DEC. 30, 2010 By K. LLOYD BILLINGSLEY The Sacramento Bee is publishing an eight-part series on “Californians to watch in 2011.” The Dec. 28 profile of Mary Nichols by Rick Daysog fails to mention key reasons why Californians might want to keep a close watch on the California Air Resources ...
Waste, Fraud and AbuseThere’s Something About MaryThursday, December 30th, 2010UC Davis Stats Falsifier ArrestedWednesday, December 15th, 2010DEC. 15, 2010 By K. LLOYD BILLINGSLEY Jennifer Beeman, the former UC Davis official who falsified campus sexual assault statistics, was arrested on Dec. 9 and charged with nine felonies of misusing public funds, embezzlement and false accounting. The arrest followed a year-long investigation. ... Will Brown Mess With Anti-Quota Law?Friday, December 10th, 2010DEC. 10, 2010 K. LLOYD BILLINGSLEY A federal judge has upheld Proposition 209, the California law that bars racial, ethnic and gender preferences in state employment, education and contracting. The voter-approved measure has met legal challenges before but remains under attack. The Coalitio... CIRM’s Politics of Personal EnrichmentSunday, November 28th, 2010NOV. 28, 2010 Newspaper report exposes exorbitant salaries at state stem cell agency but understates waste and scientific failure By K. LLOYD BILLINGSLEY The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the $3 billion state stem cell agency created by Proposition 71 in 2004, has made fro... Free BART Tickets for CaltransWednesday, October 27th, 2010OCT. 27, 2010 By ANTHONY PIGNATARO The California Department of Transportation recently began investigating an allegation that employees at the department's Oakland office are scalping free Bay Area Rapid Transit tickets given to them as part of a state commuter incentive program. This investi... UC Davis Cops Mum On Fraud ScandalTuesday, October 5th, 2010OCT. 5, 2010 By LLOYD BILLINGSLEY UC Davis Police are still playing it close to the vest in an investigation, dating from 2009, of a former UC Davis employee alleged to have misappropriated funds. “Our investigation is ongoing,” UC Davis police chief Annette M. Spicuzza told CalWatchdog... DA: Bell Officials ‘Looted At Will’Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010SEPT. 22, 2010 By TORI RICHARDS, reporting from the courtroom LOS ANGELES – The mayor and seven other current and former city of Bell officials made their first court appearance today to answer charges that they misappropriated more than $5.5 million in salaries and personal loans from the b... Bell Shows Value Of Open RecordsTuesday, September 21st, 2010SEPT. 21, 2010 By TORI RICHARDS When Bell city officials started raking in obscene salary amounts, it’s a safe bet that they never considered the California Public Records Act. The law that discloses almost anything related to politicians’ lives would prove to be their undoing when placed ... Funds for Moonbeam’s sick buildingsThursday, September 2nd, 2010SEPT. 2, 2010 By WAYNE LUSVARDI California newspaper editorials cry out that it is “outrageous” and “unacceptable” that almost a year after Congress granted California $25 million in Stimulus Funds to make state buildings more energy efficient that only one percent of the money has bee... Correa introduces pay disclosure actThursday, August 12th, 2010AUGUST 12, 2010 By STEVEN GREENHUT State Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, released language today from his Taxpayer Right to Know Act -- aimed at improving public access to information about the salaries and perks enjoyed by the state's government employees. The bill comes in the aftermath of the... |