Two San Fernando Valley assemblymen have been named to key posts by new Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, the Capitol Weekly reports.
Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Sylmar, was named as chair of the Appropriations Committee while Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, D-Van Nuys, will chair the Assembly Budget Committee.
Fuentes had been one of those seeking to be speaker, but dropped out of that contest to back Perez.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is running for lieutenant governor, appears in a video boosting his home town airport.
It is one of those things mayors do for otheir cities in boosting business, but with pictures of other airports with not so mild digs, one woners how it will play in other major markets looking to boost their own air traffic.
LAX, in particular, is feeling the pinch these days with the modernization project seemingly taking forever as it has seen a drop in its standings and is now the seventh busiest airport in the nation.

California's worker safety board voted Thursday to further study a proposal that would require porn actors to wear condoms during sex scenes.AP in the Daily News.

The six-member California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted unanimously to assign an advisory committee to study the proposal from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. The advocacy group filed a petition in December seeking to require the use of condoms in the porn industry.

"We feel like this is the game-changer. The sentiment expressed by the board members indicates that the majority if not all of them are willing to vote for regulations," said Michael Weinstein, president of the Los Angeles-based advocacy group.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other officials filled out their U.S. Census forms Thursday at City Hall and encouraged other Angelenos to complete their documents so the city can win adequate federal funding and representation.Daily News.

Villaraigosa was joined by City Controller Wendy Greuel and City Council members Jan Perry, Bernard Parks and Tom LaBonge.

Villaraigosa said he was using his Getty House address on his form - he is separated from his wife, Corina, who lives in the Mount Washington area.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Cal., joined today in support of the 30/10 financiing plan proposed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to advance funding for Los Angeles transportation programs.
Earlie this week, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Ca., endorsed the proposal earlier this week.
"The 30/10 Plan is an innovative idea that could help solve Los Angeles' chronic transportation crisis and create jobs," Feinstein said.
"The key is to start by allowing the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority to use existing Department of Transportation loan programs to accelerate construction projects now while using funds generated by the half-cent Measure R sales tax to repay the federal investment."
Villaraigosa is asking the federal government to provide assurances that would allow the MTA to issue $30 billion in bonds to accelerate construction on projects listed under Measure R, the half-cent sales tax approved by voters.

So, how did your protest work out Wednesday? Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

You say you weren't in a protest Wednesday?

Seems like you're the only one.

There was a rally by parents, teachers and students to protest a staff overhaul at Fremont High School. And a "march for justice" by Superior Court employees to protest layoffs. And a demonstration by the Bus Riders Union against what it calls "racist" fare hikes. And brief rallies by health care legislation proponents, scheduled concurrently at more than a dozen medical clinics.

The city of Los Angeles has begun laying off employees from a targeted group of 459 positions, with 37 municipal workers receiving pink slips so far, officials said Wednesday. Daily News.

The information was included in a new report on the practical impact of the layoffs, with City Council members protesting cuts that could affect child care, cultural landmarks, recreation programs and public information television programming.

"The problem is, time is not our friend," said Maggie Whelan, general manager of the city's Personnel Department.

President Barack Obama will travel to Los Angeles in April to attend a joint fundraising event for Sen. Barbara Boxer's reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
This is the first trip to Caliofrnia b the president on behalf of Boxer. Vice President Joe Biden campaigned for her last September.
Boxer is in what is expected to be a tough race, with her main Republican op[onent, CArly Fiorina.

Beset by an unprecedented $79 million shortfall, Los Angeles Superior Court officials on Tuesday announced 329 layoffs and the closure of 17 courtrooms, including ones in San Fernando and Malibu.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Presiding Judge Charles W. "Tim" McCoy Jr. said another 1,800 layoffs are possible - 34 percent of the court workforce - and 180 courtrooms and nine courthouses could be shuttered by 2013 if the system doesn't get more state funding.

The cuts are expected to make the already overwhelmed court system even more clogged, with cases that take longer and increased pressure to release prisoners early to make way for those still facing trial.

A Los Angeles councilman wants Starbucks to add another phrase to its no-shirt, no-service policy: no guns.Daily News.

The Seattle coffee chain has recently been thrust into the middle of the gun-control debate, as petitioners ask the company to ban customers from carrying guns even when allowed by local laws.

Now Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz is joining in by calling on the company to side with gun-control advocates and ban guns in its shops.

City Council members offered a skeptical greeting Tuesday to a new proposal that would boost Department of Water and Power electricity rates by up to 28 percent, saying it is a bad time for an increase. Daily News.

In their first official chance to review Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's proposal, some council members also said the city needs to gain public trust and get neighborhood groups more involved in the decision-making process.

"I have one word for this and you can't print it," said Councilman Dennis Zine, who represents the West Valley. "I say no new fees, no new taxes, no new anything. We need to prove to the public that we are tightening our belts before we ask for any more money."

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa became a political pundit on Tuesday, talking up the prospects of Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA., in her bid for election to a third term.
Appearing on the Wolf Blitzer show on CNN, Villaraigosa said that he believes Boxer will win re-election against eitheir former Hewlett Packard executive Carly Fiorina or former Rep. Tom Campbell.
"She has worked hard for California," Villaraigosa said. "She represents the values and priorities of the people of California."
Villaraigosa acknowledged this is a tough time to be an incumbent politician and Democrats are faced with a difficult problem if health care reform fails in Congress.

The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation on Tuesday awarded a Profile in Courage award to former Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and also recognized legislative leaders for their "humane approahc to solving the California budget crisis."
Bass and the other leaders were chosen in recognition for the "political courage each demonstrated in standing up to extraordinary pressure while working to address California's severe financial crisis."
The award will be presented to Bass in ceremonies at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on May 24. It will be presented by Caroline Kennedy.
"Faced with the most difficult choices and a budget crisis of unprecedented magnitude, these legislative leaders had the courage to negotiate a compromise that they felt was in the public's best interest," Kennedy said.
"They did so knowing they would suffer the wrath of their constituents, powerful interest groups, and their own party members.
"The members of the Profile in Courage Award Committee chose to herald this story of political courage and bi-partisan compromise with the hope that it will inspire other elected officials facing similar challenges to stand up with courage, to cross party lines, and to do whatever is necessary to better serve the public interest."

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer will join Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Area\ Chamber of Commerce officials thjis morning to boost efforts for the 30-10 transit financing plan.
Villaraigosa and chamber officials are participatingn in thier annual Access D.C. week in Washington, D.C.

Dramatizing the impact of looming layoffs, teachers placed nearly 3,000 empty chairs over an entire city block in front of L.A. Unified headquarters Monday, each seat representing a classroom instructor, nurse or counselor facing job cuts. Cpnniei Llanos in the Daily News.

The elaborate scene was set up to mark the legal deadline for all teachers and school support staff to receive preliminary notification if there job is at risk for the following school year. Statewide some 22,000 pink slips were mailed out to educators by Monday, including nearly 2,300 teachers, and 600 nurses, counselors and librarians at Los Angeles Unified School District. "After 6 years of being dedicated to my job, 180 days a year, rain or shine, with paper and supplies or not, they are going to tell me I cannot teach... why?" asked Trinidad Hernandez, a fifth-grade teacher at Sunny Brae Avenue Elementary School, who received her pink slip notice late last week.