U.S.-trained forces reportedly helping Mexican cartels
WASHINGTON — As many as 200 U.S.-trained Mexican security personnel have defected to drug cartels to carry out killings on both sides of the border and as far north as Dallas, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, told Congress on Wednesday.
The renegade members of Mexico’s elite counter-narcotics teams trained at Fort Benning, Ga., have switched sides, contributing to a wave of violence that has claimed some 6,000 victims over the past 30 months, including prominent law enforcement leaders, the Houston-area Republican told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The slaughter has gained urgency amid high-profile assassinations of law officers in Mexico since May 1, claiming six senior officers, five of them with the federal police. . .
CARSON CITY —A proposal to allow for privatized toll lanes in Las Vegas as a way to help reduce a huge funding shortfall for Nevada highway projects was endorsed Thursday by the Nevada Transportation Board.
Gov. Jim Gibbons, the board chairman, joined with other panel members at the meeting to back the 19-mile demonstration project. Gibbons opposes higher taxes, but a spokesman said after the meeting that the voluntary freeway toll doesn’t clash with his anti-tax philosophy.
The pilot project, which requires approval from the 2009 Legislature, would be on Nevada’s busiest stretches of road: U.S. Highway 95 to Interstate 15, and I-15 south to Interstate 215. . .
Roughly four out of 10 California voters are unaware that jury duty in the state requires them to serve as little as one day in court a year, according to a recent poll.
The survey of 600 Californians also revealed that more than 10 percent of the respondents acknowledged they have ignored a jury summons.
The poll was released this week by the nonprofit Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, which describes itself as an educational and advocacy group trying to stop frivolous and costly litigation. . .
More cities cracking down on parents allowing teen boozing
Late one night, a brick flew through Simone Booth’s bedroom window, shattering the quiet in her family-oriented Mission Viejo neighborhood.
Stephanie Moreau was beaten in the head with a baseball bat just outside her Laguna Hills home. The 21-year-old was assaulted when teens were thrown out of a party down the street and suffered severe injuries.
In both cases, underage teens partying at nearby homes are suspected. With the prom season under way and neighborhoods under seige with drunken teens, public urination and violence, city officials in two South County cities hope a new law could crash these out-of-control parties. . .
Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Immigration and Gang Violence Propel Crusade
LOS ANGELES — Jamiel Shaw Sr. never gave much thought to the immigration status of gang members in his South Los Angeles neighborhood. With his military wife deployed to Iraq and two sons to raise, there were football practices to manage, shoes to buy, college applications to consider.
But in the two months since his older son, Jamiel Jr., was gunned down by a man the police say is a gang member who was here illegally from Mexico, Mr. Shaw has been able to think of little else.
“I don’t care about illegal people who are working here and taking care of themselves,” Mr. Shaw said. “I just feel I am obligated to target illegal aliens in gangs. . .
L.A. prepares massive water-conservation plan
With vital and often-distant water sources shrinking, Los Angeles officials today will revive a controversial proposal to recycle wastewater as part of a plan to curb usage and move the city toward greater water independence.
The aggressive, multiyear proposal could do much to catch the city up to other Southern California communities that have launched advanced recycling programs.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s effort could cost up to $2 billion and affect a wide range of daily activities. For example, residents would be urged to change their clothes’ washers, and new restrictions would be placed on how and when they could water lawns and clean cars. . .
Schwarzenegger’s budget shows lessons learned
By George Skelton
SACRAMENTO — In Arnold Schwarzenegger’s continuing education as governor, he presumably now has learned three lessons:
Lesson No. 1: Never say “never,” as in “Read my lips . . .”
Lesson No. 2: Don’t be afraid to flip-flop in an emergency, especially when you’re not running for reelection.
Lesson No. 3: Close your ears to the simplistic mantra, “We don’t have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem.” Most of all, don’t parrot the chant. You may wind up eating your words. . .
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
Schwarzenegger budget plan would divert gas taxes to help close gap
In releasing his revised budget Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed deeper cuts to health care and welfare programs for the poor even as his administration calculated that the projected demand for government assistance is growing.
The Republican governor proposed $627 million more in cuts to health and human services, making it harder for poor families to qualify for welfare and health coverage.
“I know this is going to be very difficult … this is why I had a hard time to make those cuts,” Schwarzenegger said. “But the absolute bottom line is we cannot spend money that we do not have. . .
Karen Bass sworn in as California Assembly speaker
SACRAMENTO — Los Angeles Democrat Karen Bass vowed urgent action to address California’s budget crisis Tuesday when she was sworn in as Assembly speaker, the first African American woman to lead a legislative body in U.S. history.
Bass struck some of the few somber notes in a joyous celebration of the occasion, telling a chamber packed with well-wishers that “we have to respond to the current economic crisis the way we would a natural disaster.”
“We have to toss aside the boxes we put ourselves in and the labels we place on others and come together to get the job done,” Bass said. . .
SLEUTH TO PSYCHO
A woman stole my wallet and all I got was a lousy detective
By Jennifer Stockdale
The woman who stole my wallet six months ago thinks I’m a psycho victim. The police detective who was assigned to investigate the crime told me so; it was pretty much the only thing about the whole unfortunate incident that I didn’t find out first, by myself.
“Just leave it alone and let the courts handle it!” said Detective Lorraine Peck of the Long Beach Police Department, phoning on April 10 to scold me for trying to contact the woman who robbed me last Oct. 18. “There are all kinds of civil rights people waiting to get a hold of a case like this.”
A case like this . . .
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
Schwarzenegger drops plan for early release of 22,000 inmates
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has dumped his plan to release about 22,000 lower-risk inmates from prison before they complete their terms, The Bee learned Monday.
The revised budget he will present on Wednesday will jettison the plan, which would have freed prisoners doing time for crimes such as drug possession and car theft who had less than 20 months to go on their terms.
The governor had sought the change as part of a 10 percent, across-the-board general fund budget cut to deal with a multibillion-dollar deficit. . .
WASHINGTON - Danielle Ross was alone in an empty room at the Obama campaign headquarters in Kokomo, Ind., a cellphone in one hand, a voter call list in the other. She was stretched out on the carpeted floor wearing laceless sky-blue Converses, stories from the trail on her mind. It was the day before Indiana’s primary, and she had just been chased by dogs while canvassing in a Kokomo suburb. But that was not the worst thing to occur since she postponed her sophomore year at Middle Tennessee State University, in part to hopscotch America stumping for Barack Obama.
Here’s the worst: In Muncie, a factory town in the east-central part of Indiana, Ross and her cohorts were soliciting support for Obama at malls, on street corners and in a Wal-Mart parking lot, and they ran into “a horrible response,” as Ross put it, a level of anti-black sentiment that none of them had anticipated.
“The first person I encountered was like, ‘I’ll never vote for a black person,’ ” recalled Ross, who is white and just turned 20. “People just weren’t receptive. . .
John McCain outlines a plan to tackle global warming
PORTLAND, ORE. — Distancing himself from President Bush, John McCain pledged a new era of environmental stewardship Monday as he outlined his plan to address global warming, a cause he has embraced since activists hounded him during his 2000 run for president.
At a wind turbine manufacturer here, McCain called for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by mid-century and pledged to take the lead in pressing rising economic powers India and China to cut emissions.
“I will not shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears,” McCain said, alluding to Bush, who withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement to curtail emissions. “I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges. . .
SOARING $ALARIES: A TWO-PART SERIES by The L.A. Daily News
Thousands on L.A.’s payroll earning more than $100,000
As Los Angeles grapples with its largest budget deficit in history, lucrative compensation packages for thousands of city workers are driving much of the gap, and there’s little end in sight.
In the past year alone, gross annual payroll costs have soared $120 million for nearly 48,000 city employees – $90 million of that going to 35,000 civilian and sworn workers – and bumped the total payroll up to $3.2 billion, or nearly half Los Angeles’ $7 billion budget.
While city leaders seek to close a looming $406 million budget shortfall with everything from fee hikes to service cuts, a Daily News review of salary data shows more than 21,000 city workers take home $70,000 or more a year and more than 6,000 take home more than $100,000. . .
Monday, May 12th, 2008
Jamiel Shaw’s gang association made him a target for murder, not race
By Alex Alonso
On March 2, 2008, Jamiel Shaw Jr., 17 was gunned down by 19 year old Pedro Espinoza, a 18th Street gang member who had been arrested on the same day of Jamiel’s funeral according to the Los Angeles District Attorney. Espinoza had spent nearly four months in a Los Angeles County jail for exhibiting a firearm and resisting arrest before he was released March 1, 2008 just 28 hours before he murdered Jamiel. Within a week, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency had filed paperwork naming Espinoza a potential candidate for deportation. If convicted for this crime, he will most likely received a life sentence, so the immigration hold brings no heavier punishment for this offense. It turns out that when Espinoza was four years old, he was smuggled into the United States from Mexico and he grew up in a neighborhood just west of Shaw’s Arlington Heights home.
When the murder was reported in the local news, Jamiel was characterized as the son a military mother, who was a successful high school athlete that was not involved in street gangs in any way. The media described this murder as “senseless” and when it was determined that Espinoza was an illegal alien, the story of Shaw’s murder was being highlighted by the media’s strongest critics against illegal immigration, including Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and Lou Dobbs. According to Bill O’Reilly, “Jamiel was just walking around, he wasn’t a bad kid, he’s an athlete, he was at the wrong place at the wrong time” (March 24, 2008 – The O’Reilly Factor). . .
State Lawmakers Consider Porn Tax Hike
SAN JOSE, Calif.—Strippers and porn stars traveled to Sacramento Monday for a hearing on adopting a tax increase on porn.
The Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee is scheduled to consider AB 2914, an adult entertainment tax that will be boosted from eight to 25 percent in a proposal to tax strip clubs, porno videos and other adult entertainment.
Opponents of the bill said the large tax increase constitutes censorship and would make California products less competitive. . .
In tell-all book, memorabilia dealer claims O.J. Simpson confessed to Nicole’s murder
A memorabilia dealer who profited from O.J. Simpson for many years is the latest former crony to write a tell-all book, this one alleging that a groggy Simpson confessed to killing his ex-wife after he was acquitted.
Mike Gilbert also claims he helped his former friend wiggle out of the murder charges by suggesting how to bloat his hands so they wouldn’t fit the notorious bloody gloves.
Gilbert’s book, “How I Helped O.J. Get Away With Murder: The Shocking Inside Story of Violence, Loyalty, Regret and Remorse” (Regnery Publishing, 232 pages, $27.95), is due in stores Monday. It was released to the Associated Press in advance. . .
Inland counties consider barring sex offenders from jobs driving ice cream trucks
Elected leaders in San Bernardino and Riverside counties could ban registered sex offenders and other criminals from driving ice cream trucks in unincorporated county areas.
The San Bernardino County ordinance could be approved at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, said David Zook, spokesman for Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who introduced the ordinance. If approved, it could take effect in July.
Riverside County supervisors could consider their proposed ordinance within 30 to 60 days, said John Field, chief of staff for Supervisor John Tavaglione, who is drafting it. . .
Friday, May 9th, 2008
And here are the taped conversation transcripts to better help you taint the jury in your town!
