In the News

LOS ANGELES TIMES: California legislators OK two Internet-related measures

August 22, 2012
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Lawmakers approve a bill to bar requiring online rent payments and one to protect the privacy of college students who use such sites as Twitter and Facebook.

By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times

August 22, 2012
SACRAMENTO — State lawmakers sent two Web-related proposals to the governor Tuesday, one that would bar landlords from requiring that rent be paid online and another intended to protect the privacy of college students using Twitter, Facebook and other social media.

NEWSMAX: Calif. Bill Cracks Down on Funeral Protests

August 22, 2012
The California legislature is expected to overwhelmingly pass a bill next week that would keep protesters at least 300 feet away military funerals, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.
 
Tailored to conform to a new federal funerals protection law signed by President Barack Obama in August, the measure is an attempt to crack down on the Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church known for protesting at the funerals o

SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE: Bill proposes limits to funeral protests

August 22, 2012

State measure targets pickets by Westboro Baptist Church at services for fallen troops
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LOS ANGELES TIMES: California lawmakers OK bill that bars requiring online rental payments

August 21, 2012
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The state Senate voted Tuesday to prohibit landlords from requiring rental payments to be made online amid concerns it can create a hardship for low-income and elderly tenants who do not have easy Internet access.

TORRANCE DAILY BREEZE: Bill on rent payment methods advances

August 21, 2012

The state Senate on Tuesday approved a bill by South Bay Sen. Ted Lieu that would prohibit landlords from requiring tenants to pay their rent online.

Lieu's Senate Bill 1055 would allow tenants to continue paying rent with checks and money orders.

Gov. Jerry Brown has about two more weeks to sign the measure, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature.

SACRAMENTO BEE's CAPITOL ALERT: Hound hunting bill amended but fight rages on

August 21, 2012

A bill that would have banned the use of dogs in hunting bears and bobcats has been amended to provide some exemptions.

But the two sides in this hotly contested issue remain firmly in opposite camps, with the Humane Society saying the bill will protect many animals and hunters saying it's an unfair attack on their lifestyle.

HUFFINGTONPOST.Com: 'Gay Cure' Ban Heads For Vote In California

August 19, 2012

When James Guay was 12, he went into a Christian bookstore to look for information on what was wrong with him. He found just one book on homosexuality -- "on how to change it," he recalled. When he brought it to the counter, the clerk asked if it was for him. "She said she would pray for me," he said.

The Marina del Rey Argonaut: Lieu named West Basin Water District Legislator of the Year

August 16, 2012

State Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Marina del Rey) has been honored as Legislator of the Year by the West Basin Municipal Water District.

Officials at the water district say Lieu has been a supporter of West Basin’s water recycling and conservation legislation and programs since his election to the legislature in 2005. The public agency provides drinking and recycled water to communities in southwest Los Angeles County.

LOS ANGELES TIMES: Dealers' repeat sales of same used car surprisingly common

August 15, 2012
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From mid-2008 to this April, 862 licensed used-car dealers in California — about 1 in 8 — sold at least one vehicle three or more times, The Times has found.

SACRAMENTO BEE/CAPITOL ALERT: Unions circulating draft of workers' compensation overhaul

August 14, 2012

Labor unions are making a late-blooming effort to raise long-frozen benefits for workers with job-related illnesses and injuries and promising employers enough administrative savings to pay for them.

A 45-point summary of the proposed legislation is circulating among lobbyists who specialize in the multi-billion-dollar workers' compensation system, seeking to undo, in part, the reforms that former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pushed through the Legislature eight years ago.