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States accuse Biden administration of concealing and downplaying its 'culpability' in school board memo.. Thirteen states have signed on to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking Biden administration records on any FBI surveillance of parents protesting school boards. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a former member of Congress, has taken the lead in the lawsuit against President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, citing a failure of U.S. officials to honor FOIA requests. The Indiana attorney general previously demanded all communications and records relating to the FBI's decision to investigate violent threats against local education...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When then-California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the nation’s first law requiring women on boards of publicly traded companies, he suggested it might not survive legal challenges. Three years later, a judge will begin hearing evidence Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court that could undo the law credited with giving more women seats in boardrooms traditionally dominated by men. The California law has spurred other states to adopt or consider similar laws. The conservative legal group Judicial Watch brought the lawsuit that claims it’s illegal to use taxpayer funds to enforce a law that violates the equal...

About two weeks ago I went to my team's MLB chat page and it was gone! I guess MLB decided that it was an expense they no longer wished to incur. I am hoping that our vast array of baseball fanatics will know of other sites where the daily game can be discussed as it is played, and have other conversations on current events.

A Maryland Circuit Court judge has ruled that the Maryland Board of Physicians, which stripped Dr. Mark Geier of his license to practice medicine back in 2011, acted illegally by humiliating Dr. Geier and his family publicly after they removed his medical license. ...the members of the Maryland Board of Physicians, between $10,000 and $200,000 apiece, depending on their net worth.

EL PASO, Texas — An alleged Mexican gang leader named to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list may have surgically altered his face and changed his finger prints to hide his identity, federal investigators said Wednesday. Eduardo "Tablas" Ravelo was added earlier this week to the wanted list that includes the likes of Osama Bin Laden and Boston crime lord James "Whitey" Bulger. "From what I've heard, it's my understanding he may have had ... plastic surgery and manipulated his finger prints," said Samantha Mikeska, the FBI's lead investigator in a 5-year-old probe of Ravelo's Barrio Azteca gang. If Ravelo...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked lawmakers to blow up the boxes of government, and on Wednesday they obliged -- though not exactly as he envisioned. A legislative budget committee delayed action on many of Schwarzenegger's proposals for cutting waste, and instead took an ax to operations managed by the governor. They voted to get rid of entire departments and agencies under his authority. The committee voted to eliminate the Secretary of Education office, an appointed position that exists to help the governor on school issues. Lawmakers declared that the governor does not need such an office, as it overlaps with the...

Calif. Voters Reject Measures to Keep State Solvent By JENNIFER STEINHAUER Published: May 20, 2009 LOS ANGELES — A smattering of California voters on Tuesday soundly rejected five ballot measures designed to keep the state solvent through the rest of the year. The results dealt a severe setback to the state’s fragile fiscal structure and to Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislators who cobbled together the measures as part of a last-minute budget deal passed in February.The measures, which would have prolonged tax increases, capped state spending, earmarked money for education and involved the state in a complex borrowing...

State's future at stake in May 19 vote John Wildermuth,Matthew Yi May 9, 2009 If California voters reject a package of budget measures in next week's special election, it will set off a fiscal free-for-all that could set the state's course for years to come. Defeat of the measures on the May 19 ballot would chop nearly $6 billion in expected revenue from next year's budget, on top of a projected $8 billion deficit left by shrinking tax collections. Proposals by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others to close that gap are driving a wildfire of criticism across the state. Deep...

SACRAMENTO (CBS 5) ― Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that thousands of inmates could be forced out of state prisons if his proposed ballot measures fail in the upcoming special election. Schwarzenegger said he will open prison doors if voters don't approve the measures to close a projected $6 billion budget hole during the May 19th vote. ... The governor's plan would release 38,000 inmates, 19,000 of those are what the state considers low risk. The other 19,000 inmates are illegal immigrants whose offenses are said to be non-serious. The governor would commute their sentences and release all of them...

The room served as a conference room, but looking at its luxurious marble flooring and detailed accented ceilings with illustrious chandeliers one could tell this room was meant or used for so much more. In the middle of the room was a series of tables lined up covered by satin tablecloths with gold trimming draped over them. Behind those tables sat five individuals, who would be the judge and jury for what was about to convene. With three thunderous knocks, the senior of the five gave the command to enter the room. The door opened and eight proud and distinguished...

Arnold Schwarzenegger's self-styled reputation as a “green” governor is under scrutiny again as he selects leaders for water quality agencies statewide. The appointees are virtually invisible to most people, but the panels they serve on are battlegrounds for regulations, penalties and permits that affect California's waterways. Each of the state's nine regional water boards has nine board positions – a total of 81 slots. Nearly a third of the posts are vacant, including three in San Diego County. The local board's most recent chairman, University of San Diego environmental law professor Jack Minan, said he was mystified when Schwarzenegger recently...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sitting on a military draft board is not a taxing job right now. With no draft, the boards have, well, no work to do — nearly 11,000 people training for a crisis that may never come. "It's not hard at all. There's nothing to it," deadpans Michael Cohen, a Selective Service System board member from Highland Park, Ill. That could change if there is a national crisis and if the government decides the crisis requires a return to the draft that ended 33 years ago. Officials say they don't expect to restart conscription — public sentiment is...

The chairman of the University of California's board of regents wants to limit the number of corporate boards university leaders can sit on, a step that could directly affect UCSD's chancellor, Marye Anne Fox. UC Regent Chairman Gerry Parsky said the system needs to ensure chancellors keep the university as their top priority and that any benefits board memberships may bring to the university aren't outweighed by excessive demands on their time. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported last month that Fox sits on 10 corporate and nonprofit boards, more than any other chancellor in the 10-campus system. Fox has said...

State wants more control of levee boards Jeremy Alford Daily Comet Capitol Correspondent October 28. 2005 12:00AM New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin testifies as Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco (on screen) listens via video teleconference in front of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure joint hearing on rebuilding New Orleans while on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 18, 2005. REUTERS/Larry Downing BATON ROUGE — Administrative officials are expected to push a set of proposals during the special session that convenes next Sunday to grant the state greater oversight of local levee boards. Gov. Kathleen Blanco announced her intentions this week as...

West infiltrates al-Qa'eda message boards in the war on terror By Aqeel Hussein in Ramadi, Saleh Al Jibouri and Colin Freeman (Filed: 29/05/2005) Before Abu Dajeneh drove out of the world to martyrdom in an Iraqi car bomb, he prayed, read the Koran and even sent a final email. On an internet message board for al-Qa'eda affiliates, he said farewell to his comrades and that he looked forward to their next meeting, not in cyberspace, but Paradise. The al-Qa'eda message board "We will ask each other: 'Are you such-and-such who used to write Allah the Almighty! in such-and-such a message...

Los Angeles, May 12 U.S. corporate boards severely lack diversity, and companies "recycle" Hispanic and African-American directors, hiring them on multiple boards, a new study showed on Wednesday. White men hold 71 percent of seats on Fortune 100 boards, the Alliance of Board Diversity said in its report based on directors holding seats last September. Women and minorities collectively account for 29 percent of seats, with minorities holding 15 percent, the group said. Carolyn Chin, a director of the Chinese American group Committee of 100, which worked with the Alliance, called the record "pathetic" for corporate America but said that...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Congress and legislatures can open their sessions with prayers, but a federal judge ruled Friday that school boards do not have the same leeway. Ruling in a lawsuit brought by a parent against a southeastern Louisiana school system, Judge Ginger Berrigan said school-sponsored prayers in classes or at other school functions have long been prohibited as a violation of First Amendment guarantees against government-established religion. School boards are integral parts of school systems, she said. "In officially promoting a religious practice at its governmental meetings, the board is doing what its schools and teachers cannot do,...

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates was elected Tuesday to serve on the board of directors of prominent investment company Berkshire Hathaway. In doing so, Gates will serve as an advisor to longtime friend and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. In a statement, Gates said he hoped his years of experience at Microsoft would prove to be of value to Berkshire's shareholders. "I am delighted and honored to have been asked to serve on the board of this very successful company," Gates said. Gates also serves on the board of Bothell, Wash.-based biotech company Icos. Despite being close to Gates, Buffett has...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Oct. 14) -- Tiger Woods and his bride were briefly detained Thursday by U.S. Coast Guard officers on their yacht Privacy, then were turned away from San Juan's port because they had failed to notify authorities of their arrival Since July 1, new security regulations require many boats to submit an arrival notice at least four days before entering a U.S. port, Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Eric Willis said. The 28-year-old golfer and Swedish model Elin Nordegren, 24, were married Oct. 5 at a luxury resort in Barbados and later set out on the Privacy, along...

Just barely into its latest diet, the state is already backsliding. A month after a task force appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recommended that 118 state boards and commissions be abolished, the state Legislature has approved the creation of a half-dozen panels and extended the life of 10 others by up to five years. Assemblymen John Campbell (R-Irvine) and Ray Haynes (R-Murrieta) are keeping a tally. "We are headed in exactly the opposite direction that the California Performance Review wants us to go," said Haynes, referring to the governor's reform group. "It is just creating new bureaucracy." There are already...