It's the story that keeps on giving: Yet another look at the state Parks and Recreation Department has turned up yet another problem -- it turns out that the trove of hidden cash has been squirreled away there for two decades.
From the Bee's Matt Weiser and Kevin Yamamura: "A new probe of financial scandals at the California Department of Parks and Recreation found that officials maintained a hidden cash surplus for as long as 20 years – far longer than previously known."
"The investigation by the California state auditor, released Thursday, tracked a surplus going back to 1993 in the State Parks and Recreation Fund, the primary fund that collects and disburses revenue generated by the 278 state parks."
"The Bee first reported in July that department officials maintained a secret surplus in this fund which at the time amounted to $20 million. Although the surplus amount varied over time, no evidence has emerged that the money was spent illegally."
From San Diego, an amazing tale: Maureen O'Connor, the city's first female mayor, skimmed millions of dollars from her late-husband's charity and had a world class gambling addiction.
From the LAT's Tony Perry. "Maureen O'Connor was the first female mayor of San Diego. But when she left public life, she spent countless hours seated in front of video-poker machines, authorities said."
"Over a nine-year period, she wagered an estimated $1 billion, including millions from a charity set up by her late husband, who founded Jack in the Box. That was the portrait that emerged in court Thursday as the frail former mayor tearfully acknowledged she skimmed more than $2 million from a charity founded by her late husband, Robert O. Peterson."
"O'Connor, 66, admitted in a plea deal that she had a gambling addiction and is nearly destitute. Her lawyer, prominent defense attorney Eugene Iredale, suggested that a brain tumor may have impaired her reasoning; he gave reporters copies of her brain scan from a 2011 surgery."
The incident in which a ship smacked the Bay Bridge last month has prompted new safety rules for busy San Francisco Bay.
From the Mercury-News' Paul Rogers: "Hoping to reduce the risk of major oil spills in San Francisco Bay, the Coast Guard and top shipping officials Thursday passed new rules to restrict cargo ships, oil tankers and other large vessels from sailing near the Bay Bridge in heavy fog."
"The action comes five weeks after an empty oil tanker, the Overseas Reymar, sideswiped a tower of the Bay Bridge near Yerba Buena Island. The Jan. 7 accident, which caused an estimated $3 million in damage to the bridge, occurred five years after the Cosco Busan, a 901-foot cargo ship, hit an adjacent tower. That accident spilled 53,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the bay, killing more than 6,000 birds and oiling 69 miles of beaches and shoreline."
"Under the new guidelines, all large ships will be restricted from sailing northbound under the Bay Bridge when visibility is less than half a mile."
For years the words "DMV" and "computer problems" seemed to go together. They still do.
From the LAT's Chris Megerian: "California's computer problems, which have already cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, have mounted as state officials cut short work on a $208-million DMV technology overhaul that is only half done."
"The project was intended to revamp the process for registering vehicles and issuing driver's licenses, with the entire overhaul scheduled to be finished this year. But state officials said they were canceling the vehicle registration component because little progress was being made."
"The decision is a setback for the Department of Motor Vehicles, which has a history of such stumbles."
From the Voice of OC: "Southern California Edison has spent the last year telling nuclear regulators and the public that major problems with its generators at San Onofre – which leaked radiation last year – were a complete surprise."
"But later today, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to release a report that may radically change that picture."
"According to two senior members of Congress, the report by generator manufacturer Mitsubishi shows that Edison knew about “serious problems” with the four generators before they were installed, yet “rejected enhanced safety measures” that could have helped prevent last January’s radiation leak."
