Politics, Government and Business in Southern California's Inland Empire
Friday, February 3, 2012 – 09:00 a.m.
Hooray! The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.3% in January, with the economy adding 243,000 jobs.
But it took a lot of gaming of the numbers to get there.
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
Published: 29 January 2012 06:51 PM
They don’t call him “Working Joe” for nothing.
For at least the fourth consecutive year, U.S. Rep. Joe Baca outmaneuvered a host of his Democratic colleagues and worked himself into a coveted center aisle seat at last week’s State of the Union address. Baca, who was already in position several hours before the speech, again nabbed a primo spot and fought through the scrum of lawmakers to greet President Barack Obama on his way to the podium.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 – 6:57 am
Jon Fleischman, the conservative blogger, was brooding the other day on Facebook, underwhelmed by the presidential candidates he has left to choose from.
Gingrich bristled at Romney’s L-word tag, but it’s all semantics.
By George Skelton Capitol Journal
January 30, 2012
From Sacramento
Without picking a side in the entertaining Republican presidential contest, let us stipulate that Mitt Romney was smack on target when he called Newt Gingrich an influence peddler.
A lobbyist? No, not in a legal sense. But did he lobby? Yes, in the common usage of the word.
An influence peddler? That pretty much covers it.
BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com
Published: 24 January 2012 09:18 PM
WASHINGTON — The central initiatives laid out in President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night seem tailored to address Inland Southern California’s largest problems: unemployment and the home foreclosure crisis.
Yet the details of his plan raised concerns from some area officials and came under harsh fire from members of the region’s predominantly Republican congressional delegation, signaling a contentious election year in Washington and a tough road ahead for the president’s agenda.
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com
Published: 23 January 2012 08:14 PM
San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry will return to normal voting at today’s board meeting even as he sparred with federal officials over the exact nature of his eight-month suspension.
Due to criminal charges he faced last year, Derry had not taken part in votes involving federal funds.
Saturday, January 21, 2012 – 06:15 p.m.
The highway funding arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation has cleared San Bernardino County Third District Supervisor Neil Derry to resume voting on federally-funded expenditures in his duties as an elected official.
The Federal Highway Administration gave Derry the green light effective Friday.
Thursday, January 19, 2012 – 07:15 a.m.
The latest results from the circus known as the Iowa Caucuses now has former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum over Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney by 34 votes.
Thursday, January 19, 2012 – 06:35 a.m.
Texas Governor Rick Perry has dropped out of the race for the republican nomination for President of the United States.
Perry is expected to throw his tepid support behind former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
Expect Rick Santorum to bow out after Saturday’s South Carolina Primary.
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 17, 2012 | 6:18 pm
The citizens commission that drew California’s new political maps won an important nod Tuesday from the Department of Justice, which signed off on the new congressional, legislative and Board of Equalization districts for four Northern California counties.
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.
Published: Tuesday, 17 Jan 2012 | 1:05 PM ET
By: AP
The largest banks must show how they would break up their assets if they were in danger of failing, under a rule approved Tuesday.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp voted to require banks with $50 billion or more in assets to submit so-called living wills. Seven banks with more than $250 billion in assets will have to show their plans by July. The other 30 affected by the rule have until 2013.
Monday, January 16, 2012 – 09:45 a.m.
GOP Presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman officially pulled the plug on his foundering campaign Monday morning.
A campaign that never really left the ground.
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.
By Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times
January 14, 2012, 7:55 p.m.
Reporting from Greenville, S.C.— Five Republicans are fighting mightily to deny Mitt Romney a quick coronation as the party’s presidential nominee. But if one of them emerges as his top challenger, a monumental task lies ahead: building a national campaign operation on the fly.
Read the rest of this entry »
Monday, January 9, 2012
When the dust settles in New Hampshire, the 2012 Republican nomination for president will be written in granite and the name will be Willard Mitt Romney, according to the Calbuzz Advisory Board of Leading Authorities on Practically Everything, the greatest assemblage of political minds since Thorstein Veblen dined alone.
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 Paul West, Washington Bureau
January 8, 2012, 6:26 p.m.
Reporting from Concord, N.H.— A fusillade of attacks on front-runner Mitt Romney presages what is likely to be at least a month of internal warfare among Republicans as the presidential candidates head for the South, the heart of the GOP’s restive base.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/07/2012 02:42:29 PM PST
Victorville City Manager Doug Robertson said the city’s November default on bond payments totaling $10.6 million has not prompted an inquiry from a federal agency that has been investigating the city’s bond debt for the last two years.
In an e-mail, Robertson said investigators from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not made any inquiries about the defaults thus far, but he is expecting they will.
Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/05/2012 05:29:17 PM PST
An administrative law judge from the U.S. Department of Labor has ruled in favor of a San Bernardino man who says he was wrongfully fired from an aircraft maintenance company that he worked for at San Bernardino International Airport.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 – 11:00 a.m.
Here’s the latest from last nights Iowa contest.
U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) is out after garnering just 5% of the caucus voting.
Governor Rick Perry (R-Texas), after saying last night he would re-evaluate his campaign, is now looking ahead to the South Carolina primary later this month.
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.
By Michael A. Memoli and Paul West
January 3, 2012, 11:37 p.m.
Reporting from Manchester and Des Moines— In the closest finish in the history of the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum wound up in a virtual dead heat in the first battle for the Republican presidential nomination, with Romney emerging as the apparent winner by a margin of just eight votes.
When results from the last of the state’s 1,774 precincts were tallied Wednesday morning, Romney had 30,015 votes to Santorum’s 30,007.
By Keith Jenkins and Anchalee Worrachate – Jan 3, 2012 2:22 AM PT
Governments of the world’s leading economies have more than $7.6 trillion of debt maturing this year, with most facing a rise in borrowing costs.
Led by Japan’s $3 trillion and the U.S.’s $2.8 trillion, the amount coming due for the Group of Seven nations and Brazil, Russia, India and China is up from $7.4 trillion at this time last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Ten-year bond yields will be higher by year-end for at least seven of the countries, forecasts show.
Sandra Emerson, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 12/30/2011 12:17:57 PM PST
UPLAND – The city experienced a number of controversies in 2011 and will continue to deal with some of the legal ramifications in 2012.
Former Mayor John Pomierski’s federal trial is set for April, which may occur during the city election when the mayor’s seat and a council seat is up for re-election.
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul is barreling into Iowa and New Hampshire with surprising strength as the first 2012 presidential contests approach – a position that comes, in part, from the unconventional ground games and fundraising strategies being waged by impassioned supporters like Alex Beltramo.
By JONATHAN MARTIN and ALEXANDER BURNS | 12/27/11 4:29 AM EST
No matter who wins, Iowa will reshape the Republican presidential race one week from today — and almost certainly in ways that don’t adhere to any semblance of a traditional political script.
December 23, 2011 1:41 PM
Brooke Edwards Staggs, City Editor
VICTORVILLE • A federal appeals office upheld the termination of Victorville’s EB-5 visa investor center, leaving the city with no option but to pursue a pricey lawsuit or say goodbye to millions in funding they’d hoped to borrow through the program.
City officials got the news Thursday afternoon, with plans to discuss next steps during the Jan. 17 city council meeting.
Posted at 03:40 AM ET, 12/24/2011
By Anita Kumar
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry failed to submit enough valid signatures to qualify for the Virginia primary ballot, state GOP officials said Friday evening and early Saturday.
By Phil Kuntz and Bob Ivry – Dec 22, 2011 9:01 PM PT
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — Matthew Winkler, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, talks about Bloomberg News’ response to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s letter to four senior lawmakers yesterday that said recent news articles about the central bank’s emergency lending programs contained “egregious errors.” Winkler speaks with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television’s “Surveillance Midday.” (Source: Bloomberg)
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 12/22/2011 01:48:53 PM PST
House Republicans on Thursday folded to the demands of President Barack Obama, Congressional Democrats and fellow Republicans for a short-term extension of payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits.
The deal spares workers an average of $20 a week tax increase and the truncation of jobless insurance.
ANALYSIS
Staff negotiations, defections, and an inability to compete against Obama.
By Major Garrett
Updated: December 22, 2011 | 10:18 p.m.
December 22, 2011 | 7:40 p.m.
CORRECTION: The original version of this story misidentified the House majority leader. It is Eric Cantor.
There was no formal cease-fire.
Speaker John Boehner didn’t even call Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to offer up his payroll-tax sword of surrender.
Last updated: December 22, 2011 3:20 pm
By Johanna Kassel in New York
The US economy grew at a slower rate than initially thought in the third quarter after personal spending was less than expected, according to the final gross domestic product reading for the period.
The economy expanded at a rate of 1.8 per cent, the US Department of Commerce said on Thursday. The economy grew by 1.3 per cent in the second quarter.
The downward revision was mainly attributed to lower personal consumption.
BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com
Published: 20 December 2011 08:48 PM
SACRAMENTO – Last summer, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
The unlikely pair – Reid, a Democrat, is allied with gaming interests in his home state, and Kyl is a gambling critic and powerful Republican – asked that Holder “reiterate the (Department of Justice’s) longstanding position that federal law prohibits gambling over the Internet, including intra-state gambling” or else explain what the department thinks.
House lawmakers prepare to follow their Senate colleagues on a holiday recess, with no sign of a compromise that would save the expiring tax break for workers.
By Lisa Mascaro and Kathleen Hennessey, Washington Bureau
December 20, 2011, 8:50 p.m.
Reporting from Washington— The Senate is gone, the House is packing up, and for now that means working Americans will see their taxes rise in January.
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.
Sunday, December 18, 2011 – 12:01 p.m.
Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart Every hour of every day.
BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
STAFF WRITER
kpierceall@pe.com
Published: 16 December 2011 03:49 PM
The Department of Transportation is taking back $10 million it promised the city of Highland to fund road improvements affecting San Bernardino International Airport, according to a Dec. 8 letter from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to Highland’s public works director.
Friday, December 16, 2011 – 10:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, December 17, 2011 – 10:39 a.m.
A $10 million Federal Highway Administration grant to the city of Highland is no more.
By David Glovin and Joshua Gallu
December 16, 2011 9:58 AM PT
Daniel Mudd, the former chief executive officer of Fannie Mae, and Richard Syron, ex-CEO of Freddie Mac, were sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for understating by hundreds of billions of dollars the subprime loans held by the firms.
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/14/2011 04:40:19 PM PST
Regional mail processing centers in the cities of Industry and Redlands remain on the chopping block, despite the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service’s decision to delay closing any of its facilities until mid-May.
Each site has 750 employees, postal officials said.
The region’s politicians in Washington are split along partisan lines about how to extend tax cuts and jobless aid
BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com
Published: 13 December 2011 08:28 PM
WASHINGTON — As the debate over extending a soon-to-expire payroll tax cut and benefits for the unemployed nears a crescendo in Congress, few corners of the nation have more at stake than does economically battered Inland Southern California.
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com
Published: 13 December 2011 09:50 PM
The recent budget dispute among San Bernardino County supervisors highlighted Supervisor Neil Derry’s continued inability to vote on budget decisions due to criminal charges he faced earlier this year.
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.
Friday, Dec 9, 4:59 pm ET
WASHINGTON – Business mogul Donald Trump said Friday he might scrub a presidential debate that so far has drawn only Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.
By Michael A. Memoli
December 8, 2011, 4:35 p.m.
Is it too late to fire the moderator?
Two more Republican candidates — Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry — said thanks but no thanks to an invitation to participate in an Iowa debate managed by real estate mogul Donald Trump.
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.”
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
December 6, 2011 | 2:59 pm
Kinde Durkee Three months after the arrest of campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee on suspicion of mishandling political funds from a state lawmaker’s account, federal prosecutors said Tuesday they need more time to complete their investigation to determine whether other politicians lost money.
Posted by Joe Garofoli
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Mitt Romney joined Rep. Ron Paul Tuesday in just saying no to the Donald Trump/NewsMax sponsored GOP debate. That’s the Dec. 27 one moderated by The Donald. Afterwards he plans to endorse his favorite. You know, just like what happens on “The Apprentice” or the Miss USA pageant — both Trump properties.
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.
Josh Dulaney, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 12/05/2011 07:59:34 PM PST
SAN BERNARDINO – An effort to get Mayor Pat Morris to speak from the dais about the ongoing federal investigation at San Bernardino International Airport was thwarted Monday night at the City Council meeting.
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/05/2011 06:45:37 PM PST
The U.S. Postal Service is expecting first-class mail to take longer to deliver under plans to close more than 250 processing centers possibly including the one in Redlands.
The changes would, for the most part, mean an end to next-day mail service and eliminate thousands of jobs across the country.
By TRIP GABRIEL and JEFF ZELENY
Published: December 4, 2011
Surging in polls is one thing. But as Newt Gingrich seeks to turn his impressive performance in surveys into votes, he is scrambling madly to build the kind of organization that Mitt Romney has methodically put in place for a year, one that will let him compete through all 50 contests, often in multiple states at once.
ROLL CALL REPORT SYNDICATE
Published: 03 December 2011 05:25 PM
Here is how area members of Congress voted on major issues in the week ending Dec. 2.
HOUSE
RULES FOR UNION ELECTIONS: Voting 235 for and 188 against, the House on Nov. 30 passed a Republican bill (HR 3094) to block a proposed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rule to quicken the pace of union elections. Now before the Senate, the bill targets a labor-relations rule that could take effect by year’s end. Under the rule, elections on whether to form into a collective-bargaining unit could be held as soon as 10 days after the NLRB certifies the election petition. The bill would require a wait of at least 35 days to give employers more time to attempt to persuade workers to reject unionization, and it would give employers more say in determining which workers are eligible for the bargaining unit.
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.
Friday, December 2, 2011 – 10:45 a.m.
Friday the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released an unemployment (U-3) rate of 8.6%.
A decrease from 9.0% in October.
By Art Marroquin, Staff Writer
Created: 12/01/2011 02:57:14 PM PST
A reported shortage of U.S. Customs and Border Protection staffers at Los Angeles International Airport has led a couple of regional lawmakers to push for more customs agents at airports, including L.A./Ontario International Airport.
By Michael Doyle
mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com
Published: Friday, Dec. 2, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Californians remain poisonously skeptical about Congress, and many blame both parties for the latest budget-cutting failure on Capitol Hill, a statewide poll shows.
Thursday, December 1, 2011 – 10:00 a.m.
All the misplaced euphoria over the recent drop in weekly first-time unemployment numbers, along with the Fed loaning the European Union (EU) some $600 billion, seems a little suspect.
The Fed is doing nothing more than manipulating markets in the short-term, with money it really doesn’t have.
Published: Thursday, 1 Dec 2011 | 8:39 AM ET
By: AP
Claims for unemployment insurance unexpectedly rose last week, climbing past the psychologically important 400,000 mark as the jobs market showed signs of more weakness.
By Torey Van Oot
tvanoot@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Voters in deep blue California aren’t so sure they want to send President Barack Obama back to the White House in 2012, but they still prefer the Democratic incumbent over the GOP alternatives by double-digit margins.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Wall Street enjoyed a big jump Wednesday morning, after a coordinated action by central banks around the world to provide more liquidity to the global financial system.
The U.S. Federal Reserve, after a similar effort in September, will “lower the pricing on the existing temporary U.S. dollar liquidity swap arrangements by 50 basis points so that the new rate will be the U.S. dollar overnight index swap (OIS) rate plus 50 basis points.”
Wednesday, November 30, 2011 – 02:10 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, December 1, 2011 – 08:00 a.m.
It’s bad enough that Herman Cain, at least, appears to have a problem.
Now it’s becoming clear that Texas Governor and Republican candidate for President of the United States, Rick Perry, needs to go back home to Austin.
Perry, who can’t seem to go a few days without blowing it either during debates or on the campaign trail, pushed the stupidity button once again this week.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011 – 02:00 p.m.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed nearly 500 points on Wednesday on news the U.S. Federal Reserve will drop the rate foreign banks pay it to exchange the euro for the U.S. Dollar.
In other words, a promise to artificially print more money by doing nothing more than pushing buttons on a computer.
The move up, once again, brings stocks to the unchanged level for the year.
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.
By Dan Smith
smith@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 – 8:16 am
California Republicans still favor former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the GOP’s presidential primary sweepstakes, but they have a new No. 2: Newt Gingrich.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 – 01:30 p.m.
Herman Cain is re-evaluating his bid for the White House.
By Bob Ivry, Bradley Keoun and Phil Kuntz – Nov 27, 2011 4:01 PM PT
Bloomberg Markets Magazine
The Federal Reserve and the big banks fought for more than two years to keep details of the largest bailout in U.S. history a secret. Now, the rest of the world can see what it was missing.
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/27/2011 02:37:13 PM PST
Nearly 1,000 county businesses screen employees’ immigration status with a process called E-Verify, part of a 37-percent surge statewide in the number of employers using the system since 2010.
Friday, November 25, 2011 – 11:45 a.m.
U.S. stocks ended lower for the seventh trading session in row on Friday,
While investment analysts cry that “Stocks are cheap.”, “It’s a buying opportunity.”, “I like stocks here.”, and “Investors shouldn’t panic.”, the markets continue to recede.
Even the recent trading range doesn’t look too warm and fuzzy.
Friday, November 25, 2011 – 10:30 a.m.
Victorville can’t pay its debt service payments, while some of the city’s leaders want area voters to place them into higher office.
Laugh out loud!
BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com
Published: 23 November 2011 05:28 PM
SACRAMENTO — A new political party is poised to qualify for California’s 2012 ballot, part of a well-funded nationwide effort to create an alternative to the two major parties’ presidential contenders.
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 Mark Z. Barabak and Robin Abcarian, Los Angeles Times
November 23, 2011, 5:17 p.m.
Of all the presidential candidates who have cycled to the top of the shifting Republican heap, the most improbable may be Newt Gingrich.
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