Supervisor Neil Derry Left. San Manuel Chairman James Ramos right.

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 12 March 2012 09:58 PM

The June election for San Bernardino County supervisors officially kicked off with the close of filing last week but the race between Supervisor Neil Derry and challenger James Ramos has been in full swing for months.

The race is shaping up as an increasingly negative contest. Former Twentynine Palms Mayor Jim Bagley is also running for the Third District supervisorial seat but Ramos and Derry have mostly been focusing on each other.

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Neil Derry

BY NEIL DERRY

Published: 11 March 2012 12:00 AM

Efforts to limit undue influence by donors and special interests in political campaigns have been attempted at all levels of government. The subject is incredibly complex and the best minds in the American legislative and judicial branches have worked to balance the constitutional rights of the people with the need to ensure fair, democratic elections. To date, every single reform attempt resulted in some other unintended consequence with equally unpalatable results.

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Congressman Gary Miller

Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 03/12/2012 06:31:58 PM PDT

The California Republican Party has endorsed Rep. Gary Miller in what some observers are calling one of the most competitive local primary races on June 5.

Miller received the endorsement for the 31st Congressional District seat on Sunday at a party meeting in Burbank.

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State Senator Bob Dutton left. Congressman Gary Miller right.

By PE Politics
on March 12, 2012 5:33 PM

State Sen. Bob Dutton said Monday that he was disappointed, but not surprised, by the California Republican Party’s endorsement of Rep. Gary Miller for San Bernardino County’s 31st Congressional District.

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Milanovich

BY JIM MILLER AND DAVID KECK
STAFF WRITERS
jmiller@pe.com | dkeck@pe.com

Published: 11 March 2012 08:29 PM

Richard Milanovich, the longtime chairman of Riverside County’s Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and a leader in the effort to legalize and grow the state’s tribal gaming industry, died Sunday. He was 69.

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By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 13, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Tuesday, Mar. 13, 2012 – 9:02 am

The state’s cost of supporting CalPERS could jump by as much as $425 million in the next fiscal year, generating more political heat on public pensions at a time of massive budget deficits.

The additional cost would result from a proposed reduction in CalPERS’ all-important investment forecast. The pension fund today will consider slashing its forecast by half a percentage point, to 7.25 percent.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
March 12, 2012 | 12:37 pm

California issued more tax refunds than expected in February, the likely reason that revenues fell $146 million short of estimates, the state controller said Monday.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
March 12, 2012

The California Chamber of Commerce announced its opposition today to two of Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax rivals but remained silent on the governor’s own plan, tacitly giving his proposal a boost as he tries to thin the field.

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Jon Fleischman is a mainstay of Republican circles and produces the FlashReport political blog. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

By James Rainey, Los Angeles Times
March 13, 2012

Like so many budget sessions in Sacramento, this one had stretched late into the night. When the four leaders of the Assembly and Senate finally agreed on a package of spending cuts and modest reforms, a six-week standoff — which had forced the state to suspend payments to child-care centers and nursing homes — seemed at an end.

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California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris announces her state’s portion of a landmark mortgage foreclosure settlement in February. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

By Jim Puzzanghera
March 12, 2012, 12:19 p.m.

Reporting from Washington— State and federal officials on Monday formally filed the $25-billion settlement with the nation’s biggest mortgage servicers.

The lengthy documents outlining the terms of the landmark settlement were filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, formally ending investigations by the Justice Department, Housing and Urban Development Department and attorneys general in 49 states into botched foreclosure paperwork and mortgage servicing problems.

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By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 13, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

When it comes to rulings on medical marijuana, California courts have a case of multiple personality disorder.

A flurry of recent, conflicting decisions by state appellate courts on whether cities can ban marijuana stores or be forced to allow them is setting up a landmark review by the California Supreme Court.

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