Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

By Terence P. Jeffrey
November 16, 2011
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(CNSNews.com) – At the close of business on Tuesday, the debt of the federal government exceeded $15 trillion for the first time–with the largest single owner of the publicly held portion of that debt being the Federal Reserve.

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Wednesday, November 16, 2011 – 01:50 p.m.

Rumors have started circulating on Wall Street this afternoon surrounding the solvency of investment banks Jeffries & Co. and Morgan Stanley.

The stock of the two companies was pounded today after a report from Fitch Ratings stated that U.S. financial institutions may be exposed to problems impacting European Unions banks.

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Wednesday, November 16, 2011 – 01:45 p.m.

Members of the United States Congress trade stock and stock options based on inside information.

Reports say that those members who engage in the unethical practice beat the market by 12%.

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Wednesday, November 16, 2011 – 11:00 a.m.

Boy you gotta hand it to the governor and state legislature.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office for the State of California has just dropped a bombshell this morning.

The LAO is projecting a budget deficit for the 2012-13 fiscal year at a stunning $13 billion.

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Wednesday, November 16, 2011 – 10:30 a.m.

It’s been more than eleven months since former San Bernardino County Counsel Ruth Stringer supposedly retired from her position.

However, the puzzling issue at hand is the fact that Stringer’s name hasn’t appeared on the retirement roll at the county’s pension fund.

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Wednesday, November 16, 2011 – 09:50 a.m.

The price of crude oil blew past the $100 per barrel mark Wednesday morning.

A renewed damper on an already anemic economy.

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Supervisors, managers and employees not represented by unions will pay 8 percent of their salaries toward retirement

BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com

Published: 15 November 2011 07:25 PM

Riverside County’s elected leaders and management will begin paying their own pension costs in a move designed to save money and show employees that they are willing to lead by example.

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Officials say the county’s second-largest union rebuffed a last offer. Pay and benefit changes could be imposed on 6,000 employees

BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com

Published: 15 November 2011 07:55 PM

As they seek remedies for a budget gap in the tens of millions, Riverside County supervisors are finding themselves increasingly at odds with the unions representing employees.

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Joe Nelson, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Created: 11/15/2011 07:13:37 PM PST

San Bernardino County supervisors are looking to cut the benefits a supervisor can receive by 20 percent.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors directed the County Administrative Office to prepare an ordinance that would do just that.

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BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 15 November 2011 06:40 PM

San Bernardino County supervisors clashed Tuesday over how to split funds that help supplement their staffing costs.

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Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/15/2011 11:20:57 PM PST

COLTON-The Colton City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance that bans encampment on public property after raising concerns that a potential Occupy movement encampment in public parks could endanger public safety.

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Ryan Hagen, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 11/16/2011 12:22:37 AM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – The board of the San Bernardino City Unified School District has postponed a decision on how to choose a new superintendent until Dec. 6, noting that the current members weren’t in agreement and three newly elected members will begin serving then.

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Kaiser calls claim ‘deeply puzzling’
November 15, 2011 5:11 PM
Tomoya Shimura
Staff Writer

ONTARIO • Prime Healthcare Services, which owns Desert Valley Hospital, filed an antitrust lawsuit Tuesday alleging that a labor union and Kaiser Permanente have conspired to drive Prime hospitals out of Southern California.

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By Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein,
Los Angeles Times
November 16, 2011

The number of state prisoners arriving in county jails under California’s controversial prison diversion program is significantly higher than officials had estimated, adding new pressure on sheriff’s departments to figure out what to do with thousands of extra inmates.

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Securing the money has long been a top priority for California, which will receive about $65.8 million after a rare alliance between the two most populous red and blue states.

By Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times
November 16, 2 2011

Reporting from Washington— California and Texas lawmakers formed a rare alliance to secure $240 million in federal funds to pay for jailing illegal immigrants despite a congressional drive to reduce Washington’s red ink.

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By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times
November 16, 2011

A Los Angeles judge Tuesday ordered the release of all pension data for 50,000 Los Angeles County government retirees, rejecting arguments by union and retirement system attorneys that the records are confidential.

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By Russell Berman and Erik Wasson – 11/15/11 08:50 PM ET

House Republican leaders began preparing their members on Tuesday to accept a potential deficit deal that includes new tax revenues.

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