Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
By William Cutting
Thursday, October 31, 2013 – 10:00 a.m.
I was doing some research for another post and came across a name that was a blast from the past. I figure we should do a “Where are they now?” segment here at Inland Politics.
October 30, 2013; 06:03 PM
Three top Moreno Valley officials testified before a grand jury on Wednesday, Oct. 30, in a continuing federal probe into possible political corruption in the city.
To read story by Suzanne Hurt in The Press Enterprise, click here.
County denies fault in case
October 30, 2013 2:37 PM
Rebecca Howes, Staff Writer
APPLE VALLEY • An Apple Valley woman has been awarded a $600,000 settlement in a civil lawsuit against San Bernardino County after a sheriff’s deputy shot her while responding to a domestic abuse call in 2012, defense attorney Jerry Steering said.
October 30, 2013; 05:42 PM
Riverside made 13 types of errors in reporting employee pay and benefits to the California Public Employees Retirement System, a routine audit by the state retirement agency has found.
To read story by Alicia Robinson in The Press Enterprise, click here.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 10/30/13, 4:10 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> Tuesday’s election may be growing hard to ignore, but next week will also mark the deadline for candidates to file nomination papers to run in the next election — for the City Council seat that Chas Kelley just vacated.
By Sandra Emerson, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 10/30/13, 3:12 PM PDT | Updated: 8 hrs ago
UPLAND >> The City Council was unable to reach consensus on a solution proposed by the public works staff to address a looming $500,000 gap in the city’s solid waste program.
October 30, 2013
Assemblyman and gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly will speak at the monthly dinner of the Murrieta-Temecula Republican Assembly at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1 in the conference room at Temecula City Hall, 41000 Main St.
To read post by Jeff Horseman in The PE Political Empire Blog, click here.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
October 30, 2013
Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, accepted $60,000 in bribes from undercover FBI agents during a wide-ranging probe into his conduct as a legislator, according to a 125-page affidavit published online Wednesday by cable news network Al Jazeera.
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013 – 10:13 pm
Amazon.com and other Internet retailers collected $263.4 million in sales tax from California customers under a compromise law that took effect a little more than a year ago, state officials said this week.
By JOSE DELREAL
10/30/13 6:49 PM EDT Updated: 10/31/13 8:12 AM EDT
President Barack Obama’s job approval has dropped to an all-time low, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
By William Cutting
Tuesday, October 30, 2013 – 07:00 p.m.
Chad Mayes, Chief of Staff to San Bernardino County Supervisor Janice Rutherford, is starting to ramp up his campaign efforts in his bid to win the 42nd Assembly District race.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 – 09:30 a.m.
The Upland-based law firm at the center of overbilling allegations, and an investigation by the Orange County District Attorney, has retained a prominent national law firm, to possibly seek damages.
By Sandra Emerson, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 10/30/13, 12:02 AM PDT |
UPLAND>> The City Council on Monday voted to task a subcommittee with gathering more information on several budget cutting initiatives presented by the city manager in order to keep the city fiscally solvent.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 10/29/13, 11:01 AM PDT | Updated: 13 hrs ago
SAN BERNARDINO >> Tuesday’s “grand opening” of Amazon came a year after it actually shipped its first package — and after it doubled its employment to 1,400 people — but the timing positioned it as a sign of other blossoming developments in a beleaguered area.
By Beau Yarbrough, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 10/29/13, 8:41 PM PDT |
Nearly 1 in 5 young people between ages 16 and 24 in the Inland Empire are neither working nor in school, the nation’s worst rate, according to a report released Tuesday.
October 29, 2013 7:44 PM
Shea Johnson, Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES • A U.S. District Court judge will decide whether to dismiss claims by the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that certain Victorville officials engaged in investor fraud by inflating the value of four Southern California Logistics Airport hangars.
By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press
Posted: 10/30/13, 7:02 AM PDT |
WASHINGTON — Social Security benefits for nearly 58 million people will increase by 1.5 percent next year, the government announced Wednesday.
Oct 29, 2013
Jennifer Gollan
Government Finance Reporter
Desperate to cover a $40 million shortfall in its pension fund for retired police officers and firefighters, the city of Richmond, Calif., turned to an exotic loan.
By Lena H. Sun and Sandhya Somashekhar
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
A new controversy over the president’s health-care law is threatening to overshadow the messy launch of its Web site: Notices are going out to hundreds of thousands of Americans informing them that their health insurance policies are being canceled as of Dec. 31.
Health Care
By John Tozzi
October 29, 2013
Six months into his presidency, Barack Obama promised that his proposed health reforms wouldn’t force people who were happy with their insurance to change. “If you like your health-care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health-care plan, period,” he said. But hundreds of thousands of people are finding out that’s not the case. Insurance companies are terminating policies for many people whose insurance doesn’t meet the standards of the new health law. Here’s what you need to know:
White House
An ally of the president begins to panic over Obamacare fallout.
By Ron Fournier
October 28, 2013
“Dem Party is F****d.” That was the subject line of an email sent to me Sunday by a senior Democratic consultant with strong ties to the White House and Capitol Hill. The body of the email contained a link to this Los Angeles Times story about Obamacare “sticker shock:”
Health Care
By Sam Baker
October 29, 2013
Americans for Prosperity, the advocacy group funded by the wealthy Koch brothers, is launching a new round of anti-Obamacare ads against vulnerable Democrats.
NJ Daily
By Billy House
October 29, 2013
The curtain will rise Wednesday on the long-awaited House and Senate budget conference, with 29 lawmakers set to hold their inaugural meeting—complete with opening statements—in full view of the cameras.
But after this opening performance, expect the curtain to be lowered again.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013 – 01:30 p.m.
One has to give Ontario and San Bernardino County officials an “A” for effort. But give them an “F” for their naiveté.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013 – 09:15 a.m.
It’s no secret the city of Upland, California is facing serious financial challenges.
October 25, 2013; 04:43 PM
Riverside County’s master plan to add thousands of jail beds to stop the early release of inmates faces a setback unless state officials move faster on a project to expand the Indio jail, county officials warn.
To read story by Jeff Horseman in The Press Enterprise, click here.
October 28, 2013
Riverside County Auditor/Controller Paul Angulo hasn’t been content to let his spreadsheets do the talking.
To read post by Jeff Horseman in The PE Political Empire Blog, click here.
October 28, 2013
Barbara Marmor was on her way from Ontario International Airport to Portland, Ore. on Oct. 10 to spend a weekend with her husband, who was already traveling.
As the Riverside resident awaited her 2:10 p.m. flight on Alaska Airlines, it was announced that the flight was canceled due to mechanical problems in Portland.
To read column by Cassie MacDuff in The Press Enterprise, click here.
By Brian Sumers, Daily Breeze
Posted: 10/28/13, 11:31 PM PDT |
A few weeks ago, for the first time, Nina Vir flew from Long Beach Airport. She hadn’t meant to try Long Beach — she only used the airport because she got a good deal — but Vir enjoyed the experience.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 10/28/13, 7:11 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> In October 2012, a city reeling from its recent bankruptcy filing saw a glimmer of hope in Amazon’s announcement that it had opened a distribution center and had hired 700 people.
By Kevin Smith, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Posted: 10/28/13, 8:11 PM PDT |
The nation’s housing meltdown became a nightmare for the millions of Americans who lost their homes to foreclosure.
But that same downturn has been a bonanza for institutional investors. Backed by venture capitalists, they swooped in and scooped up scores of bank-owned properties at bargain-basement prices.
By Brad Plumer
Published: October 28 at 12:47 pm
The U.S. food-stamp program is set to shrink in the months ahead. The only real question is by how much.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) currently costs about $80 billion per year and provides food aid to 14 percent of all U.S. households — some 47 million people. Those numbers swelled dramatically during the recession.
By JENNIFER HABERKORN | 10/28/13 10:17 PM EDT
The Obama administration is strongly pushing back Monday night on an NBC News report that the White House has known for years that millions of consumers would lose their insurance under Obamacare.
Health Care
By Michael Scherer @michaelschererOct. 28, 20134 Comments
A security flaw in the original design of HealthCare.gov that could have disclosed e-mail and other account information to hackers was eliminated Monday during an overnight fix, a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services spokesman has told TIME.
By Julian Pecquet and Justin Sink – 10/28/13 08:35 PM ET
The White House on Monday defended the National Security Agency amid criticism from world leaders over its surveillance efforts.
Republicans can’t afford to have any weak candidates next year if they want to regain control of the upper chamber.
By Charlie Cook
October 28, 2013
This is not going to be one of those columns that we read almost every other year proclaiming the next election to be the most important one since the Greeks developed the idea of democracy 2,500 or so years ago. It does, however, make the case that this election is a pretty important one in terms of determining the Senate’s partisan balance of power for the better part of the next decade.
Monday, October 28, 2013 – 09:00 a.m.
It looks like battle lines may be on the horizon in potential 2014 election contest between outgoing Assemblyman, and County GOP Chairman, Curt Hagman, and incumbent Fourth District Supervisor Gary Ovitt.
October 27, 2013 2:22 PM
Staff and wire reports
PROVIDENCE, R.I. • The company that operates Victorville’s Desert Valley Hospital is one step closer to obtaining two more hospitals in Rhode Island.
By David Morgan and Sharon Begley
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK | Sun Oct 27, 2013 10:36pm EDT
(Reuters) – A data center critical for allowing uninsured Americans to buy health coverage under President Barack Obama’s healthcare law went down on Sunday, halting online enrollment for all 50 states in the latest problem to hit the program’s troubled rollout.
Sunday, October 27, 2013 – 09:30 a.m.
Gamesmanship at its best.
San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris authors a scathing letter to City Attorney Jim Penman. Then leaks it to the press.
October 25, 2013; 05:23 PM
Rep. Raul Ruiz’s day job came in handy thousands of feet above the air.
Ruiz, a Harvard-educated medical doctor, came to the aid of a stricken passenger during an Oct. 24 flight from Washington to Fort Worth, Texas. Ruiz and a fireman tended to a man in his 60s who fainted in his seat about 30 minutes into the American Airlines flight, The Desert Sun reported.
To read column by Jeff Horseman, Alicia Robinson and Dayna Straehley in The Press Enterprise, click here.
By Canan Tasci, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 10/26/13, 8:28 PM PDT |
UPLAND >> City Manager Stephen Dunn painted a sobering picture about this city’s finances when he said at a meeting Saturday morning that the city is on the verge of bankruptcy.
By Chris Megerian and Evan Halper
October 26, 2013, 5:46 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — Ann Ravel will start her new job in Washington on Monday with the kind of celebrity status rare for a career government lawyer.
As California’s top political watchdog, she launched a landmark investigation into secretive nonprofit groups that spent millions on state campaigns last year, and she announced $16 million in penalties against those groups this week.
By Chad Terhune
October 26, 2013, 7:42 p.m.
Thousands of Californians are discovering what Obamacare will cost them — and many don’t like what they see.
By William Cutting
Saturday, October 26, 2031 – 04:45 p.m.
InlandPolitics.com posted some photos of campaign literature hitting the mailboxes in San Bernardino by the San Bernardino Police Officers Association (POA).
In one mailer, an image depicts Councilman Fred Shorett as a “clone” of Mayor Pat Morris with a parody from the Austin Powers movie franchise.
Saturday, October 26, 2013 – 12:45 P.M.
The upcoming San Bernardino City Council election has finally heated up.
Saturday, October 26, 2013 – 11:30 a.m.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos held his reelection campaign kickoff fundraiser, at the Ontario Doubletree Hotel, Thursday night.
An event headlined by California Attorney General Kamala Harris.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 10/25/13, 7:13 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> City Attorney James F. Penman’s statements regarding the criminal allegations against Councilman Robert Jenkins imply that Penman’s political persuasions influenced his legal actions and “completely abrogate (his) ability to act as city attorney,” Mayor Pat Morris charges in a highly critical memo.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 10/25/13, 6:03 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> Here’s what the city’s new police chief has to look forward to: The lowest morale within the Police Department in recent memory, dwindled staffing, political infighting, an FBI investigation into possible public corruption, bankruptcy and potential pension reforms.
By Liset Marquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 10/25/13, 1:00 PM PDT |
ONTARIO >> Councilman Alan Wapner said the city is losing its patience with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who they say has failed to address which governing body should have authority over LA/Ontario International Airport.
By Andrew Tangel
October 25, 2013, 8:27 a.m.
NEW YORK — Should federal prosecutors favor California as backdrop for cases against Wall Street firms?
By Jim Puzzanghera
October 25, 2013, 8:23 a.m.
WASHINGTON — A leading barometer of consumer confidence tumbled this month to its lowest level this year as the partial federal government shutdown led to fears the economic recovery would slow down.
By Rick Orlov, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 10/25/13, 12:36 PM PDT |
The week he began work as a Harvard University fellow and was hired as a consultant for Edelman public relations, former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Friday was named a part-time professor at the USC Price School of Public Policy.
By Melinda Henneberger
Published: October 25 E-mail the writer
AUSTIN — Maybe an uninsured tennis pro offering to give Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius some help with her game wasn’t quite the Obamacare poster person you imagined the administration would put front and center at a PR event here Friday.
October 24, 2013
Politics often make strange bedfellows, but recently Riverside’s bed got crowded enough that someone is going to be sleeping on the floor.
To read post by Alicia Robinson in The PE Political Empire Blog, click here.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 10/25/13, 7:45 AM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> After a few weeks without any oxygen-sucking forums for citywide offices, Save San Bernardino brought many of the City Council candidates together Thursday night to discuss why each thinks they’re the best to turn the city around.
By Doug Saunders, San Bernardino Sun
Posted: 10/24/13, 7:39 PM PDT |
ONTARIO >> San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos received the endorsement of California State Attorney General Kamala Harris as he kicked off his re-election campaign Thursday evening here.
Valleywide publisher accused of ‘explicit’ comments, advances
October 24, 2013 5:59 PM
Shea Johnson, Staff Writer
VICTORVILLE • Two lawsuits allege that the publisher of the Valleywide Newspaper group made sexual advances toward an employee and punished another who spoke out, court records show.
By Chris Megerian
October 24, 2013, 12:22 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — California political campaign committees that received money from a secretive network of conservative nonprofits last year, including $11 million from an obscure Arizona group, face hefty penalties from state regulators, officials announced Thursday.
Melody Gutierrez
Updated 7:02 pm, Thursday, October 24, 2013
Sacramento –Gun-rights advocates plan to target Assembly Speaker John Pérez and four other Democratic lawmakers in a recall campaign to serve as retribution for California passing an assortment of gun-control bills this year.
By Paige St. John
October 24, 2013, 6:35 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown is back on the doorstep of the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking an order to let him go ahead with contracts that would send thousands more inmates to private prisons out of state.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Oct. 25, 2013 – 12:00 am
Last Modified: Friday, Oct. 25, 2013 – 6:18 am
The faculties and administrators of California’s public institutions of higher learning often display a certain disdain for the real world.
By Andrew Tangel and E. Scott Reckard
October 24, 2013, 6:21 p.m.
NEW YORK — Bank of America Corp. is slashing 1,200 jobs in its mortgage division as the company’s refinancing business slows amid rising interest rates.
Thursday, October 24, 2013 – 09:30 a.m.
A few months ago I said that the onset of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, would likely be problematic for Democrats at the national level.
That prognostication is starting to ring true.
Thursday, October 24, 2013 – 09:00 a.m.
An recent attempt by San Bernardino County prosecutors to end a seven year-old case apparently went no where.
October 23, 2013; 09:47 PM
Councilwoman Kelly Howell announced at the Wednesday, Oct. 23, Eastvale City Council meeting that she will be leaving the council on Nov. 30.
To read story by Sandra Stokley in The Press Enterprise, click here.
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013 – 4:31 pm
Last Modified: Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013 – 7:44 am
Pursuing San Bernardino for more than $14 million in overdue pension payments, CalPERS is renewing its challenge to the troubled city’s right to file for bankruptcy protection.
By Chris Megerian and Anthony York
October 23, 2013, 9:36 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — The state’s political watchdog will announce a combined fine of $1 million — the largest-ever for violating the state’s campaign finance laws — against a pair of nonprofit groups for funneling millions of dollars into a pair of ballot measure campaigns in 2012.
By Brad Branan
bbranan@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013 – 6:32 pm
Last Modified: Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013 – 8:07 am
California is not providing counties enough funding to incarcerate and rehabilitate offenders it has sent to local jails and probation offices in the last two years, criminal justice advocates and officials said Wednesday.
By Seema Mehta
October 24, 2013
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials who have backed a rival of Sheriff Lee Baca in next year’s election claim they are being retaliated against with reassignments to distant locales or less desirable duties, according to interviews and documents.
By Jeff Gottlieb
October 23, 2013, 11:12 a.m.
Angela Spaccia, the former second-in-command in the scandal-plagued city of Bell, went on trial Wednesday in a case that could establish who was the mastermind of the wrongdoing that made the working-poor city a symbol for municipal graft.
By Andrew Tangel
October 23, 2013, 5:56 p.m.
NEW YORK — Bank of America has been found liable for fraud in the sale of faulty loans by its Countrywide mortgage unit, a major victory for the federal government as it continues to pursue cases stemming from the financial crisis.
By Sandhya Somashekhar, Amy Goldstein and Juliet Eilperin
Thursday, October, 24, 2013
The Obama administration said Wednesday night that it will give Americans who buy health insurance through the new online marketplaces an extra six weeks to obtain coverage before they incur a penalty.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013 – 1:00 p.m.
Another blow for beleaguered San Bernardino.
InlandPolitics.com has learned that San Bernardino Police Chief Robert Handy is leaving.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013 – 09:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 – 08:00 p.m.
The Monday meeting of the San Bernardino City Council was quite eventful.
It was the first meeting following the resignation of Fifth Ward Council Member Chas Kelley, who pleaded guilty to felony perjury last week, and the filing of charges, against Third Ward Council Member Robert Jenkins, by the Riverside County District Attorney.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013 – 08:55 a.m.
The San Bernardino City Council has a tough few months ahead of it.
Battles over gutting the fire and police unions by way of outsourcing is at the forefront.
October 22, 2013; 09:44 PM
The federal political corruption probe in Moreno Valley widened as the FBI on Tuesday, Oct. 22, subpoenaed the city for a vast number of records that go far beyond what the public already knows about the investigation.
To read story by Suzanne Hurt, David Danelski and Richard K. De Atley in The Press Enterprise, click here.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 10/22/13, 5:09 PM PDT | Updated: 6 hrs ago
SAN BERNARDINO >> A third attempt to get proposals to run fire protection services for the city will come at the next City Council meeting — theoretically without an absent council member to block its passage.
October 23, 2013
My wife and I spent the weekend in New York and New Jersey, where our bright, beautiful niece got married to a nice Jewish “Google dude.”
It was your basic turn-around trip: Leave Friday, return Monday. The logistics made our heads spin and our butts numb. They also reminded me how unique and, in some ways, exclusive, this part of the country really is.
To read column by Dan Bernstein in The Press Enterprise, click here.
October 22, 2013; 08:57 PM
A health care industry veteran who has built a career on restoring troubled hospitals is the Board of Supervisors’ pick to become interim CEO of Riverside County Regional Medical Center.
To read story by Jeff Horseman in The Press Enterprise, click here.
By Beau Yarbrough, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 10/22/13, 5:55 PM PDT |
March Air Reserve Base >> The federal government’s partial shutdown may have ended, but continuing uncertainty about the government’s ability to pay its bills and automatic sequestration cuts have led to a planned air show near Riverside being canceled.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 10/22/13, 4:25 PM PDT | Updated: 7 hrs ago
San Bernardino County has commissioned a consultant to prepare a comprehensive analysis of vacant land available in the county for development as part of its Countywide Vision. The information will ultimately be shared with the county’s 24 cities for planning purposes.
October 22, 2013 10:46 AM
Staff Reports
APPLE VALLEY • Rep. Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley, has announced that he will host an informational forum on veterans’ benefits at 9 a.m. on Nov. 8, according to a news release.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013 – 12:00 am
Last Modified: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013 – 7:35 am
Facing pressure from federal judges to reduce severe overcrowding in California’s prisons, Gov. Jerry Brown came up with “realignment” that would divert presumably low-threat felons into local jails, mental health and drug treatment programs, and probation systems.
By Josh Hicks, E-mail the writer
The Internal Revenue Service plans to delay the tax-filing season by up to two weeks as a result of the 16-day government shutdown that ended last week, the agency announced Tuesday.