Politics, Government and Business in Southern California's Inland Empire
RICHARD K. De ATLEY/Staff
RICHARD K. De ATLEY
STAFF WRITER
rdeatley@pe.com
Published: 29 January 2012 07:33 PM
Like passengers on a plane with half the engines snuffed, Inland court officials can only wait and watch as Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget for next year fiscal year moves through the state’s political turbulence.
Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Created: 01/28/2012 06:11:04 AM PST
Hoping to restore jail funding to San Bernardino County, an Inland Empire assemblyman introduced a bill on Friday that could potentially bring $16 million to county coffers.
Executive Editor Frank Pine
Posted: 01/28/2012 05:38:39 PM PST
San Bernardino County’s Board of Supervisors asked county lawyers last week to draft language for a ballot measure that would give voters the final say on increases to pension benefits for public employees.
Supervisors Janice Rutherford, Gary Ovitt and Josie Gonzales voted yea with supervisors Brad Mitzelfelt and Neil Derry voting nay.
By Alejandro Lazo
January 25, 2012, 2:57 p.m.
Calif. Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris’ office has called a proposed $25-billion settlement with the nation’s mortgage industry “inadequate.”
“We’ve reviewed the details of the latest settlement proposal from the banks, and we believe it is inadequate for California,” Shum Preston, a spokesman for Harris, said in a statement. “Our state has been clear about what any multistate settlement must contain: transparency, relief going to the most distressed homeowners and meaningful enforcement that ensures accountability. At this point, this deal does not suffice for California.”
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 – 06:00 p.m.
So much for that plea deal way back when!
Anthony Orlando Sanchez, 36, plead not guilty to extortion and bribery charges this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Riverside.
Sunday, January 5, 2012 – 11:30 p.m.
A federal fugitive tied to the corruption case involving former Upland Mayor John “J.P.” Pomierski was taken into custody Sunday afternoon.
Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Sacramento –Gov. Jerry Brown wants to cut state prison spending next fiscal year for the first time in nearly a decade, a departure from the goals of recent administrations, which consistently increased corrections spending and pushed for prison expansion.
Wes Woods II, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 01/09/2012 03:03:05 PM PST
View Document: Lawsuit filed by Claremont police union vs. city and chamber
CLAREMONT – The Claremont Police Officers Association has filed a lawsuit against the Claremont Chamber of Commerce and the city alleging its right to freedom of expression, association and assembly were violated at the Village Venture event in October.
By Mark Gutglueck
Friday, January 6, 2012
Questions continue to dog the second highest ranking member of the county auditor-controller/treasurer-tax collector’s office with regard to the role he and a political action committee he controlled played in illegally passing through and laundering money for those convicted of or charged with participation in a bribery and extortion conspiracy.
BY RICHARD K. De ATLEY
STAFF WRITER
rdeatley@pe.com
Published: 06 January 2012 06:30 PM
Riverside County jails have reached their inmate capacity because of the state prison realignment program, and officials said that 57 inmates will have to be released between Friday evening and today.
The county has 3,906 jail beds and is under a federal court order not to add any more unless it builds additional housing for inmates.
Staff Reports
Created: 01/05/2012 05:38:23 PM PST
Assemblyman Tim Donnelly on Thursday said he was assaulted and threatened on Dec. 26 by a man in Rancho Cucamonga due to his opposition to the Dream Act.
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.
By Michael B. Marois and James Nash – Jan 5, 2012 9:01 PM P
California (STOCA1) Governor Jerry Brown proposed a budget that would lop off the equivalent of three weeks from the public school year if voters reject his proposal for $7 billion in temporary tax increases.
BY JIM MILLER
jmiller@pe.com
Published: 04 January 2012 10:38 AM
Assemblyman Tim Donnelly was stopped at Ontario airport this morning after security line officers discovered a handgun in his luggage, his office said this morning.
Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, was cited and released, a spokeswoman said. He faces a misdemeanor charge.
Mike Cruz, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/03/2012 04:17:20 PM PST
SAN BERNARDINO – A Redlands girl who says she was sexually abused by a former sheriff’s deputy while in the sheriff’s Explorer program also alleges in a civil lawsuit that administrators at the Sheriff’s Department and the Public Safety Academy, a charter school in San Bernardino, were negligent or failed to act.
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.
January 03, 2012 1:50 PM
Brooke Edwards Staggs, City Editor
VICTORVILLE • An attorney is seeking to recover more than $9 million in damages on behalf of 4,300 people who’ve received tickets from Victorville’s red light cameras, claiming the system is “unfair, unlawful, fraudulent and deceptive.”
Robert Conaway, a criminal defense attorney from Barstow, sent notice in early December to the city of Victorville and Redflex Traffic Systems that he intends to file a class action lawsuit unless changes are made with the way red light cameras are handled here. He updated that notice in late December, tacking on the calculated damages.
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com
Published: 31 December 2011 05:39 PM
A panel of California appellate judges could soon be deciding how, and possibly if, the Colonies corruption case will proceed to trial.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal in Riverside is considering an appeal filed by the San Bernardino County district attorney and state attorney general offices seeking to restore charges that were dismissed in August against Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum, former Supervisor Paul Biane, former Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin and Mark Kirk, former chief of staff for Supervisor Gary Ovitt.
The court completed briefings from prosecutors and defense attorneys on the appeal last month and also agreed to consider writs of mandate filed by the defense seeking to have more charges dismissed against the four. A decision is expected in the next few months.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Created: 12/30/2011 11:37:49 AM PST
Investigations into corruption in San Bernardino County advanced in fits and starts over the past year.
Prosecutors gained ground when former Supvervisor-turned-Assessor Bill Postmus agreed in March to plead guilty to bribery, conflict of interest and misappropriation of public funds and to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
The Sacramento Bee
Published: Friday, Dec. 30, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Attorney General Kamala Harris’ first year in office saw her dive into a massive financial crisis by ordering an investigation into mortgage meltdowns, attracting a national spotlight for California’s top cop.
Sandra Emerson, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 12/27/2011 10:24:01 AM PST
UPLAND – Former Police Chief Steve Adams is no longer being accused of extortion by operators of a closed restaurant.
Adams was dismissed from Chronic Cantina’s civil case against the city earlier this month.
Joe Nelson, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 12/24/2011 06:11:58 AM PST
San Bernardino County’s imposition of labor terms on a law enforcement union could have longstanding ramifications on its relationship with the bargaining group.
By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times
December 24, 2011
Reporting from San Francisco— Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who heads the state’s judicial branch and its highest court, said in an interview that the death penalty is no longer effective in California and suggested she would welcome a public debate on its merits and costs.
Joe Nelson, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Created: 12/21/2011 10:31:20 AM PST
A union representing San Bernardino County public- safety employees has agreed to labor terms proposed by an arbitrator in June that averts 14 percent pay and benefits cuts to certain employees, the county announced Wednesday.
Money & Company
Tracking the market and economic trends that shape your finances.
December 20, 2011 | 2:43 pm
California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris has filed suit against mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for refusing to answer subpoenas issued to the companies this year.
Joe Nelson, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 12/19/2011 05:22:30 PM PST
Seven current and former employees of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, accused of forging training documents for increased pay in a decade-long scam, appeared briefly in San Bernardino Superior Court Monday for a pre-trial hearing.
Lawyers agreed to another continuance and set a new pretrial date for March 23.
Monday, December 19, 2011 – 10:15 a.m.
Nice try. But it’s too late!
Too late, for those involved, to runaway from the mess at the San Bernardino International Airport Authority (SBIAA) and Inland Valley Development Agency (IVDA) that is.
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com
Published: 16 December 2011 09:49 PM
A union representing San Bernardino County public safety employees will vote again on a previously rejected contract as it faces a possible 14 percent pay and benefit cut.
By Carol J. Williams Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 16, 2011, 12:50 p.m.
A judge on Friday threw out California’s new lethal-injection protocols, which have been six years in the making, because corrections officials failed to consider a one-drug execution method now in practice in other death penalty states.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
For months, Attorney General Kamala Harris has warned that a mandated budget cut enacted by Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature last July would force her to let go of hundreds of Justice Department employees, most of them sworn officers.
Now, after several cost-cutting moves, Harris told staff this week that she’ll lay off just a third of the 322 jobs originally on the chopping block.
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com
Published: 14 December 2011 06:19 PM
San Bernardino County is planning to impose a 14 percent pay and benefit cut on some public safety employees if they don’t agree to a proposal the union had previously rejected.
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.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 – 12:01 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 – 01:45 p.m.
You gotta hand it to those crack San Bernardino County lawyers.
Based upon recommendations from CEO Greg Devereaux and, according to him, county attorneys, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to impose a 14% pay cut to Probation Corrections Officers, Coroner Investigators and Welfare Fraud Investigators.
The classifications make up the Specialized Peace Officer Unit represented by the San Bernardino County Safety Employees Benefit Association (SEBA).
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 – 09:25 a.m.
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors appear to be on collision course with the San Bernardino County Safety Employees Benefit Association (SEBA).
On Tuesday, a majority of county supervisors intend to reject the advisory award by a neutral arbitrator and impose a one-year contract on Probation Corrections Officer, Coroner Investigator and Welfare Fraud Investigator members in the Specialized Peace Officer Unit represented by SEBA.
An illegal act under the expired agreement.
By Josh Dulaney, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 12/12/2011 06:05:49 PM PST
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors today will consider cutting salary and benefits for a group of probation correction officers, a move officials say will result in $3.6million savings annually.
Sunday, December 11, 2011 – 09:45 a.m.
The San Bernardno County Board of Supervisors is set to impose a hefty pay cut on the Specialized Peace Officers Unit. A represented by the San Bernardino County Safety Employees’ Benefit Association (SEBA).
A cut of 14%.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Debra J. Saunders
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Imagine a democracy in which key players are committed to making sure that duly-enacted laws don’t work. These players slow things down. They hire confederates who also want to sabotage the system. Then they shrug and claim that, while they want to enforce the law, success is impossible and, besides, prohibitively expensive.
Saturday, December 10, 2011 – 09:00 a.m.
Speaking of no justice.
Friday’s plea deal between the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office and defendant Gregory Eyler depicts a stark reality when prosecutions turn political in nature.
The move avoids a jury trial originally set for January 30, 2012.
Friday, December 9, 2011 – 04:30 p.m.
The California Court of Appeal has now entered the fray on the Colonies case.
By Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times
December 10, 2011
The early release of inmates in some parts of California is accelerating as officials at county jails struggle to accommodate state prisoners flowing into their facilities.
Mike Cruz and Joe Nelson, Staff Writers
Posted: 12/09/2011 12:50:39 PM PST
Greg Eyler
SAN BERNARDINO – Gregory Eyler, a former taxpayer advocate for the San Bernardino County Assessor’s Office, pleaded no contest Friday to an allegation that he drew pay from the county for work he never performed.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Created: 12/08/2011 08:04:06 PM PST
San Bernardino County prosecutors have filed four additional perjury charges against an Apple Valley businessman accused of lying to the Grand Jury in a sweeping county corruption probe.
150 inmates to be released starting Friday
December 08, 2011 5:43 PM
Beatriz E. Valenzuela, Staff Writer
Starting Friday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department plans to release early 150 county jail inmates in response to the increased number of inmates at local county jails.
By Jim Morhard
Saturday, December 3, 2011
After federal district court Judge Emmet Sullivan dismissed the conviction of former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens on charges of failing to properly report gifts, he ordered an investigation of the prosecutors. Quoting from the report (which is sealed until January), the judge recently explained that the investigators found ample evidence that the prosecution of Stevens (who was killed in a plane crash last year) was “permeated by the systematic concealment of significant exculpatory evidence which would have independently corroborated his defense and his testimony, and seriously damaged the testimony and credibility of the government’s key witness.”
By Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/06/2011 08:26:26 PM PST
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to increase the construction budget of the High Desert Public Safety Operations Center in Hesperia by 45 percent.
By Rick Daysog
rdaysog@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 – 9:07 am
Promising to hold lenders accountable for abuses that helped fuel the foreclosure crisis, California has entered into a broad alliance with the state of Nevada to investigate the nation’s mortgage industry.
Sandra Emerson, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 12/06/2011 12:05:33 PM PST
UPLAND – An Upland contractor who was named in an 11-count indictment along with former Mayor John Pomierski has pleaded guilty to two of the four counts against him.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 – 11:00 a.m.
San Bernardino County prosecutors have engineered another of a series of delays in a nearly two-year old case against a High-Desert developer.
The action has once again delayed the cross-examination of a key-witness.
Published: Monday, Dec. 5, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
A group seeking to ask California voters to repeal the death penalty has netted nearly $1.2 million in recent weeks to aid its drive to qualify for the 2012 ballot.
Sunday, December 4, 2011 – 12:30 p.m.
Now San Bernardino County supervisors want to cut their benefits package again.
They shouldn’t think twice about.
The benefits package afforded the county’s elected officials is the richest in the state, and can be adjusted by a mere majority vote of the supervisors.
Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 12/03/2011 10:18:05 PM PST
UPLAND – Displaced patients from the now-closed G3 Holistic cooperative still have a place in town to go for their medical marijuana.
Upland Hidden Garden is open and serving patients with valid medical marijuana cards, despite an appellate court decision last month ruling in favor of the city’s ordinance banning dispensaries.
BY JAN SEARS
STAFF WRITER
jsears@pe.com
Published: 02 December 2011 10:59 AM
A fatal shooting outside Charlie Jewell’s in downtown Redlands prompted the city manager to write a letter chastising the bar owner and ask the City Council to consider regulations that would hold businesses accountable for the bad behavior of their customers.
BY SANDRA STOKLEY
STAFF WRITER
sstokley@pe.com
Published: 02 December 2011 09:30 PM
Jurupa Valley will pay nearly $13 million for law enforcement services during its first year as a city, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department contract going to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors for approval Tuesday.
By Mark Gutglueck
Friday, December 2, 2011
Federal prosecutors have horned in on an unprecedented number of high profile political corruption cases that would otherwise be handled by the district attorney’s office in San Bernardino County. In some matters, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has wrested from district attorney Mike Ramos prosecutorial authority or has opened with the FBI parallel investigations into issues Ramos or the San Bernardino County Grand Jury have delved into without reaching a successful conclusion. In at least three matters, federal prosecutors and investigators have taken on probes or investigations of elected officials or political donors with whom Ramos was politically aligned.
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com
Published: 01 December 2011 09:21 AM
A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge Thursday delayed the sentencing of former assistant county assessor Adam Aleman, who is a key witness in a corruption investigation.
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com
Published: 29 November 2011 09:29 AM
A San Bernardino County judge on Tuesday ordered the grand jury testimony of a former county official unsealed as part of a government corruption case.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Created: 11/29/2011 10:37:41 PM PST
A San Bernardino Superior Court judge on Tuesday ordered that the Grand Jury testimony of a former county official be unsealed.
Judge Michael A. Smith ordered the release of transcripts of testimony given by Jim Lindley, the county’s former public health director and former director of purchasing, before the county’s civil Grand Jury on April 21.
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com
Published: 29 November 2011 09:29 AM
A San Bernardino County judged ordered the grand jury testimony of a former county official unsealed as part of a corruption case.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Created: 11/28/2011 06:36:01 PM PST
A new law meant to reduce California’s prison population raises questions as to whether four defendants in a sweeping San Bernardino County corruption case would serve time in prison if convicted.
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.
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 DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com
Published: 20 November 2011 08:19 PM
After a record year for political spending, the Riverside Sheriff’s Association is sitting on nearly $900,000 in cash as the 2012 elections approach.
The group likely will be a potent force, political experts say.
Saturday, November 19, 2011 – 05:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, November 20, 2011 – 05:10 a.m.
The suspense if finally over.
After months of rumors swirling within Inland Empire political circles. The much anticipated event ended up being anti-climactic.
What you ask?
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/19/2011 06:06:55 AM PST
San Bernardino County jailers are putting more inmates in work release programs and using electronic monitoring to make way for state prisoners.
Joe Nelson, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Created: 11/18/2011 02:43:50 PM PST
A federal judge on Friday denied a request by Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum’s attorney to essentially void an FBI search of Burum’s home and office by ordering the return of all materials seized during the search.
BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com
Published: 16 November 2011 11:21 AM
Anyone convicted of a crime and sentenced to Riverside County jail will soon have to pay for their stays in the lockup.
Riverside County supervisors gave their final approval Tuesday to a measure aimed at recovering the $142.42 per day it costs to keep someone behind bars.
By Alejandro Lazo and Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times
November 16, 2011, 6:27 p.m.
Reporting from L.A. and Washington— Investigators with the California attorney general’s office have subpoenaed information from mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into lending and foreclosure practices in the state.
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/15/2011 11:20:57 PM PST
COLTON-The Colton City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance that bans encampment on public property after raising concerns that a potential Occupy movement encampment in public parks could endanger public safety.
By Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein,
Los Angeles Times
November 16, 2011
The number of state prisoners arriving in county jails under California’s controversial prison diversion program is significantly higher than officials had estimated, adding new pressure on sheriff’s departments to figure out what to do with thousands of extra inmates.
“There really is no such thing as insider trading for real estate,” said Milsap. “It goes on in real estate all the time. That’s the benefit of local knowledge.”
Ryan Milsap, Adjunct Professor at USC School of Real Estate and Broker
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/14/2011 08:19:46 PM PST
Authorities looked hard at several land deals involving former San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus during their investigation of the county’s $102 million legal settlement with Rancho Cucamonga developer Colonies Partners LP, according to recently released search warrants.
RICHARD K. De ATLEY
rdeatley@pe.com
Published: 12 November 2011 09:04 PM
After one month, the state’s decision to put counties in charge of some nonserious offenders has caused a spike in Riverside County’s already dense jail population, putting it on course to reach capacity in January, officials report.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/12/2011 06:12:51 AM PST
The ways money flowed to candidates and political action committees and alleged acts of blackmail are detailed in search warrants in San Bernardino County’s $102 million legal settlement with Rancho Cucamonga developer Colonies Partners LP in November 2006.
The warrants, released last week, also describe what led authorities to suspect a county supervisor’s former chief of staff of criminal activity before he became a witness for the prosecution.
Wes Woods II, Staff Writer
Created: 11/12/2011 09:28:09 PM PST
CLAREMONT – The Claremont Police Officers Association has taken two legal actions to protest the City Council forcing its members to increase their retirement contribution by 6 percent.
An unfair labor practice charge was filed in late October with the state Public Employment Relations Board. The city has 30 days to respond to the filing.
November 12, 2011 2:41 PM
Beatriz Valenzuela
Staff Writer
One month into the state prison realignment plan, concern is mounting over whether local agencies are equipped to deal with the growing number of offenders who are now on local supervision. However, San Bernardino County Probation officials insist they have a plan in place.
BY RICHARD K. De ATLEY, ALICIA ROBINSON
AND SANDRA STOKLEYSTAFF WRITERS
rdeatley@pe.com | arobinson@pe.com sstokley@pe.com
Published: 11 November 2011 05:45 PM
Inland cities and counties that have banned medical marijuana dispensaries are expected to act quickly to close down the operations now that a court ruling has upheld the prohibitions.
Attorneys for the dispensaries vowed to appeal and warned that the legal fight is far from over.
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