West Sacramento

West Sacramento, CA · LATEST NEWS
The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee
Suspected Lodi meth trafficker indicted in Sacramento federal court
A federal grand jury indicted a suspected Lodi methamphetamine supplier Thursday on four counts of distributing the drug in San Joaquin County, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Friday. Federal prosecutors allege that Abel Vargas Barrera, 52, of Lodi, sold 15 pounds of methamphetamine to a confidential source during four transactions in January, February, March and July. Barrera faces a minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison, along with a fine of up to $10 million, if convicted. Prosecutors allege that Barrera used a cellphone to coordinate drug deals, arrange meeting locations in the Lodi area and retrieve methamphetamine from a rural stash house before completing the transactions. The Drug Enforcement Administration led the investigation, with assistance from a California Department of Justice special operations unit and the Elk Grove Police Department.
jhsplank.com
The Sacramento Bee
Sac City Unified rejects all of state's budget review candidates, asks for more names
The Sacramento City Unified School District board Thursday rejected all nine candidates on the state’s list for a Budget Review Committee and asked the state superintendent for more names, saying they didn’t believe the candidates could provide the independent review they sought. The unanimous vote came days after the district’s fiscal overseer, the Sacramento County Office of Education, rejected its revised budget , sending SCUSD into a state review process. “Given that the county, in concert with FCMAT, has not been supportive of the budget, we want an independent set of eyes to look at it and offer recommendations that we’d be willing to look at as well,” Taylor Kayatta, a board member of the district, said. “In that vein, the committee unfortunately believes that all nine names on the list aren’t able to provide us with that independent view.” The district officials are grappling with a fiscal crisis marked by a $222 million structural deficit while clashing with the county education office and the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, the state-funded financial group that provides fiscal oversight to school districts and evaluates their financial health. The state-provided list included six candidates with ties to FCMAT — current chief