State lawmakers on Tuesday gave a slew of new weapon reform bills the nod after last year's mass shooting left California scrambling for answers to gun violence.
LAT's Patrick McGreevy writes: "Four months after the San Bernardino mass shooting, state lawmakers on Tuesday gave initial approval to five gun control bills, including measures that would outlaw assault rifles with detachable magazines, ban possession of clips holding more than 10 rounds and require homemade guns to be registered with the state."
"The bills approved by the state Senate Public Safety Committee were introduced in response to the December shooting in San Bernardino that left 14 people dead and 22 others wounded at the hands of two terrorists."
"One of the measures the panel sent toward the Senate floor would outlaw assault rifles with easily detachable bullet magazines like one of the weapons used in the mass shooting in San Bernardino."
SEE ALSO: New California gun restrictions clear senate committee -- Sac Bee's Alexei Koseff reports.
Be careful when you take a deep breath: California has the nation's dirtiest air.
From AP's Scott Smith: "Millions of Californians live in places with dirty air, according to an annual report card issued Wednesday that ranks two major urban areas in the state as the nation's most polluted."
"Bakersfield tops the list for having the most unhealthy days from airborne particles spewed by highway traffic, diesel trucks, farm equipment and fireplaces, the American Lung Association's State of the Air 2016 report says. Los Angeles remains the nation's leader in harmful ozone pollution from car tailpipes emitting smog, the report says."
"Air pollution can trigger asthma attacks, heart attacks, lead to lung cancer and cause premature death."
Meanwhile, Berkeley will be considering the $15 minimum wage increase on November's ballot.
Adam Iscoe reports in The Daily Californian: "An alliance of labor activists, elected officials, students and community members announced Monday that they have successfully collected the necessary signatures to place a $15 minimum wage initiative on Berkeley’s November ballot."
"If the initiative passes in November, Berkeley’s minimum wage will increase to $15 by October 2017 — with an additional 3 percent plus inflation — until the minimum wage reaches a living wage in 2021."
"In November 2015, Berkeley City Council discussed possibly raising to the city minimum wage to a living wage, adding an annual cost-of-living adjustment to the minimum wage and providing additional paid sick leave to all workers. Council members Max Anderson, Jesse Arreguin and Kriss Worthington voted in favor of the minimum wage provision, while the mayor and other five council members abstained, which ultimately prevented its passage."
It appears UC Davis avis has spent nearly $200,000 trying to reshine the school's tarnished reputation by scrubbing detrimental data from the internet after 2011's student pepper spraying scandal.
Sacramento Bee's Sam Stanton and Diana Lambert report: "UC Davis contracted with consultants for at least $175,000 to scrub the Internet of negative online postings following the November 2011 pepper-spraying of students and to improve the reputations of both the university and Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, newly released documents show."
"The payments were made as the university was trying to boost its image online and were among several contracts issued following the pepper-spray incident."
"Some payments were made in hopes of improving the results computer users obtained when searching for information about the university or Katehi, results that one consultant labeled “venomous rhetoric about UC Davis and the chancellor."
Los Angeles' City Controller claims that over 400 police officers are desk bound due to lack of civilian clerical jobs, which the city plans to change in an effort to gain more bodies in uniform on the street.
Richard Winton reporting in LAT: "Los Angeles police could better combat crime in the city by freeing more than 400 able-bodied officers from desk jobs and hiring more civilians to perform clerical duties, according to an audit released Tuesday."
"The report by City Controller Ron Galperin highlighted a issue that has been persistent and problematic for LAPD brass: As the department’s sworn officer ranks grew slightly to just under 10,000 in the last decade, 621 of those officers are filling civilian clerical positions because of a shortfall in administrative staff."
"Some of those officers are injured, but the bulk -- 458 -- are fully capable of patrolling city streets, Galperin’s audit found."
SEE ALSO: Wrongful death lawsuit filed in the fatal shooting of a man weilding a toy gun -- Pauline Repard with LAT. LAPD Police Commission finds the fatal shooting of an unarmed man in the head was justified -- Kate Mather with LAT.
And from our "Street Fight" file comes the story of bulldozers that duked it out at a Chinese construction site. This is what I call competition for a job.
"An unusual street fight in China involved rival construction firms using bulldozers and front-end loaders to do battle in the middle of an urban street."
"Video captured by a witness Saturday in Xingtang County, Hebei province, shows two heavy construction vehicles clashing with their shovels in the middle of a street."
"Other vehicles soon join the melee, bringing the total number of heavy construction vehicles to six, and at least two of the bulldozers and front-end loaders ended up toppling in the scuffle."
"The bulldozer street fight came to an end when police arrived."
