort in Las Vegas, addressing the prison guards’ union, which spent more than $1.8 million on Brown’s behalf during the campaign. Just don’t ask us what he said. The Times was barred from covering the brief speech.

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Negrete-McLeod

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
December 6, 2010 | 4:42 pm

Senate leader Darrell Steinberg began a shakeup of the upper house Monday, deciding at the start of the new two-year session not to reappoint two longtime senators to committee chairmanships.

Although some insiders said the changes appeared to be an effort by Steinberg to shore up support for his leadership and agenda, one of the affected senators said she welcomed taking on a new role that she said would be important.

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By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 6B

The California economy will come back strong.

Just not right away.

That’s the gist of the UCLA Anderson Forecast, one of the most closely watched economic crystal balls in the state.

The latest quarterly edition of the forecast, to be released today, says unemployment in California won’t dip below 10 percent until the fourth quarter of 2012. The statewide unemployment rate as of October was 12.4 percent.

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By Ed Mendel
December 7, 2010

Two charter cities, San Diego and Pacific Grove, are taking action that could shift more of soaring pension costs to employees, and a law firm that specializes in employee benefits says local governments may have “more latitude” than they think to cut costs.

As governments face higher annual payments to pension funds, covering huge investment losses in the stock market crash and what critics say are overly generous benefits, two ways to cut employer costs are common:

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
December 6, 2010 | 6:26 pm

A lawmaker and a group of California Indian tribes are racing to have the state Legislature consider legalizing Internet poker here before they are preempted by the federal government adopting its own plan.

Sen. Louis Correa (D-Santa Ana) said he introduced Senate Bill 40 on Monday. The measure would allow select tribes and others to run state-sanctioned Internet poker games, with a cut of the action going to state coffers.

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