MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2014 - JANUARY 4, 2015
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Leondra Kruger Becomes Youngest Supreme Court Judge in 100 Years by JENNIFER SCHLUETER Last Monday, Leondra Kruger was unanimously approved as the youngest justice of the California Supreme Court in almost a century. The 38-yearold, nominated by Governor Jerry Brown in November, will be sworn into office by him on January 5, along with MarianoFlorentino Cuellar, who was confirmed as justice in August. Cuellar will replace retiring Justice Marvin Baxtor and Kruger will fill Justice Joyce Kennard’s seat, who had retired in April. Kruger was appointed by California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Attorney General Kamala Harris, and Joan Dempsey Klein, “presiding justice of the second appellate district division three,” who rated her “‘exceptionally wellqualified,’ [which is] the highest ranking a judicial candidate can receive,” according to Courthouse News. Patch.com quoted former Assistant U.S. Solicitor General Benjamin Horwich, who had worked with Kruger: “She listens, she thinks, she listens, she thinks and then she listens some more.”
Cantil-Sakauye, chair of the San Francisco-based court, “called Kruger’s credentials ‘truly stellar,’” according the website. Following an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a law degree from Yale University, Kruger worked as an assistant law professor at the University of Chicago, and practiced privately. The website also reported that she then went to Washington, D.C., where she became “assistant to the U.S. solicitor general and acting principal deputy solicitor general,” and later deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Kruger was born and raised in Glendale; however, has never practiced law in California nor been a judge. Thus, CantilSakauye questioned Kruger about these two lacking fields to which Kruger answered that her work with the Justice Department has exposed her to a variety of legal principles and that she hopes to continue learning and “draw on the expertise of her colleagues on the court,” as
and siren, the suspect backed up and drove away east bound on University Ave causing a vehicle pursuit to ensue. The suspect vehicle reached speeds of over 80 mph before losing control at Eucalyptus and striking a palm tree. Upon impact, the vehicle broke into two pieces and burst into flames. The driver and sole occupant was ejected from the burning vehicle and was on fire. Officers on scene extinguished the flames and summoned medical aid. The driver, a 28 year old
Smart Code Project Delayed by Vickie Vértiz
Leondra Kruger
-Courtesy Photo
Patch notes. According to the LA Times, Kruger told California Attorney General Kamala Harris that she was excited “to have the opportunity to come back home” to California. “It is where I was born and raised and where my family still lives,” she added. On the seven member court, Kruger will be one of three Democrats. Additionally, she will be the only African American member. Her colleague Cuellar, a law Professor at Stanford University, who also went to Harvard and Yale, will be the only Latino justice.
Truck Driver Dies Following Pursuit On December 19, 2014, members of the Riverside Police Department assigned to the Traffic Bureau were conducting DUI enforcement in downtown Riverside. At approximately 0138 hours, a traffic officer observed a full-size truck traveling the wrong way on Lemon Street from Mission inn Ave. The vehicle then turned west on University Ave and collided with a parked car. As the officer reached the scene and activated his overhead lights
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Riverside resident, was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to the injuries suffered in the collision. The identity of the driver is not being released at this time pending the Coroner’s investigation. The department’s Major Accident Investigation Team responded and the collision is currently under investigation. Anyone with information related to this investigation is urged to contact Defective Felix Soria at 951-826-8720.
City zoning codes are facing new challenges, or what some might see as opportunity. In 2013, planning officials in the city of Riverside began discussing a plan to rewrite the zoning rules for what can be built on about 10,000 acres in the city. While the city looked for consultants to run the project, no one was hired and currently the project is not a priority because some residents objected to the idea that land which is open space could be sold to developers to even pay for the program, said the Press-Enterprise. Smart code, as the project is known, is still in the works. Some zoning codes are over 20 years old and regulate what can be built in Riverside neighborhoods. Community Development Director Al Zelinka talked to the paper and said that the way the update gets done may change. The program may focus on a smaller area, he told the paper, or it may look at how to balance development with natural resources. While current codes describe in great detail allowable building heights, sidewalk widths, the kinds of businesses allowed, there is no unifying concept for neighborhood development. Zelinka told the paper that this gets shaped “one project at a time, one developer at a time.” According to Zelinka, the smart code program would allow residents, business people, and property owners to tell the Please see page 4