Here's a new one: A state lawmaker sues a colleague for being a bully.
From Mike Gardner in the U-T: "In a head-shaking twist even for the mudslinging world of politics, two Republican lawmakers may wind up suing each other as they compete against each other for a state Board of Equalization seat that takes in San Diego County."
"Assemblywoman Diane Harkey of Dana Point has already filed a $10 million lawsuit against state Sen. Mark Wyland of Solana Beach, alleging he defamed her during a campaign event with Tea Party activists."
"Harkey contends Wyland made false statements regarding the ongoing litigation against her husband’s company, Point Center Financial based in Orange County."
Some senior officers at the L.A. County Sheriff's Department have gone into early retirement, rather than face demotion or termination in connection with the violence at the county jails.
From the LA Daily News' Christina Villacorte: "None of the Sheriff’s Department’s top brass will be fired or even demoted for instigating what a blue ribbon commission had described as a “culture of violence” against inmates at county jails — instead, several of these managers have gone into early retirement and are now collecting pensions."
"In a report to be presented Tuesday before the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, the independent monitor tracking reforms at the department said options for punishing those who once supervised the jails are limited, even though recently concluded internal investigations confirmed at least some of their alleged misconduct."
"Richard Drooyan said four high-level managers — whom he could not name publicly, because of legal protections for employees — were able to pre-empt disciplinary action by retiring between March 2012 and August 2013."
Speaking of custody issues, the governor, following through on a deal he cut with lawmakers, urged federal judges to allow a three-year extension to reduce prison over-crowding.
From the AP's Don Thompson: "Gov. Jerry Brown asked federal judges on Monday for a three-year delay in their requirement that the state release thousands of inmates by year's end to ease prison overcrowding."
"If the judges reject his request, the administration would spend $315 million this fiscal year to house the inmates in private prisons and county jails instead of turning them loose."
"The state had a court-ordered Monday deadline to report on its progress for reducing the prison population by about 9,600 inmates by the end of the year. Its response is based on a law enacted last week in the closing hours of this year's legislative session."
Meanwhile, new car dealers contend that Tesla, the manufacturer of snazzy electric cars, violates state and federal advertising rules.
From the LAT's Jerry Hirsch: "The trade group for California’s new car dealers wants the state Department of Motor Vehicles to investigate Tesla Motors’ advertising practices, alleging that the upstart automaker is violating various state and federal laws in marketing its electric cars."
"The California New Car Dealers Assn. claims that Tesla inflates the savings customers accrue from various federal and state incentives to encourage the purchase of electric cars and from other perquisites, such as a permit to drive solo in most California carpool lanes."
"Tesla, a Palo Alto auto company that only makes electric cars, declined to comment on the complaint."
A Long Beach senator says Edison has too many power outages and is threatening to introduce legislation to deal with the issue.
From the LAT's Christine Mai-Duc: "A state senator is demanding that Southern California Edison fix what he calls the "massive, recurring and unacceptable power outages" in the South Bay after a widespread weekend blackout left more than 100,000 residents without power."
"The blackout forced police and firefighters in some cities to rely on generators, and officers were called in to direct traffic in areas where darkened intersections were deemed unsafe."
"It was the largest outage in Edison's service area since the devastating 2011 windstorms in the San Gabriel Valley, in which hundreds of trees were uprooted and scores of power poles were downed. Some customers were left without power for days in the incident."