California Newswire

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments: First, Michael Brown, 60, of Santa Barbara, has been appointed to the California Ocean Protection Council. Brown has been principal and partner at Brown and Wilmanns Environmental LLC since 2006 and was principal at Michael S. Brown and Associates from 1999 to 2006.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced today that he will return without signature a City Council election ordinance to place a half-cent sales tax increase on the March 5, 2013 ballot:

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- S.F. Mayor Edwin M. Lee announced the launch of San Francisco’s Season of Giving campaign to support organizations that help San Franciscans and organizations helping victims of Hurricane Sandy. The Season of Giving will last through Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday weekend on January 15, 2013 and residents and businesses are encouraged to give back to their own communities or to the American Red Cross for hurricane victims to provide warm meals, a place to stay and other essential services.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- S.F. Mayor Edwin M. Lee on Thursday opened the new Visitacion Valley Family Resource Center annex at the Sunnydale HOPE SF public housing site as part of the Mayor’s IPO (Interrupt, Predict and Organize for a Safer San Francisco) violence prevention strategy.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments: First, Shawn Bagley, 61, of Salinas, has been appointed to the 7th District Agricultural Association, Monterey County Fair Board. Bagley has been a founding partner and vice president at Complete Produce Inc. since 2002.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- As San Francisco Bay Area marks the 23rd anniversary of the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake, Mayor Edwin M. Lee on Wednesday announced the appointment of Patrick Otellini to lead San Francisco’s groundbreaking Earthquake Safety Implementation Program (ESIP).

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments: First, Margaret Abe-Koga, 42, of Mountain View, has been appointed to the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board. Abe-Koga has served as a councilmember for the city of Mountain View since 2007. She has been corporate and foundation relations manager for Asian Americans for Community Involvement in San Jose since 2012 and was a self-employed consultant from 2005 until 2012.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments: First, Suzanne Chan, 51, of Sacramento, has been appointed operations and accountability officer in the Administrative Services Division at the California Department of Rehabilitation.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments: first, Adam Day, 43, of Alpine, has been appointed to the 22nd District Agricultural Association, San Diego County Fair Board, where he has served since 2008. Day has been the assistant tribal manager for the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation since 2002. He was general manager at NCG Porter Novelli from 2000 to 2002 and vice president at the Flannery Group from 1999 to 2000.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Today, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced the following appointments to the California Law Revision Commission.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Assembly Bill (AB) 1658, by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D–Los Angeles) was signed today by Governor Brown, establishing the California Legacy License Plate Program. The program will allow car enthusiasts to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for one of three iconic California license plate designs.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that he has signed the following bills to encourage the use of alternative fuel vehicles and energy in California.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that he has signed the following bills, including: AB 276 by Assemblymember Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) – Central Coast Hospital Authority. AB 377 by Assemblymember Jose Solorio (D-Santa Ana) – Pharmacy. (Additional follow.)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments: First, LaRonda Bowen, 60, of Pasadena, has been appointed small business ombudsman for the California Air Resources Board, where she has served since 2009. Bowen was sole proprietor of Bowen and Associates from 2000 to 2009 and was public advisor for the South Coast Air Quality Management District from 1989 to 2000.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Calif. Governor Jerry Brown today signed Senate Bill 1128 authored by State Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima). The bill will encourage investment, job creation and economic growth in California by allowing sales and use tax exemptions on the purchase of manufacturing equipment in the advanced manufacturing sector. The bill will go into effect on January 1, 2013.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that he has signed the following bills: AB 40 by Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (D-Davis) – Elder and dependent adult abuse: reporting. AB 41 by Assemblymember Jerry Hill (D-South San Francisco) – High-Speed Rail Authority: conflicts of interest: disqualification. (Additional follow.)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Jerry Brown today signed into law Senate Bill 1525 authored by State Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima). The new law, known as the “Student-Athlete Bill of Rights”, will require universities located in California that generate on average more than $10 million a year in media revenues to provide specific protections to college-athletes.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Assembly Bill 1900, authored by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles), a bill which removes barriers to the development of renewable natural gas (RNG) as a fuel in California and will save local rate-payers millions on their utility bills, was signed by Governor Brown today.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today took to Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and MySpace to announce that he has signed two bills that increase privacy protections for social media users in California.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed the Energy Security Coordination Act of 2012 (SB 1409), authored by Senator Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), which strengthens the clean energy partnership between California and the U.S. military.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- A pair of English Learner reform bills authored by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) have been signed by Governor Brown. SB 1108 would reform the English Learners reclassification system by identifying and implementing uniform statewide best practices. SB 754 would require school districts to post online the Economic Impact Aid they receive for each school and district.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that he has signed the following bills to improve education in California: AB 644 by Assemblymember Robert Blumenfield (D-Van Nuys) – Schools: average daily attendance: online instruction. AB 1723 by Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes (D-Los Angeles) – Postsecondary educational institutions: meetings: live video and audio transmission. (Additional follow.)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that he has signed the following bills related to the treatment and welfare of animals: AB 1162 by Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D-Eureka) – Wildlife: poaching. AB 1776 by Assemblymember Paul Fong (D-Mountain View) – State government: Pacific leatherback sea turtle. (Additional follow.)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments: First, Tara Murphy, 55, of Alameda, has been appointed assistant general counsel at the Department of Financial Institutions. Murphy was vice president and counsel at Fireside Bank from 1995 to 2012.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- AB 2230, a California water-conservation bill authored by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) which requires all newly permitted car washes to use at least 60 percent recycled water, was signed into law today.