Tom Perez

The Obama administration's point man on civil rights said he would seek to fight discrimination against gays, an area in which the Justice Department has had only a small role in the past. Tom Perez, assistant attorney general in charge of the department's Civil Rights Division, said pending legislation in Congress would allow the department to attack discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The division has historically targeted discrimination based on race, gender or religion.

WASHINGTON - President Obama's pick for Labor secretary, Thomas E. Perez, emerged unscathed Thursday from a Senate confirmation hearing that was more perfunctory than contentious. Conservatives have been critical of Perez, the administration's top civil rights enforcer, portraying him as a dangerous liberal who would be an overly assertive regulator at the Labor Department. But despite predictions that his confirmation could be acrimonious, there was very little of the tough questioning that Republican adversaries said he deserved.

WASHINGTON - President Obama's pick for Labor secretary, Thomas E. Perez, emerged unscathed Thursday from a Senate confirmation hearing that was more perfunctory than contentious. Conservatives have been critical of Perez, the administration's top civil rights enforcer, portraying him as a dangerous liberal who would be an overly assertive regulator at the Labor Department. But despite predictions that his confirmation could be acrimonious, there was very little of the tough questioning that Republican adversaries said he deserved.

The Obama administration's point man on civil rights said he would seek to fight discrimination against gays, an area in which the Justice Department has had only a small role in the past. Tom Perez, assistant attorney general in charge of the department's Civil Rights Division, said pending legislation in Congress would allow the department to attack discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The division has historically targeted discrimination based on race, gender or religion.

Thomas Perez is Maryland's highest-ranking Latino, but his selection as the nation's leading civil rights enforcer has provoked sharp criticism from some Latino civil rights advocates. The criticism isn't directed at Perez, the state's secretary of labor and a first-generation Dominican American, or his qualifications.

Antelope Valley High center fielder Anthony Barton is not a power hitter, but with his appetite for pressure and drama, anything can happen. Barton proved so Friday when he hit a one-out, first-inning grand slam to help the Antelopes defeat Burroughs, 6-4, in the first round of the Southern Section Division III baseball playoffs. Barton, who entered the game with one home run, blasted a 1-0 fastball by Brian Nichols over the left-center field fence.

Fired police officer Daniel J. Lowrey sought a court order Friday to force the city to reinstate him. The Superior Court action is necessary because Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth C. Frank has taken too long to make a decision, said Susan M. Simpson, a legal assistant for Lowrey's attorney, Tom Perez, who filed the complaint. Nearly two months ago, the city Personnel Board said the city should reinstate Lowrey, who was fired by Police Chief Neil J. Purcell Jr.

A former Laguna Beach police officer, fired in May for allegedly using excessive force in arresting a homeless man, will meet with attorneys this week to decide whether to file a lawsuit demanding his job back, one of his lawyers said Monday. On Friday, former Officer Keith R. Knotek exhausted the city's appeal process when the Personnel Board issued a unanimous recommendation to uphold Police Chief Neil J. Purcell's decision to fire him.

An Orange County Superior Court commissioner has ruled that the city of Laguna Beach was within its rights to fire a police officer after he was videotaped kicking at a man struggling on a sidewalk with two other officers. Commissioner Eleanor M. Palk said last Friday that the evidence in the case supported the city's right to fire former officer Keith R. Knotek, 26, and upheld the city Personnel Board's decision to deny Knotek's appeal for his job back.

A reserve police officer accused of sexually assaulting three women while on duty has been fired after an investigation concluded that he had violated department policy, authorities said Thursday. Chief Neil J. Purcell Jr. dismissed Chris Matano, 20, of Laguna Beach, a grocery store employee who was suspected of fondling the women while they were handcuffed inside his patrol car on the way to Orange County Jail.

Thomas Perez is Maryland's highest-ranking Latino, but his selection as the nation's leading civil rights enforcer has provoked sharp criticism from some Latino civil rights advocates. The criticism isn't directed at Perez, the state's secretary of labor and a first-generation Dominican American, or his qualifications.

A long-running dispute over the Justice Department's handling of a 2008 voter intimidation case has morphed into a partisan debate about whether the department is hostile to white voters whose rights are violated. So far the evidence is anecdotal and impressionistic. The department has denied that race plays any role in its decisions enforcing the Voting Rights Act, and its critics — including conservatives on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission — have yet to establish that a worthy case was dropped because of liberal ideological bias.

Andy Alstot took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before running out of gas in Camarillo High's 8-3 victory over Littlerock in a Birmingham tournament game Wednesday at Notre Dame High. Alstot (2-0) was pulled after he surrendered singles to Robbie Espinosa and Jimmy Combs with none out in the sixth. He struck out two and walked three. Mike Bannon hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning and finished with two hits and four runs batted in for Camarillo (10-2), which is ranked No.