Investigative Reporting

Micky Payne throwing Mark Spratt over a handrail at a Riverside County jail. (Riverside County Sheriff’s Department)

In Riverside County jails, a rash of homicide and negligence

By Content Contributor

April 23, 2025 at 11:33 a.m.

The jails have had high murder rates and recurring security failures by inexperienced staff.

Huntington Park Mayor Karina Macias addresses an angry crowd about a corruption probe on Feb. 28, 2025 (Huntington Park video screengrab)

Embattled Huntington Park mayor vows stalled pool project will proceed despite corruption probe

By Scott Schwebke

March 5, 2025 at 4:41 p.m.

City attorney resigns during tense meeting following raids at the homes of Mayor Karina Macias...

Lucca van der Woude (left) competes in a high school water polo game for Newport Harbor in November of 2024.(Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer)

Despite arrest, no-contact order, court admission, water polo star continues to compete and teach

By Scott M. Reid

March 27, 2025 at 12:11 p.m.

Newport Harbor transfer from Harvard-Westlake is an admitted sex offender, but authorities have allowed him...

Two doctors affiliated with Huntington Hospital and The Californian skilled nursing facility in Pasadena, seen here on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, stand accused of gross negligence in the prescribing of painkillers, sedatives and other dangerous drugs to patients, and failing to maintain proper medical records. The Californian is also under investigation by the state over safety issues involving at least three patients.(Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

2 Pasadena doctors accused of gross negligence for excessive opiate prescriptions

By Joe Nelson

June 14, 2024 at 2:47 p.m.

The Medical Board of California recommended that Drs. Robert D. Siew and Elisa Cuellar Alvarado...

The Riverside County Coroner’s Office has determined that government consultant and former state assemblyman Brian Nestande died of a drug overdose. (File photo)

Coroner: Former Palm Desert Assemblymember Brian Nestande died of drug overdose

By Joe Nelson

May 30, 2024 at 7:29 a.m.

An investigation is underway to determine how he obtained the fentanyl and cocaine found in...

The IRS said Thursday, May 2, 2024, it’s taken steps to address a wide disparity in audit rates between Black taxpayers and others filers. And the agency is more closely examining the returns of larger numbers of wealthy people and major companies. The IRS says in an annual report that it’s overhauling compliance efforts as it strives to “hold ourselves accountable to taxpayers we serve.” (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

IRS addressing wide disparity in audit rates between Black taxpayers, other filers

By The Associated Press

May 2, 2024 at 12:33 p.m.

A study found that IRS data-driven algorithms selected Black taxpayers for auditing at up to...

Former Redlands Unified School District Superintendent Mauricio Arellano addresses attendees at a workshop at Cope Middle School to teach parents and community members how to prevent child sexual abuse by recognizing grooming behaviors employed by sexual predators, April 6, 2022.
(Photo by Michael Lopez, Contributing Photographer)

Federal review slams Redlands Unified’s failures to address sexual abuse complaints by students

By Joe Nelson

May 2, 2024 at 3:42 p.m.

U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights found the district violated the federal Title...

A two-story house in Murrieta is one of the first homes Opendoor bought after moving into the Inland Empire in 2018.
(Photo by Frank Bellino, contributing photographer)

Sold your home to Opendoor? California sellers getting piece of $62 million settlement

By Samantha Gowen

April 3, 2024 at 11:02 a.m.

Nearly 2,500 sellers are getting a median refund of $1,553 after the company "tricked them...

L.A. Wholesalers, on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, at 7025 Slauson Avenue, is a cash and carry store located in a warehouse owned by the City of Commerce and has operated without a business license or permits for nearly a year. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Commerce turned blind eye to bulk liquor store operating illegally out of a city-owned warehouse

By Jason Henry

February 28, 2024 at 4:58 p.m.

L.A. Wholesalers has ties to businessman who received cheap rents from the city for other...

El Monte police Officer Joseph Santana, left, and Cpl. Michael Paredes. Both were fatally shot by Justin Flores when responding to a domestic violence call at the Siesta Inn in El Monte on June 14, 2022. (Photos courtesy of Trevor Tamsen)

El Monte officers fatally shot in ambush were not verbally warned that suspect had a gun, was on PCP

By Joe Nelson

January 30, 2024 at 5:17 p.m.

A 911 caller informed police about the dangers posed by Justin Flores, but a veteran...

The Cheesecake Factory restaurant at the Los Cerritos shopping center mall on Nov. 26, 2020. (Photo by Kirby Lee via AP Photo)

Why Cheesecake Factory wage theft case in Orange County matters for California

By CalMatters

January 24, 2024 at 11:02 p.m.

A settlement with Cheesecake Factory is one of the first uses of a state law...

Cheesecake Factory restaurants in Brea, Irvine, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Mission Viejo, Escondido and San Diego cheated 589 janitorial workers out of their wages, the California Labor Commissioner announced Monday, June 11. (File photo)

$1 million settlement reached for Cheesecake Factory janitors

By City News Service

January 23, 2024 at 4:18 p.m.

The state Labor Commissioner's Office found workers were often logging up to 10 hours of...

This image provided by Kelly Bartlett shows passengers near a hole in the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, Flight 1282, which was forced to return to Portland International Airport on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (Kelly Bartlett via AP)

Alaska Air passengers sue Boeing over Max 9 door blowout

By Bloomberg

January 12, 2024 at 11:55 a.m.

"The pressure change made ears bleed and combined with low oxygen, loud wind noise and...