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Reports on the sentence imposed on Jerome Schneider, a prominent seller of offshore banks in tax evasion schemes, by a federal judge in California.

The article presents an overview of the growing electricity problem in parts of the U.S. The United States Department of Energy says transmission lines cannot keep up with the demand for electricity. Areas affected by higher utility rates include New York, Pennsylvania, and Southern California. On the Eastern grid congestion charges will continue to rise as building new transmission lines is a slow process.

The author reports that voters in Yolo County, California will decide whether to continue with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) or to switch to the municipal utility for their electricity needs on November 7, 2006. PG&E charges approximately 40% more than its publicly owned counterpart, according to Gene Stile, owner of the Nugget supermarkets. Nationwide efforts by U.S. states to expand publicly owned power are discussed. Reaction by PG&E is included.

Reports on how the federal government's campaign against income tax evaders suffered a major setback when a federal jury in Sacramento, California acquitted a former Internal Revenue Service investigator on charges of helping to prepare false tax returns. Review of the case of Joseph R. Banister; Author's view that Banister has become a hero of the anti-tax movement; Comments from Banister regarding his case; Review of Banister's career history.

The article reports that Gene F. Haas, owner of the company Haas Automation, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy in cheating the U.S. government out of $34.3 million in taxes in California. Haas will be the fourth and last defendant to admit guilt in the case. The plea agreement is subject to approval by a judge of Federal District Court in Los Angeles, California. Haas has agreed to serve two years in prison.

The article reports that a federal appeals court in California ruled that national energy officials abdicated their responsibility to ensure fair electricity markets. The court found that national energy officials overcharged billions of dollars for power during the regional energy crisis of 2000-01. The court directed that the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should review the energy contracts.

The article reports that voters in Yolo County, California have passed only one of the three measures needed to replace Pacific Gas & Electric Co., an electric utility, with Sacramento Municipal Utility District, a public agency with an electrical board. The company said that the shareholders of the company had spent $11 million to avert the replacement, which would have offered cheaper electricity.

The article reports on the investigation of the former congressman Randy Cunningham's bribery case involving military contractors in California.

The article reports on the release of the new details regarding the foiled plot of Al Qaeda to attack Los Angeles in 2002, issued by U.S. President George W. Bush. The plan was to fly a hijacked plane into the tallest building in Mississippi, which is the U.S. Bank Tower of Los Angeles, California.

Reports on the prison sentence faced by Cencal Aviation Products owner Al Thompson for stopping withholding taxes from the paychecks of his workers in 2000 in California.

Reports on the arrest of businessman Al Thompson and his accountant, Joe Banister on fraud and other charges in California. charges faced by the two with conspiracy to defraud the government; Admission of Thompson that he did not pay taxes or withheld them from employee paychecks; Imprisonment of the businessmen four times before for contempt because he would not cooperate with state tax auditors or file returns and pay federal taxes.

Reports on the victory of former U.S. International Revenue Service executive Peter W. Coons in a whistle-blower case due to raised allegations of the existence of official favoritism through the back taxes of rich and politically connected California families and businesses. Determination of the egalitarian policy; Decision of the court to reject the lethal theory used by the Merit Systems Protection Board; Involvement of an IRS lawyer on the case.

Reports the imprisonment of businessman Al Thompson of California, on May 14, 2002, for refusing to cooperate with a state tax audit.

Reports that California tax authorities and local police raided the factory and home of a businessman who does not withhold taxes from the compensation of his workers as of May 2001.

Focuses on the charges against Peter W. Coons, tax collection chief for Northern California on looking at Web sites on his government computer. Comments from Coons concerning the charges; Testimonies of Coons against the Internal Revenue Service; How tax lawyers described Coons.

Reports on a $116 million dollar award in punitive damages by a California jury to Teresa Goodrich, a patient's widow. Her contention that the patient died after a subsidiary of Aetna Inc., delayed approving a treatment for stomach cancer; Recommendation of immediate treatment by the company's own doctors; Views of lawyers on the verdict; Largest such verdict against a health maintenance organization.

Reports on the financial collapse of the United Way of Santa Clara County in Silicon Valley, California, in May 1999 as donations slipped. Figures on decline of donations to the reserve fund; Action taken by Community Foundation Silicon valley to help the Santa Clara County agencies affected by the collapse.

Presents an update on personal business as of January 31, 1999. Information on a survey which suggests that residents in Los Angeles, California, are more charitable than other people in the United States; Forecast on the demand for managers; Information on the receipts for customers' transactions at Summit Bank in New Jersey.

Reports that on August 5, 1998, members of the Los Angeles City Council, California, voted to lift a requirement that writers and artists pay $25 for a city permit before working out of their homes. Why the Writers Guide of America sued the city in September 1997; Grounds on which the lawsuit was filed; Views of opponents and proponents of the measure.

Reports the May 4, 1998, sentencing, in Sacramento, California, of convicted Unabomb terrorist Theodore Kaczynski to four life sentences plus 30 years in prison. Testimony of the widow of victim Thomas J. Mosser; Comment from Judge Garland E. Burrell; Apology to families of victims from Kaczynski's brother David Kaczynski.

Reports on the plans of the Hollywood screenwriters union and the Writers Guild of American, to file a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, to overturn an ordinance requiring writers and artists to get city permits before they can work outside their homes. Statements from Marvin J. Wolf, a freelance journalist; Claims of the Writers Guild.

Reports that the United States Government is negotiating to pay a settlement to the estate of former President Richard M. Nixon for his White House papers and records. Who the estate could relinquish the control of the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California to; Where all Presidential papers and other materials seized by the Government in 1994 would be sent.