Excerpt:

Checks, hit pieces, phony addresses taint campaigns

It arrived in the mail and looked innocent enough: a check from Argent Management for $250. "Good luck," the attached Post-it Note read. The return address on the envelope said that the check came from Carrie Bruckes, a local supporter who lives at 750 Atlantic Ave. right here in Alameda.

Wait a minute: 750 Atlantic Ave.? Where's that? A visit to the address showed it was nowhere at all. Carrie Bruckes? Who's she? A look through the phone directory and a quick search on Google turned up no one at all.

But Argent Management, that was easy to figure out. The company's address on the check sounded vaguely familiar: "2392 Morse Ave. Irvine, CA 92614." Isn't that where ...? Why, yes — that's SunCal's address.