By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
03/04/2015 5:22 PM
Riverside is one of the few big California counties where Republicans outnumber Democrats.
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The upswing in gasoline prices in California largely reflects stoppages at oil refineries that account for some 17% of the state’s production capacity. Above, a station in Santa Monica on Saturday. (Jerome Adamstein / Los Angeles Times)
By Tiffany Hsu
March 4, 2015
Idled oil refineries have helped gasoline prices surge about $1 a gallon in California in a month
By Lisa Mascaro
March 4, 2015
The Senate failed Wednesday to override President Obama’s veto of Keystone XL pipeline legislation, ending for now attempts by Congress to speed up approval of the controversial energy project.
Arrowhead Country Club members play a round of golf at the San Bernardino club on Tuesday. The club is seeking its first new buyers since World War II. (John Valenzuela — Staff Photographer)
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 03/03/15, 7:58 PM PST | Updated: 48 secs ago
SAN BERNARDINO >> Arrowhead Country Club, which drew stars in Hollywood’s Golden Age to golf and still stands as a symbol of luxury in a city fighting a different reputation, is looking for its first new buyer since World War II.
By Liset Marquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 03/03/15, 5:30 PM PST | Updated: 1 min ago
RANCHO CUCAMONGA >> Mayor Dennis Michael touted the city’s healthy finances during his annual address.
(Getty Images)
By Myra P. Saefong, Markets/Commodities Reporter
Carla Mozee, Markets Reporter & Eric Yep
Published: Mar 4, 2015 – 11:25 a.m. ET
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — U.S. oil futures fell below $50 a barrel on Wednesday, after a government report showed that crude supplies jumped by more than 10 million barrels in the latest week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks before a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 3. Behind him are House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, left, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Tuesday, March 3, 2015. (Photo: BILL O’LEARY / Washington Post)
Opinion
By Debra J. Saunders
Published 4:39 pm – Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Photo: BILL O’LEARY / Washington Post
Nancy Pelosi was near tears. After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress Tuesday, the House minority leader sent out a press release informing the media, “I was near tears throughout the prime minister’s speech — saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States” and “saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran.”
By JULIE PACE, AP White House Correspondent
March 4, 2015 | 1:33 a.m. EST + More
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton is facing a new set of questions about ethics and transparency — the sort that have dogged her and husband Bill for decades.
He bucks conservatives to pass a ‘clean’ Homeland Security funding bill. M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO)
By Lauren French, Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan
3/3/15 8:57 AM EST
Updated 3/3/15 5:01 PM EST
The House approved a nine-month funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security Tuesday, breaking a lengthy stalemate over President Barack Obama’s immigration policies that exacerbated the rift between Speaker John Boehner and the conservative wing of his conference.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015 – 10:30 a.m.
A San Bernardino Civil Jury, on Monday, awarded a multimillion dollar judgement to a former Fontana Unified School District employee, who alleged she was raped by a School Police Officer.
Filed under: Cities, County of San Bernardino, Courts, Fontana, In the News, Legal, Local Government, State Superior Court
A passenger waits for his ride at L.A./Ontario International Airport in Ontario. The Ontario International Airport Authority claims a proposed map will contract the noise levels around (L.A./Ontario International Airport/Staff file photo)
By Liset Marquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 03/02/15, 12:01 AM PST |
ONTARIO >> The Ontario International Airport Authority has opposed a proposed map it claims will contract the noise levels around L.A./Ontario International Airport and shut out 800 residents from being eligible for sound insulation funding.
By Michel Nolan, The Sun
Posted: 03/02/15 – 12:01 AM PST
Lorraine O’Campo Velarde, who served as chief of staff under two San Bernardino mayors, has died.
By Jeff McDonald
March 2, 2015 – 4:46 p.m.
Document: Commissioner Florio emails with Southern California Edison
The state utility regulator who recused himself from future Pacific Gas & Electric business after his behind-the-scenes emails were released publicly has taken part in similar backchannel discussions with Southern California Edison, newly obtained records show.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
03/02/2015 9:53 PM
One can read too much into questions and comments from appellate judges during oral arguments, but with that caveat, it appears that the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to erase the redrawing of congressional districts by independent commissions created by voters through the initiative process.
Democrats could use the rules to force a clean funding bill through the House, unless the GOP decides to stop them.
By Daniel Newhauser
March 2, 2015
House Republican leaders still don’t seem to have a plan to avoid a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security at the end of the week. But they may have an escape hatch—one that could technically keep the department open without GOP fingerprints, but might infuriate conservatives in the process.
The continued strength of the longshoremen’s union was made evident in the recent labor dispute at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
How longshoremen command $100K salaries in era of globalization and automation
By Chris Kirkham and Andrew Khouri
March 1, 2015
More than 4,400 ships bring nearly $400 billion worth of goods through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach every year, a crucial link in the global supply chain of factories, warehouses, docks, highways and rail lines.
A gay GOP group’s application for formal recognition by the California Republican Party has been approved on a 861-293 vote. (Karen Bleier / AFP/Getty Images)
By Seema Mehta
March 1, 2015
In a historic move, the California Republican Party on Sunday officially recognized a gay GOP group.
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
03/01/2015 9:31 AM
California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte, a former state legislator who took over the party at a low point two years ago, was overwhelmingly reelected to another term on Sunday.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
03/02/2015 12:01 AM
Critiquing California’s state and local tax structure – which generates more than $200 billion a year – has become something of a cottage industry.
By Ed Mendel
Monday, March 2, 2015
On the day that Stockton emerged from bankruptcy last week, ending 32 months of debt protection, the final court argument was about the “cram down” imposed on the only creditor that did not cut a deal.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Courts, Finance, In the News, Legal, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California, U.S. Bankruptcy Court
By Lisa Mascaro
March 1, 2015
House Republican leaders flooded the Sunday TV talk shows, seeking to battle widespread criticism after an internal revolt by the party’s most conservative wing nearly cut off funding Friday for the agencies that protect the nation’s borders, ports, airports and other key areas.
Sunday, March 1, 2015 – 11:00 a.m.
The Inland Empire’s out-of-control climb in gasoline prices added another 10 cents per gallon Saturday.
USNews (AP): New Jersey’s Christie tells California Republicans there’s no rush to pick 2016 nominee
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie addresses delegates at the California Republican Party Spring 2015 Organizing Convention in Sacramento, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Associated Press Feb. 28, 2015 | 9:57 p.m. EST
By JULIET WILLIAMS, Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told California Republicans on Saturday that the party should not rush to choose a 2016 presidential nominee because of pressure from pollsters, pundits and GOP donors.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
02/28/2015 6:11 PM
Population trends have been working against the Republican Party for so long in California that a workshop on “changing demographics” came with an air of exasperation at the state party’s biannual convention Saturday.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
02/28/2015 5:08 PM
The theme of Friday night’s state Republican Party convention dinner was “Celebrating Our Successes,” which would seem to be an oxymoron.
Saturday, February 28, 2015 – 07:00 p.m.
Daylight Savings Time begins at 2:00 a.m. next Sunday, March 8, 2015.
That’s in one week.
Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead one hour.
Filed under: Administration of the Blog, General
Saturday, February 28, 2015 – 01:00 p.m.
San Bernardino County’s pension fund has underperformed for the first half of its current fiscal year.
Saturday, February 28, 2015 – 11:30 a.m.
San Bernardino County leaders, not Inland Empire as a whole, seem fascinated with building public works projects that will never be self-sustaining. Even though they say otherwise.
By Mark Gutglueck
Posted on February 27, 2015
I have received some information on the down-low which indicates that the goings-on, or at least past goings-on, at Upland City Hall are being given a very close examination…
By Liset Marquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 02/27/15, 6:39 PM PST
A bipartisan Assembly bill introduced Friday would allow Ontario to issue revenue bonds to finance the acquisition of L.A./Ontario International Airport from Los Angeles.
By Marc Lifsher
February 27, 2015
In the months after the deadly 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion, California regulators scrambled to order Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to improve the safety of its aging infrastructure.
By Seema Mehta
February 27, 2015
Hundreds of California Republican leaders and their guests gathered Friday in Sacramento for their biannual convention, with plans to celebrate their legislative victories in 2014 that blocked Democratic supermajorities in the Legislature and to hear from a potential 2016 presidential candidate.
A cyclist rides by a sign at a gas station in Los Angeles posting the latest gas prices on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. Gas prices in California soared overnight as a result of a combination of supply-and-demand factors worsened by the shutdown of two refineries that produce a combined 16 percent of the state’s gasoline. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Feb 27, 2015 – 7:00 PM ET
Gas prices are soaring in California in a classic example of supply and demand after an explosion stopped gasoline production at an Exxon Mobil refinery while another remains offline due to labor unrest.
By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press
02/28/2015 – 4:54 AM
WASHINGTON —
Two months into full Republican control of Congress, GOP leaders are struggling to demonstrate they really are in charge.
Friday, February 27, 2015 – 09: 30 a.m.
The gasoline industry experts say they’re shocked over skyrocketing California gasoline prices.
Even the dealers say they’re dumbfounded.
By Liset Marquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 02/26/15, 12:01 AM PST | Updated: 1 min ago
RIVERSIDE >> A judge on Thursday ruled in favor of Los Angeles on two key claims in the legal battle for control of L.A./Ontario International Airport
Posted: 02/26/15, 3:01 PM PST |
Pasadena TEAPAC founder Mike Alexander will discuss 2016 ballot initiatives at the March 5 meeting of the Redlands Tea Party Patriots.
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
02/27/2015 6:56 AM
Sacramento —
California voters think the government should spend more money to help maintain crumbling roads, but they offer mixed views on how to fund the upkeep, according to a new statewide Field Poll.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at the Conservative Political Action Conference. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press / AP)
Politics
By Carla Marinucci
February 26, 2015
Updated: February 26, 2015 – 4:22pm
Not so long ago, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was the brash, rising star of the Republican Party who felt confident enough to pick a fight with the governor of another big state, Jerry Brown, dismissing him as “an old retread” who would deliver a “failed record” for California.
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
02/26/2015 12:38 PM
Three months after being elected to their second terms, a pair of California Democratic congressmen are already hearing footsteps.
Motorists pump gas at a Mobil gas station after being greeted with a 25-cents-a-gallon price increase in Torrance. February 26, 2015. (Thomas R. Cordova / Staff Photographer)
By Nick Green, Daily Breeze
Posted: 02/26/15, 12:01 AM PST | Updated: 59 secs ago
The explosion at the ExxonMobil refinery is only partly to blame for a surge in gasoline prices that even stunned one gas station operator Thursday.
By Philip Klein | February 26, 2015 | 6:11 am
The U.S. Treasury Department has rebuffed a request by House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R- Wis., to explain $3 billion in payments that were made to health insurers even though Congress never authorized the spending through annual appropriations.
By Anna Gorman, Kaiser Health News
February 26, 2015
Roberta and Curtis Campbell typically look forward to tax time. Most years, they receive a refund – a little extra cash to pay off credit card bills.
Thursday, February 26, 2015 – 09:00 a.m.
California gas prices have continued skyrocketing. An unjustified climb that can be blamed on wholesalers and retailers, who are bilking consumers who don’t know any better.
Iddo Benzeevi’s four independent committees outpaced by far campaign expenses of all other candidates.
Published: Feb. 25, 2015 – Updated: 9:50 p.m.
Campaign spending by developer Highland Fairview in the November Moreno Valley City Council election topped $500,000, final spending reports show.
To read story by Imran Ghori in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
Filed under: Campaigns, Cities, Elections, In the News, Local Government, Moreno Valley, Politics, Real Estate
By Sandra Emerson, Redlands Daily Facts
Posted: 02/24/15, 12:01 AM PST | Updated: 1 day ago
REDLANDS >> With a voter-approved commuter rail project that would take riders from San Bernardino to Redlands and back looming as early as 2018, local public transit critics are ringing bells over its funding.
City shakeup
By RENE RAY DE LA CRUZ
STAFF WRITER
Posted Feb. 26, 2015 at 7:28 AM
ADELANTO — During a marathon meeting in front of a packed house, the City Council on Wednesday approved the release of City Manager Jim Hart, discussed its looming bankruptcy and considered a measure that would allow Adelanto’s residents to vote for a medical marijuana collective to operate in the city.
Uncertainties abound as state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris emerges as the clear early front-runner in the 2016 election for an open U.S. Senate seat. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
By Michael Finnegan and Patrick McGreevy
February 25, 2015
With Antonio Villaraigosa no longer a threat to her campaign for U.S. Senate, some Democratic leaders see state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris as Barbara Boxer’s inevitable successor.
Filed under: Campaigns, Democrats, Elections, In the News, Politics, State of California, U.S. Senate
Rich Ibarra
Wednesday, February 25, 2015 | Sacramento, CA
The City of Stockton officially exits bankruptcy Wednesday. The exit ends more than two years of negotiations, settlements, and development of a future fiscal plan.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) talks about efforts to end a standoff over funding for the Homeland Security Department. (Mandel Ngan / AFP-Getty Images)
By Christi Parsons and Lisa Mascaro
February 25, 2015
Senate leaders moved toward a deal Wednesday to avoid a shutdown of the Homeland Security Department, sidestepping a fight over immigration policy, as President Obama declared his administration would curtail deportations of immigrants in the country illegally despite losing a court fight on the issue this month.
By Mike Lillis
02/25/15 – 09:42 PM EST
Participating in a town hall-style immigration forum in Miami, the president said a recent ruling against his new immigration policies by a federal judge in Texas was wrongly decided and promised to use all his legal options to ensure the new programs are ultimately adopted.
Clinton Foundation fundraising, particularly from foreign governments, came up repeatedly at Hillary Rodham Clinton’s confirmation hearings for secretary of state. (Liam Richards/AP)
By Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger
February 25, 2015 at 8:54 PM
The Clinton Foundation accepted millions of dollars from seven foreign governments during Hillary Rodham Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, including one donation that violated its ethics agreement with the Obama administration, foundation officials disclosed Wednesday.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015 – 08:45 a.m.
We won’t belabor the announcement by wasting time placing any media stories up on the blog.
Filed under: Campaigns, Democrats, Elections, In the News, Politics, State of California, U.S. Senate
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 02/23/15, 12:01 AM PST | Updated: 1 min ago
SAN BERNARDINO >> The City Council unanimously approved adjustments to the city’s budget that are expected to give the city a tiny surplus, but will make only two of the city’s five pools available for the public this summer.
By Paul Rogers
progers@mercurynews.com
Posted: 02/25/2015 – 06:02:48 AM PST
SACRAMENTO — Setting up a grand environmental showdown, a referendum initiated by the plastic-bag industry to overturn California’s first-in-the-nation law that bans supermarkets and other businesses from handing out single-use plastic bags has qualified for next year’s ballot.
Filed under: Business, Campaigns, Elections, Environment, In the News, Politics, State of California
By Laurel Rosenhall
lrosenhall@sacbee.com
02/24/2015 4:38 PM
Republicans in the California Senate have chosen a new leader – Sen. Jean Fuller of Bakersfield – and she will become the first woman to hold a top leadership post in the Senate, Democrat or Republican, the caucus announced Tuesday.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
02/24/2015 5:46 PM
California’s legislators are now eager to plug some gaping – and potentially dangerous – loopholes in criminal laws that voters opened last year by passing Proposition 47.
By PAUL MITCHELL
Posted 02.24.2015
A case before the U.S. Supreme Court, with arguments set to be heard on March 2, could reduce the role of the State Redistricting Commission, invalidate the 2011 Congressional lines, and hand to the legislature the immediate responsibility of redrawing 53 valuable seats.
Filed under: Campaigns, Courts, Elections, In the News, Legal, Politics, State of California, U.S. Supreme Court
By Christi Parsons and Kathleen Hennessey
February 24, 2015
With the quick swipe of a pen on the way from one meeting to another, President Obama unceremoniously opened a fourth chapter of his presidency Tuesday — the veto era.
Monday, February 23, 2015 – 11:00 p.m.
We missed this little gem, courtesy of KCET-TV.
Eastern San Bernardino County movers and shakers, along with the usually delusional Inland Empire print media, steadfastly refuse to admit that San Bernardino International Airport is an unmitigated $300 million black hole.
Judges say a Riverside County prosecutor gave false testimony in the trial of a man convicted in a 1995 double murder; others say he “was simply confused”
Published: Feb. 23, 2015 – Updated: 10:53 p.m.
Twenty years after a Riverside County man and his partner were fatally shot in their desert home, a third trial has been ordered for the man convicted of murdering them.
To read story by Sarah Burge in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Sandra Emerson, Redlands Daily Facts
Posted: 02/23/15, 12:47 PM PST | Updated: 55 secs ago
REDLANDS >> When voters approved an extension of Measure I in 2004, they also voted to fund the Redlands Passenger Rail Project, which was specified in the measure.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
02/24/2015 12:00 AM
Gov. Jerry Brown remains popular, according to a new poll
But not the big projects he supports, which appear to weigh him down.
Rep. David Dreier, then-chairman of Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger’s transition team, at a press conference in 2003. (John Decker The Sacramento Bee)
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
02/23/2015 5:19 PM
Add his name to the list of Republicans possibly contemplating what would be an uphill run for the U.S. Senate.
Filed under: Campaigns, Elections, In the News, Politics, Republicans, State of California, U.S. Senate
The 170 Freeway through the San Fernando Valley. (David Crane – staff photographer)
By Steve Scauzillo, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Posted: 02/23/15, 7:22 PM PST |
In the past, states could rely on the federal gasoline tax fund to build freeway and expressway projects and also for general upkeep of America’s ribbon of highways.
But those days are gone.
By Peter Jamison
February 24, 2015
Southern California port officials say it could take up to three months to clear cargo that piled up during a labor dispute that threatened to cripple West Coast commerce.
By Tracy Seipel
tseipel@mercurynews.com
Posted: 02/24/2015 05:55:02 AM PST
Updated: 02/24/2015 05:55:35 AM PST
SAN JOSE — Take it or leave it. That’s the message to a Southern California for-profit company from Attorney General Kamala Harris who late last week laid out a dozen requirements for Prime Healthcare Services’ $843 million deal to buy six cash-crunched nonprofit hospitals.
Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at Georgetown University in Washington. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press / AP)
Opinion
By Debra J. Saunders
Monday, February 23, 2015 – Published 4:02 pm
Tuesday Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses the Watermark Silicon Valley Conference for Women. The former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state comes to the Bay Area at a time when I hear more people — on the left and the right — cringing at the prospect of Clinton heading the Democratic ticket next year — and worse, squaring off against Jeb Bush in a Bush-Clinton rerun. To many, a Clinton nod has the grim inevitability of death and taxes.
Monday, February 23, 2015 – 09:00 a.m.
California driver’s are getting burned at the gas pump as usual.
The Sacramento firm is paid $3,000 a month to work on getting vehicle-license fee revenue restored.
Published: Feb. 20, 2015
Updated: Feb. 22, 2015 10:01 p.m.
As 2015-16 budget planning gets underway, Riverside County’s four newest cities have parted ways on whether to keep the Sacramento lobbyist they hired in 2011 to help them get back crucial state money.
To read story by Sandra Stokley in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
Filed under: Cities, Eastvale, In the News, Jurupa Valley, Lobbyists, Local Government, Menifee, Wildomar
By Joe Garofoli
Sunday, February 22, 2015 – Updated 8:20 pm
The state of California will pay $24 million to investors to end a legal battle over a proposed deal to sell $2.3 billion in state properties during the height of California’s fiscal crisis.
Feb. 22, 2015 – 4:25 p.m.
By CITY NEWS SERVICE
SANTA ANA — Former state Sen. Lou Correa raised multiple questions about mistakes and possible fraud in his narrow loss to Andrew Do for Orange County supervisor, but he said it would be too costly to try to overturn the results in a court.
Senate Democrats will mount their fourth filibuster on the bill Monday afternoon.
By John Bresnahan and Burgess Everett
2/22/15 – 6:17 PM EST
Late Monday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will force the fourth vote in three weeks on a bill to fund the massive agency that protects Americans from terrorists, floods and incursions across the borders. Senate Democrats will almost certainly block it again.
Sunday, February 22, 2015 – 01:00 p.m.
There’s no question mark required for this one.
The Democrat Party has another 2016 campaign issue to deal with.
Sunday, February 22, 2015 – 12:30 p.m.
What a shock!
Los Angeles is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit, brought by Ontario, to wrestle away control of LA/Ontario International Airport.
The Riverside Medical Marijuana Restriction and Limitation Act, which would allow a few dispensaries, may be on the June ballot.
Published: Feb. 20, 2015
Updated: Feb. 21, 2015 – 7:00 p.m.
Riverside officials appear likely to place on the June 2 ballot a measure that would overturn the city’s ban on medical marijuana dispensaries.
To read story by Alicia Robinson in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Josh Richman
jrichman@bayareanewsgroup.com
Posted: 02/22/2015 10:16:32 AM PST
Updated: 02/22/2015 10:16:40 AM PST
Getting an early start is important for birds seeking worms and children hoping to get in a top college. But when it comes to prominent politicians angling for higher office, starting years in advance may simply allow more time for troubles to mount, political experts say.
So what the heck are Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom thinking?
Filed under: Campaigns, Democrats, Elections, Gavin Newsom, In the News, Kamala Harris, Politics, State of California
Former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. (Scott Olson/Getty Images; Eric Gay/AP Photo; J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
By Cathleen Decker
February 21, 2015
California has stood as a bright-blue bulwark against conservative political surges for years now, blocking at its border a series of national Republican sweeps and giving President Obama historically huge victories.
Former state Sen. Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) was indicted last year on 24 felony charges, including accepting $88,000 in bribes. He has pleaded not guilty. (Manny Crisostomo / Sacramento Bee)
By Patrick McGreevy
February 21, 2015
A year after his indictment on federal corruption charges, former state Sen. Ronald S. Calderon awaits his day in court, working as a manager at a real estate firm and helping his attorneys sift thousands of documents that include transcripts from undercover FBI wiretaps.
By Joe Garofoli
Saturday, February 21, 2015 – Published 4:40 pm
Politicians don’t get much more conservative than Orange County Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. He was Ronald Reagan’s speechwriter, an inspiration behind California’s anti-immigration Proposition 187, a Cold War hardliner, and a man who self-deprecatingly calls himself a “Neanderthal Republican.”
Trucks in San Pedro begin to clear the cargo backlog at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
By Tiffany Hsu, Andrew Khouri and Peter Jamison
February 21, 2015
West Coast ports are emerging from the most contentious labor dispute in more than a decade, but lingering resentment and structural problems may complicate a return to normality.
By David Lightman
McClatchy Washington Bureau
02/21/2015 12:22 PM
WASHINGTON — Democrats have become a confused political party with a muddled message and an inability to turn out enough of its loyal voters, a party task force charged with how to revive the embattled party said Saturday.
Filed under: Campaigns, Democrats, Elections, In the News, Politics, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate
Saturday, February 2015 – 09:30 a.m.
It just keeps getting worse for Democrats nationally. The Obamacare steamroller was operating at full speed this week.
Where do I start?
By Beau Yarbrough, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 02/20/15, 8:38 PM PST | Updated: 1 min ago
Three nationally known Republicans will descend on Riverside Saturday, speaking to the conservative faithful and padding their campaign war chests in advance of a 2016 presidential run.
Container ships wait offshore to get into the Port of Long Beach on Feb. 11. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)
By Andrew Khouri, Chris Kirkham and Peter Jamison
February 20, 2015
Shipping companies and dockworkers reached a tentative deal late Friday on a new labor contract, avoiding a shutdown of 29 ports that would have choked off trade through the West Coast.