Tag "Steve Miller"

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Developer lobby helping to promote $9 billion education bond

A $9 billion school-construction bond that voters will decide on in November 2016 will be promoted heavily by titans in the construction industry that stand to profit mightily if the measure passes. The stakes for builders are high; failure to

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Cumulative trauma law bedevils employers, hands fired employees a payday

The Monteleone family opened Barone’s Italian Restaurant in Valley Glen 70 years ago, and has seen its share of employee turnover. But Tom Monteleone got a nasty lesson in California’s employee relations law last week. One of his cooks was

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Unique “behested” campaign donations prop up nonprofits, political endeavors in growing numbers

Donations to special interests on behalf of statewide officeholders have grown from $250,000 in 2000 to $4.9 million so far this year, records show. The donations, which can be solicited by the charity or the officeholder, are unlimited and need

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State agency struggling to police for-profit colleges

  The state talks a big game about policing the for-profit college industry, with legislative proposals to ease student debt and a massive lawsuit against the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges. But an $8 million bureaucracy the state launched five years ago

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Bill increases CPUC transparency, restricts private meetings

A measure that will be heard this summer in committee at the statehouse aims to tighten the reins on private communications between utilities and the commissioners who regulate them at the California Public Utilities Commission. But even if SB 660 is passed,

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DOJ advisory groups violate open meetings requirements

A subcommittee inside the California Department of Justice is accused of meeting in violation of the state’s open meetings act by failing to publicly disclose what actions it will be discussing in its required public meetings notice. A cadre of

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State-funded disabled care center settles assault case with paltry $400,000

A care-giving facility for disabled adults and the taxpayer-funded groups that oversee it have settled a 2011 lawsuit that accused the center of numerous instances of abuse and violent attacks on patients. The incidents include the sexual assault of several

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Banned guns not the ones used in crimes

In the wake of firearms madness on both sides of the issue comes a batch of material obtained via public records request from guns.com, a news website that editorially tilts toward the support of gun rights. The site found that

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California eases back on gun legislation

Guns are once again being targeted by California lawmakers this year, though the pace of anti-weapons legislation, seemingly on automatic for decades, has ebbed. In previous sessions, you could scan for bills and come up with at least 100 that

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California continues tussle with ex-offender employment

The good news is that the California Department of Corrections offers program to help inmates become opticians. The bad news is that there are four different state statutes that allow the state to refuse to license an ex-offender as an

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