California

Robert Michel (R-IL) was in Congress for 38 years, starting when I was a pre-teen. And he was After serving as Minority Whip for half a dozen years, he became Minority Leader in 1981 and was finally ousted in 1995, completely changing the fortunes of the utterly pathetic House Republicans.

Santa Maria Police Chief Ralph Martin addresses reporters during a press conference about Operation Matador. It was recently revealed that Martin and his department issued a fake press release as a tactic, he said, that saved lives and helped add convincing evidence against the members of MS-13 currently awaiting trial. (Len Wood/The Santa Maria Times via AP)

Assemblyman Jimmy GomezYesterday, Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, who represents a huge swath of hipster and Hispanic Los Angeles (Silverlake, Echo Park, Boyle Heights, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Montecito Heights, Cypress Park, Chinatown, East L.A.) yielded to an animated draft movement by progressives in his district to run for the congressional seat Xavier Becerra is giving up to become California Attorney General.

CA-34-- Perez and GomezXavier Becerra was first elected to Congress in 1992 and, until yesterday he was the 4th-ranking Democrat in the House leadership. He's a generally liberalish guy, charismatic, polished, more often on the side of the angels than the rest of the House leadership.

Evergreen Islamic Center, under construction in San Jose, California (Facebook)
Three California mosques received a hand-written letter calling Muslims “vile and filthy”, praising president-elect Donald Trump and saying he plans to “cleanse” America, an association of Muslim-Americans said Sunday.

Corruption draws certain types of characters to DC the way flies are drawn to horse barns. And while there's never quite been anyone like El Presidente-elect Señor Trumpanzee before, who actually told the NY Times yesterday that "In theory I could run my business perfectly and then run the country perfectly. There's never been a case like this...

After mistaking a deaf man for a thief, beating him, tasering him and choking him because he was unable to understand their commands, the Hawthorne Police Department in southwest Los Angeles has settled a lawsuit for $55,000. The settlement was approved by the City Council on Tuesday.
The deaf man identified as Jonathan Meister and co-plaintiff Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness Inc. will receive the settlement on the basis of civil rights violations under the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

As efforts to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline grow, communities across the country are hearing from activists on their return from North Dakota and sending off fresh teams to lend support. The author believes that part of the support for the Standing Rock protests is a dawning consciousness that Native people have something important to teach us about living well on this planet.
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Former Chula Vista Police Officer David Mitchell will receive a $175,000 settlement from the city after he was fired for making complaints of racism from his superiors. The settlement was reached this week.
Mitchell was a lieutenant with the San Diego Police Department, a position he obtained after suing the department for racial discrimination in 2008 in a case that settled.
The California cop retired in 2014, then joined the ranks of the Chula Vista Police Department, just south of San Diego, the following year at the age of 61.

Voters in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Wells Water District in Maine; Healdsburg, California (Sonoma County); and Greenville, Texas went to the polls on November 8 to voice their views on whether to ban fluoride in their drinking water.