TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalAmid CHP overtime fraud probe, Caltrans orders audit of highway funds used to pay officers
The director of Caltrans has ordered a state audit of expenditures tied to the protection of the agency’s work crews by California Highway Patrol units after a CHP investigation uncovered evidence of fraudulent overtime among its officers.
The agency is looking to identify potential malfeasance and to potentially discipline any officials involved in misconduct in which the CHP said some officers in its East Los Angeles station exaggerated the number of hours they worked in protection details for Caltrans workers.
Director Laurie Berman on Monday announced the audit, which will be conducted by the agency’s inspector general. It comes days after the CHP revealed that dozens of officers and supervisors have been temporarily relieved of duty while the department investigates an alleged massive overtime scheme involving officers getting paid for hours they did not work.
Calling it fraud, CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley and top officials said Friday they uncovered at least $360,000 in fake overtime and provided the evidence to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office for potential criminal prosecution.
Read more: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-caltrans-chp-audit-fake-hours-20190204-story.html
Oregon lawmakers want to divert likely $700M 'kicker' rebate to pensions
A pair of Democratic lawmakers in the Oregon Legislature want to divert the state’s unique “kicker” tax rebate on a one-time basis to help tackle the state’s public pension crisis.
Oregon taxpayers are currently on track to receive $724 million worth of kicker rebates when they file their income taxes in 2020. Under a plan co-sponsored by Sen. Kathleen Taylor of Portland and Rep. Karin Power of Milwaukie, that money would instead go into an account created by Gov. Kate Brown to encourage local governments to pour more money into the underfunded pension system.
So far, it’s one of the more substantial proposals to address Oregon’s pension problems this session. The governor and leaders in the Democratically controlled Legislature have pitched few major ideas on the topic to date and may not sign onto the pension fixes being offered by Republicans.
If state economists’ predictions hold, the kicker tax credits to be issued next year would be the largest in dollar terms in more than a decade, according to the state Office of Economic Analysis. The median taxpayer in Oregon with an adjusted gross income of about $35,000 could get a $174 credit. However, most of the benefit goes to the state’s highest-income households, who pay the most taxes. The top 1 percent, who bring in more than $401,000, could cut their tax bills by roughly $7,175, economists predicted.
Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2019/02/oregon-lawmakers-want-to-divert-likely-700m-kicker-rebate-to-pensions.html
24 companies, including Kaiser, Providence, Moda, want greater share of state Medicaid business
Oregon’s much-criticized system for delivering health care to the poor received a big vote of confidence from the private sector this week when 24 organizations notified the state, that they hope to get into the coordinated care organization business.
Coordinated care organizations, or CCOs, oversee, coordinate and in many cases provide health care for nearly 900,000 Oregonians on the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s version of Medicaid.
The new bidders for that role include subsidiaries of health care giants Kaiser and Providence. The Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest hopes to serve the tri-county metro area. Providence wants to operate in the metro area as well as Hood River, Clatsop and Jackson counties, according to state filings.
‚Providence and Kaiser already are partners in Health Share, a Portland-based CCO. Officials with both companies say they want to continue that relationship. They filed their own letters of intent with the state primarily to keep their options open in case Health Share doesn’t get renewed by the state.
Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2019/02/24-companies-including-kaiser-providence-moda-want-greater-share-of-state-medicaid-business.html
Intel confirms plans for huge Oregon factory
Intel acknowledged late Monday it will soon begin building a massive new semiconductor factory in Hillsboro, which will surely run in the billions of dollars and rank among the largest capital projects in Oregon history.
The company told about 50 residents living near its Ronler Acres campus that it will build a third phase of its massive D1X manufacturing complex, confirming a report last month by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Additionally, Intel said it plans a new technology building to support the factory with emergency generators, utilities and additional parking.
Intel was vague on many details, including the project’s exact size and timing. Hillsboro says the chipmaker recently submitted construction permitting applications but the city has yet to fulfill a public records requests for the documents.
Sources in Oregon’s construction industry say Intel has indicated it hopes to begin construction during the first half of the year but the chipmaker would only say it plans to start work in Hillsboro sometime in 2019.
Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2019/02/intel-confirms-plans-for-huge-oregon-factory.html
Hearing set for ex-Arkansas police chief on rape charge
BENTONVILLE, Ark.—A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for a former northwest Arkansas police chief who has pleaded guilty to murder and now faces rape charges in a more than 20-year-old case.
Former Gateway Police Chief Grant Hardin has pleaded not guilty to the 1997 rape of a Rogers teacher in the teacher's lounge of an elementary school.
The woman went to the school on a Sunday morning to prepare her class lessons when she said she was attacked by a man with a gun. The rape went unsolved until after Grant pleaded guilty in 2017 to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the fatal shooting of James Appleton in Gateway, about 150 miles northwest of Little Rock. Prosecutors say DNA then linked him to the rape.
http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/arkansas/story/2019/feb/04/hearing-set-ex-arkansas-police-chief-rape-charge/764106/
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Texas lawmakers consider funding for state park
STRAWN, Texas—For 30 years, chicken fried steak lovers have been making the drive to dine at Mary's Cafe in Strawn.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports the restaurant was acclaimed for having the state's best chicken fried steak. Besides six-man football, the cafe has been the primary reason to visit the town 75 miles west of Fort Worth.
"We've just been this small, little town out here for a 100 years, just kind of maintaining our own way, and except for chicken fried steak, nobody knows where we're at," said Strawn City Secretary Danny Miller.
But Miller and other Strawn residents have been patiently waiting for the one thing that could dramatically change their town of 654.
That's the 4,400-acre Palo Pinto Mountains State Park.
Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/texas/story/2019/feb/05/texas-lawmakers-consider-funding-state-park/764181/
Ford Credit opposes Reagor, Dykes request for discovery time
LUBBOCK -- Ford Credit opposed a motion by Rick Dykes and Bart Reagor requesting more discovery time and a delay of summary judgment in their ongoing civil lawsuit.
In January, Ford Credit filed a motion in district court for summary judgment - meaning the case would not go through a full trial - citing enough evidence of fraud for a ruling in the creditor’s favor. The lender is looking to hold Dykes and Reagor accountable because they are the ones who signed binding contracts, according to court documents.
Principals Rick Dykes and Bart Reagor responded by asking for time to get facts straight. The court had previously set a September 2019 deadline for summary judgment, and a January 2020 discovery deadline. They assert there is more to the story between Ford Credit and former Reagor-Dykes Chief Financial Officer Shane Smith.
In the newest documents filed on Monday, Ford Credit states the defendants have not filed any discovery requests for Ford Credit to fulfill, even though they have had the opportunity to do so since September. The creditor contradicts the notions put forth in the defendant’s motion, calling it “vague speculation.”
Read more: https://www.lubbockonline.com/news/20190204/ford-credit-opposes-reagor-dykes-request-for-discovery-time
Beshear to lawmakers: Kentucky's fetal heartbeat abortion bill is unconstitutional
FRANKFORT -- Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear sent the legislature’s top two leaders a letter Thursday informing them that he thinks a bill in this year’s General Assembly that would ban abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected is unconstitutional.
“The Supreme Court of the United States has uniformly held — in no fewer than eight separate decisions — that neither Congress nor a state legislature can ban abortions before viability,” Beshear said in the letter.
Beshear, who is a Democratic candidate for governor, said he offered the legal opinion because it is his job.
“As attorney general, it is my duty to enforce the Constitution and advise lawmakers of any legislation that is clearly unconstitutional, as I have done many times over the last three years,” Beshear told the Herald-Leader. “My office reviewed Senate Bill 9 and today, as part of my duty as attorney general, communicated that this law is unconstitutional.”
Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article225338850.html
Rand Paul accuses McConnell and other senators of forming a 'war caucus'
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Rand Paul accused his Senate colleagues Monday of being warmongers and serving in a “war caucus” — as fellow Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell led a bid to protest the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and Afghanistan.
“What is the one thing that brings Republicans and Democrats together?” Paul asked. “War. They love it, the more, the better. Forever war, perpetual war.”
McConnell, the Senate majority leader, has led the Senate effort to warn President Donald Trump against a too-hasty retreat from Syria and Afghanistan. McConnell rarely breaks with Trump on any policy.
Paul, though, stood squarely with Trump.
On Twitter and from the Senate floor, Paul made clear his distaste for McConnell’s amendment that warns that “the precipitous withdrawal of United States’ forces from either country could put at risk hard-won gains and United States national security.”
Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article225518415.html
Kentucky delays start of Medicaid work requirement by three months
FRANKFORT, Ky. — State officials in Kentucky have delayed the start of some new eligibility rules for a portion of its Medicaid population.
Kentucky is one of 36 states to expand its Medicaid program under former President Barack Obama's health care law to cover more people. President Donald Trump's administration gave Kentucky permission to require those people to do things like get a job, go to school or do community service work to maintain their coverage.
The Bevin administration calls these rules the "community engagement" requirements.
A federal judge blocked the rules last year, but the Trump administration approved them a second time in November. Kentucky had prepared to begin implementing some of the rules April 1. On Thursday, state health officials said the community engagement requirement would begin no sooner than July 1.
Read more: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/04/matt-bevins-medicaid-kentucky-delays-new-rules-start-time/2766110002/
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