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California and San Diego 2006

California 2006
12/31/2006 (3) Black on white beating defense delayed / Hate motivation not proved in Long Beach racial beating, defense says Greg Mellen 12/31/2006 (3) Godfather of soul, and of our goal Clarence Page 12/31/2006 (3) Job evaluation: Arnold Schwarzenegger 12/31/2006 (3) Why the Governator invited Willie Brown to the inauguration James Richardson 12/31/2006 (3) Charges against Camp Pendleton Marines detailed: Documents released in Haditha slayings. Rick Rogers 12/31/2006 (3) Tuition cut 23 percent at community colleges Chris Moran 12/31/2006 (3) LA cops, also reservists, retuirn from deploymeny in Iraq Patrick McGreevy 12/24/2006 (3) History taking a sharp turn for Asian Americans George Skelton 12/24/2006 (3) UCLA economists say California and U.S. economies headed for "soft landing" Lisa Girion 12/17/2006 (3) Toll of war is too much for West Coast memorial Michael R. Blood 12/12/2006 (3) Community colleges in dire need of finishing touches Peter Schrag 12/12/2006 (3) No clear answers to questions of immigration Greg Mellen 12/12/2006 (3) Thousands struggle in the shadow of affluence Greg Mellen 12/10/2006 (3) White victim of hate crime tells attack details Joe Mozingo / Wendy Thomas Russell and Tracy Manzer 12/07/2006 (3) Cardinakl Mahony's speaking, but he's still silent Steve Lopez 12/07/2006 (3) How an African American family stood up to LA's restrictive housing covenants Cecilia Rasmussen 12/07/2006 (3) Firehouse culture an ordeal for women Sandy Banks 12/02/2006 (3) Former nun, molested as a child, can't forgive Cardinal Mahony's inaction John Spano 12/02/2006 (3) LA archdiocese molestion settlement leaves largest questions unanswered Paul Pringle and Jean Guccione 11/30/2006 (3) Changing How America Works: Something's wrong when only the rich are getting richer, and average folks are feeling the squeeze. Andy Stern 11/30/2006 (3) Obit: 'Jezebel of Jazz', Anita O'Day--renowned singer Dennis McLellan 11/26/2006 (3) Gucci and Prada for the under-13 crowd Alana Semuels 11/12/2006 (3) As Iraq war drags on, so does a temporary memorial in Santa Barbara Steve Chawkins 11/12/2006 (3) Debra Bowen, California secretary of state elect, is one of only six women to ever capture a statewide post Jenifer Warren 11/12/2006 (3) California's Asian American voters flex their muscles David Pierson 11/06/2006 (3) Some in U.S. guest worker program get a rude awakening in the fields Lee Romney 10/28/2006 (3) GOP Congressional hopeful Tan Nguyen is focus of investigators after Hispanics get a scare-tactic flier. Norberto Santana, Tony Saavedra and Martin Wisckol 10/26/2006 (3) Encinitas Marine pleads guilty in Hamdania killing Mark Walker and Teri Figueroa 10/26/2006 (3) The San Diego Housing Market: For Sale' Times 30,000 Kelly Bennett 10/22/2006 (3) Aren't 13 Propositions Too Many? Patt Morrison 10/22/2006 (3) More Homeowners Going Into Default David Streitfeld and Martin Zimmerman 10/22/2006 (3) Six Flags writes a code of conduct in a bid to lure more families, fewer rowdy teens. Alana Semuels 10/22/2006 (3) California to Send Inmates Out of State 10/22/2006 (3) Encinitas Marine reported ready to plead guilty in Hamdania case Teri Figueroa and Mark Walker 10/19/2006 (3) Escondido OKs law prohibiting landlords from renting to illegal immigrants David Fried 10/19/2006 (3) Randy Cunningham steered $70 million to those who bribed him, House report says Greg Miller 10/19/2006 (3) U.S. Rep. Jerry Lewis Is House's Top Recipient of Lobbyist Donations Richard Simon 10/19/2006 (3) U.S. Rep. Jerry Lewis' Legal Fees Are Drain on His War Chest Richard Simon 10/19/2006 (3) California Mortgage Default Rate Throttles Up David Streitfeld and Martin J. Zimmerman 10/18/2006 (3) Freak Dancing Freaks Out Adults Seema Mehta 10/14/2006 (3) Governor Courts Black Clergy With Aid From Prop. 49 Peter Nicholas 10/07/2006 (3) Onell R. Soto Randy Cunningham's wife admits wrongdoing but won't be prosecuted 10/07/2006 (3) Randy Cunninghan, in prison letter, blames contractor for downfall, reporter for his pain George E. Condon Jr. 10/07/2006 (3) Feeling Low in the Middle Class Kelly Bennett 10/02/2006 (3) Immigration Work Force Fights Corruption in Its Ranks Pauline Arrillaga 10/02/2006 (3) North (San Diego) County congressional representatives argue for tough immigration bills Edward Sifuentes 10/02/2006 (3) California soldier dies after trying to save others in Iraq 09/28/2006 (3) Top-flight colleges' students do poorly on Civics and American History, study says. Berkeley gets an F, Stanford a D Tanya Schevitz 09/26/2006 (3) The IRS Works in (not so) Mysterious Ways Against Pasadena's All Saints church Steve Lopez 09/23/2006 (3) Pasadena's All Saints Episcopal Church Won't Comply With IRS Probe Louis Sahagun 09/21/2006 (3) L.A. Panel Reaffirms Muslim's Award After Controversy Teresa Watanabe 09/17/2006 (3) Agent claims accused Marine cried during interrogation Mark Walker and Teri Figueroa 09/12/2006 (3) The antidote to a poisoned debate on illegal immigration Arnold Schwarzenegger 09/11/2006 (3) Gov. Schwarzenegger Settles Suit Brought by Former TV Host Robert Salladay 09/07/2006 (3) Protest Targets Maywood CA's Stance on Illegal Immigration. Tiny city is known as a 'sanctuary' for illegal immigrants Ted Rohrlich For a couple of hours, a small group of demonstrators made Slauson Avenue in the tiny city of Maywood feel like the red-hot center of the national debate over immigrant rights. 09/07/2006 (3) Bill Renews Debate Over Helping English Learners: Critics say it would cause 'segregated' learning. Carla Rivera Glendale teacher Rebecca Quintero recently spent a morning encouraging her fourth-graders to write about the joys of summer for an English assignment. Some of her Spanish, Armenian, Korean and Tagalog speakers were confused at how to begin and their textbook offered limited guidance. What Quintero needed was a fourth-grade book that would support students with varying degrees of English proficiency. 09/07/2006 (3) Far Fewer California Schools Meet Targets in State Testing: Far Fewer California Schools Meet Targets in State Testing Howard Blume and Seema Mehta Just over half of California's schools met their state testing improvement targets — far fewer than last year — a disappointing result that was fueled by schools' inability to keep pace with rising expectations. This leveling off was especially worrisome in the data for poor students and African Americans. 09/04/2006 (3) Labor Day Special: A Willing Worker Can't Afford a Job She Loves Joe Mathews Anticipating the strike and lockout at Southern California grocery stores that ultimately lasted more than four months — she quit to find other work. When she decided to go back into the grocery business last year, she took a job, held the same job title, joined the same union. Everything else was different. She found she would have to wait 18 months for health benefits. She and most of her fellow workers were part-timers who struggled to get more than 16 hours each week. 09/04/2006 (3) labor Day Special: In California Wages Barely Keep Up With Inflation The California Budget Project study tracked hourly wage increases, adjusted for inflation, across three earning categories: low, median and high. In 2005, hourly pay for the lowest earners was $10, median pay was $17, and high pay was $30. From 2003 to 2005, workers in the low and median ranges saw little or no wage growth, while those at the high end of the wage scale saw increases of barely 1%, according to the study to be released today. 09/02/2006 (3) New Version of SAT Brings Lower Scores in New Version of SAT Brings Lower Scores in California. U.S. Rebecca Trounson The nation's high school class of 2006, the first to take a new, longer version of the SAT, posted the sharpest drop in scores on the widely used college entrance exam in more than three decades, test officials said Tuesday. In California, more than 190,000 college-bound seniors took the exam, an increase of about 3% from 2005. They beat the national average on the writing section with an average score of 501. But the state's scores in critical reading and math slipped below last year's. In reading, students posted an average score of 501, down three points from 2005 and two points below the national average. 09/02/2006 (3) Marines signal end of pretrial hearings in two Hamdania cases / Two Marines Admit Killing Iraqi Man Mark Walker and Teri Figuerosa / Tony Perry Marine Corps officials said that pretrial hearings for two of the eight men accused of war crimes will not resume today, and they do not expect court action any time next week. The announcement signals the cases will be decided on evidence prosecutors submitted to the hearing officers in court. 08/27/2006 (3) Governor settles lawsuit as libel that started out as fondling Robert Salladay Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has settled a lawsuit in London brought by a former British TV host who accused the governor of fondling her and later said the governor's aides had smeared her reputation, attorneys for both sides said Friday. 08/27/2006 (3) Reader's of a namby pamby paper in a basically conservative California big city express their feelings about leaving Iraq. As President Bush spoke to reporters Monday about his resolve to stay the course in Iraq, a CNN poll was released that showed nearly two-thirds of those polled do not support the war. But Bush is adamant. "If we ever give up the desire to help people who want to live in a free society, we will have lost our soul as a nation," he said. 08/23/2006 (3) Schwarzenegger Hears Rumbles From the Right: Conservatives see some of the governor's stands as liberal. Michael Finnegan With the vote on his reelection just over 12 weeks away, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger faces a wave of conservative unrest that threatens the steady political recovery he has made this year by widening his appeal beyond his base of Republican supporters. To keep conservatives in line, Schwarzenegger campaign operatives have quietly launched efforts to rally support among Christian fundamentalists, gun owners and other Republicans who have long been wary of the governor and backed him only grudgingly. 08/23/2006 (3) State adds 900 jobs in a slow July Mehul Srivastava The EDD divides the state's economy into 11 sectors; 6 of those -- including financial activities and leisure/hospitality -- added 17,900 jobs over the month. The remaining five sectors lost 17,000 jobs; education and health services lead with 6,900 fewer jobs. That loss is likely seasonal--teachers leaving payrolls of private schools during the summer months. The declining number of new jobs reflects a trend that economists statewide anticipated -- as housing market cools off, California's economy will have to adjust to a drop in construction-related jobs. The decline has been steady since May, when 14,800 new jobs were added to the state's payrolls; June saw 11,000 new jobs, compared with 900 in July. 08/20/2006 (3) Duke Cunningham's wife shoots him down Kitty Kelley Duke Cunningham's conviction stands as the worst case of corruption to date involving a member of Congress. "In the sheer dollar amount, it's unprecedented," Deputy House Historian Fred W. Beuttler told the San Diego Union-Tribune. The sledgehammer sentence of eight years and four months is also unparalleled. According to the U.S. attorney, it is the longest prison sentence for a former member of Congress, but, then, no member of Congress has roiled the public as brazenly as Duke Cunningham. 08/19/2006 (3) andy 'Duke' Cunningham's Wife Says She Felt Deceived The wife of disgraced former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham felt deceived about the extent of her now-estranged husband's corruption, she said in her first public interview since the scandal broke last year. Nancy Cunningham told New Republic magazine that she didn't question junkets paid for by defense contractors because other senior congressional figures, including Speaker Dennis Hastert, joined in. 08/13/2006 (3) California's Hall of Fame Leaves Out Major Figures George Skelton Who didn't make the cut for the California Hall of Fame: • Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, Collis P. Huntington and Mark Hopkins. Their epic construction of the Central Pacific railroad over the Sierra opened the continent and paved the way for California growth. • Reform Gov. Hiram Johnson, 1911-17. He gave us the initiative, referendum and recall, nonpartisan local elections and a Public Utilities Commission that crushed the railroad monopoly. • Amadeo Peter Giannini. He founded the Bank of Italy — later renamed the Bank of America — and revolutionized banking by lending to the working stiff, not just to the wealthy. He helped finance California agriculture and the Hollywood movie industry. • Earl Warren, governor and U.S. Supreme Court chief justice; only California governor elected to three terms, a Republican so popular he once even won the Democratic nomination. • Industrialist Henry J. Kaisr; he built 1,490 ships during World War II, better than a ship a day. He also created steel mills and pioneered HMOs. • Gov. Pat Brown, 1959-67. A builder and visionary. Other rejects: Father Junipero Serra, founder of California's missions; John Charles Fremont, explorer, military leader in the "Bear Flag Rebellion" against Mexican rule and U.S. senator. The gold rush guys: John Sutter and James Marshall; Helen Hunt Jackson, author of "Ramona," the classic about Spanish Southern California; John Steinbeck, whose "Grapes of Wrath" is arguably the most famous novel ever set in California; and Ishi, the last Native American to survive in the wild. 08/13/2006 (3) State Appeals Court Upholds H.S. Exit Exam: Lawsuit claimed test biased against poor, minority students, English-learners. Carla Rivera State appeals court uphold California's high school exit exam, rejecting claims by students that they will be irreparably harmed if their diplomas are withheld. Judges concluded with admonition to all parties to "step outside their 'fog of war' " and cooperate in finding ways to provide students with "equal and adequate access" to remedial assistance, if needed, so they can pass the exit exam. 08/12/2006 (3) TAudit says former San Diego city and pension board members violated laws in their pursuit of solutions to deficit now approaching $2billion. Richard Marosi A long-awaited audit released Tuesday blames San Diego's pension fund debacle on mismanagement and illegal financial manipulations that recall the fiscal crises of Orange County and Enron Corp. The 266-page report concludes that some former city and pension board officials violated state and federal laws in their ill-advised pursuit of short-term solutions for a pension fund deficit that now approaches $2 billion. 08/12/2006 (3) CSN&Y's political party: The grizzled '60s holdovers deliver an inspired diatribe that surely left some fans divided. Ben Wener If I offered nothing more than a play-by-play of this four-hour, 34-song evening, recounting only song lyrics and the group's many minimalist performance-art statements – like a gigantic microphone, a yellow ribbon around its stand, erected with the dramatic flair of Young's "Greendale" production as though it were a literal vox populi – well, I still wouldn't be able to avoid sharing their fed-up point of view. So why try to be so clinical, so "objective"? Yet, knowing this concert would be as protest-heavy as any in decades, I arrived consumed by thoughts of how typical folk here would take to it. What a joke of a premise. Never mind that O.C. people (those who aren't apathetic, that is) aren't so easy to peg, especially during such contentious times. What I wonder is how anyone could even speculate about the crowd's undoubtedly wildly varied reaction. 08/06/2006 (3) Six Marines charged with assault in Hamdania incident Mark Walker CAMP PENDLETON -- The Marine Corps has filed charges against six Marines for an alleged assault on an unnamed Iraqi man in the village of Hamdania, officials annpunced. 07/30/2006 (3) Spending Less? You're Helping Slow the Economy Molly Hennessy-Fiske Conserving her family's cash as costs rise, Riverside resident Laureen Pittman is postponing vacations, home repairs and other big purchases. For necessities, she is increasingly relying on discount retailers, shopping at Costco instead of Ralphs and Marshalls instead of Nordstrom. 07/30/2006 (3) L.A. Area Leads in "Employers" That Aren't Molly Selvin and Molly Hennessy-Fiske One hundred workers count on Betsy Briones for their paychecks. But not one of them works for her. Briones is a so-called nonemployer, relying exclusively on contract or temporary workers. This arrangement, which allows employers to avoid the soaring costs of health insurance and other benefits, is booming in California, according to a Census Bureau report to be released today. The 63-year-old Briones runs a busy referral agency for in-home care workers out of her Los Angeles residence, placing caregivers with elderly or disabled clients. All of her caregivers are independent contractors and are responsible for obtaining their own benefits, she said. 07/23/2006 (3) Rich, Poor Live Poles Apart in L.A. as Middle Class Keeps Shrinking Nancy Cleeland Demographers at Wayne State University in Detroit found Greater Los Angeles to be the most economically segregated region in the country. The study found only about 28% of its neighborhoods to be middle-class or mixed income, compared with more than half of those in Nashville, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Portland, Ore. 07/02/2006 (3) State Tracked Protesters in the Name of Security Officials say they have stopped monitoring antiwar and political rallies. Peter Nicholas Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office in charge of protecting California against terrorism has tracked demonstrations staged by political and antiwar groups, a practice that senior law enforcement officials say is an abuse of civil liberties. 07/01/2006 (3) State's prison system in 'crisis': Andy Furillo In calling for a special legislative session on prison overcrowding, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has achieved a measure of political cover in the event of worst-case correctional scenarios -- riots, hostage-taking and death. But it remains to be seen whether his actions will serve to inoculate him from the state's long-running prison crisis, especially if a federal judge orders the release of thousands of inmates to relieve the system's population pressure. 06/30/2006 (3) California's gap between state and federal scores in No Child Left Behind program is among the smallest. in the Nation Mitchell Landsberg Study finds that No Child Left Behind had not led to gains in math or reading achievement, nor had it achieved another major goal: reducing the gaps in achievement among racial and economic groups. 06/30/2006 (3) California's Budget Dance Avoids the Missteps of the Past George Skelton The main difference in this budget dance was the virtual brushoff of the "Big Five." Back about four governors ago — but mainly with Pete Wilson — an abomination called the Big Five was institutionalized. It consisted of the governor and four legislative leaders — the two party honchos from each house. They'd sit around the governor's office and write the final versions of big bills, including the biggest of all: the budget. Big Five negotiations make sense only in dire emergencies. This budget still will spend more than the state takes in. So it's not really balanced, despite the spin. 06/24/2006 (3) Gov. Refuses Bush Request for More Border Troops Peter Nicholas Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office said that he turned down a White House request to more than double the number of California National Guard troops deployed to the border, fearing the commitment could leave the state vulnerable if an earthquake or wildfire erupts. 06/23/2006 (3) Seven Marines, Navy corpsman charged with murder Mark Walker, David Sterrett, Willam Finn Bennett In one of the most serious criminal cases of the Iraq, seven Marines and a Navy corpsman were charged with premeditated murder, kidnapping and conspiracy and related charges in the alleged abduction and slaying of an Iraqi civilian. 06/23/2006 (3) Local Marines, residents say charges too harsh David Sterbett Several Marines and North County residents said murder and kidnapping charges filed Wednesday against seven Marines and a Navy corpsman seem unwarranted. Even though many of the specifics of the allegations have yet to be released by Marine Corps officials, many of those interviewed said they were standing with the troops. "It's not fair because they were in a hostile situation and you can't trust anyone," said Sgt. Chris Janes, who has been to Iraq twice. 06/07/2006 (3) An immigrant's critique of Fox : “We're not here for the American Dream. We're here to survive.” Reuben Navarrette What to do to make a better Mexico? Three things: (1) Tackle police corruption; people have no incentive to be productive if they're constantly being fleeced and robbed by those who are supposed to protect them. (2) Stop penalizing employers and small businesses; cutting licensing fees would allow companies to create more jobs and pay higher wages. (3) Clean up the environment by punishing companies that plunder natural resources and lay waste to the countryside and waterways. Vicente Fox hadn't done enough in those areas. 05/28/2006 (3) After Scandals, Usually Sunny San Diegans Wonder if City Has Hit Bottom John M. Bradford Last summer, shortly after former Mayor Dick Murphy resigned in the depths of San Diego's legal, political and financial crisis, city officials quietly removed the boosterish slogan "America's Finest City" from the city's Web site. Jerry Sanders, the former San Diego chief of police who became mayor in December, restored the upbeat motto as one of his first official acts, even as the investigations, indictments and deficits continued to pour forth. 05/27/2006 (3) Photos Indicate Civilians in Haditha, Iraq Were Killed Execution-Style by Camp Pendleton Marines Tony Perry and Julian E. Barnes Photographs taken by a Marine intelligence team have convinced investigators that a Marine unit killed as many as 24 unarmed Iraqis, some of them "execution-style," in the insurgent stronghold of Haditha after a roadside bomb killed an American in November, officials close to the investigation said Friday. 05/27/2006 (3) Mideast Debate Takes Root at UC Irvine Jewish and Muslim leaders say clashes on Orange County, CA campus have intensified Ashraf Khalil UC Irvine is an unlikely flashpoint in the national Israeli-Arab debate. Campus' Muslim Student Union has drawn harsh criticism for last week's "Holocaust in the Holy Land" programs. Events included a speech titled "Israel: the 4th Reich" and the construction of a mock Israeli security wall with students dressed as Israeli army officers conducting aggressive checkpoint searches. 05/19/2006 (3) The Price of Border Security Might Just Be the National Guard George Skelton President Bush wants to use the state National Guard to do a federal job. Sacramento Democrats complain that's a dumb idea, but they're virtually powerless to stop it. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gets the final call. He can send the troops or buck Bush. 05/19/2006 (3) California Officials Chafe at Bush's Plan foNational Guard Robert Salladay and Nancy Vogel California's highest-ranking officials react with displeasure and exasperation Wednesday to President Bush's plan to use thousands of National Guard troops to support border patrols and curb illegal immigration. 05/13/2006 (3) Gov. Schwarzenegger Says Borders Are Vulnerable; takes Congress and White House to task for failing to enact an immigration strategy. says they are to blame for protests. Peter Nicholas In some of the harshest terms he has used to date, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday said the federal government has left the nation's borders dangerously vulnerable while failing to come up with a sensible approach to immigration. 05/13/2006 (3) California Lawmaker Rep. Jerry Lewis Touched by the Duke Cunningham Corruption Probe Peter Pae Federal prosecutors have begun an investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis, the Californian who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee, government officials and others said, signaling the spread of a San Diego corruption probe. 05/12/2006 (3) Jeannine Aversa When rent is taken into account, California has the No. 3 highest number of needy people in the country. California's poverty rate is deceiving. When rent is taken into account, California has the No. 3 highest number of needy people in the country. 05/12/2006 (3) Poway's Brent Wilkes is 'co-conspirator No. 1' in the Cunningham case, his lawyer says. Peter Pae and Dan Morain Brent R. Wilkes was a small defense contractor who looked for powerful friends in high places. On Capitol Hill, Wilkes plied lawmakers with gifts, favors and hefty campaign contributions. He leased a jet and took then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) to three states on a golfing vacation. He hired expensive lobbyists close to legislators who controlled last-minute changes to the Pentagon's budget. Over the last decade, some of Wilkes' two dozen firms in San Diego and Virginia received about $100 million in federal contracts. They were small deals by Washington standards, usually a few million dollars apiece, and they involved dull jobs — scanning and filing documents, supplying computer storage devices or delivering bottled water to government workers overseas — but rivals complained that Wilkes got more than his share. 05/02/2006 (3) Pasadena-based Parsons Corp. was to rebuild Iraq's health and security sectors. Poor work left many goals abandoned, T. Christian Miller Parsons Corp., the Pasadena engineering firm that won one of the largest rebuilding contracts in postwar Iraq, fell dramatically short of a number of goals. The firm was to have rebuilt Iraq's health and security infrastructure. However, it will finish only 20 of 150 planned health clinics, and nearly $70 million of medical equipment meant for the clinics sits unused. 05/02/2006 (3) Latino advocates face this question: How to translate the passion of the streets into lasting political gains Teresa Watanabe and Nicole Gaouette As immigrants and their supporters boycotted work and school, refrained from consumer spending and marched in cities across the nation, the urgent question they face is how to translate the passion of the streets into lasting political gains. 05/02/2006 (3) Immigrant Debate, Pavement Version in Los Angeles Steve Lopez In Beverly Hills, it was a day without Chaya Brasserie, which closed because most of the employees wanted to march. But the Ivy took up the slack, with a lunch line that stretched out to the sidewalk. "What demonstrations?" asked a woman waiting to dine. It's safe to say that if you're carrying a Prada pocketbook and a bag from Barney's, the recent activism is of little interest unless the housekeeper calls in sick. 05/02/2006 (3) Going all wobbly on illegal immigration Jill Stewart For years, illegal immigration policy in California has been driven by fear. Fear of being unfairly labeled anti-Latino is one reason the California Legislature doesn't study basic questions like "What does it cost the average California taxpayer to support an illegal immigrant?" 04/29/2006 (3) The parole system in California is a crime Joan Petersilia and Robert Weisberg California's corrections chief and his acting replacement have both quit in the last two months. A major cause of the growing dysfunctionality has nothing to do with how the state runs its prisons and administers parole. Rather, it's the state's laws that determine the lengths of prison terms and inmate-release policies. 04/29/2006 (3) California's Energy Strategy Holds Lessons for Bush Ronald Brownstein Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats in the state Legislature are fashioning a comprehensive response to two of America's most pressing problems: the intertwined challenges of global warming and energy independence. In contrast, Bush focused almost entirely on promoting more domestic production of oil and gas. 04/16/2006 (3) Border arrests surge in S.D. region Leslie Berestein Arrests of illegal border crossers have increased more sharply in the San Diego region than anywhere else in the Southwest during the past six months, as stepped up enforcement in Arizona has pushed human smuggling traffic west. 04/16/2006 (3) Organizers dedicate L.A. immigrant rights march to boy whose family blames suicide on fear allegedly instilled by school official Jean Merl and Richard Winton Several thousand people marched through downtown Los Angeles to protest federal legislation that would crack down on illegal immigration. Organizers dedicated the event to Anthony Soltero, whose mother says he killed himself after a school vice principal allegedly told him that he would be sent to jail for missing class to take part in an immigration rights march. 04/16/2006 (3) Mother Blames School Official for Son's Suicide Lance Pugmire and Janet Wilson Distraught mother calls for temporary removal of vice principal she blames for her 14-year-old son's suicide after he was disciplined for missing class to take part in an immigration rights march. 04/09/2006 (3) What's with all those Mexican flags at pro immigrant rallies? Daniel Hernandez “When you’re in high school, you try to find something that ties you with the rest of your friends, you try to find out who you are, and being Mexican, I guess, is what ties all these kids together,” said Martha Ugarte, 22, who helps out her mother, Martha, with organizing and publicity for regional Mexican clubs in L.A. “I don’t think they see it as, ‘I’m supporting the Mexican government.’ When you see the U.S. flag, to them it represents more of a government than a culture, and the Mexican flag represents more of a culture than a government.” 04/09/2006 (3) Eighth grader committs suicide after being threatened with sanctions after organizing school walk out Actor Edward James Olmos and Movie Producer Moctezuma Esparza HBO's "East L.A Walkouts,""Selena,""Milagro Beanfield War") to be among community members to pray for Anthony Soltero, age 14, who shot himself after being told he was going to prison because of his involvement as an organizer of school walk-outs to protest anti-immigrant legislation. 04/08/2006 (3) Most Seniors Pass H.S. Exit Test Poor, Latino and black students lag behind whites and Asians overall, a statewide analysis finds. Carla Rivera Nearly 89% of seniors have passed the California high school exit exam, but wide achievement gaps remain for poor students and English learners, according to new figures released Tuesday by the state Education Department. 03/27/2006 (3) California 49th in sending kids to college--lack of counselors, prep classes blamed; many attend community colleges Lisa M. Sodders California sends a smaller percentage of high school students to four-year colleges than any other state but Mississippi a trend that experts blame on too few counselors, teachers and college preparatory courses, a new study says. 03/24/2006 (3) No accounting for a crook's taste Patt Morrison It's not often that you get a chance to mock a man's ethics and his taste in interior decorating at the same time. The feds are slamming down the auction hammer on some of Randy "Duke" Cunningham's ill-gotten gains, the loot that the former honorable Republican congressman from San Diego County amassed by hanging a "for sale" sign around his own dishonorable neck. 03/24/2006 (3) Auction of Randy Cunningham's Ill Gotten Gains Fetch $94,000 Teri Figero Furnishings that once adorned the Rancho Santa Fe home of former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham are now in the hands of common folks. The public auction in a vast, cold Los Angeles-area warehouse marked an unceremonious footnote to a scandal that brought down a congressman. 03/24/2006 (3) California 49th in sending kids to college. Lack of counselors, prep classes blamed; many attend community colleges. Lisa M. Sodders California sends a smaller percentage of high school students to four-year colleges than any other state but Mississippi a trend that experts blame on too few counselors, teachers and college preparatory courses, a new study says. The roadblocks to college are even larger in schools with a high percentage of poor students and English-language learners, according to the 2006 California Educational Opportunity Report prepared by UCLA. 03/24/2006 (3) U.S. Reps. Dan Lungren and Loretta Sanchez outline $4B port security plan for LA / Long Beach Kristopher Hanson Citing a critical lack of security against terrorism at the nation's ports, two members of Congress on Friday outlined a $4 billion plan to conduct background checks on port workers and inspect all container cargo coming into the nation, among other measures. 03/24/2006 (3) Welcome to Maywood, CA where the mostly Latino city's council wants it to be a sanctuary for illegl immigrnts Hector Becerra In Maywood, CA where 96% of the residents are Latino, and more than half are foreign-born, the City Council has vowed to make the municipality a "sanctuary city" for illegal immigrants, and over the last few months it has set out to prove it. 03/22/2006 (3) California's Air Is Among Nation's Most Toxic Marla Cone Despite two decades of cleaning up carcinogenic fumes from cars and factories, Californians are breathing some of the most toxic air in the nation, with residents of Los Angeles and Orange counties exposed to a cancer risk about twice the national average. 03/22/2006 (3) Civil Trial in Orange County Sex Assault Likely to Be Ugly Christopher Goffard The victim of an Orange County Sex Assault has sued the three young men convicted of sexually assaulting her while a video camera rolled and she lay unconscious on a pool table. And she is suing Haidl's father, a rich former Orange County assistant sheriff, alleging that he should have known of the drug- and alcohol-fueled parties raging in his Corona del Mar home, where the attack occurred. 03/18/2006 (3) Non-U.S. firms manage most of the terminals at L.A.-area ports Ronald D. White On Southern California's bustling docks, there's a queasy familiarity to the uproar over a state-owned Arab company's push to manage port terminals in six U.S. cities. That's because it happened here at the nation's busiest port complex in the late 1990s, but the foreign government involved then was China. The fears were about espionage and smuggling, not the terrorism concerns that plague Dubai Ports World's $6.8-billion purchase of a British company's worldwide shipping business. 03/12/2006 (3) Perps in Notorious Orange County Rape Case Each Sentenced to Six Years Larry Welborn and Rachael Srisvasdi Greg Haidl and two friends were sentenced today to six years apiece in prison for sexually assaulting a drunken teenage girl in one of the highest-profile trials ever in Orange County. Haidl, 20, and Kyle Nachreiner, 21, apologized in court to the 20-year-old victim, known as “Jane Doe,” who was molested with a pool cue, a cigarette and a Snapple bottle. Co-defendant Keith Spann, 21, did not speak. 03/12/2006 (3) Dark Portrait of a 'Painter of Light': tactics and seamy personal conduct. He disputes the allegations. Kim Christensen Thomas Kinkade is famous for images he says have brought "God's light" into people's lives, even as they have made him one of America's most collected artists. Kinkade trades heavily on his beliefs and says God has guided his brush — and his life — for the last 20 years. "When I got saved, God became my art agent." But some former Kinkade employees, gallery operators and others contend the Painter of Light has a decidedly dark side. In litigation and interviews with the LA Times, some former gallery owners depict Kinkade as a ruthless businessman who drove them to financial ruin at the same time he was fattening his business associates' bank accounts and feathering his nest with tens of millions of dollars. 03/12/2006 (3) Nazi Camp Survivors and Ex-GI Who helped Liberate Him Celebrate Anew in San Diego Tony Perry Twice in his five years of starvation and brutality in four Nazi concentration camps, Lou Dunst was herded along with other prisoners into a gas chamber to be killed. Once there was a malfunction in the gas jets, and the other time a guard decided that he did not want to waste precious coal to burn the bodies, so the execution was called off. More dead than alive, Dunst and other prisoners at the Ebensee camp in Austria were rescued by the U.S. Army in the final days of World War II. Dunst and his brother Irving, who was also captive at Ebensee, met Robert Persinger, the Army staff sergeant who led the platoon that liberated the camp on May 6, 1945. 03/12/2006 (3) Schwarzenegger's After-School Plan Needs More Study George Skelton In 2002, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger created a ballot initiative for after-school programs that he used as a springboard to the governor's office the next year. Now, that measure is about to become a drain on the state treasury — and on schools. 03/08/2006 (3) "As a pilot, Duke [Cunningham] was a hero, but as a congressman he was a flop." Tony Perry When Randy Cunningham's political career ended in a prison sentence, his heroic service in Vietnam was the only thing he was willing to defend in his tearful plea for mercy. 03/05/2006 (3) “Pampering & Poetry" 03/04/2006 (3) Cunningham taken into custody, ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution Karen Kucher, Greg Gross, Angelica Martinez and Debbi Farr Baker Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham taken into custody after being sentenced to eight years and four months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution for accepting bribes from defense contractors. 03/03/2006 (3) Ex U.S. Rep. Randy Cunningham Senteced to Eight Years and Four Months in prison, Payment of Restitution Horace Coleman Former California Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham has been sentenced to eight years and four months in a federal prison for receiving bribes from defense contractors. 02/28/2006 (3) Things to Do Before You Get Pregnant: Take folic acid. Buy a new house. Get your mercury tested. Judith Lewis The same administration that conferred legal rights on the unborn fetus has so far refused to regulate emissions of a mercuty, known to damage fetal brains in the womb. And, while California’s clean-air laws keep coal-fired power plants outside the state’s borders, residents have not escaped coal’s toxic effects 02/27/2006 (3) Military Contractor Who Bribed Randy Cunningham Pleads Guilty to Bribery of Others David S. Cloud Military contractor pleads guilty to paying Randy Cunninghaqm more than $1 million in bribes. Mitchell Wade also hired the son of a Pentagon official in a scheme that helped bring his firm more than $150 million in military contracts since 2002. Wade also admitted making nearly $80,000 in illegal campaign contributions to two other House members. Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., (R,VA) and Rep. Katherine Harris (R. FL)issued statements identifying themselves as the two members. 02/18/2006 (3) LA Area Violence Shifts From Street to Jails Hector Becerra and Richard Winton Some LA area local law enforcement officials believe large-scale riots and fights in jails might have been fueled by several recent crackdowns on warring Latino and black gangs. 02/16/2006 (3) Social Activist, Women's Right Promoter Angela Davis to speak at UC San Diego Angela Davis, social activist and promoter of women's rights and racial justice, will speak at UC San Diego on 6 p.m. March 1 in the Price Center Ballroom. 02/15/2006 (3) Race walls won't end jail riots in Los Angeles County Jody Kent Overcrowding and understaffing, and the increased tension that those two factors bring, have created a situation potentially so volatile that everyone inside — inmates and deputies alike — is unsafe. Last week, dilapidated, outmoded facilities provided the fire that ignited the fuse. Despite what you may be hearing, race is not the issue. 02/10/2006 (3) High Mercury Levels Found in Californians Marla Cone Californians who volunteered for a nationwide study of mercury contamination had among the worst levels, with nearly one-third of those tested having concentrations in their tissues that exceeded safe levels. 02/05/2006 (3) Traces of Prescription Drugs Found in Southland Aquifers (Los Angeles area) Marla Cone New technology enables detection of infinitesimally small doses of chemicals in the environment. Southern California water-quality officials have learned an array of pharmaceuticals are defying even the most sophisticated sewage treatments. 02/05/2006 (3) California Military Family Relief Fund Goes Untapped Rone Tempest A year after it was launched to help activated National Guard families suffering financial hardships, the California Military Family Relief Fund has been a major disappointment to its sponsors. 01/24/2006 (3) Conservative Drops Offer of $100 Bounty for "Radical" Professors at UCLA Stuart Silverstein The conservative activist who is waging a campaign against what he contends are UCLA's "radical professors" Monday withdrew his offer to pay students bounties of up to $100 per class to provide information about their teachers. But he pledged to continue his effort with unpaid volunteers. 01/21/2006 (3) Tim Wise, prominent anti-racist writer and activist , to speak in San Diego Tim Wise speaking at San Diego Museum of Art 01/18/2006 (3) UCLA Alumni Group Is Tracking 'Radical' Faculty Stuart Silverstein and Peter Y. Hong A fledgling alumni group headed by a former campus Republican leader is offering students payments of up to $100 per class to provide information on instructors who are "abusive, one-sided or off-topic" in advocating political ideologies. 01/14/2006 (3) Has the “Duke” of Deception become a snitch? Laura Rozen The corruption scandal involving California Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham would not seem to have the elements of a decent spy novel. Time magazine(6 Jan 05) reported that before Cunningham’s plea agreement was publicly announced, he had been wearing a concealed recording device. "The identity of those with whom the San Diego congressman met while wearing the wire remains unclear" Time wrote. What the Time report suggests was that Cunningham might not be the biggest fish in this case after all. 01/12/2006 (3) 1st Suit in State to Attack 'Intelligent Design' Filed Henry Weinstein A group of parents in the small Tehachapi mountain community of Lebec on Tuesday filed the first lawsuit challenging the teaching of "intelligent design" in a California public school. 01/12/2006 (3) A Fault Line for 'Intelligent Design' in the Tehachapi Mountains Louis Sahagun and Eric Bailey A small close-knit community in the Tehachapi Mountains mountains has become the latest focal point in the national debate over teaching "intelligent design" in public schools. 01/12/2006 (3) Moratorium on Executions Is Urged Henry Weinstein A group of California prosecutors — including the author of California's 1978 death penalty initiative, whose office sent dozens of people to death row when he was Los Angeles County's district attorney — endorse a moratorium on executions in California. 01/10/2006 (3) Rep. Dana Rohrabacher Defends Indicted Lobbyist Abramoff, a Friend Jean O. Pasco Rep. Dana Rohrabacher offered a rare defense Monday of longtime friend and lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty last week to influence peddling charges that have rocked Capitol Hill. 01/10/2006 (3) Farmworkers Reap Little as Union Strays From Its Roots Miriam Pawel Farmworkers Reap Little as United Farmworkers Union (UFW) Strays From Its Roots. The movement built by Cesar Chavez has failed to expand on its early successes organizing poor rural laborers. As their plight is used to attract donations that benefit others, services for those in the fields are left to languish. 01/08/2006 (3) The United Farm Workers union: A Broken Contract Miriam Pawel The United Fatm Workers movement built by Cesar Chavez has failed to expand on its early successes organizing poor rural laborers. Farmworkers reap little since the UFW has strayed from its roots. Their plight is used to attract donations that benefit others. Services for those in the fields languish.] Chavez's heirs run a web of tax-exempt organizations that exploit his legacy and invoke the harsh lives of farmworkers to raise millions of dollars in public and private money. They broke with labor solidarity and hired nonunion workers to build the $3.2-million National Chavez Center around their founder's grave in the Tehachapi Mountains. 01/03/2006 (3) The war on San Diego's underground press--the San Diego Street Journal David E. Kaplan The assault on the San Diego Street Journal was part of a massive campaign of government spying and dirty tricks directed for a decade against civil rights, antiwar, and other '60s-era activists. The war on the underground press, which at its peak claimed some 7 million readers a month, included efforts by the FBI, the CIA, Army intelligence, and local police to spy on and disrupt alternative newspapers. From 1960 to 1974, the FBI created files on more than 1 million Americans and carried out over a half-million investigations of people deemed "subversives" --most of them engaged in constitutionally protected free speech. 01/02/2006 (3) Rev. Robert H. Schuller hands over leadership of Crystal Cathedral to his son William Lobdell and Dan Weikel Rev. Robert H. Schuller hands over leadership of the Crystal Cathedral to his son, ending a half-century as pastor of a church he started in a drive-in movie theater and built into a worldwide ministry.

California 2006

12/31/2006 (3)
Black on white beating defense delayed / Hate motivation not proved in Long Beach racial beating, defense says
Greg Mellen

12/31/2006 (3)
Godfather of soul, and of our goal
Clarence Page

12/31/2006 (3)
Job evaluation: Arnold Schwarzenegger

12/31/2006 (3)
Why the Governator invited Willie Brown to the inauguration
James Richardson

12/31/2006 (3)
Charges against Camp Pendleton Marines detailed: Documents released in Haditha slayings.
Rick Rogers

12/31/2006 (3)
Tuition cut 23 percent at community colleges
Chris Moran

12/31/2006 (3)
LA cops, also reservists, retuirn from deploymeny in Iraq
Patrick McGreevy

12/24/2006 (3)
History taking a sharp turn for Asian Americans
George Skelton

12/24/2006 (3)
UCLA economists say California and U.S. economies headed for "soft landing"
Lisa Girion

12/17/2006 (3)
Toll of war is too much for West Coast memorial
Michael R. Blood

12/12/2006 (3)
Community colleges in dire need of finishing touches
Peter Schrag

12/12/2006 (3)
No clear answers to questions of immigration
Greg Mellen

12/12/2006 (3)
Thousands struggle in the shadow of affluence
Greg Mellen

12/10/2006 (3)
White victim of hate crime tells attack details
Joe Mozingo / Wendy Thomas Russell and Tracy Manzer

12/07/2006 (3)
Cardinakl Mahony's speaking, but he's still silent
Steve Lopez

12/07/2006 (3)
How an African American family stood up to LA's restrictive housing covenants
Cecilia Rasmussen

12/07/2006 (3)
Firehouse culture an ordeal for women
Sandy Banks

12/02/2006 (3)
Former nun, molested as a child, can't forgive Cardinal Mahony's inaction
John Spano

12/02/2006 (3)
LA archdiocese molestion settlement leaves largest questions unanswered
Paul Pringle and Jean Guccione

11/30/2006 (3)
Changing How America Works: Something's wrong when only the rich are getting richer, and average folks are feeling the squeeze.
Andy Stern

11/30/2006 (3)
Obit: 'Jezebel of Jazz', Anita O'Day--renowned singer
Dennis McLellan

11/26/2006 (3)
Gucci and Prada for the under-13 crowd
Alana Semuels

11/12/2006 (3)
As Iraq war drags on, so does a temporary memorial in Santa Barbara
Steve Chawkins

11/12/2006 (3)
Debra Bowen, California secretary of state elect, is one of only six women to ever capture a statewide post
Jenifer Warren

11/12/2006 (3)
California's Asian American voters flex their muscles
David Pierson

11/06/2006 (3)
Some in U.S. guest worker program get a rude awakening in the fields
Lee Romney

10/28/2006 (3)
GOP Congressional hopeful Tan Nguyen is focus of investigators after Hispanics get a scare-tactic flier.
Norberto Santana, Tony Saavedra and Martin Wisckol

10/26/2006 (3)
Encinitas Marine pleads guilty in Hamdania killing
Mark Walker and Teri Figueroa

10/26/2006 (3)
The San Diego Housing Market: For Sale' Times 30,000
Kelly Bennett

10/22/2006 (3)
Aren't 13 Propositions Too Many?
Patt Morrison

10/22/2006 (3)
More Homeowners Going Into Default
David Streitfeld and Martin Zimmerman

10/22/2006 (3)
Six Flags writes a code of conduct in a bid to lure more families, fewer rowdy teens.
Alana Semuels

10/22/2006 (3)
California to Send Inmates Out of State

10/22/2006 (3)
Encinitas Marine reported ready to plead guilty in Hamdania case
Teri Figueroa and Mark Walker

10/19/2006 (3)
Escondido OKs law prohibiting landlords from renting to illegal immigrants
David Fried

10/19/2006 (3)
Randy Cunningham steered $70 million to those who bribed him, House report says
Greg Miller

10/19/2006 (3)
U.S. Rep. Jerry Lewis Is House's Top Recipient of Lobbyist Donations
Richard Simon

10/19/2006 (3)
U.S. Rep. Jerry Lewis' Legal Fees Are Drain on His War Chest
Richard Simon

10/19/2006 (3)
California Mortgage Default Rate Throttles Up
David Streitfeld and Martin J. Zimmerman

10/18/2006 (3)
Freak Dancing Freaks Out Adults
Seema Mehta

10/14/2006 (3)
Governor Courts Black Clergy With Aid From Prop. 49
Peter Nicholas

10/07/2006 (3)
Onell R. Soto
Randy Cunningham's wife admits wrongdoing but won't be prosecuted

10/07/2006 (3)
Randy Cunninghan, in prison letter, blames contractor for downfall, reporter for his pain
George E. Condon Jr.

10/07/2006 (3)
Feeling Low in the Middle Class
Kelly Bennett

10/02/2006 (3)
Immigration Work Force Fights Corruption in Its Ranks
Pauline Arrillaga

10/02/2006 (3)
North (San Diego) County congressional representatives argue for tough immigration bills
Edward Sifuentes

10/02/2006 (3)
California soldier dies after trying to save others in Iraq

09/28/2006 (3)
Top-flight colleges' students do poorly on Civics and American History, study says. Berkeley gets an F, Stanford a D
Tanya Schevitz

09/26/2006 (3)
The IRS Works in (not so) Mysterious Ways Against Pasadena's All Saints church
Steve Lopez

09/23/2006 (3)
Pasadena's All Saints Episcopal Church Won't Comply With IRS Probe
Louis Sahagun

09/21/2006 (3)
L.A. Panel Reaffirms Muslim's Award After Controversy
Teresa Watanabe

09/17/2006 (3)
Agent claims accused Marine cried during interrogation
Mark Walker and Teri Figueroa

09/12/2006 (3)
The antidote to a poisoned debate on illegal immigration
Arnold Schwarzenegger

09/11/2006 (3)
Gov. Schwarzenegger Settles Suit Brought by Former TV Host
Robert Salladay

09/07/2006 (3)
Protest Targets Maywood CA's Stance on Illegal Immigration. Tiny city is known as a 'sanctuary' for illegal immigrants
Ted Rohrlich
For a couple of hours, a small group of demonstrators made Slauson Avenue in the tiny city of Maywood feel like the red-hot center of the national debate over immigrant rights.
09/07/2006 (3)
Bill Renews Debate Over Helping English Learners: Critics say it would cause 'segregated' learning.
Carla Rivera
Glendale teacher Rebecca Quintero recently spent a morning encouraging her fourth-graders to write about the joys of summer for an English assignment. Some of her Spanish, Armenian, Korean and Tagalog speakers were confused at how to begin and their textbook offered limited guidance. What Quintero needed was a fourth-grade book that would support students with varying degrees of English proficiency.
09/07/2006 (3)
Far Fewer California Schools Meet Targets in State Testing: Far Fewer California Schools Meet Targets in State Testing
Howard Blume and Seema Mehta
Just over half of California's schools met their state testing improvement targets — far fewer than last year — a disappointing result that was fueled by schools' inability to keep pace with rising expectations. This leveling off was especially worrisome in the data for poor students and African Americans.
09/04/2006 (3)
Labor Day Special: A Willing Worker Can't Afford a Job She Loves
Joe Mathews
Anticipating the strike and lockout at Southern California grocery stores that ultimately lasted more than four months — she quit to find other work. When she decided to go back into the grocery business last year, she took a job, held the same job title, joined the same union. Everything else was different. She found she would have to wait 18 months for health benefits. She and most of her fellow workers were part-timers who struggled to get more than 16 hours each week.
09/04/2006 (3)
labor Day Special: In California Wages Barely Keep Up With Inflation

The California Budget Project study tracked hourly wage increases, adjusted for inflation, across three earning categories: low, median and high. In 2005, hourly pay for the lowest earners was $10, median pay was $17, and high pay was $30. From 2003 to 2005, workers in the low and median ranges saw little or no wage growth, while those at the high end of the wage scale saw increases of barely 1%, according to the study to be released today.
09/02/2006 (3)
New Version of SAT Brings Lower Scores in New Version of SAT Brings Lower Scores in California. U.S.
Rebecca Trounson
The nation's high school class of 2006, the first to take a new, longer version of the SAT, posted the sharpest drop in scores on the widely used college entrance exam in more than three decades, test officials said Tuesday. In California, more than 190,000 college-bound seniors took the exam, an increase of about 3% from 2005. They beat the national average on the writing section with an average score of 501. But the state's scores in critical reading and math slipped below last year's. In reading, students posted an average score of 501, down three points from 2005 and two points below the national average.
09/02/2006 (3)
Marines signal end of pretrial hearings in two Hamdania cases / Two Marines Admit Killing Iraqi Man
Mark Walker and Teri Figuerosa / Tony Perry
Marine Corps officials said that pretrial hearings for two of the eight men accused of war crimes will not resume today, and they do not expect court action any time next week. The announcement signals the cases will be decided on evidence prosecutors submitted to the hearing officers in court.
08/27/2006 (3)
Governor settles lawsuit as libel that started out as fondling
Robert Salladay
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has settled a lawsuit in London brought by a former British TV host who accused the governor of fondling her and later said the governor's aides had smeared her reputation, attorneys for both sides said Friday.
08/27/2006 (3)
Reader's of a namby pamby paper in a basically conservative California big city express their feelings about leaving Iraq.

As President Bush spoke to reporters Monday about his resolve to stay the course in Iraq, a CNN poll was released that showed nearly two-thirds of those polled do not support the war. But Bush is adamant. "If we ever give up the desire to help people who want to live in a free society, we will have lost our soul as a nation," he said.
08/23/2006 (3)
Schwarzenegger Hears Rumbles From the Right: Conservatives see some of the governor's stands as liberal.
Michael Finnegan
With the vote on his reelection just over 12 weeks away, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger faces a wave of conservative unrest that threatens the steady political recovery he has made this year by widening his appeal beyond his base of Republican supporters. To keep conservatives in line, Schwarzenegger campaign operatives have quietly launched efforts to rally support among Christian fundamentalists, gun owners and other Republicans who have long been wary of the governor and backed him only grudgingly.
08/23/2006 (3)
State adds 900 jobs in a slow July
Mehul Srivastava
The EDD divides the state's economy into 11 sectors; 6 of those -- including financial activities and leisure/hospitality -- added 17,900 jobs over the month. The remaining five sectors lost 17,000 jobs; education and health services lead with 6,900 fewer jobs. That loss is likely seasonal--teachers leaving payrolls of private schools during the summer months. The declining number of new jobs reflects a trend that economists statewide anticipated -- as housing market cools off, California's economy will have to adjust to a drop in construction-related jobs. The decline has been steady since May, when 14,800 new jobs were added to the state's payrolls; June saw 11,000 new jobs, compared with 900 in July.
08/20/2006 (3)
Duke Cunningham's wife shoots him down
Kitty Kelley
Duke Cunningham's conviction stands as the worst case of corruption to date involving a member of Congress. "In the sheer dollar amount, it's unprecedented," Deputy House Historian Fred W. Beuttler told the San Diego Union-Tribune. The sledgehammer sentence of eight years and four months is also unparalleled. According to the U.S. attorney, it is the longest prison sentence for a former member of Congress, but, then, no member of Congress has roiled the public as brazenly as Duke Cunningham.
08/19/2006 (3)
andy 'Duke' Cunningham's Wife Says She Felt Deceived

The wife of disgraced former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham felt deceived about the extent of her now-estranged husband's corruption, she said in her first public interview since the scandal broke last year. Nancy Cunningham told New Republic magazine that she didn't question junkets paid for by defense contractors because other senior congressional figures, including Speaker Dennis Hastert, joined in.
08/13/2006 (3)
California's Hall of Fame Leaves Out Major Figures
George Skelton
Who didn't make the cut for the California Hall of Fame: • Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, Collis P. Huntington and Mark Hopkins. Their epic construction of the Central Pacific railroad over the Sierra opened the continent and paved the way for California growth. • Reform Gov. Hiram Johnson, 1911-17. He gave us the initiative, referendum and recall, nonpartisan local elections and a Public Utilities Commission that crushed the railroad monopoly. • Amadeo Peter Giannini. He founded the Bank of Italy — later renamed the Bank of America — and revolutionized banking by lending to the working stiff, not just to the wealthy. He helped finance California agriculture and the Hollywood movie industry. • Earl Warren, governor and U.S. Supreme Court chief justice; only California governor elected to three terms, a Republican so popular he once even won the Democratic nomination. • Industrialist Henry J. Kaisr; he built 1,490 ships during World War II, better than a ship a day. He also created steel mills and pioneered HMOs. • Gov. Pat Brown, 1959-67. A builder and visionary. Other rejects: Father Junipero Serra, founder of California's missions; John Charles Fremont, explorer, military leader in the "Bear Flag Rebellion" against Mexican rule and U.S. senator. The gold rush guys: John Sutter and James Marshall; Helen Hunt Jackson, author of "Ramona," the classic about Spanish Southern California; John Steinbeck, whose "Grapes of Wrath" is arguably the most famous novel ever set in California; and Ishi, the last Native American to survive in the wild.
08/13/2006 (3)
State Appeals Court Upholds H.S. Exit Exam: Lawsuit claimed test biased against poor, minority students, English-learners.
Carla Rivera
State appeals court uphold California's high school exit exam, rejecting claims by students that they will be irreparably harmed if their diplomas are withheld. Judges concluded with admonition to all parties to "step outside their 'fog of war' " and cooperate in finding ways to provide students with "equal and adequate access" to remedial assistance, if needed, so they can pass the exit exam.
08/12/2006 (3)
TAudit says former San Diego city and pension board members violated laws in their pursuit of solutions to deficit now approaching $2billion.
Richard Marosi
A long-awaited audit released Tuesday blames San Diego's pension fund debacle on mismanagement and illegal financial manipulations that recall the fiscal crises of Orange County and Enron Corp. The 266-page report concludes that some former city and pension board officials violated state and federal laws in their ill-advised pursuit of short-term solutions for a pension fund deficit that now approaches $2 billion.
08/12/2006 (3)
CSN&Y's political party: The grizzled '60s holdovers deliver an inspired diatribe that surely left some fans divided.
Ben Wener
If I offered nothing more than a play-by-play of this four-hour, 34-song evening, recounting only song lyrics and the group's many minimalist performance-art statements – like a gigantic microphone, a yellow ribbon around its stand, erected with the dramatic flair of Young's "Greendale" production as though it were a literal vox populi – well, I still wouldn't be able to avoid sharing their fed-up point of view. So why try to be so clinical, so "objective"? Yet, knowing this concert would be as protest-heavy as any in decades, I arrived consumed by thoughts of how typical folk here would take to it. What a joke of a premise. Never mind that O.C. people (those who aren't apathetic, that is) aren't so easy to peg, especially during such contentious times. What I wonder is how anyone could even speculate about the crowd's undoubtedly wildly varied reaction.
08/06/2006 (3)
Six Marines charged with assault in Hamdania incident
Mark Walker
CAMP PENDLETON -- The Marine Corps has filed charges against six Marines for an alleged assault on an unnamed Iraqi man in the village of Hamdania, officials annpunced.
07/30/2006 (3)
Spending Less? You're Helping Slow the Economy
Molly Hennessy-Fiske
Conserving her family's cash as costs rise, Riverside resident Laureen Pittman is postponing vacations, home repairs and other big purchases. For necessities, she is increasingly relying on discount retailers, shopping at Costco instead of Ralphs and Marshalls instead of Nordstrom.
07/30/2006 (3)
L.A. Area Leads in "Employers" That Aren't
Molly Selvin and Molly Hennessy-Fiske
One hundred workers count on Betsy Briones for their paychecks. But not one of them works for her. Briones is a so-called nonemployer, relying exclusively on contract or temporary workers. This arrangement, which allows employers to avoid the soaring costs of health insurance and other benefits, is booming in California, according to a Census Bureau report to be released today. The 63-year-old Briones runs a busy referral agency for in-home care workers out of her Los Angeles residence, placing caregivers with elderly or disabled clients. All of her caregivers are independent contractors and are responsible for obtaining their own benefits, she said.
07/23/2006 (3)
Rich, Poor Live Poles Apart in L.A. as Middle Class Keeps Shrinking
Nancy Cleeland
Demographers at Wayne State University in Detroit found Greater Los Angeles to be the most economically segregated region in the country. The study found only about 28% of its neighborhoods to be middle-class or mixed income, compared with more than half of those in Nashville, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Portland, Ore.
07/02/2006 (3)
State Tracked Protesters in the Name of Security Officials say they have stopped monitoring antiwar and political rallies.
Peter Nicholas
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office in charge of protecting California against terrorism has tracked demonstrations staged by political and antiwar groups, a practice that senior law enforcement officials say is an abuse of civil liberties.
07/01/2006 (3)
State's prison system in 'crisis':
Andy Furillo
In calling for a special legislative session on prison overcrowding, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has achieved a measure of political cover in the event of worst-case correctional scenarios -- riots, hostage-taking and death. But it remains to be seen whether his actions will serve to inoculate him from the state's long-running prison crisis, especially if a federal judge orders the release of thousands of inmates to relieve the system's population pressure.
06/30/2006 (3)
California's gap between state and federal scores in No Child Left Behind program is among the smallest. in the Nation
Mitchell Landsberg
Study finds that No Child Left Behind had not led to gains in math or reading achievement, nor had it achieved another major goal: reducing the gaps in achievement among racial and economic groups.
06/30/2006 (3)
California's Budget Dance Avoids the Missteps of the Past
George Skelton
The main difference in this budget dance was the virtual brushoff of the "Big Five." Back about four governors ago — but mainly with Pete Wilson — an abomination called the Big Five was institutionalized. It consisted of the governor and four legislative leaders — the two party honchos from each house. They'd sit around the governor's office and write the final versions of big bills, including the biggest of all: the budget. Big Five negotiations make sense only in dire emergencies. This budget still will spend more than the state takes in. So it's not really balanced, despite the spin.
06/24/2006 (3)
Gov. Refuses Bush Request for More Border Troops
Peter Nicholas
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office said that he turned down a White House request to more than double the number of California National Guard troops deployed to the border, fearing the commitment could leave the state vulnerable if an earthquake or wildfire erupts.
06/23/2006 (3)
Seven Marines, Navy corpsman charged with murder
Mark Walker, David Sterrett, Willam Finn Bennett
In one of the most serious criminal cases of the Iraq, seven Marines and a Navy corpsman were charged with premeditated murder, kidnapping and conspiracy and related charges in the alleged abduction and slaying of an Iraqi civilian.
06/23/2006 (3)
Local Marines, residents say charges too harsh
David Sterbett
Several Marines and North County residents said murder and kidnapping charges filed Wednesday against seven Marines and a Navy corpsman seem unwarranted. Even though many of the specifics of the allegations have yet to be released by Marine Corps officials, many of those interviewed said they were standing with the troops. "It's not fair because they were in a hostile situation and you can't trust anyone," said Sgt. Chris Janes, who has been to Iraq twice.
06/07/2006 (3)
An immigrant's critique of Fox : “We're not here for the American Dream. We're here to survive.”
Reuben Navarrette
What to do to make a better Mexico? Three things: (1) Tackle police corruption; people have no incentive to be productive if they're constantly being fleeced and robbed by those who are supposed to protect them. (2) Stop penalizing employers and small businesses; cutting licensing fees would allow companies to create more jobs and pay higher wages. (3) Clean up the environment by punishing companies that plunder natural resources and lay waste to the countryside and waterways. Vicente Fox hadn't done enough in those areas.
05/28/2006 (3)
After Scandals, Usually Sunny San Diegans Wonder if City Has Hit Bottom
John M. Bradford
Last summer, shortly after former Mayor Dick Murphy resigned in the depths of San Diego's legal, political and financial crisis, city officials quietly removed the boosterish slogan "America's Finest City" from the city's Web site. Jerry Sanders, the former San Diego chief of police who became mayor in December, restored the upbeat motto as one of his first official acts, even as the investigations, indictments and deficits continued to pour forth.
05/27/2006 (3)
Photos Indicate Civilians in Haditha, Iraq Were Killed Execution-Style by Camp Pendleton Marines
Tony Perry and Julian E. Barnes
Photographs taken by a Marine intelligence team have convinced investigators that a Marine unit killed as many as 24 unarmed Iraqis, some of them "execution-style," in the insurgent stronghold of Haditha after a roadside bomb killed an American in November, officials close to the investigation said Friday.
05/27/2006 (3)
Mideast Debate Takes Root at UC Irvine Jewish and Muslim leaders say clashes on Orange County, CA campus have intensified
Ashraf Khalil
UC Irvine is an unlikely flashpoint in the national Israeli-Arab debate. Campus' Muslim Student Union has drawn harsh criticism for last week's "Holocaust in the Holy Land" programs. Events included a speech titled "Israel: the 4th Reich" and the construction of a mock Israeli security wall with students dressed as Israeli army officers conducting aggressive checkpoint searches.
05/19/2006 (3)
The Price of Border Security Might Just Be the National Guard
George Skelton
President Bush wants to use the state National Guard to do a federal job. Sacramento Democrats complain that's a dumb idea, but they're virtually powerless to stop it. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gets the final call. He can send the troops or buck Bush.
05/19/2006 (3)
California Officials Chafe at Bush's Plan foNational Guard
Robert Salladay and Nancy Vogel
California's highest-ranking officials react with displeasure and exasperation Wednesday to President Bush's plan to use thousands of National Guard troops to support border patrols and curb illegal immigration.
05/13/2006 (3)
Gov. Schwarzenegger Says Borders Are Vulnerable; takes Congress and White House to task for failing to enact an immigration strategy. says they are to blame for protests.
Peter Nicholas
In some of the harshest terms he has used to date, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday said the federal government has left the nation's borders dangerously vulnerable while failing to come up with a sensible approach to immigration.
05/13/2006 (3)
California Lawmaker Rep. Jerry Lewis Touched by the Duke Cunningham Corruption Probe
Peter Pae
Federal prosecutors have begun an investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis, the Californian who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee, government officials and others said, signaling the spread of a San Diego corruption probe.
05/12/2006 (3)
Jeannine Aversa
When rent is taken into account, California has the No. 3 highest number of needy people in the country.
California's poverty rate is deceiving. When rent is taken into account, California has the No. 3 highest number of needy people in the country.
05/12/2006 (3)
Poway's Brent Wilkes is 'co-conspirator No. 1' in the Cunningham case, his lawyer says.
Peter Pae and Dan Morain
Brent R. Wilkes was a small defense contractor who looked for powerful friends in high places. On Capitol Hill, Wilkes plied lawmakers with gifts, favors and hefty campaign contributions. He leased a jet and took then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) to three states on a golfing vacation. He hired expensive lobbyists close to legislators who controlled last-minute changes to the Pentagon's budget. Over the last decade, some of Wilkes' two dozen firms in San Diego and Virginia received about $100 million in federal contracts. They were small deals by Washington standards, usually a few million dollars apiece, and they involved dull jobs — scanning and filing documents, supplying computer storage devices or delivering bottled water to government workers overseas — but rivals complained that Wilkes got more than his share.
05/02/2006 (3)
Pasadena-based Parsons Corp. was to rebuild Iraq's health and security sectors. Poor work left many goals abandoned,
T. Christian Miller
Parsons Corp., the Pasadena engineering firm that won one of the largest rebuilding contracts in postwar Iraq, fell dramatically short of a number of goals. The firm was to have rebuilt Iraq's health and security infrastructure. However, it will finish only 20 of 150 planned health clinics, and nearly $70 million of medical equipment meant for the clinics sits unused.
05/02/2006 (3)
Latino advocates face this question: How to translate the passion of the streets into lasting political gains
Teresa Watanabe and Nicole Gaouette
As immigrants and their supporters boycotted work and school, refrained from consumer spending and marched in cities across the nation, the urgent question they face is how to translate the passion of the streets into lasting political gains.
05/02/2006 (3)
Immigrant Debate, Pavement Version in Los Angeles
Steve Lopez
In Beverly Hills, it was a day without Chaya Brasserie, which closed because most of the employees wanted to march. But the Ivy took up the slack, with a lunch line that stretched out to the sidewalk. "What demonstrations?" asked a woman waiting to dine. It's safe to say that if you're carrying a Prada pocketbook and a bag from Barney's, the recent activism is of little interest unless the housekeeper calls in sick.
05/02/2006 (3)
Going all wobbly on illegal immigration
Jill Stewart
For years, illegal immigration policy in California has been driven by fear. Fear of being unfairly labeled anti-Latino is one reason the California Legislature doesn't study basic questions like "What does it cost the average California taxpayer to support an illegal immigrant?"
04/29/2006 (3)
The parole system in California is a crime
Joan Petersilia and Robert Weisberg
California's corrections chief and his acting replacement have both quit in the last two months. A major cause of the growing dysfunctionality has nothing to do with how the state runs its prisons and administers parole. Rather, it's the state's laws that determine the lengths of prison terms and inmate-release policies.
04/29/2006 (3)
California's Energy Strategy Holds Lessons for Bush
Ronald Brownstein
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats in the state Legislature are fashioning a comprehensive response to two of America's most pressing problems: the intertwined challenges of global warming and energy independence. In contrast, Bush focused almost entirely on promoting more domestic production of oil and gas.
04/16/2006 (3)
Border arrests surge in S.D. region
Leslie Berestein
Arrests of illegal border crossers have increased more sharply in the San Diego region than anywhere else in the Southwest during the past six months, as stepped up enforcement in Arizona has pushed human smuggling traffic west.
04/16/2006 (3)
Organizers dedicate L.A. immigrant rights march to boy whose family blames suicide on fear allegedly instilled by school official
Jean Merl and Richard Winton
Several thousand people marched through downtown Los Angeles to protest federal legislation that would crack down on illegal immigration. Organizers dedicated the event to Anthony Soltero, whose mother says he killed himself after a school vice principal allegedly told him that he would be sent to jail for missing class to take part in an immigration rights march.
04/16/2006 (3)
Mother Blames School Official for Son's Suicide
Lance Pugmire and Janet Wilson
Distraught mother calls for temporary removal of vice principal she blames for her 14-year-old son's suicide after he was disciplined for missing class to take part in an immigration rights march.
04/09/2006 (3)
What's with all those Mexican flags at pro immigrant rallies?
Daniel Hernandez
“When you’re in high school, you try to find something that ties you with the rest of your friends, you try to find out who you are, and being Mexican, I guess, is what ties all these kids together,” said Martha Ugarte, 22, who helps out her mother, Martha, with organizing and publicity for regional Mexican clubs in L.A. “I don’t think they see it as, ‘I’m supporting the Mexican government.’ When you see the U.S. flag, to them it represents more of a government than a culture, and the Mexican flag represents more of a culture than a government.”
04/09/2006 (3)
Eighth grader committs suicide after being threatened with sanctions after organizing school walk out

Actor Edward James Olmos and Movie Producer Moctezuma Esparza HBO's "East L.A Walkouts,""Selena,""Milagro Beanfield War") to be among community members to pray for Anthony Soltero, age 14, who shot himself after being told he was going to prison because of his involvement as an organizer of school walk-outs to protest anti-immigrant legislation.
04/08/2006 (3)
Most Seniors Pass H.S. Exit Test Poor, Latino and black students lag behind whites and Asians overall, a statewide analysis finds.
Carla Rivera
Nearly 89% of seniors have passed the California high school exit exam, but wide achievement gaps remain for poor students and English learners, according to new figures released Tuesday by the state Education Department.
03/27/2006 (3)
California 49th in sending kids to college--lack of counselors, prep classes blamed; many attend community colleges
Lisa M. Sodders
California sends a smaller percentage of high school students to four-year colleges than any other state but Mississippi a trend that experts blame on too few counselors, teachers and college preparatory courses, a new study says.
03/24/2006 (3)
No accounting for a crook's taste
Patt Morrison
It's not often that you get a chance to mock a man's ethics and his taste in interior decorating at the same time. The feds are slamming down the auction hammer on some of Randy "Duke" Cunningham's ill-gotten gains, the loot that the former honorable Republican congressman from San Diego County amassed by hanging a "for sale" sign around his own dishonorable neck.
03/24/2006 (3)
Auction of Randy Cunningham's Ill Gotten Gains Fetch $94,000
Teri Figero
Furnishings that once adorned the Rancho Santa Fe home of former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham are now in the hands of common folks. The public auction in a vast, cold Los Angeles-area warehouse marked an unceremonious footnote to a scandal that brought down a congressman.
03/24/2006 (3)
California 49th in sending kids to college. Lack of counselors, prep classes blamed; many attend community colleges.
Lisa M. Sodders
California sends a smaller percentage of high school students to four-year colleges than any other state but Mississippi a trend that experts blame on too few counselors, teachers and college preparatory courses, a new study says. The roadblocks to college are even larger in schools with a high percentage of poor students and English-language learners, according to the 2006 California Educational Opportunity Report prepared by UCLA.
03/24/2006 (3)
U.S. Reps. Dan Lungren and Loretta Sanchez outline $4B port security plan for LA / Long Beach
Kristopher Hanson
Citing a critical lack of security against terrorism at the nation's ports, two members of Congress on Friday outlined a $4 billion plan to conduct background checks on port workers and inspect all container cargo coming into the nation, among other measures.
03/24/2006 (3)
Welcome to Maywood, CA where the mostly Latino city's council wants it to be a sanctuary for illegl immigrnts
Hector Becerra
In Maywood, CA where 96% of the residents are Latino, and more than half are foreign-born, the City Council has vowed to make the municipality a "sanctuary city" for illegal immigrants, and over the last few months it has set out to prove it.
03/22/2006 (3)
California's Air Is Among Nation's Most Toxic
Marla Cone
Despite two decades of cleaning up carcinogenic fumes from cars and factories, Californians are breathing some of the most toxic air in the nation, with residents of Los Angeles and Orange counties exposed to a cancer risk about twice the national average.
03/22/2006 (3)
Civil Trial in Orange County Sex Assault Likely to Be Ugly
Christopher Goffard
The victim of an Orange County Sex Assault has sued the three young men convicted of sexually assaulting her while a video camera rolled and she lay unconscious on a pool table. And she is suing Haidl's father, a rich former Orange County assistant sheriff, alleging that he should have known of the drug- and alcohol-fueled parties raging in his Corona del Mar home, where the attack occurred.
03/18/2006 (3)
Non-U.S. firms manage most of the terminals at L.A.-area ports
Ronald D. White
On Southern California's bustling docks, there's a queasy familiarity to the uproar over a state-owned Arab company's push to manage port terminals in six U.S. cities. That's because it happened here at the nation's busiest port complex in the late 1990s, but the foreign government involved then was China. The fears were about espionage and smuggling, not the terrorism concerns that plague Dubai Ports World's $6.8-billion purchase of a British company's worldwide shipping business.
03/12/2006 (3)
Perps in Notorious Orange County Rape Case Each Sentenced to Six Years
Larry Welborn and Rachael Srisvasdi
Greg Haidl and two friends were sentenced today to six years apiece in prison for sexually assaulting a drunken teenage girl in one of the highest-profile trials ever in Orange County. Haidl, 20, and Kyle Nachreiner, 21, apologized in court to the 20-year-old victim, known as “Jane Doe,” who was molested with a pool cue, a cigarette and a Snapple bottle. Co-defendant Keith Spann, 21, did not speak.
03/12/2006 (3)
Dark Portrait of a 'Painter of Light': tactics and seamy personal conduct. He disputes the allegations.
Kim Christensen
Thomas Kinkade is famous for images he says have brought "God's light" into people's lives, even as they have made him one of America's most collected artists. Kinkade trades heavily on his beliefs and says God has guided his brush — and his life — for the last 20 years. "When I got saved, God became my art agent." But some former Kinkade employees, gallery operators and others contend the Painter of Light has a decidedly dark side. In litigation and interviews with the LA Times, some former gallery owners depict Kinkade as a ruthless businessman who drove them to financial ruin at the same time he was fattening his business associates' bank accounts and feathering his nest with tens of millions of dollars.
03/12/2006 (3)
Nazi Camp Survivors and Ex-GI Who helped Liberate Him Celebrate Anew in San Diego
Tony Perry
Twice in his five years of starvation and brutality in four Nazi concentration camps, Lou Dunst was herded along with other prisoners into a gas chamber to be killed. Once there was a malfunction in the gas jets, and the other time a guard decided that he did not want to waste precious coal to burn the bodies, so the execution was called off. More dead than alive, Dunst and other prisoners at the Ebensee camp in Austria were rescued by the U.S. Army in the final days of World War II. Dunst and his brother Irving, who was also captive at Ebensee, met Robert Persinger, the Army staff sergeant who led the platoon that liberated the camp on May 6, 1945.
03/12/2006 (3)
Schwarzenegger's After-School Plan Needs More Study
George Skelton
In 2002, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger created a ballot initiative for after-school programs that he used as a springboard to the governor's office the next year. Now, that measure is about to become a drain on the state treasury — and on schools.
03/08/2006 (3)
"As a pilot, Duke [Cunningham] was a hero, but as a congressman he was a flop."
Tony Perry
When Randy Cunningham's political career ended in a prison sentence, his heroic service in Vietnam was the only thing he was willing to defend in his tearful plea for mercy.
03/05/2006 (3)
“Pampering & Poetry"

03/04/2006 (3)
Cunningham taken into custody, ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution
Karen Kucher, Greg Gross, Angelica Martinez and Debbi Farr Baker
Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham taken into custody after being sentenced to eight years and four months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution for accepting bribes from defense contractors.
03/03/2006 (3)
Ex U.S. Rep. Randy Cunningham Senteced to Eight Years and Four Months in prison, Payment of Restitution
Horace Coleman
Former California Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham has been sentenced to eight years and four months in a federal prison for receiving bribes from defense contractors.
02/28/2006 (3)
Things to Do Before You Get Pregnant: Take folic acid. Buy a new house. Get your mercury tested.
Judith Lewis
The same administration that conferred legal rights on the unborn fetus has so far refused to regulate emissions of a mercuty, known to damage fetal brains in the womb. And, while California’s clean-air laws keep coal-fired power plants outside the state’s borders, residents have not escaped coal’s toxic effects
02/27/2006 (3)
Military Contractor Who Bribed Randy Cunningham Pleads Guilty to Bribery of Others
David S. Cloud
Military contractor pleads guilty to paying Randy Cunninghaqm more than $1 million in bribes. Mitchell Wade also hired the son of a Pentagon official in a scheme that helped bring his firm more than $150 million in military contracts since 2002. Wade also admitted making nearly $80,000 in illegal campaign contributions to two other House members. Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., (R,VA) and Rep. Katherine Harris (R. FL)issued statements identifying themselves as the two members.
02/18/2006 (3)
LA Area Violence Shifts From Street to Jails
Hector Becerra and Richard Winton
Some LA area local law enforcement officials believe large-scale riots and fights in jails might have been fueled by several recent crackdowns on warring Latino and black gangs.
02/16/2006 (3)
Social Activist, Women's Right Promoter Angela Davis to speak at UC San Diego

Angela Davis, social activist and promoter of women's rights and racial justice, will speak at UC San Diego on 6 p.m. March 1 in the Price Center Ballroom.
02/15/2006 (3)
Race walls won't end jail riots in Los Angeles County
Jody Kent
Overcrowding and understaffing, and the increased tension that those two factors bring, have created a situation potentially so volatile that everyone inside — inmates and deputies alike — is unsafe. Last week, dilapidated, outmoded facilities provided the fire that ignited the fuse. Despite what you may be hearing, race is not the issue.
02/10/2006 (3)
High Mercury Levels Found in Californians
Marla Cone
Californians who volunteered for a nationwide study of mercury contamination had among the worst levels, with nearly one-third of those tested having concentrations in their tissues that exceeded safe levels.
02/05/2006 (3)
Traces of Prescription Drugs Found in Southland Aquifers (Los Angeles area)
Marla Cone
New technology enables detection of infinitesimally small doses of chemicals in the environment. Southern California water-quality officials have learned an array of pharmaceuticals are defying even the most sophisticated sewage treatments.
02/05/2006 (3)
California Military Family Relief Fund Goes Untapped
Rone Tempest
A year after it was launched to help activated National Guard families suffering financial hardships, the California Military Family Relief Fund has been a major disappointment to its sponsors.
01/24/2006 (3)
Conservative Drops Offer of $100 Bounty for "Radical" Professors at UCLA
Stuart Silverstein
The conservative activist who is waging a campaign against what he contends are UCLA's "radical professors" Monday withdrew his offer to pay students bounties of up to $100 per class to provide information about their teachers. But he pledged to continue his effort with unpaid volunteers.
01/21/2006 (3)
Tim Wise, prominent anti-racist writer and activist , to speak in San Diego

Tim Wise speaking at San Diego Museum of Art
01/18/2006 (3)
UCLA Alumni Group Is Tracking 'Radical' Faculty
Stuart Silverstein and Peter Y. Hong
A fledgling alumni group headed by a former campus Republican leader is offering students payments of up to $100 per class to provide information on instructors who are "abusive, one-sided or off-topic" in advocating political ideologies.
01/14/2006 (3)
Has the “Duke” of Deception become a snitch?
Laura Rozen
The corruption scandal involving California Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham would not seem to have the elements of a decent spy novel. Time magazine(6 Jan 05) reported that before Cunningham’s plea agreement was publicly announced, he had been wearing a concealed recording device. "The identity of those with whom the San Diego congressman met while wearing the wire remains unclear" Time wrote. What the Time report suggests was that Cunningham might not be the biggest fish in this case after all.
01/12/2006 (3)
1st Suit in State to Attack 'Intelligent Design' Filed
Henry Weinstein
A group of parents in the small Tehachapi mountain community of Lebec on Tuesday filed the first lawsuit challenging the teaching of "intelligent design" in a California public school.
01/12/2006 (3)
A Fault Line for 'Intelligent Design' in the Tehachapi Mountains
Louis Sahagun and Eric Bailey
A small close-knit community in the Tehachapi Mountains mountains has become the latest focal point in the national debate over teaching "intelligent design" in public schools.
01/12/2006 (3)
Moratorium on Executions Is Urged
Henry Weinstein
A group of California prosecutors — including the author of California's 1978 death penalty initiative, whose office sent dozens of people to death row when he was Los Angeles County's district attorney — endorse a moratorium on executions in California.
01/10/2006 (3)
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher Defends Indicted Lobbyist Abramoff, a Friend
Jean O. Pasco
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher offered a rare defense Monday of longtime friend and lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty last week to influence peddling charges that have rocked Capitol Hill.
01/10/2006 (3)
Farmworkers Reap Little as Union Strays From Its Roots
Miriam Pawel
Farmworkers Reap Little as United Farmworkers Union (UFW) Strays From Its Roots. The movement built by Cesar Chavez has failed to expand on its early successes organizing poor rural laborers. As their plight is used to attract donations that benefit others, services for those in the fields are left to languish.
01/08/2006 (3)
The United Farm Workers union: A Broken Contract
Miriam Pawel
The United Fatm Workers movement built by Cesar Chavez has failed to expand on its early successes organizing poor rural laborers. Farmworkers reap little since the UFW has strayed from its roots. Their plight is used to attract donations that benefit others. Services for those in the fields languish.] Chavez's heirs run a web of tax-exempt organizations that exploit his legacy and invoke the harsh lives of farmworkers to raise millions of dollars in public and private money. They broke with labor solidarity and hired nonunion workers to build the $3.2-million National Chavez Center around their founder's grave in the Tehachapi Mountains.
01/03/2006 (3)
The war on San Diego's underground press--the San Diego Street Journal
David E. Kaplan
The assault on the San Diego Street Journal was part of a massive campaign of government spying and dirty tricks directed for a decade against civil rights, antiwar, and other '60s-era activists. The war on the underground press, which at its peak claimed some 7 million readers a month, included efforts by the FBI, the CIA, Army intelligence, and local police to spy on and disrupt alternative newspapers. From 1960 to 1974, the FBI created files on more than 1 million Americans and carried out over a half-million investigations of people deemed "subversives" --most of them engaged in constitutionally protected free speech.
01/02/2006 (3)
Rev. Robert H. Schuller hands over leadership of Crystal Cathedral to his son
William Lobdell and Dan Weikel
Rev. Robert H. Schuller hands over leadership of the Crystal Cathedral to his son, ending a half-century as pastor of a church he started in a drive-in movie theater and built into a worldwide ministry.

San Diego 2006
01/21/2006 (4) Tim Wise, prominent anti-racist writer and activist , to speak in San Diego Tim Wise speaking at San Diego Museum of Art 01/03/2006 (4) Spying on the San Diego Street Journal (and other Americans) David E. Kaplan The assault on the San Diego Street Journal was part of a massive campaign of government spying and dirty tricks directed for a decade against civil rights, antiwar, and other '60s-era activists. The war on the underground press, which at its peak claimed some 7 million readers a month, included efforts by the FBI, the CIA, Army intelligence, and local police to spy on and disrupt alternative newspapers. From 1960 to 1974, the FBI created files on more than 1 million Americans and carried out over a half-million investigations of people deemed "subversives" --most of them engaged in constitutionally protected free speech.

San Diego 2006

01/21/2006 (4)
Tim Wise, prominent anti-racist writer and activist , to speak in San Diego

Tim Wise speaking at San Diego Museum of Art
01/03/2006 (4)
Spying on the San Diego Street Journal (and other Americans)
David E. Kaplan
The assault on the San Diego Street Journal was part of a massive campaign of government spying and dirty tricks directed for a decade against civil rights, antiwar, and other '60s-era activists. The war on the underground press, which at its peak claimed some 7 million readers a month, included efforts by the FBI, the CIA, Army intelligence, and local police to spy on and disrupt alternative newspapers. From 1960 to 1974, the FBI created files on more than 1 million Americans and carried out over a half-million investigations of people deemed "subversives" --most of them engaged in constitutionally protected free speech.