The reelection fight between Reps. Howard Berman and Brad Sherman is sending ripples through the Democratic establishment as two veteran political powers are locked in a showdown stemming from the newly drawn political districts. "I wish one of them would move to Florida," noted state party chairman John Burton.
From Jean Merl and Richard Simon in the LA Times: "New voting maps, drawn for the first time by a citizens commission instead of behind closed doors by self-interested lawmakers, melded Berman's San Fernando Valley district with that of Rep. Brad Sherman, 56, also a Democrat. Neither is yielding the ground, to the consternation of party leaders."
"It's never healthy when you have two Democratic congressmen running against each other," said stateDemocratic Party chief John L. Burton, a former state lawmaker and congressman."
"The intraparty fight will siphon resources that could be used to defend vulnerable Democratic seats or capture marginally Republican ones, he said."
California's political watchdog is investigating activities at a San Francisco limousine service, where workers said they were solicited by their boss to give contributions to Ed Lee's mayoral campaign.
From Gerry Shih in the Bay Citizen: "City records show that 16 GO Lorrie’s employees — including drivers, dispatchers and a clerk — gave $500 each to Lee’s campaign, the maximum allowed under city law. No other business had as many employees contribute to the mayor."
"Two GO Lorrie’s drivers, Darrin Yuan and Paul Hsu, both of San Francisco, independently said in interviews that they had donated to Lee because a manager, Jason Perez, promised to reimburse them. The workers did not know whether the manager was acting on his own or on behalf of the company."
"Perez, who also gave $500 to Lee, denied that any employees were solicited. He said he personally supported Lee but declined to discuss his subordinates’ contributions."
The State Compensation Insurance Fund, the quasi-government agency that serves as the last resort in providing workers' compensation insurance to employers, is cutting its 6,800-member work force by a fourth, a huge layoff and the first time that jobs have been cut at the fund since the 1930s.
The LA Times' Marc LIfsher has the story: "Tom Rowe, the president and chief executive of the government-controlled State Compensation Insurance Fund, announced Thursday that the company was overstaffed by approximately 30% and plans to let go 1,500 to 1,800 civil service workers by the second quarter of next year."
"It's the first layoff at the San Francisco-based firm since the 1930s."
"The positions being eliminated are in areas where business processes have changed significantly enough that work has been substantially reduced," Rowe said in a companywide email. "We spend more operating the company than we do on benefits to injured employees. The layoffs are expected to save the company about $350 million per year."
Meanwhile, more layoff news: Mortgage interest rates may be down to record lows as banks seek to jump-start home sales, but it doesn't seem to be working. And at BofA, hundreds of mortgage officers got their pink slips in a flood of layoffs.
"From E. Scott Reckard in the LA Times: "Nonetheless, the fact that the low rates have failed to ignite home sales has been painfully apparent. In the latest indication, Bank of America Corp. is closing 40 former Countrywide mortgage offices, firing hundreds of loan officers."
"The offices handled only home loans and not other BofA services, in contrast to a recent push at the bank to integrate its financial offerings in full-service branches. "They were located mainly in parts of the country with no Bank of America branches," including Alaska, Alabama, Wisconsin and Wyoming, bank spokesman Terry Francisco said."
The proliferation of inmates' cell phonews behind bars prompted Gov. Brown to crack down on the practice: He signed legislation making it a crime for an inmate to be caught with one.
From Shane Goldmacher in the LA Times: "Thousands of smuggled cellphones have been found in California's prisons in recent years, a growing problem highlighted when notorious inmate Charles Manson was found with an LG flip phone. It has previously not been a crime to have one behind bars."
"Brown also signed an executive order Thursday to mobilize corrections officials to try to stop the inflow of phones and collect the phones already in prisoners' hands."
"In signing the new legislation, authored by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), Brown said that "when criminals in prison get possession of a cellphone, it subverts the very purpose of incarceration."
And from our "Some Like It Hot" file, comes the tale of a hot chili cook-off in -- where else? -- Scotland, where everybody winds up vomiting. We don't make these things up.
"Contestants at a curry eating contest in Scotland collapsed in agony after biting off more than they could chew at a self-styled "world's hottest chili" competition."
"One contestant was hospitalized twice, and others writhed in agony, panting and vomiting after sampling the "Kismot Killer" at a charity eating competition at the Kismot restaurant in Edinburgh on Saturday."
"Owner Abdul Ali staged the event to raise money for a children's hospice. He has conceded he'll have to cool things down for next year, after the first 10 contestants became ill and a second group of 10 declined to take part."
"Ali said the curry had caused nosebleeds in the past."
Wait ... curry?