Politics, Government and Business in Southern California's Inland Empire
By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 – 7:18 am
A proposed ballot initiative aimed for the November elections begs a key question looming over California’s medical marijuana industry: Can stricter state regulation keep the federal government from shutting it down?
January 21, 2012 10:13 AM
From Staff Reports
ONTARIO • Prime Healthcare Services, owner and operator of Victorville’s Desert Valley Hospital, was recently named one of the top 15 health systems in the United States by Thomson Reuters.
By Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 01/19/2012 03:50:38 PM PST
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – G3 Holistic in Upland will be able to remain open.
A West Valley Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the medical marijuana cooperative because the case is under review by the California Supreme Court.
BY RICHARD K. De ATLEY
STAFF WRITER
rdeatley@pe.com
Published: 18 January 2012 03:51 PM
The California Supreme Court will review a city of Riverside medical marijuana case in which a lower court ruled that cities and counties have the right to ban dispensaries.
Local governments throughout the state have used that decision, issued in November by the Fourth District Court of Appeal, to shut down medical marijuana clinics within their boundaries.
By Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 01/18/2012 03:55:17 PM PST
UPLAND – The California Supreme Court decided on Wednesday to review an appeal filed by an Upland medical marijuana cooperative.
Counsel representing G3 Holistic in Upland filed the appeal in December following a decision in November by the Fourth District Appellate Court in Riverside siding with the city’s ban on medical marijuana dispensaries through its zoning code.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 – 4:00 p.m.
The attempt by the City of Upland to shutter a medical marijuana co-op fell flat last week.
Hospital managed by Prime draws potential buyer
January 13, 2012 | Christina Jewett
Monica Lam/California Watch
A San Bernardino County hospital managed by Prime Healthcare Services is considering a purchase offer from a nonprofit Catholic health system, possibly signaling an end to a long and rocky bankruptcy.
Health & Welfare | Daily Report | Decoding Prime
January 9, 2012 | Lance Williams
FBI agents interviewed a former Shasta County hospital patient Friday amid indications of a widening federal inquiry into Medicare billing practices at the Prime Healthcare Services hospital chain.
BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com
Published: 06 January 2012 06:01 PM
In an effort to make Riverside County Regional Medical Center nursing pay more competitive, supervisors Tuesday will take up a deal to provide the hospital’s nurses with significant raises.
Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 01/06/2012 03:35:10 PM PST
UPLAND – G3 Holistic will remain open, for now.
West Valley Superior Court Judge Barry Plotkin on Friday postponed his decision on whether or not the co-op can remain open until the California Supreme Court decides whether to review G3′s appeal.
Wes Woods II and Sandra Emerson, Staff writers
Created: 01/05/2012 03:34:25 PM PST
UPLAND – A week later: It’s still open.
Medical marijuana collective G3 Holistics Inc. continues to be open for business, but it may not be so for long.
Wes Woods II and Sandra Emerson, Staff writers
Created: 01/04/2012 09:44:49 AM PST
UPLAND – Medical marijuana collective G3 Holistics Inc. remains open for business.
The collective at Suite F4 at 1710 W. Foothill Blvd. reopened at Friday afternoon, said Aaron Sandusky, president of G3 Holistics, and is keeping regular hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Monday, January 2, 2012- 1045 a.m.
The fight over the future of Victor Valley Community Hospital (VVCH) has some interesting twists.
Dr. Prem Reddy, who operates Prime Healthcare Services, wants the bankrupt facility as part of his network of highly-profitable hospitals.
BY JANET ZIMMERMAN
STAFF WRITER
jzimmerman@pe.com
Published: 28 December 2011 01:56 PM
Riverside County officials said Wednesday they have begun legal action to close about three dozen medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas.
Attorneys filed for an injunction and issued legislative subpoenas against two of the stores, the latest volley since the Board of Supervisors authorized crackdowns on Dec. 13.
Sandra Emerson, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 12/27/2011 10:12:57 AM PST
UPLAND — Aaron Sandusky has found another way to fill his time while his medical marijuana cooperative is no longer open for business.
Sandusky, president of G3 Holistic in Upland, has gone on a speaking circuit at various clubs and groups in the community.
By Michael Hiltzik
December 28, 2011
In September, state Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris killed the proposed takeover of a struggling Victorville hospital by a nonprofit arm of Prime Healthcare Corp., saying it was “not in the public interest.”
Her ruling was anything but casual. Basing the decision on what she said was her own department’s investigation, as well as testimony at a marathon public hearing in August, Harris indicated that the takeover would result in the reduced availability of healthcare in the High Desert.
Friday, December 23, 2011 – 12:15 p.m.
From the press office for California Governor Jerry Brown.
Governor Brown Announces Appointments.
BY DUG BEGLEY and RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
STAFF WRITERS
dbegley@pe.com | rdeatley@pe.com
Published: 13 December 2011 08:34 PM
Medical marijuana dispensaries operating in unincorporated Riverside County must shut down or face legal action, county supervisors decided Tuesday.
By Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Created: 12/13/2011 06:15:13 PM PST
ONTARIO – A spokesman for Prime Healthcare Services said the company is unaware of any federal investigation or review of its operations following a published report that the FBI has contacted former employees.
December 13, 2011 | Christina Jewett
The FBI is interviewing witnesses about billing practices at Prime Healthcare Services, the hospital chain that has charged Medicare for treating elderly patients with rare medical conditions at far higher rates than other California hospitals.
BY LAURIE LUCAS
STAFF WRITER
llucas@pe.com
Published: 27 November 2011 06:28 PM
Aaron Sandusky is bloodied but unbowed.
For several years he owned G3 Holistics Inc., a not-for-profit company that ran three Inland medical marijuana dispensaries.
Earlier this month, federal agents raided facilities in Colton, Upland and Moreno Valley, which are now bare and shuttered, and cleaned out his 40,000-square-pot growing warehouse in Ontario.
Lance Williams, Stephen K. Doig,Christina Jewett, California Watch
Monday, November 28, 2011
For three years, a small hospital east of Los Angeles has billed Medicare for the costs of confronting what appears to be a cardiac crisis of unprecedented dimension.
November 23, 2011 2:36 PM
Tomoya Shimura
Staff Writer
VICTORVILLE • A Victorville judge on Wednesday denied the California Attorney General’s attempt to prevent Prime Healthcare Services from helping keep bankrupt Victor Valley Community Hospital open.
By ERIK ECKHOLM
Published: November 23, 2011
UKIAH, Calif. — An intensifying federal crackdown on growers and sellers of state-authorized medical marijuana has badly shaken the billion-dollar industry, which has sprung up in California since voters approved medical use of the drug in 1996, and has highlighted the stark contradiction between federal and state policies.
By Anthony York and Nicholas Riccardi
Los Angeles Times
November 17, 2011
Reporting from Sacramento— Sluggish state revenue is likely to trigger a new round of spending cuts that could mean a shorter school year and millions of dollars slashed from public universities, child care programs and services for the disabled, the Legislative Analyst’s Office says.
Kaiser calls claim ‘deeply puzzling’
November 15, 2011 5:11 PM
Tomoya Shimura
Staff Writer
ONTARIO • Prime Healthcare Services, which owns Desert Valley Hospital, filed an antitrust lawsuit Tuesday alleging that a labor union and Kaiser Permanente have conspired to drive Prime hospitals out of Southern California.
By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times
November 11, 2011
In a decision that could have immediate fallout for medical marijuana dispensaries, a state appeals court has ruled that California law allows cities and counties to ban the stores.
Wes Woods II and Sandra Emerson, Staff Writers
Created: 11/09/2011 06:58:49 PM PST
RIVERSIDE – The banning of the G3 Holistic marijuana collective by Upland and other cities was upheld by an appellate court Wednesday. A judgment from the Fourth District Court of Appeals determined that Upland’s banning of the collective did not contradict Proposition 215, the 1996 law that approved medical marijuana in the state, nor Senate Bill 420, which details the amount of marijuana a person can possess for medical purposes.
By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011 – 6:39 am
They are the public face of a litigious battle to redefine federal authority on medical marijuana.
With emotion and printed placards – “Marijuana is medicine, Let states regulate!” – about 200 people protested at the U.S. courthouse in Sacramento Wednesday against a federal crackdown on California dispensaries and property owners leasing to medical cannabis businesses.
By Noam N. Levey
November 8, 2011, 10:05 a.m.
Giving a surprise boost to the new healthcare law, one of the nation’s most closely watched federal courts ruled Tuesday that law’s requirement that most Americans get health insurance is constitutional.
By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times
November 7, 2011, 7:45 p.m.
Medical marijuana advocates have filed lawsuits in California’s four federal judicial districts aimed at quickly winning court orders to halt the U.S. attorneys from closing dispensaries.
Marijuana clinics owner ‘in a pickle’
By Wes Woods II, Staff Writer
Created: 11/04/2011 06:49:25 PM PDT
Aaron Sandusky has had a rough week.
Sandusky, 41, has been trying to keep his medical marijuana dispensaries open in Upland, Moreno Valley and Colton.
On Tuesday, raids were conducted on the three dispensaries as well as his Rancho Cucamonga home and the Rialto home of his partner John Nuckolls.
By Wes Woods II, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 11/02/2011 02:55:01 PM PDT
RIVERSIDE – The 4th District Court of Appeal has 90 days to render a decision in a case involving the city of Upland’s ban of a medical marijuana dispensary operated by G3 Holistics.
The 4th District Court of Appeal heard arguments on Riverside and Upland prohibitions
BY RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
STAFF WRITER
rdeatley@pe.com
Published: 02 November 2011 08:29 PM
A state appellate court panel heard arguments Wednesday on whether Riverside and Upland can issue citywide bans on medical marijuana dispensaries.
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Created: 11/01/2011 07:36:14 PM PDT
Federal agents on Tuesday raided an Upland location and five others associated with Aaron Sandusky, whom they believe are illegally selling marijuana to the general public.
Wes Woods II, Staff Writer
Created: 10/31/2011 03:13:41 PM PDT
When Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008, many local medical marijuana proponents felt they finally had a friend in the White House.
How times have changed.
October 31, 2011 4:24 PM
DOUG SAUNDERS
VICTORVILLE • Victor Valley Community Hospital won a reprieve Monday when a judge rejected the state Attorney General’s attempt to block a stopgap financing plan that would keep the bankrupt hospital running, at least in the short term.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
That ancient philosophical – or would it be biological? – question has a political counterpart in California, to wit:
Attorney general nixes option to keep hospital open
October 29, 2011 9:15 PM
Don Holland, Editor
VICTORVILLE • The state Attorney General’s office is seeking to block a stop-gap financing plan for beleaguered Victor Valley Community Hospital — a move hospital officials say puts 500 local jobs on the line and more than one-third of hospital beds on the brink of closure.
By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times
October 28, 2011
The Obama administration will allow California to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from Medi-Cal, a move doctors and experts say will make it harder for the poor to get medical treatment.
By John Hoeffel Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 27, 2011, 2:52 p.m.
A medical marijuana advocacy group has sued the U.S. attorney general and the top federal prosecutor in Northern California, asking a federal court to halt recent raids and threats of prosecution that have significantly stepped up the Obama administration’s assault on the state’s 15-year-old program.
Associated Press
October 21, 2011 – 08:55 a.m.
SAN FRANCISCO– Federal prosecutors should be careful not to overreach in their crackdown on California’s pot dispensaries, even though there are ambiguities in the state’s medical marijuana laws, the state attorney general said Thursday.
October 21, 2011 1:12 PM
Tomoya Shimura
Staff Writer
Related stories:
RIVERSIDE • A federal bankruptcy court judge has agreed to allow Prime Healthcare Services to provide financial assistance to Victor Valley Community Hospital, which has been on the brink of shutting down amid dire financial straits.
October 19, 2011 9:18 AM
Beau Yarbrough
Staff Writer
HESPERIA • After months of buildup, more than 100 Hesperians crowded into City Hall on Tuesday night to hear the City Council unanimously reject medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
Prior to the vote, audience members who spoke were split on the issue.
By Malcolm Maclachlan | 10/20/11 12:00 AM PST
“Did anyone bring the beer?” quipped U.S. Attorney’s spokesman Tom Mrozek just before an L.A. press conference announcing a major crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries.
Inside the high-security room several stories up in a downtown Sacramento courthouse, the line garnered a few genuine chuckles. But among the two-dozen or so pro-medical marijuana protestors down on the street below, few people were in a joking mood.
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 10/17/2011 04:37:05 PM PDT
The leader of a Rancho Cucamonga-based group that has been fighting all marijuana legalization efforts is blasting the California Medical Association recommendation to decriminalize and regulate marijuana.
By Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
October 15, 2011, 6:01 p.m.
Reporting from Sacramento— The state’s largest doctor group is calling for legalization of marijuana, even as it pronounces cannabis to be of questionable medical value.
By Noam N. Levey, Washington Bureau
October 14, 2011, 5:22 p.m.
Reporting from Washington— The Obama administration will not implement a new program to provide Americans with long-term-care insurance, abandoning a controversial part of the healthcare overhaul the president signed last year.
Money & Company
Tracking the market and economic trends that shape your finances.
October 11, 2011 | 10:53 am
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bevy of new healthcare laws designed to expand consumer protections for Californians in need of health insurance or medical care.
By Anthony York
October 2, 2011, 11:17 p.m.
Reporting from Sacramento — Local governments will be unable to ban male circumcision under a new state law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Union members begin three-day strike at Kaiser hospitals over stalled negotiations
By Will Bigham, Staff Writer
Created: 09/21/2011 09:26:12 AM PDT
FONTANA – About 2,500 unionized Kaiser Permanente employees in Southern California began a three-day strike today (Wednesday), forming picket lines at hospitals here, in Los Angeles and in San Diego.
September 20, 2011 11:54 AM
Tomoya Shimura
Staff Writer
VICTORVILLE • The High Desert could lose one of its three major hospitals after Attorney General Kamala Harris on Tuesday rejected Prime Healthcare Services Foundation’s plan to buy Victor Valley Community Hospital.
Lewis
10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, September 3, 2011
LOMA LINDA UNIVERSITY
Loma Linda University Department of Physiology and Pharmacology welcomed Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Ca., on Thursday. Lewis was led on a tour of the neuroscience and biochemistry laboratories by department professor Dr. John Zhang to see the active joint efforts of clinical and basic neuroscientists at LLU. Their research has helped enhance physician training, improve patient care and power local science, health, and economic growths.
Hospital may close unless deal seals
August 18, 2011 9:02 AM
Tomoya Shimura
Staff Writer
VICTORVILLE • Hospital administrators, doctors and labor union members were among those who made comments on the proposed sale of Victor Valley Community Hospital during Wednesday’s public hearing by the California Attorney General’s office.
Appeals court strikes down health overhaul requirement that most Americans must buy insurance
Greg Bluestein, Associated Press
Saturday August 13, 2011, 3:10 am EDT
ATLANTA (AP) — A federal appeals panel’s ruling striking down the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul moves the question of whether Americans can be required to buy health insurance a step closer to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011 – 10:15 a.m.
The long-awaited results of a federal investigation into alleged misconduct at San Bernardino County-owned and operated Arrowhead Regional Medical Center is nearing, according a source close to the investigation.
10:00 PM PDT on Monday, August 8, 2011
By ALICIA ROBINSON
The Press-Enterprise
An attorney for four medical marijuana dispensaries in Riverside has filed several lawsuits to pre-empt any city attempts to close the facilities.
LLUMC again tops report on local hospitals
Magazine notes its 10 specialties
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/19/2011 08:06:01 PM PDT
Loma Linda University Medical Center has been ranked No. 1 again, for the San Bernardino and Riverside county region, on U.S. News and World Report’s Best Hospitals list for metro areas.
Marijuana advocates aim to show medical value
Wes Woods II, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/18/2011 06:24:06 PM PDT
Medical marijuana proponents are pushing back against a recent Drug Enforcement Agency declaration that marijuana has no accepted medical use.
July 14, 2011 4:44 PM
Tomoya Shimura
Staff Writer
RIVERSIDE • A federal bankruptcy court judge approved an agreement allowing Dr. Prem Reddy’s nonprofit Prime Healthcare Services Foundation to purchase Victor Valley Community Hospital for $35 million.
The deal is still pending approval by the California Attorney General.
Daily Report: Health & Welfare
July 11, 2011 | Christina Jewett
The Prime Healthcare Services Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Prime Healthcare Services, is seeking judicial approval to buy Victor Valley Community Hospital in bankruptcy court tomorrow, a move that, if successful, might expand the reach of the controversial hospital chain.
Courts unclear on cities excluding shops
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Created: 07/04/2011 06:26:24 PM PDT
Lawyers know better than to succumb to the pun that legal issues surrounding medical marijuana are “hazy.”
But those arguing about the right of cities to ban medical marijuana dispensaries – for or against, can certainly draw mixed messages from recent decisions by the state appellate court and statements from the U.S. Attorney General’s office.
By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jul. 4, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Speaking softly, Joseph Villela plunged into one of the Legislature’s loudest fights by telling of his mother’s plight.
By 2008, her monthly health insurance premium had soared from $150 to $800 in four years.
10:26 PM PDT on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
By LORA HINES
The Press-Enterprise
UC Riverside officials announced Wednesday that the opening of their proposed medical school will be postponed a year because they did not secure the ongoing state funding needed to gain accreditation.
Resident’s death triggered inquiry
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/29/2011 08:57:57 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – The state’s Public Health Department on Wednesday announced an $80,000 fine and a “severe” citation slapped on Community Hospital of San Bernardino, after finding that a nursing facility resident died in 2008 because staffers failed to ensure proper assisted breathing.
By Ryan Hagen Staff Writer
Posted: 06/23/2011 06:20:46 PM PDT
COLTON – The city’s lawyers had hoped that today they could begin fining the president of a medical marijuana collective $1,000 per day for defying a court order to shut down.
Instead, Judge Donald Alvarez – who issued a preliminary injunction in April ordering the dispensary to shut down because it was violating Colton’s ban – said in San Bernardino Superior Court on Thursday that the contempt hearing scheduled for that day was moot.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 – 05:30 a.m.
An Upland medical marijuana collective shuttered by a Superior Court Judge last year will now be allowed to reopen.
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Wednesday, Jun. 15, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 6B
Last Modified: Wednesday, Jun. 15, 2011 – 6:47 am
CalPERS is about to raise health care premiums for its members an average of 4.1 percent, about half as much as last year.
Kurth
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 – 11:15 a.m.
The Medical Board of California has revoked the license of former Rancho Cucamonga Mayor Don Kurth.
By Sharon Bernstein and P.J. Huffstutter, Los Angeles Times
June 9, 2011
Holding signs that said, “L.A. isn’t Wisconsin,” representatives of 62,000 unionized grocery store workers said that they could be close to going out on strike against Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons supermarkets.
Rick Icaza, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770, said at a news conference that the two sides were primarily battling over health coverage.
Area seniors don’t trust changes
Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/04/2011 09:50:12 PM PDT
Hunkering under a $14 trillion debt ceiling, Congress and the Obama administration are negotiating possible changes to Medicare and other benefits programs as part of a deal to increase the government’s ability to borrow.
But local seniors want lawmakers to keep their paws off the federally-sponsored health insurance program for the elderly.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
June 2, 2011
The Assembly passed one of the year’s most controversial and intensively lobbied bills Thursday — imposing rate regulation on health insurers — after Republicans walked out of the chamber in protest.
04:02 PM PDT on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
By JIM MILLER and BEN GOAD
The Press-Enterprise
The number of seniors in Inland Southern California increased by nearly a third during the past decade, putting added pressure on government programs and services for older residents.
Kurth
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 – 12:55 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 – 06:18 p.m.
The Medical Board of California through an enforcement action by the State Attorney General has suspended the medical license of former Rancho Cucamonga Mayor and Assembly candidate Don Kurth.
By Noam N. Levey, Washington Bureau
May 13, 2011, 11:19 a.m.
Caught in the sluggish recovery from the last recession, Social Security and Medicare face an increasingly dismal fiscal future, the federal government reported Friday in its annual review of the two mammoth entitlement programs.
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