BY BYRHONDA LYONS CalMatters Outside the Colusa County Courthouse Annex, 21-year-old Lorenzo Acosta takes a few puffs from his vape cartridge to calm himself before walking into court to support a friend. Acosta acknowledges he’s been “in the system,” so he knows how it all works here. He knows the...
Fresno County Judges Plan Exit, Opening Seats in 2020.
Two Fresno County Superior Court judges plan to retire and not run for reelection in the 2020 election. The move opens up two seats on the bench. Wednesday (Nov. 6) is the deadline for incumbent judicial candidates to file to run again. Of the 19 seats on the March 3, 2020...
California Senate Oks Expansions of ‘Red Flag’ Gun Law
SACRAMENTO — Employers, co-workers and teachers could ask judges to take away guns from people who are deemed a danger to themselves or others under a bill that has cleared the California Senate. California enacted a so-called "red flag law" that took effect in 2016. But it only allows law...
AP FACT CHECK: Trump's Illusory Claims of Gains From Tariffs
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is painting a false picture of a U.S. economy unaffected by his trade war with China and other countries. He describes a blue-sky world in which rapidly escalating tariffs have no impact on American consumers even as a raft of businesses and economists say otherwise, chastising those...
AP FACT CHECK: Trump's Illusory Claims of Gains From Tariffs
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is painting a false picture of a U.S. economy unaffected by his trade war with China and other countries. He describes a blue-sky world in which rapidly escalating tariffs have no impact on American consumers even as a raft of businesses and economists say otherwise, chastising those...
AP FACT CHECK: Trump's Illusory Claims of Gains From Tariffs
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is painting a false picture of a U.S. economy unaffected by his trade war with China and other countries. He describes a blue-sky world in which rapidly escalating tariffs have no impact on American consumers even as a raft of businesses and economists say otherwise, chastising those...
Ex-Judges to ICE: End Immigration Arrests at Courthouses
BOSTON — Dozens of retired state and federal judges called Wednesday on U.S. immigration officials to stop making arrests at courthouses of people suspected of being in the country illegally, saying immigrants should be free to visit halls of justice without fearing they will be detained. Nearly 70 former judges...
Gov. Brown Elevates Fresno Women to Judgeships
Gov. Jerry Brown appointed two new judges to the Fresno County Superior Court last week. Both are women from Fresno legal firms. Amy Guerra, an attorney with Richard Ciummo and Associates, and Ana de Alba, a shareholder at Lang, Richert, and Patch, will join the bench. They will replace Dale Ikeda, who...
California Judge Cracks Down on Smuggled Inmate Cellphones
SACRAMENTO — Judges in California and South Carolina have ordered cellphone carriers to disable nearly 200 contraband cellphones used by inmates to orchestrate crimes behind and outside prison walls, the most sweeping order of its kind ever won by corrections officials. It's an important victory for prison officials who have...
Fresno Expands ShotSpotter Gunfire Coverage
The Fresno City Council unanimously approved adding 2.26 miles to its ShotSpotter coverage at Thursday's meeting. The three-year cost for the additional area, which covers the new Bus Rapid Transit corridor on Blackstone Avenue, between Olive and Ashlan avenues, is $440,700. It will be paid from the transportation department budget....