A man accused covering up the beating of a homeless man outside his restaurant in Salinas was sentenced yesterday.      32-year-old James DeLeon co-owns XL Grindhouse with his brother Robert, who is charged with beating 55-year-old Raymond Anderson into a coma for loitering around their business.    DeLeon admitted to hiding the attempted murder and was sentence to 3 years of probation and 180 days in jail.      Time served leaves DeLeon with 60 days left in Monterey County Jail.      Robert DeLeon is still facing attempted murder charges for beating the homeless victim with a baseball bat back in October of last year.

Wildlife Conservation groups in California are pushing for a statewide ban on lead bullets.      The Humane Society, Defenders of Wildlife, and Audubon California are urging state legislators to ban the bullets which they say are poisoning endangered birds, especially the California Condor.     Research presented by the groups shows that many of the birds have died from lead poisoning as the result of eating animals killed by hunters using the bullets.        There is strong opposition to the proposal from the National Rifle Association, who say that ‘greener’ bullets are more expensive.    A bill is expected to be introduced at the state capitol on Friday outlining the proposed ban.

A contractor in Boulder Creek who was arrested earlier this month is facing multiple felonies and misdemeanor charges.     56-year-old Sandra Greenwell had a $100,000 warrant out for her arrest for allegedly diverting $46,500 of investor money for a project into another fund.      Greenwell solicited investments from a number of people to back the Los Gatos Group LLC, which she founded with her son, to build a residential home in Los Gatos back in 2010.     Greenwell is also accused of hiring unlicensed contractors to work on the $3.2 million project, as well as illegally using a licensed contractor’s number for get a building permit.    Greenwell is slated for arraignment in Santa Clara County Superior Court on March 21^st

Margaret Spring, who currently serves as Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere and Chief of Staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has been named vice president of conservation and science at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.     The Duke and Dartmouth graduate will oversee the aquarium’s research programs involving sea otters, great white sharks, Pacific bluefin tuna and other species, as well as its Seafood Watch program and ocean policy outreach efforts.       Spring earlier served with The Nature Conservancy’s California chapter as director of its coastal and marine program, and has played an important role advising members of Congress on ocean issues and developing key ocean legislation.