As a television actor, Kimberlin Brown Pelzer is a public figure; but challenging Rep. Dr. Raul Ruiz for the local congressional seat is her first political campaign experience. Pelzer is running for the Republican nomination against five other Republican candidates. Unless one of the six, including Ruiz, garners more than 50 percent of the June…
Editor’s note: Shaffer Cormell and Tim Hollenhorst are running for a seat on the California Superior Court in Riverside County. Superior Court judges can be elected, as in this case, or appointed by the governor. The terms are six years and they must stand for re-election. Most often, sitting judges are not challenged. Cormell and…
Tim Hollenhorst, a native Californian, is a prosecutor in the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. He has been a deputy district attorney since 2004, and tried more than 50 cases. For the past five years, he has been the prosecutor for the Gang Impact Task Force, and working on murder, guns and drugs cases originating…
Solar panels will be part of new-home construction beginning in 2020. Last week, the California Energy Commission approved new building-efficiency standards that will require solar panels. The commission expects the new standards will reduce energy consumption 53 percent for homes, the equivalent of 115,000 fewer gas-consuming cars on the streets. Energy consumption in nonresidential buildings…
Locks gas and infrastructure tax revenue into purposes for which intended Proposition 69, on the June ballot, requires that revenue raised from Senate Bill 1 (2017) be spent on transportation-related purposes. It puts legislatively approved gas and transportation tax revenues into a “lockbox,” restricting use to the purposes for which intended. Specifically, SB 1, the…
Allows additional time to count and certify ballots Proposition 71 on the June ballot would move the date approved ballot measures become effective to the fifth day after the California secretary of state certifies the election results. Currently, California law stipulates measures become effective the day after the election in which they are approved by…
Governor remains cautious about economy Last Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown announced his revisions to the fiscal year 2018-19 budget he proposed in January. The major change is the expectation that revenues will be $8.8 billion greater than the estimate four months ago. Despite the revenue growth, Brown remains cautious about the state’s future economy. In…
By Colleen Tressler Consumer Education Specialist Federal Trade Commission Over the past several years, sales of electronic cigarettes have grown rapidly, especially among youth. They currently are the fastest growing part of the tobacco market. Unlike traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes are generally battery-operated and use a heating element to heat liquid nicotine (e-liquid). When heated, the…
By Seena Gressin Attorney, Division of Consumer & Business Education Federal Trade Commission Identity theft is hard enough. That’s why we keep working to make recovering from it easier. It’s also why we’re happy to let you know about an innovative project by the FTC and IRS that lets people report tax-related identity theft to…
They’re at it again… tax scammers scheming new ways to steal personal information and money.
In the first scenario, identity thieves file a fake tax return and have the refund deposited into your bank account. The thieves then contact you, often by phone, and — posing as the IRS or debt collectors for the IRS — demand you return the money to the IRS. But following the thieves’ instructions actually sends the money to them.
