FBI goes after Alvrado's bank records

Wow — we almost thought we were going to go a week without news of another development in the City Hall payroll scandal. Sure, there was the story of Rosita Hernandez's amazing disappearing GED, but that didn't really count as breaking news. Fortunately, there is something as we close out the week: The FBI has asked for the bank records of former Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado, though DA Chuch Rosenthal said she's not the subject of a criminal investigation.

On Wednesday, the FBI sent out a request to major banks across the country for information on all of Alvarado's bank accounts. It's not clear what the feds will do with the bank records, but Alvarado's attorney, Rusty Hardin, said the request is a "natural progression" in the investigation. In fact, Hardin and Joe Householder, Alvarado's spokeswoman, said they had practically begged the FBI to take the councilwoman's records. We had reached out to them earlier and said, 'If you want this material, you can have it.' And, just as an extra step, we e-mailed those numbers to them," Householder said.

Unrelated to the FBI request, but still something to look foward to: The city Civil Service Commission will hold appeal hearings for the four fired mayor pro tem employees Tuesday. The four, as you'll recall, are accused of giving each other nearly $200,000 in unauthorized payraises and bonuses, which they say Alvarado authorized. Alvarado has said she didn't know anything about it.