There are weird tales coming out of Las Vegas -- no surprise there of course -- but this time, we're not talking about losing at black jack but about the purchase of a newspaper by a mystery buyer who turns out to be none other than casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.
From the LAT's NIgel Duara and Lisa Mascaro: "Even before Schroeder could adjourn the meeting, Robison and other reporters had begun furiously thumbing through their phones' Web browsers, looking for business records related to the Delaware-based News + Media Capital Group or the backgrounds of their new owners."
“They look like they were registered just to buy us,” Robison whispered to Howard Stutz, the other business reporter tasked to cover the story."
"Stutz leaned over and whispered back one word: “Sheldon.”
"What followed is one of the most bizarre chapters in U.S. journalism in years, and it's still unfolding."
One way to keep people happy in car-clogged California is to have good roads. And we don't have 'em. But that may change if lawmakers and the governor can get together on a rebuild plan.
From John Howard in Capitol Weekly: "Six months after Gov. Jerry Brown called for a special session of the Legislature to fix the state’s crumbling roads, the potholes are just as deep, the motorists are just as irritated and the multibillion-dollar cost is just as high."
“There are a lot of discussions going on behind the scenes,” said Jim Earp of the Alliance for Jobs, which represents builders and workers, part of a coalition that includes cities and counties pushing for road improvements with, at a bare minimum, a $6 billion annual price tag.."
Lawmakers want to act on the issue. “The negotiators are reporting back that legislators in both parties think something needs to be done,” said Chris McKenzie of the League of California Cities, also part of the coalition."
Meanwhile, Assemblyman Mark Levine, a North Coast Democrat, wants state Attorney General Kamala Harris to shut down online fanasy sports sites in California, noting that other states also are cracking down on the controversial operations.
Janis Mara in the Marin Independent Journal tells the tale: "In his letter to Harris, Levine said, “California law provides for broad protections for consumers. But right now, online fantasy sports betting sites are operating ... with no state oversight whatsoever.” His letter called on Harris to shut down the sites “until California law is made clear and consumers are protected.”
"With daily fantasy sports betting sites such as DraftKings, FanDuel and more, sports fans draft teams of their favorite athletes and pit them against those of other people playing on the site. They accumulate points based on how the players in their draft performed that week.
"The companies advertise on national TV, and the sites offer same-day cash rewards to winners — a big incentive. The sites have grown into an industry valued as highly as $17 billion in some estimates."
Speaking of the attorney general, Harris says the Los Angeles D.A. can take action to force a local official off a regonal water board.
From the LAT's Richard Winton: "The California attorney general has given Los Angeles County's top prosecutor the green light to sue the mayor of Carson, Albert Robles, and oust him from his seat on a regional water board."
"In an opinion issued Tuesday, state Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris found there are “substantial questions” as to whether the two public offices held by Robles -- mayor and board member of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California -- are incompatible."
"A judge should decide if any potential conflicts of interest could exclude Robles from holding the water board post, the opinion stated."
In San Francisco federal court, accused Chinatown crime boss Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow's claims of innocence were ridiculed by the prosecution.
From the Chronicle's Bob Egelko: "A federal prosecutor derided Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow’s claim that he was unaware of the crimes his followers were committing — a key issue in the racketeering case against the alleged crime boss — and used Chow’s own memoir Wednesday as evidence that he knew more than he was admitting.
“You just pretend you don’t know what they’re doing,” Assistant U.S. Attorney William Frentzen told Chow on his second day of cross-examination before a federal court jury in San Francisco. “Are you the dragonhead (Chow’s title as leader of the Ghee Kung Tong, a Chinatown brotherhood) or are you a sucker?”
Chow, 55, is charged with running the organization as a racketeering enterprise and arranging the 2006 murder of its former leader, Allen Leung. He is also accused of trying to set up the murder of another rival, Jim Tat Kong, who was killed in 2013. The charges stem from a five-year undercover investigation that also led to the guilty plea of former state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, who admitted taking bribes from agents posing as campaign contributors.
