Free Republic

WEST HILLS (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office has identified the man involved in the horrific motorcycle accident that made waves across the Southland on Thursday. The incident took place on Thursday afternoon, when undercover officers with the Los Angeles Police Department began tailing the motorcycle after witnessing something that caused suspicion. After running the license plates through their system, it was determined that the vehicle was stolen. When they attempted to pull the suspect over, now identified as Ruben Contreras Jr., 30-years-old, he fled. Aerial footage from CBS LA’s Sky2 Chopper showed Contreras traveling at speeds well over...

Two days after announcing plans to donate $45 billion over time to his family foundation, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded to criticism about his philanthropic ambitions. In a Facebook post on Thursday, he pushed back against accusations that he had structured his foundation, not so much as a charity, but as a vehicle for evading taxes and making financially motivated investments under the guise of doing good. Zuckerberg created the foundation as a limited liability corporation instead of a traditional foundation. He said that he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, would fund it with 99% of his wealth, made from...

Carlos Cruz has a strategy for surviving the worst global recession in 60 years: pay less in taxes and pass the savings along to customers. "I'm declaring half as much as I used to," said Cruz, 29, who runs a painting business in Madrid. "Prices have fallen by 30 percent and customers will choose you for a difference of as little as 50 euros ($67.70)," said Cruz, an Ecuadorian who has lived in Spain since 2001. The production of goods and services that are lawful, though not declared, may grow the most as a proportion of total output since 2000,...

U.S. Rep. Hilda L. Solis, President Obama's choice for Labor secretary, faced new obstacles after lawmakers who were expected to vote on her confirmation Thursday abruptly canceled the hearing amid reports of back taxes owed by her husband. Solis, a Democrat from El Monte, is at least the fourth Obama nominee whose confirmation has been complicated by tax troubles. The Obama administration conceded it had not discovered on its own that California tax liens had been filed against Solis' husband, Sam H. Sayyad. The White House learned about the liens -- a matter of public record -- on Tuesday in...

SAN DIEGO - A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted the head of a worldwide evangelical movement on charges of income tax evasion. Morris Cerullo, president of Morris Cerullo World Evangelism, misstated his income by $550,000 between 1998 and 2000, according to the indictment. Cerullo was charged with three counts of filing false tax returns, each of which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $100,000 penalty. Arrangements were being made for Cerullo's surrender, said Assistant U.S. Attorney George Hardy. Cerullo, an evangelist known for his cable network and worldwide crusades, could not be reached for...

<p>Compared to the $170 million in campaign contributions that President Bush has amassed, the campaign war chest of Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, is practically empty. Nonetheless, because of loopholes in the federal campaign reform law, Kerry supporters have been able to match the Bush campaign TV ad wars, 30-second spot for 30-second spot, in recent weeks. In 17 battleground states, where Bush is already running ads, media watchers say pro-Kerry/anti-Bush spots have sprouted in numbers that equal if not exceed the Bush ads.</p>

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- A preliminary California Highway Patrol report on the farmers market accident that killed 10 people says error by the elderly driver was the only possible cause, according to the Los Angeles Times. The first extensive investigation into the July 16 crash rules out mechanical failures and says no objects pressed down on the accelerator as 86-year-old George Russell Weller steered his car straight through the market, said the Times, which obtained a copy of the CHP report. CHP investigators said Weller had his "eyes open, hands on the steering wheel at the 10 o'clock and 2...