A major murder case in the L.A. area is prompting local authorities to demand changes in California's new realignment law, in which the state shifts some authority -- and custody -- over prisoners to the locals.
From the LAT's Abby Sewell: "Currently, only the offender's most recent crime is considered when determining who is eligible for realignment. Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said Tuesday that he wants the county to pursue legislation that would require the offender's complete criminal past to be considered."
"It is a loophole big enough to drive a Sherman tank through," Yaroslavsky said of the current law."
"Ka Pasasouk, a suspect in the killing of four people last week, was released to county probation after serving a prison sentence for unlawful taking of a vehicle. But his previous criminal history included a 2006 conviction for second-degree robbery and assault likely to produce great bodily injury."
Jim Brulte, a former GOP leader in both houses of the Legislature who is now looking to run the California Republican Party, set up a new charity with leftover campaign cash.
From the LAT's Anthony York: "In an interview Monday, Brulte said his new Inland Empire Foundation will hand out money to other, well-established charities in the area. The timing, he said, has nothing to do with his new interest in becoming the next head of the California Republican Party."
“This is where I live, this is my community,” he said. “I want to give back.” Closing out his political account also allows Brulte to make money on the lecture circuit, something he couldn’t do while he was still technically a candidate for public office..."
"GOP attorney Charles Bell will serve on the board of the foundation, along with Brulte. But the former Senate Republican leader said nobody will draw a salary from the new organization. And because it is a 501(c)(3) charity, it will not be able to participate in politics."
It's not quite "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," but a bunch of squid are turning up on the shores of Northern California, far north of their usual home.
From Peter Fimrite in the Chronicle: "The jumbo invertebrates, known as Humboldt squid, are far north of their normal habitat in the warmer waters of Baja California and along the west coast of South America."
"Nobody knows why the aggressive, tentacled creatures moved north, but they have been showing up along the Santa Cruz and Monterey coasts with increasing frequency over the past decade, according to researchers...."
"The squid found on the beaches this past weekend were all between 2 and 3 feet long, dark red with large, bulging eyes and long tentacles extending outward from a small, toothy mouth."
State Auditor Elaine Howle's report on the state workforce turned up myriad malefactions, including an elaborate bribery scheme and expense-account scams.
From the AP's Juliet Williams: "In her annual whistleblower report, state Auditor Elaine Howle said her office received 7,238 reports of improper activity from April 2011 through the end of June 2012 and has opened investigations into nearly 1,500 cases from that time and before. The state's whistleblower act authorizes her office to investigate improper and illegal government activity that is wasteful or involves gross misconduct, incompetence or inefficiency."
"In the biggest case cited this year, Los Angeles employees of the Franchise Tax Board and secretary of state's office collected thousands of dollars in payments from a courier in exchange for supplying him with hundreds of official state letters for his clients without charging the $15 to $20 per letter fees, the report said. All three were convicted of bribery and ordered by the Los Angeles County Superior Court to pay more than $227,000 in restitution for the ruse that occurred from at least 2007 to 2009..."
"The auditor's report also found that a "high-level official" in the University of California president's office was wastefully reimbursed for $6,100 in travel expenses from July 2008 through July 2011, including for a five-day trip to England, even after she highlighted wasteful reimbursements to the man totaling more than $152,400 when he worked at the California State University chancellor's office."
Speaking of the audit, one state worker apparently loved to post comments -- thousands of them -- on the Sacramento Bee's web site.
From the Bee's Jon Ortiz: "Investigators found that the education employee posted comments on sacbee.com 195 days of the 208 days he was at work, averaging about 25 comments per day. On his most active day he wrote 70 comments during business hours."
"Quizzed by auditors, the unnamed employee offered several explanations."
"First, he said, his online postings were limited to his break times. Auditors looked at online comment records and found otherwise. Then the employee said his commenting activity fulfilled his job obligation to follow educational technology news. Auditors knocked that down, too..."
