Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
Friday, July 31, 2015 - 05:00 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
Tonight on the show, Ed Hoffman, owner of Wholesale Capital Corporation joins Lou on the show. They discuss San Bernardino’s decision to spend the bankrupt city’s funds on a redundant program, SBETA. Also, should we speech $9 billion to save the Salton Sea?
Friday, July 31, 2015 - 09:00 a.m.
We’ve been writing about the slow decline of the local newspaper business in the Inland Empire for some time now.
Irrespective of the fact that data reflects print circulation is no longer sufficient to reach a broad base of San Bernardino County residents, “The Sun” newspaper needs to change it’s name to “The Apologist”.
Friday, July 31, 2015 - 08:00 a.m.
If the Washington D.C. political establishment, which is now all lathered up over billionaire candidate Donald Trump’s rise in the polls, is in a panic, just wait until Thursday.
Published: July 30, 2015 - Updated: 11:02 p.m.
While Inland cities are increasingly looking to the logistics industry for economic growth, two recent studies by University of California, Riverside researchers say the mainly blue-collar employees who work at warehouses are paid poorly and lack proper access to health care.
To read expanded article by Imran Ghori in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
Markets | Fri Jul 31, 2015 - 9:21am EDT
WASHINGTON | By Lucia Mutikani
U.S. labor costs in the second quarter recorded their smallest increase in 33 years amid tepid gains in the private sector, but it likely was a temporary setback against the backdrop of diminishing labor market slack.
By Ivan Penn
July 30, 2015
California’s sky-high gasoline prices translated into a big second-quarter profit for refiner Valero Energy Corp.
Water & Drought
By Phillip Reese and Dale Kasler
[email protected]
July 30, 2015
California residents reduced their water use 27 percent in June, beating a state-mandated target during the crucial first month of summer, according to figures released Thursday by the State Water Resources Control Board.
Thursday, July 30, 2015 - 05:00 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
Tonight on the show, Lou is joined by Dr. Adrian Moore of the Reason Foundation. First up, San Bernardino has reached an agreement with the police department, but details are sparse. Then, Hillary got fired from her “favorite summer job” after just one week.
Thursday, July 30, 2015 - 07:30 a.m.
The U.S. Commerce Department reading on the U.S. economy reflected a mediocre climate.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 07/29/15 - 5:42 PM PDT |
After more than two years of police leaving San Bernardino, saying the lack of a contract robbed them of a sense of stability in a city where many residents say crime is their top concern, the police union and city negotiators both say they’ve agreed on a new contract.
By Sarah Favot, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 07/28/15 - 11:52 PM PDT |
While calling Los Angeles County “late to the party” when it comes to police oversight, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday discussed the role of a new oversight commission for the Sheriff’s Department but took no action.
Capitol Alert
By Jim Miller
[email protected]
July 29, 2015
California lawmakers and other state officials arranged for donors, many with business at the Capitol, to contribute $28 million to nonprofit organizations, local museums and other favored causes during the first half of the year, according to the most recent filings with the Fair Political Practices Commission.
The State Worker
By Jon Ortiz
[email protected]
July 29, 2015
Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor said this week he doesn’t know what would happen if a new public pension ballot proposal becomes law.
By David Martosko
US Political Editor For Dailymail.com and Reuters
Published: 17:19 EST, 29 July 2015 | Updated: 07:02 EST, 30 July 2015
Billionaire Donald Trump is leaving the country on a high note, flying from New York to Glasgow, Scotland on Wednesday night as a new poll gives him a commanding lead in the race for the 2016 U.S. Republican presidential nomination.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015 - 05:00 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
Tonight on the show, San Bernardino City Councilman John Valdivia joins the show to discuss the city’s ongoings. How is the council getting on with the manager? What about the city’s charter?
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 07/28/15 - 11:54 AM PDT |
San Bernardino County supervisors on Tuesday approved $75,000 to be used as reward money for information leading to the arrest and conviction of illegal drone operators who forced the grounding of aerial firefighters during recent wildfires in the San Bernardino Mountains and High Desert.
By Ivan Penn contact
July 28, 2015
Southern California Edison is seeking almost $7.6 billion from the Japanese manufacturer of the faulty steam generators that led to the permanent shutdown of the San Onofre nuclear power plant.
Hide and Seek
Written by Alex Corse and Shane Harris
07.28.15 - 8:30 PM ET
Among the approximately 2,000 emails that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has released from her private account, there is a conspicuous two-month gap. There are no emails between Clinton and her State Department staff during May and June 2012, a period of escalating violence in Libya leading up to the September 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that left four Americans dead.
By Matt Latimer
July 28, 2015
“Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably,” the great Homer Simpson once observed. “The lesson is: never try.”
The change serves to guarantee the presence of candidates such as Lindsey Graham and Carly Fiorina.
By Mike Allen
7/28/15 6:39 PM EDT
Updated 7/28/15 8:24 PM EDT
Fox News is opening its 5 p.m. debate to all the announced Republican candidates who fail to make the cut for the Aug. 6 prime-time event, removing a requirement that participants reach at least 1 percent in polling.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015 - 05:00 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
Tonight on the show, Ralph Rossum joins the show to talk about the latest Planned Parenthood video that was released, which graphically showed what happens at Planned Parenthood facilities. There are 11 videos still to be released.
Published: July 27, 2015
Updated: July 28, 2015 - 10:41 a.m.
California is moving closer to have a statewide voter registration database, a step intended to modernize how elections and voting are handled.
To read expanded article by Jeff Horseman in The Press Enteprise, click here.
By Alex Groves / Staffg Writer
Published: July 27, 2015
Updated: July 28, 2015 - 11:22 a.m.
Former Menifee City Councilman Tom Fuhrman pleaded guilty Monday to multiple charges of abusing his power, as part of an agreement with prosecutors.
To read expanded article by Alex Groves in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Liset Marquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 07/27/15 - 6:16 PM PDT |
UPLAND >> The city council approved the 2015-16 budget, including $350,000 cut to the animal shelter, but not after a spirited deliberation that went into the early morning hours.
By Jeff McDonald | July 27, 2015 - 5:09 p.m.
State regulators do not appear ready to comply with a July 31 deadline to release thousands of emails requested by the chairman of the Assembly committee overseeing the California Public Utilities Commission.
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By Dan Walters
[email protected]
July 27, 2015
The Sacramento region’s state appeals court declared three decades ago that when a corporation hires lobbyists to pass a bill, it loses its claim of privacy in a libel action.
Mike Moffitt
Monday, July 27, 2015 - Updated 11:45 am
New computer models suggest that the current El Niño formation brewing in the Pacific could become the strongest in recorded history.
AP California News
By JUDY LIN
Associated Press
Jul 27, 2015 - 9:14 PM EDT
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The cost of private individual health plans on California’s state-run market will increase about 4 percent for the second straight year, evidence the strategy of forcing insurers to compete is controlling costs, program officials said Monday.
By Debra J. Saunders
Published: Monday, July 27, 2015 - 5:00 pm
Voters in Colorado, Iowa and Virginia think Hillary Rodham Clinton is not honest or trustworthy. According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, a mere 34 percent of Colorado voters think she can be trusted; 62 percent do not. In Iowa, those numbers are 33 percent to 59; in Virginia, Clinton is underwater on trust, 39 percent to 55 percent.
Monday, July 27, 2015 - 04:30 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
Tonight on the show, Jay Prag, estimable economist, joins the show. The Jay and Lou talk about the mayor of Murrieta’s sexual harassment accusations. Also, the mayor and city manager in San Bernardino can’t seem to get along.
Monday, July 27, 2015 - 08:00 a.m.
A few months ago we discussed how plausible it was for the Obama Administration to move to put a knife into Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Well it may actually be happening.
By Jonathan Easley
07/27/15 - 06:00 AM EDT
The race is on for the final spots on stage for the first Republican debate.
By Greg Moran
July 24, 2015 - 3:53 p.m. | Updated July 26, 2015 - 10:25 a.m.
SAN DIEGO — They found Ramon Gutierrez Perez just after 7 p.m., hiding in some brush in an area of Imperial Beach that Border Patrol agents call “Chicken Mans.”
By Daniel Borenstein, Staff Columnist
Posted: 07/24/2015 - 04:00:00 PM PDT
Although public employee pension plans across California are badly underfunded, union leaders have expressed little concern about the security of workers’ retirement pay.
Kurtis Lee
July 27, 2015 - 6:40 A.M.
Donald Trump, the provocative reality television star who for much of the last month has upended the 2016 Republican primary, is still doing well in polls in a pair of early nominating states despite recent rhetoric that many party leaders have denounced.
By Philip Bump
July 26, 2016 at 2:17 PM
Recent surveys suggest that Hillary Clinton may be more reliant on the non-white vote in November 2016 than you might have assumed.
Sunday, July 26, 2015 - 11:00 a.m.
One thing is becoming abundantly clear.
Republican presidential contenders have no clue how to handle Donald Trump.
Sunday, July 26, 2015 - 10:30 a.m.
Sure! California gasoline prices really are falling. At least that’s what the newspaper headlines say.
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Jul 26, 2015 - 7:06 AM PDT
New polls out Sunday show presidential candidate and real estate mogul Donald Trump still ahead among Republican hopefuls, even amid fallout from his controversial comments about Arizona Senator John McCain a week ago.
By Dan Walters
[email protected]
July 25, 2015
It’s no secret that the Legislature’s dominant Democrats want to make it more difficult to place initiative measures on the statewide ballot.
Saturday, July 25, 2015 - 09:15 a.m.
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is set to give their approval of a settlement in the case of Lorenzo Gomez v. Ryan Peppler et al on Tuesday.
Saturday, July 25, 2015 - 09:00 a.m.
Really! Another larges-scale merger, this time in the healthcare industry, and it’s supposed to be a good thing.
By IE Business Daily
July 25, 2015
In a stunning rejection of the wishes of California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Governor Jerry Brown, the California State Supreme Court this week refused their unusual request to “depublish” a 4th District Court of Appeals decision that applied Proposition 218 limits to tiered water rates.
Published: July 24, 2015 - Updated: 11:17 p.m.
Two days after being named in a claim against the city, Murrieta Mayor Harry Ramos denied sexually harassing a Ramona woman earlier this year, calling the allegations “made-up lies.”
To read article by Aaron Claverie in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Kevin Smith, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Posted: 07/24/15 - 5:34 PM PDT |
California’s grocery industry is among the most competitive in the nation and newcomer Haggen Inc., which opened 83 California supermarkets earlier this year, is rapidly finding that out.
Capitol Alert
By Christopher Cadelago
[email protected]
July 24, 2015
California Attorney General Kamala Harris will review whether the nonprofit organization behind controversial Planned Parenthood videos violated state law, her office said in a letter Friday.
Capitol Alert
By Dan Walters
[email protected]
July 24, 2015
Both Congress and the California Legislature are noodling over whether to raise fuel taxes to pour more money into highway projects.
Friday, July 24, 2015 - 04:30 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is coming to you from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
Tonight on the show, Ed Hoffman joins the show to talk with Lou about the mayor Murrieta who has been accused of sexual harassment. Then, a cyclist started a fire. How it happened may surprise you. After that, are food trucks being suppressed in the Inland Empire?
Friday, July 24, 2015 - 09:00 a.m.
Crude oil prices continued falling on Friday morning, with the price for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil hitting a low of $47.96.
However, California retail gasoline prices have barely budged.
Friday, July 24, 2015 - 08:30 a.m.
It’s almost becoming a weekly event. A very bad ethical decision blows up on the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Michael S. Schmidt and Matt Apuzzo
The New York Times
Friday, July 24, 2015
WASHINGTON — Two inspectors general have asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into whether sensitive government information was mishandled in connection with the personal email account Hillary Rodham Clinton used as secretary of state, senior government officials said Thursday.
Published: July 23, 2015 - 2:36 p.m.
CVB Financial Corp., and its subsidiary Citizens Business Bank, reported $26.8 million in net income for the April-through-June quarter of 2015.
To read article by Debra Gruszecki in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Shea Johnson, Staff Writer
Posted: Jul. 23, 2015 at 4:59 PM
ADELANTO — The developers of a controversial jail plan that would ease Los Angeles County inmate overcrowding and be a financial boon to this city have been given until the end of the year to lock down an agreement with L.A. County or face the possibility the project will die.
By Tony Saavedra / Staff Writer
July 22, 2015
Updated July 23, 2015 10:32 a.m.
Related stories
The U.S. Department of Justice is looking at the jailhouse informant scandal in Orange County, a move that could lead to a federal takeover of the District Attorney’s Office.
By Hailey Branson-Potts and Rong-Gong Lin II
July 23, 2015
It’s the middle of the summer, but it felt a bit like winter in the Sierra this week as a storm dumped four inches of hail on Interstate 80 around Donner Summit.
Trump takes campaign to the border
By James Hohmann
July 23, 2015 at 8:05 PM
LAREDO, Tex. — A defiant Donald Trump, visiting the U.S. border with Mexico here Thursday, said again that he will not apologize for his hard-line rhetoric on illegal immigration or back away from his plan to build a wall between the two nations.
Thursday, July 23, 215 - 5:00 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is coming to you from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
Tonight on the show, Ed Hoffman joins us to talk about The Boot Campaign, which he is holding a fundraiser for this weekend. Then, Ralph Rossum joins the show to talk about the young man exposing Planned Parenthood. He is a former student of Ralph’s, and is making big news.
By Carla Marinucci
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Updated: July 22, 2015 8:56pm
After weeks of presidential candidate Donald Trump lobbing sharp criticism and insults at America’s southern neighbor, Mexico’s secretary of state delivered his country’s first response Wednesday, saying that Trump’s views are rooted in prejudice and “have no place in politics.”
Allen Young, Staff Writer
Sacramento Business Journal
Wednesday, Jul 22, 2015 - 1:48pm PDT
Updated Jul 22, 2015, 3:58pm PDT
When the California Legislature reconvenes next month for a special session on road funding, Republicans will be in the front seat — because Democrats need GOP support to impose new taxes or fees.
Capitol Alert
By Christopher Cadelago
[email protected]
July 22, 2015
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, whose successes curtailing the political might of labor unions have earned him admirers in solidly blue California, will address the state Republican Party at its fall convention, officials announced Thursday.
By Peyton M. Craighill and Scott Clement
July 22, 215
Liberals have won a string of victories on gay marriage and health care reform this year, but a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds a large majority of Americans are unhappy with where the nation is headed on social issues.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015 - 04:50 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is coming to you from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
Tonight on the show, Ryan Hagen, reporter at the San Bernardino Sun, joins the program to talk with Lou about the San Bernardino Employment and Training Agency. The bankrupt city spent $1.2 million funding the program without approval by the city council.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015 - 04:30 p.m.
New data from the California Energy Commission begs the same question we’ve been asking all year.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015 - 04:15 p.m.
The California Supreme has denied a request to depublish a pivotal water rate ruling, by the Fourth District Court of Appeal, which found that tiered water rates violate Proposition 218.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015 - 08:00 a.m.
An uptick in crude oil inventory and the impending sale of Iranian oil on the global market has kept downward pressure on prices.
By Dan Walters
[email protected]
July 21, 2015
Three years ago, in new districts drawn by an independent commission, Democrats won – barely – two-thirds supermajorities in both legislative houses.
By Abby Sewell, Jean Merl and Katie Shepherd
July 21, 2015
Organized labor won an important victory Tuesday when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to increase the minimum wage to $15, but it now faces a more daunting political challenge: convincing other local governments to join the movement.
By Ivan Penn and Samantha Masunaga
July 21, 2015
As Los Angeles drivers shelled out more than $4 a gallon at the pump in recent weeks, the state’s oil refineries pocketed record amounts of money — as much as $1.17 a gallon in gross profits.
By Eric Bradner, CNN
Wed July 22, 2015 - Updated 8:40 AM ET
Washington (CNN): Hillary Clinton trails three top Republican presidential candidates in head-to-head matchups in Colorado, Iowa and Virginia, a new survey shows.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - 05:00 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is coming to you from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
Tonight, Vince from Bullseye Sport joins the show to talk about the finding of 1,200 guns at a man’s home. Then, how would Hillary and Bernie handle gun ownership?
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 07/20/15 - 1:10 PM PDT |
Proposed legislation that would require San Bernardino County and other California counties with populations of 2 million or more to increase their number of elected supervisors from five to seven is gaining momentum in the state Legislature.
Published: July 20, 2015 - Updated: 4:07 p.m.
It’s a supercalifragilisticexpiali-political fundraiser.
Assemblyman Marc Steinorth, R-Rancho Cucamonga, is using the Tuesday, July 21, production of “Mary Poppins” at the Redlands Bowl to raise money for his 2016 re-election campaign. Donors will join the first-term assemblyman for a dinner prior to the performance.
To read expanded brief, click here.
By Dan Walters
[email protected]
July 20, 2015
Only a sixth of California’s wage earners are members of labor unions, but they carry a very big stick in politics.
Monday, July 20, 2015 - 04:30 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is coming to you from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
Tonight, Estimable Economist Jay Prag joins the show on this, the 46th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. He and Lou discuss some high towing bills that were a result of the North Fire, which broke out on I-15 this weekend.
Monday, July 20, 2015 - 08:30 a.m.
We’re going to see just how solid support for billionaire republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is.
Monday, July 20, 2015 - 08:00 a.m.
A new development has once again caused us to ask this question of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Is it Leadership or Management?
By Doug Saunders, San Bernardino Sun
Posted: 07/19/15 - 12:52 PM PDT |
CAJON PASS >> Angry owners flooded social media with complaints over the weekend that they had been charged $1,000 or more in towing fees after being forced to abandon their cars caught Friday in the 15 Freeway firestorm.
By Dan Walters
[email protected]
July 19, 2015
It’s time again for some more fun with numbers – big numbers.
They’re the numbers associated with the 2015-16 state budget, which the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown enacted last month.
Donald Trump
July 19, 2015 - 6:46 p.m. EDT
John McCain has called his own constituents who want a secure border “crazies.” No one in the news media or the establishment, including the Republican National Committee, criticized the senator for those comments.
Sunday, July 19, 2015 - 10:00 a.m.
California wholesale gas prices have fallen about 50 cents a gallon in the past 48-hours. But don’t wait for pump prices to fall significantly anytime soon.
Sunday, July 19, 2015 - 10:00 a.m.
We routinely check-in on local newspaper circulation numbers to get a flavor for the financial health and continued viability of the various publications.
What we found was alarming.
By Dan Walters
[email protected]
July 18, 2015
When the Census Bureau began calculating poverty a half-century ago – as a “war on poverty” became a hot issue in Washington – it devised a rather simple formula.
By Daniel Borenstein, Staff Columnist
Posted: 07/17/2015 - 04:00:00 PM PDT
Organized labor has lined up behind legislation purporting to promote government contract transparency. It’s a sham.
By Dan Morain
[email protected]
July 18, 2015
For decades, organized labor, particularly the union that represents public school teachers, has been checking off boxes in California.
By Philip Bump
July 18, 2015 - 1:25 PM
This post has been updated.
At Saturday’s Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, Donald Trump may, at last, have crossed a line with Republican voters from which he can’t walk back.