California prisoners have been hunger striking since July 8 to protest the state’s use of solitary confinement, and now they have a cohort of celebrities and other big names on their side. In a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown sent yesterday, Gloria Steinem, Jesse Jackson, Bonnie Raitt, Jay Leno, Noam… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
For months homeowners agonized as houses in their subdivision sank one-by-one into a California hilltop. It got so dangerous that the U.S. Postal Service refused to deliver mail.
Now, they say they know the reason eight homes were destroyed and 10 others are in danger, and they’ve taken the first step toward recouping damages by filing a claim against Lake County.
A leaking county water system that went undetected for months saturated the hillside and caused the ground to give way, said Michael Green, an attorney for the 41 homeowners in the subdivision with sweeping views of Clear Lake in Northern California.
Green is seeking $5 million for each homeowner in the claim filed last month against the county.
“They’re facing a pretty significant economic disaster,” he said.
County officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They have 45 days to respond to Green’s claim for damages before he can file a lawsuit.
Lake County supervisors previously asked Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a disaster area, but the request was declined.
The county has maintained that a landscape irrigation system operated by the Lakeside Heights homeowners association could have contributed to the ground saturation.
As home after home sank into the hillside, bewildered homeowners began to wonder if their land might be haunted.
Eventually, tests revealed leaks “dumping substantial amounts of water into the hillsides,” Green said.
He said even the owners of homes not damaged by the sinking earth are suffering damages because they will be unable to sell their property.
“We’re just trying to get these folks reasonable compensation,” he said.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
By The Huffington Post News Editors
BEIJING — Gov. Jerry Brown announced a $1.5 billion Chinese investment in an Oakland construction project on Wednesday during the start of his weeklong trade mission to China.
He also signed symbolic agreements on boosting trade between California and China and helping the world’s most populous nation improve its air quality.
From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/jerry-brown-oakland-development_n_3062102.html
Gov. Jerry Brown announced a $1.5 billion Chinese investment in an Oakland construction project on Wednesday during the start of his weeklong trade mission to China.
He also signed symbolic agreements on boosting trade between California and China and helping the world’s most populous nation improve its air quality.
He announced at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing that China-based Zarsion Holdings Group will invest $1.5 billion in the 65-acre housing project on the Oakland waterfront, which has been in the works since Brown was mayor of Oakland from 1999 to 2007.
Plans call for construction to start next year on 3,100 residential units, 200,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, and 30 acres of parks and open space.
Brown said the development would create up to 10,000 jobs.
“This project is just one example of what’s possible when business leaders in two of the world’s most dynamic regions connect,” Brown said in a statement released by his office in Sacramento.
While Brown helped get the project approved as mayor, the deal with Oakland-based Signature Development Group was negotiated independently of the governor’s office, the Los Angeles Times reported, although the timing of Brown’s trade mission helped motivate the Chinese partners to sign the paperwork sooner.
“It meant a lot to our investor to have some sort of celebratory affair,” Michael Ghielmetti, president of the Oakland-based developer, told the newspaper.
The governor also signed nonbinding agreements on trade and the environment on the second day of meetings with officials from the world’s second-largest economy. He has been joined by about 90 California business leaders from a range of industries and regions of the state.
The first agreement involves pursuing joint opportunities to boost trade and investment, although Brown acknowledged the state’s reputation for red tape and his own limited willingness to offer tax incentives. The Democratic governor said the state’s $1.9 trillion economy remains a magnet for risk-taking investors, startup entrepreneurs and other creative people.
“There’s a problem there,” Brown told the American Chamber of Commerce in China. “But somebody is getting part of that $1.9 trillion. If you don’t want some of that, well then stay out.”
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
California lawmakers are considering taking some tax exemptions away from youth groups that do not accept gay, transgender or atheist members — a move intended to pressure the Boy Scouts of America to lift its ban on gay Scouts and troop leaders.
Some cities have withdrawn free rent and other subsidies from the Boy Scouts over the years, but legislation introduced by state Sen. Ricardo Lara would make California the first state to target the Scouts for its anti-gay policy.
The Long Beach Democrat’s bill, SB 323, is scheduled for its first committee hearing on Wednesday.
“Our state values the important role that youth groups play in the empowerment of our next generation; this is demonstrated by rewarding organizations with tax exemptions supported financially by all Californians,” Lara said. “SB 323 seeks to end the unfortunate discriminatory and outdated practices by certain youth groups.”
Deron Smith, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America, told The Associated Press the organization was preparing a response to the proposal.
The legislation would deny tax-exempt status to nonprofit youth groups that discriminate on the basis of gender identity, race, sexual orientation, nationality, religion or religious affiliation.
As a result, it would require those organizations to pay corporate taxes on donations, membership dues, camp fees and other sources of income, and to obtain sellers permits and pay sales taxes on food, beverages and homemade items sold at fundraisers.
Churches that sponsor Boy Scouts troops would not lose their underlying tax-exempt status, but an array of nonprofits, ranging from the Young Men’s Christian Association and Pop Warner football to the American Youth Soccer Association and 4-H clubs would have their tax returns and membership policies scrutinized by the state Franchise Tax Board if the bill becomes law, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office.
Also known as the Youth Equality Act, the bill requires a two-thirds vote from both houses of the Legislature and the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown to become law.
Legal aid groups that represent religious conservatives have cautioned the Senate Governance and Finance Committee that the measure conflicts with a 2000 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the right of private groups such as the Boy Scouts to exclude gays and lesbians from serving as adult leaders.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
By The Huffington Post News Editors
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Jerry Brown has designs on building some of the most expensive public works projects in the nation and wants to keep the state moving forward in its slow recovery from the recession.
Where better to go searching for the money to further those interests than the world’s second largest economy and a country that has piles of cash to invest around the globe?
Read More…
More on Jerry Brown
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
By The Huffington Post News Editors
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge on Friday rejected Gov. Jerry Brown‘s bid to regain state control of inmates’ mental health care, citing systematic failures to reduce prison suicides, provide timely care and hire enough staff.
The decision is a blow to the Democratic governor’s attempts to end nearly two decades of expensive federal lawsuits that influence nearly every aspect of California’s prison system.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
A judge has rejected Gov. Jerry Brown‘s bid to regain state control of inmates’ mental health care after 18 years of federal oversight and billions of dollars spent to improve treatment.
California lawmakers should outsource management of some state parks to cope with chronic under funding, advised an influential state commission, which found that the state had expanded its park system without providing adequate income to support it.
The Little Hoover Commission, in a report released Monday, asked Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders to help the state Department of Parks and Recreation restructure the way it manages its 280 parks to avoid the kind of fiscal crisis that led to plans to close 70 parks in 2012 before last-minute maneuvers spared them.
Parks that mostly serve local visitors “should be realigned” to allow local control, while some with broader appeal could be managed differently, said the commission, whose reports are often considered by lawmakers.
The famed Hearst Castle, for example, may be better maintained by an outside operator such as the Getty Museum, the report suggested. The 115-room mansion of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst became state park property in 1958. Like many state park sites, it suffers from deferred maintenance because of decadeslong funding cuts, the report said.
By The Huffington Post News Editors
WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday said it plans to shut its doors for a total of seven days between May and September due to budget cuts and will furlough more than 9,000 employees on those days.
Across-the-board cuts known as sequestration are forcing government agencies to reduce spending. The government furloughs are a result of those $85 billion cuts that began on March 1 after a gridlocked U.S. Congress was unable to resolve fiscal fights and find a solution to replace the sequestration.
The seven furlough days will be spread out, according to HUD, and will impact HUD‘s work force at its main headquarters and all 80 field offices.
All employees will be impacted, and only staffers considered as critical would be required to work during designated closure days. The critical staffers will be scheduled for furlough on seven other days.
“Everybody will have the same number of furlough days,” said HUD spokesman Jerry Brown. “We’re trying to not have more than one furlough day per period,” referring to the federal government‘s standard two-week pay period.
The agency will determine the exact shutdown dates at a later time.
In cataloging the impact of sequestration to a Senate panel last month, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan warned lawmakers that the government spending cuts would have harsh consequences for housing programs and could threaten Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts in the U.S. Northeast.
“The ripple effects are enormous because of how central housing is to our economy,” Donovan told lawmakers.
HUD has held a town hall meeting to go over the furlough plans, but no formal notices have been sent at this time.
The number of paroled sex offenders who are fugitives in California is 15 percent higher today than before Gov. Jerry Brown‘s sweeping law enforcement realignment law took effect 17 months ago, according to figures released Wednesday by the state corrections department.
By ESPN.com news services Dallas Cowboys nose tackle Josh Brent was driving at least 110 mph at the time of the December car crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown, according to police reports obtained by Dallas-Fort Worth television station NBC 5. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at ESPN Headlines
By NFL.com Josh Brent was driving between 110 and 134 mph before the deadly crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown, according to police documents obtained by a Dallas TV station. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at NFL
By NFL.com Josh Brent was driving between 110 and 134 mph before the deadly crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown, according to police documents obtained by a Dallas TV station. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at NFL
By NFL.com Josh Brent was driving between 110 and 134 mph before the deadly crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown, according to police documents obtained by a Dallas television station. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at NFL
Gov. Jerry Brown has begun aggressively challenging federal court oversight of California’s prison system by highlighting what he says is a costly conflict of interest: The private law firms representing inmates and the judges’ own hand-picked authorities benefit financially by keeping the cases alive.
How much are they making?
A tally by The Associated Press, compiled from three state agencies, shows California taxpayers have spent $182 million for inmates’ attorneys and court-appointed authorities over the past 15 years. The payments cover a dozen lawsuits filed over the treatment of state prisoners, parolees and incarcerated juveniles, some of which have been settled.
The total exceeds $200 million when the state’s own legal costs are added.
While the amounts are a blip on California’s budget, they provide a continuous income stream for the private attorneys and experts involved in the ongoing litigation. And that is the point Brown is trying to make.
The AP sought the tally after the Democratic governor began using court filings and public appearances to call for an end to two major lawsuits that have forced the state to spend billions of dollars improving its medical and mental health care for prison inmates. Brown says the complaints are expensive, frivolous and motivated by attorneys’ own financial interest.
“They don’t want to go away,” he said last month, standing behind a stack of court documents. “I mean, the name of the game here is, `Come to Sacramento and get your little piece of the pie.”‘
Brown says that, thanks to recent overhauls, California now offers inmates the best medical and mental health care of any prison system in the nation.
Inmates’ lawyers and the court-appointed authorities overseeing inmate medical and mental health say the system, with more than 132,000 inmates, remains crowded and still has problems with suicides and mentally ill prisoners who deserve better care. They say they are not motivated by profit, but by a desire to protect prisoners’ constitutional right to be free from cruel treatment.
“It’s ridiculous for the governor to merely characterize these cases as being about money, when in fact these cases have been the only impetus in the last 20 years for reducing the prison population and improving conditions,” said Donald Specter, director of the nonprofit Prison Law Office in Berkeley, which has won several major cases against the state.
The nonprofit, which has taken the lead in suing the state over inmate health care, and other legal firms have been paid $8.3 million in that case.
Many of the lawsuits are continuing despite the billions of dollars spent to improve treatment for the state’s felons and a massive realignment of the state’s penal system, which has transferred responsibility for incarcerating tens of thousands of convicts from the state to the counties to reduce prison crowding.
Brown says inmate care now exceeds constitutional standards. He argues that what he called “the prison lobby” — lawyers and the court-appointed special master overseeing penitentiary improvements — is perpetuating the legal action to make money.
“We’ve got hundreds of lawyers wandering around the prisons looking for problems,” Brown …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
A vast, untapped oil reserve in California is emerging as perhaps one of the state’s best opportunities to improve its still struggling economy, but it faces resistance from the powerful environmental lobby and Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration that appears not to be fully sold on its potential
California Gov. Jerry Brown and Texas Gov. Rick Perry are going head-to-head in a battle for business, as the Lone Star State tries to lure overtaxed Californians.
A attorney for one of the members of the notorious Manson family said decades ago the group’s leader Charles Manson committed more murders, according to a report.
MyFoxLA.com reports Bill Boyd, who represented Manson family member and convicted murderer Charles “Tex” Watson, said Watson told him Manson had committed other murders besides the 1969 killings of actress Sharon Tate and six others.
“He told me about a bunch of other people Manson had killed,” Boyd said of Watson.
Boyd reportedly made the comments in an interview with an author about the murders, and MyFoxLA.com recently received an audiotape of the interview.
Boyd also says on the tape Watson did not implicate himself, saying the murders Watson allegedly spoke of were unrelated to the ones Watson was involved in.
Boyd, who died in 2009, said he had over 20 hours of recordings of interviews with Watson. MyFoxLA.com reports the LAPD is now seeking to get the tapes, which are tied up in Texas bankruptcy court.
The news comes as California’s governor has been asked to make the final decision on whether a former Manson follower will be released on parole after serving more than 40 years in prison.
The state’s Board of Parole Hearings submitted to Gov. Jerry Brown its recommendation that Bruce Davis is suitable for parole. The documents were submitted Friday, one day ahead of the deadline, according to California Department of Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton.
The governor has up to 30 days to make a decision. His options are to affirm, decline, modify or decline to review, which would allow the parole to take effect, Thornton said.
Davis, now 70, was convicted with cult leader Manson and another man in the killings of a musician and a stuntman, which happened after the most notorious of the family’s crimes.
Manson and three of his followers, Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel and Watson, remain in prison for life in the Tate killings. Their co-defendant, Susan Atkins, died of cancer behind bars in 2009.
Click for more from MyFoxLA.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
California’s governor has been asked to make the final decision on whether a former Charles Manson follower will be released on parole after serving more than 40 years in prison.
The state’s Board of Parole Hearings submitted to Gov. Jerry Brown its recommendation that Bruce Davis is suitable for parole. The documents were submitted Friday, one day ahead of the deadline, according to California Department of Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton.
The board’s attorneys were required to review the findings of a two-member panel which ruled he was suitable for parole. They confirmed there were no errors of fact or law in the submission.
The governor has up to 30 days to make a decision. His options are to affirm, decline, modify or decline to review, which would allow the parole to take effect, Thornton said.
Davis, now 70, was convicted with cult leader Manson and another man in the killings of a musician and a stuntman. He was not involved in the infamous Sharon Tate murders.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected a previous parole recommendation for Davis.
Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey sent a letter to the board last week opposing Davis’ release.
Davis was 30 when he was sentenced to life in prison in 1972, in a case that was a postscript to Manson’s notorious reign as leader of the murderous communal cult known as the Manson family.
Davis long maintained that he was a bystander in the killings of the two men, but in recent years, he has acknowledged his shared responsibility.
A recent photo released by CDCR shows a gray-haired, wrinkled man smiling for the camera.
If he is freed, Davis will go to transitional housing associated with religious groups in Los Angeles County.
Davis became a born-again Christian in prison and ministered to other inmates, married a woman he met through the prison ministry, and has a grown daughter. The couple recently divorced.
Davis also earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in philosophy of religion.
Manson and three of his followers, Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles “Tex” Watson, remain in prison for life in the Tate killings. Their co-defendant, Susan Atkins, died of cancer behind bars in 2009.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News