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The California state Senate today took the unprecedented step of suspending three of its members who have been accused of crimes including corruption, perjury and conspiracy to traffic weapons -- a move that takes away their power but maintains their pay. With a vote of 28-1, senators ousted colleagues Democrats Leland Yee of San Francisco, Ron Calderon of Montebello and Rod Wright of Baldwin Hills with a resolution that says they can't resume office "until all criminal proceedings currently pending against them have been dismissed." Expelling them would be premature, Senate leader Darrell Steinberg said, because Yee and Calderon have...

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com/AP) — Two Southern California state lawmakers were among a trio of Democratic senators who were suspended Friday over criminal charges. KNX 1070′s Megan Goldsby reports the vote comes after Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco was indicted this week on federal charges that included accepting bribes and coordinating an international gun-running operation.

- FrontPage Magazine - http://www.frontpagemag.com - Leland Yee: An Anti-Gun Democrat Jihadists Can LovePosted By Robert Spencer On March 28, 2014 @ 12:25 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | No Comments California State Senator Leland Yee is the very model of a modern public servant.Yee, a Democrat, has amassed a well-deserved reputation as an anti-gun crusader: shortly after Adam Lanza’s murderous rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012, Yee helped spearhead one of the toughest gun laws in the entire nation, banning the “bullet button” that allows shooters to change magazines on assault weapons quickly and easily. California Governor...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Keith Jackson, accused by the FBI on Wednesday of being involved in a murder-for-hire scheme and a gun- and drug-trafficking conspiracy, was San Francisco's top elected educator during the late 1990s.

State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) was charged Wednesday with conspiring to commit wire fraud and traffic firearms, part of a sweeping public corruption case outlined by federal prosecutors. The charges sent shock waves through the San Francisco and Sacramento political establishments, as FBI agents searched Yee's Capitol office. Last year the FBI raided the offices of Sen. Ron Calderon (D-Montebello), who was targeted in a bribery sting. SNIP The indictment alleges Yee and Jackson defrauded "citizens of honest services" and were involved in a scheme to traffic firearms in exchange for thousands in campaign donations to the senator. SNIP...

State senator accused of gun charges SAN FRANCISCO — A California state senator who authored gun control legislation asked for campaign donations in exchange for introducing an undercover FBI agent to an arms trafficker, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday. The allegations against State Sen. Leland Yee were outlined in an FBI criminal complaint that names 25 other defendants, including Raymond Chow, a onetime gang leader with ties to San Francisco's Chinatown known as "Shrimp Boy," and Keith Jackson, Yee's campaign aide. The affidavit accuses Yee of conspiracy to deal firearms without a license and to illegally import firearms. Yee...

San Francisco may be held up on a global pedestal as a friendly, supportive place for gays and lesbians, but the city is at risk of abandoning the men and women who built that structure and who are now heading into old age, according to a report released Tuesday.

The federal corruption and bribery charges leveled against state Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco mark the third embarrassing scandal this year for Senate Democrats and their party, which control both houses of the state Legislature and every statewide office in California.Coming on the heels of recent tangled legal troubles of two other high-profile Los Angeles County Democratic state senators - Ron Calderon of Montebello and Rod Wright of Baldwin Hills - Yee's arrest may now hand the beleaguered state Republican Party an opening in a midterm election year, political observers say.

Thousands of Bay Area workers will become eligible by Sept. 30 for a new commuter benefit that could save them hundreds of dollars a year if they take public transit or van pools to work. Employers of 50 of more full-time workers within the nine Bay Area counties must start offering employees at least one of four kinds of assistance for commute alternatives to driving alone. Companies that already offer a commuter benefit will not be required to expand their program, but they will have to file an annual report.

"According to Nielsen Audio Metro data, Savage at least doubled Hannity’s average quarter-hour (AQH) rating in two major markets (New York and Dallas) and at least tripled his rating in Chicago and Savage’s hometown of San Francisco:"

SAN FRANCISCO -- State Sen. Leland Yee was arrested on public corruption charges Wednesday morning amid raids of his office in Sacramento and searches by the FBI in San Francisco, several media outlets reported.

Anti-gun California State Sen. Leland Yeehas been indicted on charges of public corruption, according to a breaking story in the Sacramento Bee and other news agencies, making him the second high-profile Golden State gun control proponent to wind up in trouble in the past month. The San Jose Mercury News is reporting that the FBI is serving “multiple arrest and search warrants this morning” in relation to the case. KCRA News reported that Sen. Yee, an ardent gun control proponent and sponsor of a bill last year to limit magazine capacity on so-called “assault weapons” and require fixed magazines on such firearms, is a Democrat.

State Sen. Leland Yee was arrested on public corruption charges Wednesday morning amid raids of his office in Sacramento and searches by the FBI in San Francisco, several media outlets reported.

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld two San Francisco gun laws challenged by the National Rifle Association and gun owners who live in the city. San Francisco requires handgun owners to secure weapons in their homes by storing them in a locker, keeping them on their bodies or applying trigger locks. The city also bans the sale of ammunition that expands on impact, has "no sporting purpose" and is commonly referred to as hollow-point bullets.

Do monsters get any meaner than Godzilla and King Kong? You bet! Charles and David Koch are ginormous and superbad. Just ask Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid. “When you make billions of dollars a year, you can be as immoral and dishonest as your money will allow you to be,” the Nevadan said February 26 on the Senate floor. “These two brothers,” Reid added, “are about as un-American as anyone that I can imagine.” San Francisco billionaire and Democratic campaign contributor Tom Steyer told Men’s Journal that David Koch is “just a famously evil person!”

This Southern California lawyer needs an attorney. A Los Angeles public defender was arrested after she caused a "drunken ruckus" that included bites, kicks and a demand for cocaine at San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday, according to reports. Monica Marie Jenkins was charged with five misdemeanors, including assault on an officer, by the San Mateo District Attorney, the Examiner is reporting. Jenkins, 37, who was attempting to fly to Los Angeles, was reportedly so drunk she was not allowed to board her flight, the newspaper reported. Student Seeks $5M for SJSU Hate Crime She declined "sobering up and catching...

I don’t see how this plan could possibly fail unless economics is real. A San Francisco Bay Area city is on track to have the highest minimum wage in California. The Richmond City Council voted 6-1 on Tuesday in favor of an ordinance that would raise minimum hourly pay in the city to $12.30 an hour by 2017. Richmond’s unemployment rate is somewhere between 11 and 14 percent. Its unemployment rate for black men is 36%.It’s the third most dangerous city in California and its 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th top employers are all the government. And it has a...

(Original title: John Kerry, Barack Obama, and Ukraine Foreign Policy) In 1984, Jeane Kirkpatrick, a lifelong Democrat who Ronald Reagan appointed Ambassador to the United Nations, took to the stage at the Republican National Convention in Dallas. The Republicans and this Democrat roundly mocked the unseriousness of the Democrats who wanted to replace Ronald Reagan. Calling them “San Francisco Democrats” — the Democrats had held their convention in San Francisco — Kirkpatrick delivered many broadsides that ring true today. As she said of these San Francisco Democrats, “they always blame America first.” The San Francisco Democrats in 1984 included the...

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee wants to help you buy your first home. So much so, in fact, that the city is now willing to lend certain first-time home buyers up to $200,000 toward the down payment on their first house or condominium in San Francisco. That’s real money, but in a city where the median sales price was $925,000 in February, is $200,000 enough to make a difference to low-income and middle-class residents being priced out of the city by the tech boom? […] The new limit, which goes into effect this month, will allow some home buyers to...

San Francisco spends $165 million a year on services for homeless people, but all that money hasn't made a dent in the homeless population in at least nine years. And in fact, the city's homeless tally may have long been underestimated. In addition to the 6,436 homeless adults counted during one night last year, a separate daytime count specifically of homeless youth found 914 children and young adults living in San Francisco without parents or guardians and without a roof over their heads. These findings are part of a new report by Harvey Rose, the budget and legislative analyst for...