CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
January 25, 2012 | By Anthony York and Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Sacramento -- Democratic lawmakers sued state Controller John Chiang on Tuesday, arguing that he misused his power last summer when he docked their pay for passing a budget he said was not balanced. The lawsuit, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, does not seek reimbursement of the $583,200 in withheld pay. Lawmakers want the court to bar the controller from doing it again if they approve a budget that they deem balanced. Chiang, a Democrat, said he was exercising authority given to him by voters when they approved Proposition 25, a constitutional amendment, in 2010.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
May 17, 2013 | By Anna Gorman
Patient care workers at the University of California's medical centers plan to stage a two-day strike next week, but the number taking part will be decided Monday in Sacramento County Superior Court. A judge is expected to rule on a request for a temporary restraining order limiting the number of workers who may take part in the walkout. According to UC officials, the focus is on workers considered essential for patient care. The union representing nearly 13,000 patient healthcare workers has notified UC that it plans to strike from Tuesday at 4 a.m. to Thursday at 4 a.m. Several thousand others could participate in a “sympathy strike” Tuesday.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 19, 2013 | By Dan Weikel
A lawsuit alleging that approval of the high-speed rail system's first sections in the Central Valley violated state environmental laws was settled Thursday, eliminating a legal obstacle that could have delayed construction. A Sacramento County Superior Court judge approved an agreement that calls for the California High-Speed Rail Authority to further reduce the project's effects on farming operations, preserve agricultural land and provide additional compensation for landowners.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
May 20, 2013 | By Anna Gorman
A Sacramento County Superior Court judge ruled Monday that about 450 employees cannot participate in this week's planned walkout at the University of California medical centers. The unions must maintain a minimum level of staffing among certain units, including the burn centers, the intensive care units and the neonatal intensive care units, the judge ruled. If all the respiratory therapists in the burn centers and poison control units were to strike, the court ruled, there would be a "substantial and imminent threat to public health or safety.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
August 24, 2010 | By Maura Dolan, Reporting from San Francisco
Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, nominated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to become California's next chief justice, received the highest rating possible Monday from a state bar evaluations committee. The Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation rated Cantil-Sakauye, 50, a Republican, as "exceptionally well qualified" and declared that she has a "brilliant mind" and shows "exceptional objectivity. " "She is an extraordinarily hard worker," the panel said. "She takes her duties very seriously, but also brings a sense of joyful enthusiasm to the performance of them.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
August 2, 2008 | Patrick McGreevy, Times Staff Writer
Backers of a ballot measure that would require parents to be notified before an abortion is performed on a minor acknowledged Friday that the 15-year-old on which "Sarah's Law" is based had a child and was in a common-law marriage before she died of complications from an abortion in 1994.