James Penman speaks at a forum for the mayoral candidates in 2005. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

By Joe Mozingo
Dec. 30, 2015

• James Penman says he fought dysfunction at San Bernardino’s City Hall. His critics see his tenure as city attorney differently.

His gray hair was impeccable, as were his suits and ties, cinched into Windsor knots. With his penetrating gaze and stern, pockmarked face, James Penman made a distinctive impression as he roamed San Bernardino in his Chevy sedan.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dec. 31, 2015 – Updated 8:59 a.m.

About this story: This report was written by Edward Humes, the author of 13 nonfiction books and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his Orange County Register coverage of the military. The story is based on extensive reporting by the Register’s staff, including Tony Saavedra, David Ferrell, Kelly Puente, Tom Berg and Ian Wheeler, previously published stories and legal documents obtained by the newspaper since the arrest of Scott Dekraai after the worst mass shooting in Orange County history. Illustrations were drawn by Jeff Goertzen.

Read more at the Register’s ‘Inside the Snitch Tank’ site

Prologue

On his last day of freedom, Scott Dekraai spoke on the phone with his ex-wife. Let’s meet for coffee, he suggested.

Read the rest of this entry »

Passenger traffic is up 4 percent and cargo is up 13 percent at L.A./Ontario International Airport from November 2014 to November 2015.

By Neil Nisperos, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 12/29/15, 6:51 PM PST |

ONTARIO >> As they prepare to hand off control of L.A./Ontario International Airport, officials from Los Angeles World Airports are reporting a 4 percent passenger increase and a 13 percent increase in cargo at the Inland Empire travel hub for November this year over the same time last year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Warrant examines utilities commission, Edison meetings and UCLA grant funds

By Jeff McDonald and Ricky Young |
Dec. 29, 2015 – 5:00 p.m.

A state criminal investigation into the California Public Utilities Commission centers around former President Michael Peevey’s persistent intervention into the process to assign costs for the failure of the San Onofre nuclear plant, newly released court documents show.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Edward Pettersson
December 29, 2015 — 1:34 PM PST
Updated on December 29, 2015 — 4:30 PM PST

California can ask a nonprofit group started by conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch for the names and addresses of its donors, but the state can’t publicly disclose that information.

Read the rest of this entry »

Data is starting to show Billionaire Businessman Donald Trump is making larger inroads into ethnic and gender voting blocks.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015 – 10:30 a.m.

The political pundits appearing on talk shows this holiday week are starting to take on a somewhat sanguine and dejected tenor.

Read the rest of this entry »

Published: Dec. 28, 2015
Updated:   Dec. 29, 2015 6:58 a.m.

Motorists driving the 15 in Corona on Christmas Day were given a political directive from a roadside construction alert.

To read article Anne Millerbernd in The Press-Enterprise, click here.

By Ryan Hagen, San Bernardino Sun
Posted: 12/28/15 – 12:31 PM PST | U

SAN BERNARDINO >> After 36 years as chief executive officer of the largest private employer in San Bernardino County, Jack Brown announced Dec. 28 that he had appointed Pete Van Helden as CEO of Stater Bros. Markets.

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More than 191 million voter records, including personal information and voting activity, have been exposed. It’s not clear who owns the server.

By Steven Musil
@stevenmusil
December 28, 20153:14 PM PST

If you have voted in a US election recently, there’s a good chance your personal information is included in a trove of voter data found on a publicly available Web server.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Chuck McFadden
Posted 12.28.2015

It was, as always, a mixture of hope and disappointment, deals made and unmade, the bizarre and the mundane. For the Capitol community, 2015 was also a year of anticipation.

Read the rest of this entry »

Monday, December 28, 2015

(Reuters) – Strong online sales and demand for furniture and women’s apparel helped U.S. retail sales grow by a “solid” 7.9 percent this holiday season, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse.

Read the rest of this entry »

Monday, December 28, 2015 – 01:00 p.m.

Recent developments in a high profile San Bernardino County legal case have caught the attention of Southern California legal publication Los Angeles Daily Journal.

To read the article, click the following link:

Daily Journal: Attorneys argue over key motion in corruption case – 122115

Monday, December 28, 2015 – 09:45 a.m.

Every knew they wouldn’t let it go on for too long.

“They” being oil companies. “It” being low gasoline prices.

Read the rest of this entry »

Monday, December 28, 2015 – 09:30 a.m.

Here’s the latest local news coverage of an ongoing high-profile San Bernardino County legal case.

The Press-Enterprise: SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY: Trial postponed in Colonies corruption case
Daily Press: Colonies trial date is pushed back
The Sun: Health issues delay trial in Colonies corruption case by eight months

Amazingly, the later story was authored by someone not actually present in the courtroom.

Monday, December 28, 2015

Presidential frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump remain all tied up in a hypothetical matchup heading into 2016.

Read the rest of this entry »

During his opening statements in the People v. Ramos and Cicinelli, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas wielded a police baton to demonstrate how he believed Fullerton Officer Manuel Ramos threatened Kelly Thomas in 2011. (Bruce Chambers / File)

By David Ferrell and Tony Saavedra
December 27, 2015 – Updated 12:33 p.m.

Tough, street-smart Tony Rackauckas, who left gang-marred East Los Angeles to jump from the sky as a U.S. Army paratrooper, has spent the better part of his legal career in one battle or another.

Read the rest of this entry »

Joel Rubin
December 26, 2015

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department already was engulfed in a jail brutality scandal when a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office examined the beating of Gabriel Carrillo.

Read the rest of this entry »

Billionaire Businessman and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has skyrocketed in recent national polling numbers.

Saturday, December 26, 2015 – 01:00 p.m.

You have to hand it to the so-called mainstream media, and cable network news for that matter.

Anytime a national presidential primary poll emerges showing Donald Trump declining, and anyone else ascending, and I mean anyone; Three groups, 1.) the mainstream media; 2.) the so-called establishment and finally, 3.) the political pundits, all ooze with glee.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Scott Wong
12/26/15 – 12:02 PM EST

Outside the Beltway, the right is livid with new Speaker Paul Ryan’s trillion-dollar spending deal with Democrats.

Read the rest of this entry »

Friday, December 25, 2015 – 09:00 a.m.

InlandPolitics.com would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Workers work the assembly line at the new Amazon distribution center in San Bernardino. A fourth Amazon warehouse opened this year in the Inland Empire. (Staff File Photo)

By Neil Nisperos, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 12/24/15 – 5:23 PM PST |

Positive employment growth, the expansion of the logistics industry in the Inland Empire and local control of Ontario Airport were key highlights for the regional economy in 2015, experts say.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jessica Kwong / Staff Writer
Dec. 24, 2015 – Updated 9:25 a.m.

SANTA ANA – Employees with Orange County’s largest union are heading into the holidays assured of their biggest salary raise since the recession, under a three-year contract the Board of Supervisors approved Wednesday morning.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Lisa Hagen
12/24/15 – 06:00 AM EST

Donald Trump may be getting the best gift of all this holiday season, as he enters 2016 firmly on top in the Republican race for the White House.

Read the rest of this entry »

Marsha G. Slough (Courtesy photo)

By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 12/23/15 – 1:00 PM PST |

Gov. Jerry Brown announced Wednesday the appointment of San Bernardino County Presiding Judge Marsha G. Slough to the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Riverside. She will be the first openly gay justice in the history of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, if confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Robin Respaut
December 23, 2015

The bankrupt California city of San Bernardino won praise from bondholders on Wednesday for its handling earlier this month of the massacre that killed 14 people, but at the first significant court hearing since the attack, creditors questioned a plan to increase spending to bolster the police force.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jennifer Agiesta, CNN Polling Director
Wed December 23, 2015 | Updated 6:25 AM ET

• Donald Trump has been a constant atop the polls since his ascent to the lead in July
• This new poll marks the first time Ted Cruz stands significantly apart from the other candidates vying for the nomination

Washington (CNN) — Donald Trump seems set to end 2015 as the dominant force in the race for next year’s Republican nomination for president, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz now a clear — yet distant — second after a strong debate performance, a new CNN/ORC poll released on Wednesday has found.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 12/22/15 – 1:14 PM PST |

Two more lawsuits totaling 21 plaintiffs alleging systematic abuse at the hands of San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga have been filed in federal court in Riverside.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 12/22/15 – 7:39 PM PST |

An appeals court once again ruled against the San Bernardino City Professional Firefighters and in favor of the city Tuesday, affirming U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Jury’s conclusion that nothing in the city charter or state law prevents the city from outsourcing its Fire Department.

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It’s the third penalty since 2006 for longtime Inland politician Jeff Stone.

Published: Dec. 22, 2015 – 2:58 p.m.

For the third time since 2006, a state agency has fined Jeff Stone’s campaign thousands of dollars for breaking California’s campaign finance rules.

To read article by Jeff Horseman in The Press-Enterprise, click here.

The Los Angeles Kings honored the victims of December 2 terrorist attack in San Bernardino by recognizing a Hero from the shooting, US Navy Master Chief Tina LaTendresse. Standing with her are San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan, SWAT Team Leader Sgt. Brian Harris, Homicide Detective Marco Granado and San Bernardino Mayor Carey Davis. (John McCoy – Staff Photographer)

By Elliott Teaford, Daily Breeze
Posted: 12/22/15 – 10:34 PM PST |

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan has been to plenty of Kings games over the seasons at Staples Center, but none were quite like the one he attended with SWAT team leader Brian Harris, homicide detective Marco Granado and Mayor Carey Davis.

Read the rest of this entry »

A worker walks past heavy snowfall on the deck of the lodge at Big Springs on Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, in Truckee, Calif. (Northstar California Resort)

Bettina Boxall, Frank Shyong and Joseph Serna
December 22, 2015

A series of powerful snowstorms in the Sierra Nevada has resulted in a small milestone in drought-stricken California: The snowpack is now higher than average for this time of year.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 22, 2015 4:41 PM

• California, 3 neighboring states much different
• We get along with Oregon, not Arizona and Nevada
• Relations with Nevada are particularly frosty

There’s always been an incongruity about California’s having three disparate states on its borders.

Read the rest of this entry »

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan speaks about first responders sharing their stories of their roles and heroic efforts in the San Bernardino mass shooting during a press conference at the San Bernardino Police Department in San Bernardino. (Rachel Luna — Staff photographer)

By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 12/21/15 – 9:17 PM PST |

SAN BERNARDINO >> The City Council on Monday unanimously chose the Burbank city manager to be this city’s interim manager beginning Feb. 8 and Police Chief Jarrod Burguan to fill in from Jan. 1 until then.

Read the rest of this entry »

California water regulators suggest slight easing of conservation requirements

Bettina Boxall
December 21, 2015

As they look to next year, state regulators are suggesting a slight easing of the conservation requirements that slashed urban water use across California.

Read the rest of this entry »

Monday, December 21, 2015 – 10:00 a.m.

South Carolina U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has dropped out of the GOP presidential nominating contest.

Read the rest of this entry »

Donald Trump speaks at the Republican Party of Iowa’s Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines on May 16. (Scott Olson / Getty Images)

David Lauter
December 20, 2015

Donald Trump leads the GOP presidential field in polls of Republican voters nationally and in most early-voting states, but some polls may actually be understating his support, according to a new study.

Read the rest of this entry »

A lawsuit by Eastvale over relief bill could have ramifications for three other area cities.

Published: Dec. 18, 2015
Updated:   Dec. 20, 2015 – 5:57 p.m.

Jurupa Valley City Manager Gary Thompson is certain Riverside County will prevail in the legal challenge filed by Eastvale concerning a plan to erase millions of dollars in debt owed by Jurupa Valley, Menifee and Wildomar — but not Eastvale.

To read article by Sandra Stokley in The Press-Enterprise, click here.

By Shea Johnson, Staff Writer
Posted Dec. 20, 2015 at 5:21 PM

VICTORVILLE — Without a pay raise for four years, City Manager Doug Robertson’s new contract through June 2019 will pay him $21,875 per month after the City Council last week approved the deal.

Read the rest of this entry »

State has ordered city to pay county to settle dispute about loans made to the city’s former redevelopment agency.

Published: Dec. 20, 2015
Updated:   Dec. 21, 2015 – 6:53 a.m.

The state’s Department of Finance is forcing Murrieta to pay $4.8 million to Riverside County to settle a dispute about loans the city made to its former redevelopment agency in the mid-2000s.

To read article by Aaron Claverie in The Press-Enterprise, click here.

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton at Saturday’s debate. Donald Trump was attacked by name nine times during the debate, including five times by Clinton. (Jewel Samad/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

By Abby Phillip and John Wagner
December 20, 2015 at 8:15 PM

MANCHESTER, N.H. — The day after the Democrats met here for their third presidential debate, much of the attention shifted to a candidate who wasn’t on the stage: the boisterous Republican front-runner, Donald Trump.

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Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Martin O’Malley, from left, greet one another after their New Hampshire debate. (Jewel Samad / AFP / Getty Images)

Cathleen Decker, Evan Halper and Michael A. Memoli
December 19, 2015

• Disagreements on Mideast and taxes mark Democratic debate

After two days of intense Democratic infighting, Bernie Sanders apologized for his staff’s snooping into Hillary Clinton’s campaign files at the opening of a cantankerous presidential debate Saturday that underscored sharp differences among the candidates on foreign policy, combating terrorism and raising taxes.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sarah Parvini, Paloma Esquivel, Laura J. Nelson and Anh Do
December 18, 2015

It has become a sobering pattern of his presidency: Air Force One touches down in a heartbroken town and President Obama rushes toward the grief. He meets moms and dads, fiancés and friends — the newest members of a club no one would choose to join, Americans whose loved ones died in a mass shooting.

On Friday evening, it was San Bernardino’s turn.

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By Christine Mai-Duc
December 18, 2015

The sweeping budget deal — a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill — tackles a number of policy areas, including making some $650 billion in tax breaks permanent, adopting new cybersecurity rules and repealing a decades-old ban on crude oil exports.

Read the rest of this entry »

Chris Kirkham
December 18, 2015

California employers added just 5,500 jobs in November, according to federal data — a significant slowdown from more robust monthly gains earlier in the year.

Read the rest of this entry »

In this Oct. 1, 2015 photo, a shopper walks past a store with a “Help Wanted” sign in the window, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

By Kevin Smith, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Posted: 12/18/15 – 10:13 AM PST |

Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire both posted healthy job gains in November but California’s net gain amounted to just 5,500 jobs, the smallest monthly increase in more than three years.

Read the rest of this entry »

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan speaks about first responders during a recent news conference in San Bernardino. (Rachel Luna – Staff Photographer)

By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 12/17/15 – 7:58 PM PST |

SAN BERNARDINO >> The city has a succession plan to replace the city manager who’s resigning Dec. 31, if the City Council approves it Monday: the top cop will be the top leader for a month, then Burbank City Manager Mark Scott takes over.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 17, 2015 – 5:18 PM

• State’s population growth now under 1 percent a year
• Births and deaths now account for 75 percent
• Demographic trends will affect state’s elections

Demographics, it’s been said, are destiny. That’s especially true of their impact on politics.

Read the rest of this entry »

Attorney General Kamala Harris at a September event in Los Angeles. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Phil Willon
December 17, 2015

California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris spent more than $600,000 on 19 political and fundraising consultants between January and the end of September – close to three times the amount spent combined by her Democratic rival and the three top Republicans in the race.

Read the rest of this entry »

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) on Capitol Hill. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

Lisa Mascaro
December 17, 2015

By approving a massive package of tax breaks Thursday, House Republicans — who have made deficit-slashing the holy grail of their majority — just piled on nearly $650 billion in red ink.

Read the rest of this entry »

A traveler at L.A./Ontario International Airport checks the arrival and departure monitors. The Los Angeles City Council has approved transferring airport ownership to the local Ontario International Airport Authority. The process is expected to be completed in July. (File Photo)

By Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Daily News
and Liset Marquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 12/16/15 – 12:45 PM PST |

LOS ANGELES >> The Los Angeles City Council approved a landmark $250 million agreement that will lead to the transfer of ownership of LA/Ontario International Airport to a local authority, culminating a five-year battle between Los Angeles and Ontario.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ivan Penn
December 16, 2015

California’s stubbornly high gasoline prices in 2015 resulted from state regulations, trouble with imports and an outage at a major refinery, the oil refining industry told regulators Wednesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

President Obama speaks on Islamic State in the Pentagon briefing room on Dec. 14. (Olivier Douliery / Getty Images)

Michael A. Memoli
December 16, 2015

President Obama will travel to San Bernardino on Friday to join in mourning the 14 victims of the Dec. 2 mass shooting that he has called an act of terrorism, the White House said Wednesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen removes her glasses as she testifies on Capitol Hill on Feb. 25. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)

Jim Puzzanghera
December 16, 2015

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark short-term interest rate for the first time in 9 1/2 years, providing a long-awaited vote of confidence for the recovery from the Great Recession by beginning to remove the last of the central bank’s extraordinary steps to boost economic growth.

Read the rest of this entry »

Congress released more than 2,200 pages of legislation in the dead of night. | AP

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What’s really in the year-end tax and spending bill?

By Bernie Becker
12/16/15 – 04:24 PM EST

Congress released more than 2,200 pages of legislation in the dead of night — containing $1.1 trillion in spending, about $680 billion in tax cuts and a string of other policy changes.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Roll Call Staff
Posted on Dec. 16 at 10:52 a.m.

Both Democrats and Republicans won a few and lost a few in the $1.1 trillion spending bill and package of tax extensions that congressional negotiators agreed on late Tuesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

House Speaker Paul Ryan announces the bipartisan budget agreement on Wednesday. (Michael Reynolds / European Pressphoto Agency)

Michael Hiltzik
December 16, 2015

When Congress legislates at night and in haste, you can be sure mischief is being done. Sure enough, the budget deal announced late Tuesday by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), takes an ax to efforts to limit the torrent of big money into politics.

Read the rest of this entry »

32-year-old suspected of plundering Retrophin to pay debts. (Martin Shkreli – Photographer: Francesco Nazardo)

By Christie Smythe and Keri Geiger | December 17, 2015

Martin Shkreli, the boyish drug company entrepreneur, who rocketed to infamy by jacking up the price of a life-saving pill from $13.50 to $750, was arrested by federal agents at his Manhattan home early Thursday morning on securities fraud related to a firm he founded.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 12/15/15 – 5:12 PM PST |

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a new policy requiring county CEO Greg Devereaux to immediately report any misconduct by county administrators to the board.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 12/15/15, 7:36 PM PST |

The Safety Employees Benefit Association, San Bernardino County’s labor union representing sheriff’s deputies, detectives and district attorney investigators, has declared an impasse with the county in its labor negotiations.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Matthew Cabe
Staff Writer
Posted Dec. 15, 2015 at 8:44 PM

HESPERIA — The City Council voted in closed session prior to Tuesday evening’s regular meeting to appoint Nils Bentsen to the position of city manager.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 15, 2015

• Controller’s searchable website covers $36 billion in wages
• City wage, benefit costs decline while county costs increase

State Controller Betty Yee has released a new searchable database of local government salaries, covering 602,377 positions with more than $36 billion in wages.

Read the rest of this entry »

Solar proponents have been rallying to block changes to rooftop solar costs. On Tuesday, state regulators proposed new fees for solar customers.

Ivan Penn
December 15, 2015

Rooftop solar panel owners could face new fees under a proposal issued Tuesday, but state regulators rejected several recommendations by utility companies that threatened the expansion of residential and commercial solar efforts.

Read the rest of this entry »

David G. Savage
December 14, 2015

California consumers who are angry about being hit with unexpected fees can be forced to air their complaints individually before an arbitrator rather than in a class-action lawsuit, under a decision handed down Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 14, 2015

• Property taxes should top $57 billion
• Placer County has highest increase

The value of all taxable real estate in California has surpassed $5 trillion, according to the state Board of Equalization.

Read the rest of this entry »

Melody Petersen
December 14, 2015

The state’s biggest public pension fund has repeatedly missed a key performance goal for its controversial private equity investments.

Read the rest of this entry »

A bidding war may be emerging for the Orange County Register. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Andrew Khouri
December 14, 2015

A federal judge has approved a $4.5-million loan that will allow the Orange County Register to operate during bankruptcy — setting the stage for a possible bidding war by an insider group and the owners of the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily News.

Read the rest of this entry »

The billionaire businessman surges to 41 percent after releasing proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S.

By Nick Gass
12/14/15 – 12:00 PM EST
Updated 12/14/15 – 12:48 PM EST

Donald Trump just got a little more vault in his ceiling. Nationwide, the polling-obsessed Manhattan multi-billionaire and leading Republican presidential candidate broke into the 40s on Monday.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 13, 2015

• City’s bid for 2024 games advances
• Boosters say it could be profitable on $4.5 billion budget
• But city would have to cover any losses

Los Angeles moved closer last week to becoming the venue for the 2024 Summer Olympics when voters in Hamburg canceled its bid.

Read the rest of this entry »

Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is the new leader in the latest Iowa polling.

Sunday, December 13, 2015 – 03:00 p.m.

The media, political class, political establishment is all lathered-up again over the new GOP flavor of the month in Iowa.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Matt Apuzzo, Michale S. Schmidt and Julia Preston
December 12, 2015

WASHINGTON — Tashfeen Malik, who with her husband carried out the massacre in San Bernardino, Calif., passed three background checks by American immigration officials as she moved to the United States from Pakistan. None uncovered what Ms. Malik had made little effort to hide — that she talked openly on social media about her views on violent jihad.

Read the rest of this entry »

Richard A. Serrano and Teresa Watanabe
December 12, 2015

As FBI divers continue to paddle the murky waters of a lake in San Bernardino, the federal investigation into the massacre at a county health department gathering is reaching a critical juncture: With whom were the two shooters in contact?

Read the rest of this entry »

An audience member listens as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Iowa Central Community College on Nov. 12 in Fort Dodge, Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall/The Associated Press)

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By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 12, 2015

• Trump deserves criticism for intolerance
• However, he’s not the only offender
• Liberals ignore key American principles when it suits them

Someday, we may know what truly motivated real estate tycoon Donald Trump to seek the presidency.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mark Saladino, Los Angeles County’s former chief attorney, claims the Board of Supervisors coerced his resignation by forcing him to issue a false press release and sign an agreement “under duress” when he stepped down from the job in June. Saladino, who moved to the position of assistant treasurer and tax collector, filed a claim for damages with the county this week.

By Mike Reicher, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 12/11/15 – 1:52 PM PST |

Los Angeles County’s former chief attorney claims the Board of Supervisors coerced his resignation by forcing him to issue a false press release and sign an agreement “under duress” when he stepped down from the job in June.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Santa Ana), shown in November, is facing criticism over a comment she made about the percentage of Muslims who support a caliphate. (Tomas Ovalle)

Phil Willon
December 11, 2015

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is trying to beat back criticism over a comment she made about the percentage of Muslims who support a caliphate — the establishment of a strict Islamic state — to defend and advance their religious ideology.

Read the rest of this entry »

California Gov. Jerry Brown, with Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, left, and Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, in June. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

John Myers
December 11, 2015

In the eyes of Martin Weil, it’s not the hard slog of political deal-making that explains why his 26-year old daughter, a quadriplegic with cerebral palsy who is unable to speak, struggles to keep the services she needs.

It’s more like political malpractice.

Read the rest of this entry »

‘I will not sit by and watch a theft,’ he says.

By Nolan D. McCaskill and Kyle Cheney
12/11/15 -09:53 AM EST
Updated 12/11/15 – 06:09 PM EST

Ben Carson on Friday blasted the Republican National Committee following a Washington Post report that nearly two-dozen establishment party figures were prepping for a potential brokered convention as Donald Trump continues to lead most polls.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rep. Loretta Sanchez, who upended Orange County politics by ousting Republican Bob Dornan from Congress in 1996, announced in May she was running for U.S Senate. Mark Boster TNS

Capitol Alert
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
December 10, 2015

• Sanchez says they are willing to use terrorism to target ‘our way of life’
• Her office issues statement seeking to clarify remarks to Larry King
• Sanchez adds: ‘I strongly support the Muslim community in America’

California Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, said as many as 20 percent of Muslims desire to form an Islamic caliphate, “to institute that in any way possible,” and go after Western norms, “our way of life.”

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
December 10, 2015

• Proponents will poll language to gauge likelihood of success
• Decision whether to proceed likely by mid-January
• Unions vow to ‘throw the kitchen sink’ at either proposal

California moved one step closer to a public retirement fight after the state issued official summaries for two pension-change ballot proposals on Thursday – and for the first time neither labor unions nor the measures’ proponents griped that the language was politically slanted or inaccurate.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the latest milestone of Orange County’s shifting political milieu, Republicans’ share of voter registration has fallen below 40 percent for the first time in the county’s history.(Register Photo)

By Martin Wisckol / Staff Writer
Dec. 9, 2015
Updated Dec. 10, 2015 – 7:54 a.m.

In the latest milestone of Orange County’s shifting political milieu, Republicans’ share of voter registration has fallen below 40 percent for the first time in the county’s history.

Read the rest of this entry »

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Phil Willon
December 9, 2015

As police officers kicked open doors in the Inland Regional Center in the search for the armed assailants who had just massacred 14 county employees, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan was outside scanning the terrain for a safe place to coordinate the sweeping emergency response.

Read the rest of this entry »

Farm workers pull weeds in a Kings County field in 2014. The agricultural county has California’s highest poverty rate, according to a new Census Bureau study. (Matt Black/NYT)

Capitol Alert
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 9, 2015

• California has 15th highest state poverty rate in nation
• Official poverty measure disregards living costs
• State has highest poverty level by alternate method

Californians have both above-average poverty levels and above-average median family incomes, according to a new Census Bureau report.

Read the rest of this entry »

U.S. Republican presidential hopeful, Donald Trump. (EFE/File)

By Beto Alvarez | 11:26 a.m. Dec. 9, 2015

• A slight majority of 500 San Diego residents polled strongly or somewhat agreed with Donald Trump’s statements on Muslims

San Diego Union-Tribune/10News poll, conducted by SurveyUSA, has a margin of error of +/– 3.2 to 4.5 percentage points. A look at the results:

To read poll in The San Diego Union-Tribune, click here.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan takes a question at a press conference on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015. (Chris Carlson/AP)

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Published: Dec. 8, 2015
Updated:   Dec. 9, 2015 – 6:59 a.m.

In the midst of the media maelstrom after the San Bernardino terror attack has stood one figure, solid as a rock: Police Chief Jarrod Burguan.

To read column by Cassie MacDuff in The Press-Enterprise, click here.

Pictures of last week’s shooting victims are displayed at a makeshift memorial site Monday in San Bernardino. Legislators are considering more restrictions on the purchase of ammunition and rifle magazines that can hold more than 10 bullets. (Jae C. Hong – The Associated Press)

Capitol Alert
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
December 8, 2015

• California has stringent restrictions
• Some want them to be even stronger
• Recent shooting underscores their limits

California lawmakers have acted repeatedly to give the state what are considered the nation’s strictest gun laws.

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By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 8, 2015

• Voters limited property taxes in 1978
• Proposition 13 still controversial
• Big change proposed for 2016 ballot

Millions of Californians will be paying billions of dollars in local government and school property taxes this week.

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