A possible breach of credit card data collected by the California DMV could put online service users at risk.
David R. Baker reports for SF Gate: “The California Department of Motor Vehicles is reporting a possible data security breach in its credit card processing services but said it had not yet found evidence that its computer system had been hacked.”
Despite holding an elected office for decades, Gov. Jerry Brown has managed to reinvent himself as the anti-politician.
Anthony York and Mark Barabak report for the LA Times: “Brown, though, appears unmoved by those who question his style, practicing an almost improvisational form of governing, without the office structure or hierarchy typical of most governors. "Making it up as he goes along, day-by-day, depending on the nuances," as one insider put it, speaking anonymously so as not to anger Brown or his wife.”
In his third term, Brown managed to keep consistent the size and payroll of the state workforce.
Jon Ortiz reports in the Sacramento Bee: “But while the overall bureaucracy remained unchanged, many departments added staff and others axed jobs. Economics, federal funding and court decisions triggered some of the changes. Politics guided others.”
The state Assembly awarded pay increases to a quarter of its full-time employees.
Jim Miller reports for the Sacramento Bee: “Assembly officials said the 2013 raises, most of which range from 4 to 6 percent, were given to employees who had not received raises in recent years. They reflected efforts to prevent the loss of talented employees for better-paying jobs in other branches of government or the private sector, officials said.”
Radiation from the Fukushima nuclear disaster is not threatening human health on California’s beaches.
Aaron Kinney reports for Mercury News: “Several months after a viral video suggested the beach contained radioactive material from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the California Department of Public Health has issued a final report confirming what its own preliminary analysis and independent studies had shown: radiation at the beach stems from naturally occurring elements in the sand, and it does not pose a threat to human health.”
Those who signed up for healthcare through the state exchange will receive voter registration cards in the mail.
The Associated Press reports: “The ACLU said Covered California had provided no opportunities since it launched Oct. 1. The mailings begin Monday and are required to be completed by May 5.”
There is disparity in which groups are signing up for the new healthcare law.
Tracy Seipel reports for Mercury News: “Of the nearly 700,000 people who enrolled in a health plan as of Feb. 28 through the Covered California health insurance exchange and identified their ethnicity, 23.1 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander. Twenty-two percent were Latino.”
“But the statistics are startling when you consider that Latinos make up 38.2 percent of California's population and Asians just 13.7 percent.”
California banned bare-hand contact with food, but the law may get some tweaking.
Fenit Nirappil reports for the Associated Press: “Many of the states with the bare-hand ban, and even the FDA model code, allow for exceptions. That discretion lies with local health agencies in California, and the potential for inconsistencies and added work for regulators and businesses alike has been controversial.”