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El Cajon tobacco dealer gets four years in prison
MurphyJ: I'd say the only business model the Chaldean American store owners emulate is the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld post-Sadam model. You remember...suitcases of American $100 bills vanishing, by the billions...? Most quick-stops and independent groceries in Cal are owned by the Chaldeans, astute business operators. They donate almost exclusively to the Republican party and lobby hard to elect Repubs and pass Repub legislation. I can only hope that at least one DOJ agent executing a warrant or indictment said to an outraged indictee, "Stuff happens!"— April 9, 2013 9:59 a.m.
El Cajon tobacco dealer gets four years in prison
"The schemes charged in the indictments involve the distribution of tobacco products other than cigarettes, such as cigars, chewing tobacco, and leaf tobacco, known as OTP (other tobacco products)" "California law requires that when an OTP distributor sells untaxed product to an OTP wholesaler for sale in California, the distributor is required to collect excise tax from the wholesaler and remit it to the BOE on a monthly basis"...The indictments allege that certain distributors and wholesalers conspired to evade excise taxes by various means, including off-books sales of tobacco products to dummy corporations, cash sales, and the use of false invoices." [link text][1] "Two types of excise taxes are collected on cigarette and tobacco products distributed in California: (1) the cigarette tax and (2) the cigarette and tobacco products surtax... Cigarettes are subject to both the cigarette tax and the cigarette and tobacco products surtax. The tax and surtax are paid by **distributors** through the use of tax stamps, which are purchased from the Board of Equalization (BOE) and affixed to each package of cigarettes before distribution. The cost of the stamp includes both the cigarette tax and the surtax. Currently, each stamp costs 87 cents per pack of 20 cigarettes, comprising 12 cents for the cigarette tax and 75 cents for the combined surtax. **[Other]Tobacco products, not including cigarettes**, are subject only to the cigarette and tobacco products surtax. Tobacco products include all forms of cigars, smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco, and snuff, as well as other products containing at least 50 percent tobacco. Effective July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012, the rate is 31.73 percent." [link text][2] [1]: http://www.justice.gov/usao/cae/news/docs/2010/08… [2]: http://www.boe.ca.gov/sptaxprog/spcigarette_tobac…— April 9, 2013 8:53 a.m.
El Cajon tobacco dealer gets four years in prison
Guess this will put a dent in the donations he always makes to the NRCC and Duncan Hunter. And to selling alcohol to minors.— April 8, 2013 1:03 p.m.
City Attorney finds a way to bypass court ruling against Plaza de Panama Project
Oh my god...Gloria and Goldsmith...the Team from Hell.— April 4, 2013 5:21 p.m.
Your SDGE bill may be going up 7.7%
It was a pretty goal-driven survey. The focus was on finding out how much you are willing to pay, emphasizing that your rates could be less if willing to pay a monthly service fee and demand charge. I copied two pages: Monthly Service Fees • Typically based on the cost of providing certain services that all customers receive regardless of how much electricity they use, such as your connection to the grid, billing, customer service assistance, and communications. • Other subscription-type services can have monthly fees, such cell phone plans, water service, etc. • The price per kWh may be slightly lower than it would be on a rate structure without a monthly service fee. • Can reduce your ability to save money by lowering or shifting your energy use, however, it can also help reduce your bills if you use a lot of energy. How it Works For example, with a $5 monthly service fee, you would pay $5 whether you use no electricity during the month or a lot of electricity. The $5 monthly service fee would be combined with your electricity per unit (kWh) charges. • If your kWh charges were $95, with a $5 monthly service fee, your total charges would be $100. • If your kWh charges were $0, your total charges would be $5. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________- Please carefully look at all three rate plans and pick the rate plan that you prefer the most: Time of Use Rate -3 periods: (Monthly Service Fee,$15.00; Demand Charge, $2.00) Off Peak Price ……$0.12 Part Peak Price……$0.13 On Peak Price ……$0.14 Time of Use Rate - 2 periods: (Monthly Service Fee,$0; Demand Charge, $0) Off Peak Price……$0.22 On Peak Price……$0.26 And so on... a very elaborate, sales-pitch-type survey.— March 30, 2013 7:31 p.m.
Your SDGE bill may be going up 7.7%
Just took the survey: Expecting rate hikes soon, or plan options that include monthly service fees and demand charges. Yup.— March 30, 2013 4:42 p.m.
Your SDGE bill may be going up 7.7%
Whoa. Maybe I'd better respond to the online survey that I was invited to take: Dear Valued Customer, SDG&E is exploring offering new options for electricity rate plans to its customers, and wants your input. SDG&E has contracted with HINER & Partners to conduct this survey. Please click on the link below and you will be taken to HINER's secure web site to complete the survey. The survey should take about 20 to 25 minutes of your time. We realize this is a lot to ask, but part of the survey is designed to educate you about potential new rates. http://www.hinerpartners.com/isurveys/SWRRS35/cgi… Please use the link to complete the survey within the next 5 days. If you have any difficulties connecting to the web site or with completing the survey, please contact Luke Thelen of HINER & Partners at [email protected]. If you have any questions about the validity of the survey, please contact SDG&E's Jamie Loosbrock at [email protected]. Thank you in advance for participating in this important research. Sincerely, Steven J. Westberg Executive Vice President HINER & Partners, Inc. (562) 495-2436 ext 40— March 30, 2013 4 p.m.
Council President Todd Gloria once served as a board member for the Tourism Authority
Keach is misdirecting: Gloria wasn't on the Board to *receive* benefit, but rather to show that he was compliant and would *give* benefit, where he could, then and forever. As for Gloria's comment, "*More promotion of San Diego equals more services for San Diegans*" I'm wondering **what** services for San Diegans is he meaning? I'm also rethinking who exactly, among the hotel/motel owners, voted for the TMD. The Ebony Inn Motel is one example of a "yes" vote. It 's a very sleazy place at 740 F Street, where a fugitive unit recently captured a most-wanted suspect. Here it is on Google street view, next to a chain-linked weedy lot: http://goo.gl/maps/IKVmB The owners, GOPI Incorporated, are the Bhakta family. They were mentioned in a UT story in 2004 http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040502/news… How many other budget motel owners voted for the TMD, and why? Does tourism promotion benefit these owners? Would the Bhakta family be getting benefits from promotion by charging fugitives and other one-night-stand budget-minded room renters 2% more for the Ebony Inn Motel? Very odd.— March 28, 2013 5:07 p.m.
Vibrator giveaway doesn't appear to have swept San Diego
Ugh, ewww. And thanks for covering all the news fit to ... well, more fit than what passes for City Council activity...— March 27, 2013 7:47 p.m.
Year to date hotel occupancy rates are actually up in San Diego, despite missed marketing opportunity
Good research and reporting. The UT and downtown hotel owners can spin all they want, but facts are facts.— March 26, 2013 10:08 a.m.