Culver City Observer -

Mayor de Blasio of the big apple (New York City) told the public of a new crime-fighting device the police recently started using. It’s a shots-fired system that detects gunfire. When the alert went out police went right away and they were able to arrest someone with an illegal gun.

In the ten years of 2004-2013 nearly 1,600 IRS workers were found to have willfully evaded taxes. Some were even responsible for enforcing the nation’s tax laws, a government watchdog said recently. Among their offenses were improperly claiming dependents, repeated failure to file timely tax returns and claiming a tax credit for first time homebuyers when the filer didn’t buy a house.

The second most powerful weapons manufacturer in the world is Boeing, with annual weapons sales of $30.70 billion. Although my former employer is best known for producing commercial airliners, Boeing gets 45 percent of its income from producing military jets and weapons.

Some of you may have read in the Long Beach Press – Telegram on August 28, 2015 about a statewide poll commissioned by the American Civil Liberties Union and conducted by Tulchin Research that found nearly 80 percent of voters want police departments to release their findings when an officer is investigated for wrongdoing, with 70 percent of those polled in Los Angeles County supporting disclosure. The Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, Vice president of the California Peace Officers Association, said, “A requirement to disclose body camera footage as public records would deter many agencies from adopting the technology, including his own.”

I’m no longer worried about the skies that are filled with drones. Boeing has developed a Compact Laser Weapon System to keep drones away from sensitive locations. The company tested the system in Albuquerque, New Mexico. When the target was exposed to a full power laser for just two seconds, the drone was destroyed. Boeing expects it to be ready for market in a year or two, as reported in Wired.

Are you ready for a new experience? So am I. The City of Los Angeles main library on 5th Street will exhibit its collection of over 9,000 restaurant menus until November 13, 2016. To explore the menu collection and other special collections, visit Lapl.org.

Some are interested in the Los Angeles World Airport Gateways internship program. It’s a great opportunity! Check it out at (424) 646-7306 or lawa.org/birc, apply, and your career will take off if you are selected.

Denmark passed a law on January 26 to seize the assets of asylum seekers exceeding $1,400 to help cover their expenses, per Time Magazine.

In the February 2016 issue of Conde Nast Traveler I just bet some of you read, “There used to be two good reasons to hit Culver City when in Los Angeles: to squeeze in a gallery on Washington Blvd. and to check out the revitalization of the industrial Hayden Tract section by visionary architect Eric Owen Moss.”

Are you sick and tired of getting interest or dividends that are so little your C.P.A. giggles when you do your taxes? If you read the Los Angeles Times on February 4 and had at least $25, 000 you would be jumping for joy. Here are the facts. The City of Oxnard, California has General Obligation Bonds ranked AA by Standard and Poor’s plus insured by AGM. More good news, this California bond is tax-free on both the State and Federal income tax and the 3.44 percent isn’t chopped liver. Can you imagine it has a 3.375 coupon maturing on August 1, 2036, and if held to maturity it would be 3.44 percent? For additional information contact Jonathan Malinger, Senior VP of Hilltop Securities, (800) 765-2200 or (323) 658-4400. Mother always said, “Money don’t grow on trees,” so double check before you invest.

A former IRS agent in Seattle will soon be on trial on accusations he solicited and received a $20,000 bribe from a medical marijuana dispensary. It seems after Paul Hurley audited Have a Heart Compassionate Care in Seattle he supposedly told the owner he owed $290,000 on his 2013 and 2014 taxes, but Hurley claimed he saved the owner $1 million. It was suggested the agent receive $20,000 in cash to pay off his student loan.

So you want to be a police officer, well, who doesn’t? Small little Culver City pays many cops over $125,000 per year when they pull the pin and retire. Phoenix, as mentioned in the Arizona Republic, is short nearly 700 officers.

I just bet someone with some pull suggested high risk inmates released from the Denver jail be given heroin antidotes by the Sheriff’s Department.

After thinking and thinking and thinking some more, Reno, Nevada – poor, poor, poor Reno – will be starting collecting a live entertainment tax. Will a restroom tax be coming?

For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com by placing Rubenstein in the website’s search box.