California CPS News Archive

Highway 120 Visitors Center To Open This Month

by Mark Truppner

Sonora, CA -- The Tuolumne County Visitor's Bureau will soon be operating a Visitor's Center out of the Chinese Camp Volunteer Fire Station.

The Visitor's Bureau has reached a lease agreement on a portion of the Fire Station and will spend the next two weeks making necessary improvements and signage. Unlike the old site, Sikes stated that this location will be "year-round" so although half of the Summer has passed, there will be a new advantage that the Bureau hasn't had before.

mymotherlode.com

August 5, 2011

Calaveras changing face of homeschooling

by Dana M. Nichols

SAN ANDREAS - The line between homeschool and school is vanishing in the Calaveras Unified School District. The move comes at a time when Calaveras Unified's enrollment is shrinking.

Rather than viewing home study as an option of last resort for high school students, school officials are now removing boundaries between home study and conventional schools to allow students who study at home to take classes, participate in music and sports programs, and even come to a district office if they need a place to study. The program allows Calaveras Unified to receive the same per-student funding as for each student at its conventional schools.

recordnet.com

August 5, 2011

Northern California mother faces murder charge over meth breast milk

EUREKA -- Prosecutors in Northern California have upgraded charges against a woman accused of feeding her son methamphetamine-laced breast milk to murder, rather than manslaughter.

Six-week-old Michael Acosta III was taken to the hospital after he stopped breathing last November and was pronounced dead. Investigators determined his mother, Maggie Jean Wortman, had breastfed the child while she had drugs in her system.

mercurynews.com

August 4, 2011

Rawesome Raid: Federal Agents Arrest Owner, Dump Food

by Anna Almendrala

Rawesome foods, a private market in Venice California, has been raided a second time by federal agents. Initial reports from NaturalNews.com reveal that the owner, James Stewart, has been arrested and is being held on $123,000 bail.

Evan Kleiman, KCRW's "Good Food" producer, confirms that Stewart has been booked for conspiracy to commit a crime, and that he is not allowed to post a bond to bail himself out of jail. The thirteen count complaint against the group stems from a yearlong sting operation. Undercover investigators made purchases of raw milk, cheese, yogurt, and kefir at Rawesome, even though the market allegedly did not have the proper permits to be selling unpasteurized dairy products.

huffingtonpost.com

August 3, 2011

Calaveras Home School Progam Expands

by Tina Falco

San Andreas, CA-- The Calaveras Unified School District (CUSD) is expanding its home school program to include elementary classes.

Starting this Tuesday, July 26th, fourth, fifth and sixth graders may enroll in the Sierra Hills Education Center, CUSD independent study program. SHEC has offered independent study for seventh through twelve graders for several years. Seniors who graduate from SHEC earn a high school diploma just like any other CUSD graduate.

mymotherlode.com

July 21, 2011

California woman accused of cutting off husband's penis

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. -- A Southern California woman was jailed Wednesday after authorities said she drugged her estranged husband, tied him to a bed before cutting off his penis and put it through a garbage disposal.

Bail for Becker was set at $1 million after she was booked at the Orange County Jail for investigation of aggravated mayhem, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, administering a drug with intent to commit a felony, poisoning and spousal abuse.

syracuse.com

July 14, 2011

Wiretap usage up 34% in 2010

by Ed Morrissey

According to the latest annual report from the federal judiciary, the number of wiretaps and intercepts approved in 2010 at state and federal levels increased 34% over 2009.

California accounted for a third of all state requests (33%), with New York accounting for almost a quarter (24%) and New Jersey getting the bronze at 11%. These three states account for 68% of all state wiretap requests. New York and New Jersey have well-known problems with organized crime, but why is California - with a population just slightly larger than New York - surpassing both by such a large amount?

Hot Air

July 9, 2011

Cruel and inhumane treatment; law must change

by The RAnts of RA

Wednesday, June 29, 2011, as I sat under the gazebo watching my son practice his routine on the trampoline, a young buck, probably not more than a year old, came wandering down the driveway nibbling at the tall grass as he came closer.

Yesterday, the graceful buck was struck broadside by a passing motorist on the road, fracturing his left front shoulder and rear leg. My son and I were out for a walk, when he noticed the deer down a steep incline, on the side of the mountain overlooking our house. It was obvious his leg and shoulder were broken, he was bleeding from his mouth and in undeniable distress. Shawn described him as though he were a trout flopping around the boat, gasping for air.

blog.reliableanswers.com

July 3, 2011

California's Amazon

by Annie

I'd like to know where Gov. Brown got his economics degree? What kind of sense does it make to reduce the sales tax in California with the stroke of one pen, only to cripple online sales by attacking one of the largest generators of income in the nation.

I am not an environmentalist. However, I do believe in being a good steward: Taking care of family, sharing my knowledge, my ideas and enjoying this awesome planet where I have the pleasure to live. Please think before enacting laws that are environmentally and fiscally unfriendly. California won't get any additional tax revenue from our family by forcing us to buy local. This just means my family won't be getting any more gifts.

retailbandit.com

June 30, 2011

Jerry Brown's Budget Blowback: 10,000 Amazon Jobs Will Leave California

Congratulations to the "geniuses" in Sacramento who keep doing the same job-killing things over and over again, somehow expecting a different result.

California Democrats and liberals in general think they can just "pass a tax" on something and more money will flow into state coffers. California hemorrhaged jobs last year with more than 212 businesses leaving the state. As of today, 129 are leaving, which is five times the total in 2009. The new "internet" sales tax which lawmakers "think" will raise $317 million, will now cause Amazon.com to yank 10,000 jobs in California.

uncoverage.net

June 30, 2011

"Clean Fifteen" Just as Toxic as "Dirty Dozen" For Farm Workers

by Jeff Nield

I wrote earlier about the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) updated Dirty Dozen list of most toxic produce from a consumer perspective.

Shortly after the list was announced, Tom Philpott, now at Mother Jones asked, "What about the farm workers?" Turns out that the cleanest produce from a consumer perspective - the "Clean Fifteen" - are at least as toxic as the "Dirty Dozen". I looked up the total amount of pesticides applied in California in 2009 to each of the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen items and also the total number of acres planted for each, and calculated pesticide use intensity for each. (I used California data since its the only data available, and since pineapples, mangoes, and blueberries aren't grown in California I had to omit these). Here's what I found...

treehugger.com

June 21, 2011

Artist Accused of Molesting Daughters

by Scott Weber

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Detectives are investigating allegations that a well-known LA-based artist may have molested his two 20 month-year-old daughters.

Paul Rusconi was arrested on suspicion of lewd acts upon a minor and possession of child pornography on Friday, according to the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department. He was booked at Lost Hills Sheriff's station and released Saturday night after posting $220,000 bail. The children were placed with child protective services, according Sherriff's Spokesperson Liallian Peck.

nbclosangeles.com

June 19, 2011

California must raise foster payments immediately

by Bob Egelko

A federal judge has rejected state officials' plan to wait until July to increase payments to thousands of foster parents, ordering them to raise rates immediately to cover the costs of caring for a child.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco had ruled in October 2008 that California's reimbursements for families who care for more than 18,000 foster children were too low to cover such basic needs as food and shelter, as required by federal law.

sfgate.com

June 11, 2011