13 SEPT 2011
Lawmaker's residency questioned: Dust-up ongoingBy Ryan Sabalow
After three years of campaigning to prove Assemblyman Jim Nielsen doesn't live in his own district, Don Bird thinks he's finally found a way to make his message heard — via a restraining order filed by Nielsen himself. The 76-year-old Rancho Tehama activist couldn't have been happier after his first court hearing on Monday. The matter was continued the to Oct. 3 by . Superior Court Judge C. Todd Bottke. Bird said he would abide by the temporary restraining order until he could state his case next month. Nielsen accuses Bird of threatening to place him under a citizen's arrest and of keeping his home under surveillance for several years. Bird doesn't deny the allegations. Instead, he says he's been merely trying to prove Nielsen doesn't live in a Gerber mobilehome, as he claims. He said though he's stated he would try to arrest the assemblyman, he never did.
Before the 2008 elections, Nielsen bought the Gerber mobile from a family member. He still owns a home in Woodland, outside the 2nd Assembly District. Nielsen says he often stays at the Woodland house when he's working at the Capitol.
Bird and a vocal group of activists allege they've talked to Nielsen's neighbors in Gerber who say he's rarely, if ever there.
Under state law, statewide office holders must live in districts in which they run for election.
In the lead-up to the 2008 Republican primary, the California attorney general's office investigated Nielsen's residency after receiving complaints from Bird and others. Then Attorney General Jerry Brown declined to prosecute, citing insufficient evidence.
Bird followed up by suing Nielsen. Bird and his supporters say Nielsen is now trying to shut down Bird's First Amendment rights to protest. They say they relish the opportunity to bring the residency issue up again, long after it had faded from the news cycle.
"We like the idea of giving him a stand, a platform, a view," Richard Clapp, 62, of Red Bluff said outside the courtroom.
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Charges dropped in teacher molest case
Evidence insufficient for convictionBy Jim Schultz
Shasta County District Attorney Stephen Carlton on Monday dropped his case against Troy Steven Leachman, a former Shasta High School teacher accused of fondling one of his students. He was arrested in December and charged with two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.
The charges included two related special circumstances that alleged Leachman annoyed or molested a minor. Leachman, who has been on unpaid administrative leave, was accused of unclasping a student's bra in October while she was using his computer during a break between classes, a police report alleged.
That girl also told investigators that Leachman reached under her shirt and fondled her breast and thrust into her from behind with his groin, the report said.
But Leachman's Redding attorney, John Kucera, said after court that the 17-year-old girl accused Leachman of the misconduct because she had a crush on him and he refused her advances. The defense attorney said he believes the case never should have been filed by the district attorney's office, but was because the girl is related to a Shasta County sheriff's deputy. Leachman had worked for the district for about eight years.
"The case involved a 17-year-old schoolgirl, smitten with her teacher, Mr. Leachman, who kindly and properly ignored her advances and became the subject of her scorn," the defense wrote in it’s statement. "That scorn turned into my client being wrongly accused of molesting her." Leachman now works in construction, is unlikely to return to work as a teacher.
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Man allegedly stabs aunt in Red Bluff
RED BLUFF — A Red Bluff man was arrested Monday morning on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly stabbed his 62-year-old aunt in the thigh, Red Bluff police said. James Boughan, 40, was booked into Tehama County jail.
His aunt, Carol Boughan, suffered a minor puncture wound to her right thigh. Officers were sent to the Golden Crest Mobile Home Park on Montgomery Road. Boughan told police her nephew came to her residence and stabbed her for no apparent reason.
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Man charged with ramming mom's car-UPDATE
A 35-year-old Corning man was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly ramming his mother's car with his own vehicle.
At 12:30 p.m. Tehama County sheriff's deputies were called to a Huckleberry Road home for a report of a disturbance and a possible assault.
There, deputies learned Troy Dewayne Gannon had gotten into an argument with his family. When his mother, Theresa Gannon Marino, 60, tried to drive off, her son hit her car with his own, knocking her car into a field, where it got stuck, deputies said Monday.
The son ran off when deputies approached.
Gannon was arrested the next day after they returned to the home and found him hiding in a trailer, deputies said.
Gannon, who had a warrant out for his arrest, is being held today at the Tehama County jail in lieu of $33,000.
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FIRE TAX EXTINGUISHED FOR NOW.The State Legislature ended session the 2011 session early Saturday morning without taking any additional action on legislation to increase State Responsibility Area Fees... the so-called fire tax. Attention on the issue will now turn back to the Board of Forestry (BOF), as the Administration will likely make an attempt to get a new set of implementing regulations for AB 29X. That’s the initial SRA fee bill passed as part of the June Budget package. Additionally, another attempt at finding an alternative financing method for CAL FIRE is likely to come up in fall discussions or bill packages pursued by the Legislature or Administration.
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SEIU Memo: "Likely voters tend to be whiter ..." (than) "Voters who are young, people of color ..."
State Capitol – Late on the Friday night (the last night of the 2011 legislative session), a secret memo from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) advocating the passage of Senate Bill 202 surfaced on the Senate Floor. Senator Joel Anderson (R-Alpine) obtained a copy of the memo and referenced it during his comments against SB 202, a measure which would prohibit the right of Californians to vote on initiatives on any ballot except November.
“The true motives behind SB 202 are to rig the outcomes of initiatives,” said Senator Joel Anderson. “Taking away the People’s right to vote on initiatives in a timely manner is unseemly, particularly so when it involves ugly racial stereotyping. The Governor needs to veto SB 202 and send a clear message that using racial politics to divide Californians is not acceptable.”
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Juan Vargas hammers fellow Democrat about DUI arrestShare
By Kevin Yamamura and Torey Van Oot
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Published: Tuesday, Sep. 13, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 3A
When a congressional seat opens up, it's never too early to start on the attack.
Sen. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, took a swipe Monday at his likeliest Democratic rival for the 51st Congressional District as he called for "termed out, drunk-driving legislators" to vacate the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.
Vargas ostensibly was concerned that six of the seven sitting board members were one-time lawmakers now earning $128,000 each year. But he used the occasion to note that former Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny, a Democratic board member also eyeing that 2012 congressional race, was once arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
In a press release, he added the parenthetical note "Drunk-driving arrest" next to the names of former Sens. Roy Ashburn and Ducheny, who were both appointed to the board after leaving the Legislature last year.
Ashburn's 2010 DUI case, in which he pleaded no contest, is fresh in people's memories. But Ducheny's DUI arrest occurred 11 years ago in Sacramento and received little coverage at the time. She pleaded down to a lesser reckless driving charge in 2000, according to court records.
Vargas said Monday he would write legislation next year to eliminate the panel that reviews unemployment and disability benefits. He also demanded that board members step down.
"It is time to stop this wasteful board from being the place where termed out, drunk-driving legislators get an easy government job and get paid $128,000 per year at taxpayers' expense," Vargas said in a statement.
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Eight Republican candidates for president squared off at CNN’s Tea Party debate last night—and frontrunner Rick Perry had a target on his back. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney went hardest against his rival, calling out Perry’s previous attacks on Social Security as "over the top" and "frightful." Michele Bachmann’s harshest attack came over Perry’s failed attempt to mandate an HPV vaccine for middle-school girls in Texas. “The governor’s former chief of staff was the chief lobbyist for this drug company. The company gave thousands of dollars in political donations to the governor, and this is just flat-out wrong,” Bachmann said. When Perry replied that he was “offended” by her insinuation, she shot back, “I’m offended for all the little girls and the parents that didn’t have a choice.”
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The GOP is gathering in opposition to President Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill after the president proposed Monday that Congress fund the bill primarily by limiting tax deductions for wealthy families, with the remainder coming from an end to oil-and-gas-company subsidies and changes in depreciation rules for corporate airplanes. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor slammed the recommendation as a “massive tax increase,” while Speaker John Boehner’s spokesman said the bill “doesn’t appear to have been offered in that bipartisan spirit.” Republicans are likely to push to break up Obama’s plan into several parts and vote for each part individually.
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SEPTEMBER 12, 2011 9:46 AM COMMENTS (3) AUTHOR: THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOGVIEWS: 327
So that was what we have been waiting for? That was what all the hype was about? With a little over a year until the next election, that was the “best shot” that Obama has for fixing the unemployment crisis in this country? The Obama Jobs Plan (also now known as “the American Jobs Act”) is going to cost $447 billion and it is going to do next to nothing to create more jobs. Many Americans were hoping for something bold and new from Obama, but instead what they got was a bad joke. When Obama stated that there is “nothing radical in this bill”, he was not kidding. Instead of addressing the fundamental issues that are causing job loss, Obama wants us to spend half a trillion dollars on measures that will only create a very small number of jobs. Sadly, much of what Obama is proposing actually consists of huge bribes to middle class voters. Obama is trying to keep his own job, and he appears willing to pile up even more debt in order to make that happen.
During his speech to the nation, Obama instructed Congress to either “pass this jobs bill” or to “pass it right away” 16 different times. Obama obviously feels very strongly about his jobs plan.
But will it work? Let’s take a few moments to break it down. The following are 10 reasons why the Obama jobs plan is a bad joke….
#1 The payroll tax cuts are going to cost more than anything else in the plan, but they will do very little to create jobs.
Just take a look at what is happening right now. Have the current payroll tax cuts done much? No, the unemployment rate is still over 9 percent.Businesses know that the tax cut would only be temporary. After just a handful of months the payroll tax would go right back to where it was before. Businesses are not often moved by temporary tax cuts. If you want tax cuts to really move business, then you need to make them permanent.
#2 Obama’s plan to extend unemployment assistance is going to cost about $49 billion but it is not going to do much to create any jobs.
#3 Obama is proposing $50 billion in “immediate” infrastructure spending and $10 billion for a new infrastructure bank that will be dedicated to raising private capital to finance infrastructure projects around the country.
Hopefully this will work out a whole lot better than the “shovel ready” jobs that Obama promised previously. It will create a few jobs, but it will also add to our rapidly growing national debt.
#4 According to the fact sheet on the jobs plan released by the Obama administration, direct financial aid to state governments will prevent up to 280,000 teacher layoffs, and it will also help states retain more police and firefighters.
Essentially, this is a “backdoor bailout” for the states. Yes, it will be a good thing if teachers, police and firefighters are able to keep their jobs. However, preventing job losses is not the same as creating new jobs. So this may help reduce the bleeding a little bit, but it is not going to turn the overall employment situation around.
#5 There are a bunch of other minor things in Obama’s proposal such as “modernizing” public schools and helping more Americans refinance their mortgages, but it is not entirely clear how those things will help create a lot more jobs.
#6 The Obama jobs plan does next to nothing to prevent jobs from being shipped out of the country.
Obama is doing absolutely nothing to address these imbalances.
#7 The Obama jobs plan does nothing about the unfair trade practices that are absolutely killing America on the global economic stage.
So why isn’t Barack Obama proposing to do something about all of this?
#8 The Obama jobs plan does nothing about the gigantic mountains of regulations that are absolutely killing small business in this country.
#9 The Obama jobs plan does nothing about the negative effects of Obamacare. Obamacare is going to absolutely slaughter U.S. businesses. Look, when most other nations do not burden their businesses with providing health care and we force our businesses to comply with the nightmare that Obamacare represents, who do you think as the advantage? If Obama was serious about putting Americans back to work, he would do something about Obamacare. But he is not going to do that, is he?
#10 The Obama jobs plan makes our national debt worse. Yes, Obama insists that his plan will be “100%” paid for, but he has not told us how it will be paid for.
Exactly where in the world is he going to get an extra half a trillion dollars next year?
The U.S. national debt has increased by more than 4 trillion dollars since Barack Obama took office. It is currently increasing by more than 2 million dollars per minute.
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A Los Angeles man who illegally imported thousands of counterfeit Chinese-made exercise machines was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in federal prison, authorities said.
U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson also ordered Sok Hun Jin, known as Eric Jin, to pay a $6,000 fine and $60,000 in restitution to the manufacturer of Ab Circle Pro machines.
In a plea agreement with federal prosecutors earlier this year, Jin, 37, admitted to illegally importing more than 2,300 phony Ab Circle Pro machines valued at $250,000, in addition to DVDs, manuals and marketing materials.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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Gore to Air 24-Hour Climate Broadcast
You can’t hide from Al Gore: the former vice president will be airing a 24-hour global multimedia event from Wednesday to Thursday, what one event partner calls “a full-on assault onclimate skeptics.” The broadcast, titled 24 Hours of Reality, will air across 24 time zones and will feature a presentation by Gore once each hour. Gore will not only try to turn around climate skeptics but motivate supporters to act against global warming through their households and businesses.
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COYOTES TAKE OVER GLENDALE HOUSE
Officials are evaluating whether to set traps for a pack of coyotes that has taken over a burned-out home in Glendale.
The home in the has been abandoned since being gutted by a fire in November.
A pack of at least seven coyotes has been seen on the property, possibly using it as a den. L.A. County agricultural officials were scheduled to visit the site Monday to consider placing traps inside the fire-damaged structure. During an earlier visit, the area was found to be too open to place traps. Next-door neighbors videotaped six coyotes running and milling about about two months ago. ANOTHER NEIGHBOR said he has seen as many as four coyotes at one time.
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State Department of Fair Employment and Housing Achieves Historic Victory
Electrical Supply Company Ordered to Pay $846,300 for Firing Cancer Survivor
ELK GROVE, CA - The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) today announced its largest-ever administrative award of $846,300 against electrical supplier Acme Electric Corporation for firing an employee because he had cancer. Headquartered in Lumberton , North Carolina , Acme Electric operates in more than 30 countries. Charles Richard Wideman worked for Acme Electric as western regional sales manager overseeing sales operations in the company’s largest territory from February 2004 to March 2008. He developed kidney cancer in 2006 and prostate cancer in 2007. Mr. Wideman’s cancers required two surgeries and numerous cancer-related outpatient appointments. The company immediately granted his two requests for time off for surgery and recuperative leave. However, Mr. Wideman requested further accommodation for the travel limitation his cancers caused from June 2006 through April 2007. Acme Electric refused to grant or even acknowledge these accommodation requests. Instead, Wideman’s supervisor gave him an unfavorable performance evaluation, criticizing him for insufficient travel. On February 28, 2008, failing to take into account his dramatically improved job performance, Acme Electric fired Mr. Wideman, relying on the insufficient travel pretext. After a three-day hearing, the State’s Fair Employment and Housing Commission found Acme Electric violated the FEHA by failing to accommodate Mr. Wideman's known travel limitation due to his cancers, failing to engage in a good faith interactive process, discriminating against Mr. Wideman because of his disability, and failing to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent discrimination from occurring. To compensate Mr. Wideman for his losses, the Commission awarded him $748,571 for lost wages, $22,729 for out-of-pocket expenses and $50,000 for the emotional distress he suffered. In addition, the Commission ordered Acme to pay $25,000 to the State’s General Fund as an administrative fine. Acme must further comply with posting, policy changes, and training requirements ordered by the Commission.
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Levi Johnston: Bristol Wanted Baby
After an extended silence, Levi Johnston is back: The father of Sarah Palin’s grandchild has a new book, Deer in the Headlights, coming out September 20, and the Associated Press got its hands on an early copy. In the book, Johnston alleges Bristol intentionally became pregnant after learning that her mother was pregnant with Trig. Johnston said Bristol was angry, saying it was she who should be having a child and not her mother. Among the other dirt that Johnston alleges: Sarah Palin insisted on being called “Mommy Sarah” instead of grandma; and she also suggested that she adopt Levi and Bristol’s child, to avoid scandal. Johnston also denies Bristol’s allegation in her own memoir that she lost her virginity to him only after becoming drunk on wine coolers on a camping trip.
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ULTIMATE DOC IN A BOX!!
WellPoint, the nation’s largest insurer by membership, is tapping IBM's Watson supercomputer to diagnose medical illnesses and to recommend treatment options for patients within seconds. The new system that will debut at several cancer cancers early next year. Watson is best known for defeating two “Jeopardy!” quiz champions on the popular television game show this year. Executives at the two companies say that Watson can sift through millions of pages of data and produce diagnoses virtually on the spot. WellPoint said the computer system will not supplant doctors but instead provide them with instant information to make better decisions to improve the quality of care and save money. The company, with 34.2 million members in 14 states, also said Watson will not be used to make decisions about reimbursing patients or doctors for the cost of treatments. WellPoint and doctors involved in the project will each supply patient information for the computer system. The data will be supplemented by medical journals, textbooks and other sources.
Watson will be able to analyze 1 million books, or roughly 200 million pages of information, and provide responses in less than three seconds, according to leaders of the project.
That’s important, they say, given the challenge faced by doctors to keep up with an explosion of medical information.
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DIAGNOSIS: TOO MAny burgers....
A 290-pound diner claims the White Castle chain has violated the civil rights of its more sizable clientele by not following through on promises to make its tight booths bigger to accommodate their bellies. Martin Kessman, a 64-year-old New Yorker, filed a complaint after he could barely squeeze into the fast-food restaurants booths and bumped his knees on the table's metal supports. Though White Castle said they would make the booths bigger, there's been no change. The seating's still too small for Kessman, who now sends his wife to get his sliders... to go. "They sent me specs and everything, about how the booths were going to be enlarged and made comfortable for people with a little more weight," Kessman said. "So two and a half years went by, and nothing was done." The Rockland County man says the chain's uncomfortable booths violate the civil rights of fat people. The Americans with Disabilities Act is "applicable, not only to me, but to pregnant women and to handicapped people," he said.
"I just want to sit down like a normal person," said Kessman, who is suing for bigger chairs and unspecified damages. (UH SIR... YOU ARE NOT A “NORMAL PERSON”. YOU’RE A BIG FATTIE. Kessman could have approached a store manager and asked for a regular chair, said White Castle spokeswoman Jamie Richardson, who had no timetable for the expected renovation of the Nanuet store.
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GROWIN’ IN THE BACKYARD. NOT ON TREES, THOUGH!
By Kelsey Williams, SFGate.com:
On Monday, Wayne Sabaj, 49, an unemployed carpenter living in McHenry County, Ill., (about 60 miles northwest of Chicago) found some green stuff in his garden-about $150,000 worth, stuffed into two duffel bags.
The Chicago Tribune reports: "[Sabaj] contemplated his position for about a half hour, then - fearing that the money might have come from a bank robbery and someone might come back looking for it-he called the McHenry County Sheriff's Department."
Sabaj, said to his father, "We have enough problems, now we got another problem. Look what I found in the garden." At this point the police are baffled by the discovery, and for all they know, it could be that a leprechaun has traded in pots-of-gold for duffels of cash. Still they are examining the bags and their contents for clues and say they will work with Sabaj to see if he can keep the money if no true owner or explanation is found. What kind of fertilizer does Sabaj use?
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SEPTEMBER 13, 2011
There will be no InterPrep/QUICK HITS published for Thursday and Friday of this week. We will be publishing InterPrep/PRO and InterPrep/COUNTRY.
BIG SHOT BIRTHDAYS _ Actress Jacqueline Bisset is 67 ... Musician Peter Cetera is 67 ... Actress Jean Smart is 60 ... Actor/writer/director Tyler Perry is 42 ...
NFL BANS iPAD DURING GAME PLAY _ A couple of NFL teams are using iPads as playbooks. And the league has reminded every team that iPads apply are a no-no during the game. From 90 minutes before kickoff until the end of a game, there's absolutely no use of iPads by anyone: Not coaches, not players.
WACKY-BUT-TRUE: NAKED MOTORCYCLIST _ A naked German motorcyclist wearing just a scarf and sunglasses crashed his bike after he was stung on his big toe by a bee. The man, who had been driving to the swimming area at a nudist colony, lost control of the bike as he tried to kick the insect away. Luckily he escaped with just a shoulder injury and minor cuts and bruises.
NEWS ATTACK _ Arizona police busted a so-called church, the Phoenix Goddess Temple, that was actually a front for prostitution. [People went there to be born again. Sometimes three or four times a week.]
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