Government Agencies

This part happens all the time: A construction crew putting up an office building in the heart of congested Tysons Corner in McLean, Va., hit a fiber-optic cable no one knew was there. This part doesn't: Within moments, three black SUVs drove up, half a dozen men in suits jumped out, and one said, "You just hit our line." Whose line, you may ask? The guys in suits didn't say, recalled Aaron Georgelas, whose company, the Georgelas Group, was developing the Greensboro Corporate Center.

The leading candidate to head the Justice Department office that oversees legal policy and judicial nominations recently has been a lobbyist for several business clients, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and would require a waiver from the Obama administration's recently imposed ethics rules.

Urging the government to "lead by example," President Obama ordered federal agencies on Monday to set ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cut energy use, save water and recycle more. The order calls for a 30% cut in vehicle fuel use by 2020, a 50% increase in recycling by 2015 and the implementation of high-efficiency building codes. It also instructs agencies to set goals within 90 days to reduce the heat-trapping gases scientists blame for global warming. The measures echo a Los Angeles sustainability program launched under the direction of then-Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley, who now heads the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Four of the seven public agencies that voluntarily participate in Orange County's investment portfolio have withdrawn almost all their cash in recent months amid concerns over Treasurer Chriss Street, and others are reviewing whether to keep their money in the pool, according to public finance managers. Voluntary investors in the pool make up a small fraction of the total, and the amount withdrawn -- just under $4 million -- is a pittance in the county's overall $6.95-billion investment fund.

The state's ability to protect children, renters, workers and the elderly as well as California's wildlife and its land would be impeded under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposals for closing a $14.5-billion deficit, state agency reports show.

The effort to create a regional network of airports -- a concept designed to take the pressure off Los Angeles International Airport -- has collapsed again. Three members of the Southern California Regional Airport Authority, the only three who bothered to join, agreed this week to pull the plug. "We need to move on," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, who added that most of the problems at the agency stemmed from a refusal by Orange and Riverside counties to participate.

The CIA's internal investigative branch will be subjected to a series of new checks and controls designed to give targets of in-house probes greater ability to defend themselves, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said in a statement to the agency's employees. Among the changes is the creation of two positions to oversee the work of the CIA's inspector general, including a "quality control officer" charged with monitoring the inspector's handling of evidence and testimony.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a cabinet-level office for volunteer service Tuesday that aims to raise the profile of volunteerism and emergency relief in a state beset by wildfires, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Schwarzenegger named Karen Baker, executive director of the governor's commission for volunteerism, as secretary of service and volunteering, the first such state cabinet position in the country, he said.

Orange County supervisors Tuesday gave final approval to a plan to create a civilian oversight agency that will review misconduct complaints against county law enforcement officers, capping months of planning to establish it. The plan, put forward in May by board Chairman John Moorlach, creates a review board modeled on one used in Los Angeles County to take citizen complaints, investigate deaths and serious injuries involving Sheriff's Department personnel, and examine all deaths in custody.

OMG! Seeking to capitalize on its TV fame as America's quintessential suburb, Orange County moved to rename its government functions Tuesday with slicked-up, simplified names to remind everyone of exactly where they are: The OC! County supervisors voted to rename 11 departments and agencies and create two new ones, all with the "OC" brand made famous by the now-defunct television show of the same name, thus jettisoning the clunky bureaucratic nomenclature of the past.