California Faultline

Anti-war (and anti-Scientology) protesters marched in Hollywood on Saturday. Photo by NoHoDamon, used under Creative Commons.

LOS ANGELES AND VENTURA

Washington State’s Dept. of Correction has settled to pay $2.25 million to five San Ferando Valley boys who “wounded or traumatized” when Bufford Furrow Jr., on parole from a Washington state prison, went on a shooting rampage at a Jewish Center in Granada Hills, injuring two female employees in addition to the boys, and killing a postal worker. [Daily News]

Be confident that at least someone is getting a paycheck out of the LAUSD: their payroll system, which has cost $40 million to fix, will likely take another $15 million to make glitch free. The school system’s COO David Holmquist is confident that in time the system will pay for itself. [Daily News]

The City of Long Beach budgets $3 million annually on sidewalk repairs, or $333,000 per council district. John Canalis of the Press Telegram looks at each districts repair needs and how they’ll quickly gobble up the funds.

911 insurance? As of May 6th, the City of Ventura allows residents to choose either a $1.49 monthly surcharge to cover the cost of 9-1-1 services, or pay $17.88 only in the event the number needs to be dialed. Of 158,000 phone lines, only 5,000 have so far opted out of the monthly fee. [Ventura County Star]

A week after Los Angeles was reported to have the bumpiest roads in California, with 65% needing repair, Mayor Villairagosa held a press conference on Sunday to show himself filling in the 800,000th pothole since he declared war on potholes in 2005. [KNBC]

Michael Higby outlines a number of controversial real estate developments and expansions throughout Los Angeles that he believes residents should be concerned about. [Mayor Sam's Sister City]

Click to read additional items from across the state.

NATIONAL

Jinx! Only 22% of people responding to a Harris Interactive poll read blogs regularly. The highest demographic are internet savvy seniors, 63 or older, at 26% percent (hi dad!). By party breakdown: 22% of Republicans, 20% of Democrats, and 26% of independents read political blogs on a regular basis. [Reuters]

Assemblyman Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) delivered a blow to the Real ID Act on Monday with a non-binding resolution forcing a state delegation to reconsider signing onto the national ID system, citing cost, inconvenience, and privacy issues. [Threat Level]

STATEWIDE

Last week Assemblywoman Nicole Parra (D-Hanford) introduced a bill that would expand mandatory, every other year smog checks on vehicles throughout the state. Currently, only areas with poor air quality are under this requirement, while everywhere else emission tests are only required when there is a change in ownership. [Bakersfield Californian]

LOS ANGELES & ORANGE COUNTY

LA County school superintendant Darline P. Robles and a delegation of over 13 school administrators headed to Sacramento on Monday to protest a proposed education funding cut of $4.8 billion. [KNBC]

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa failed the state bar four times, and still hasn’t passed. On the bright side, Amy Alkon says at least he “hasn’t been caught with a hooker.”

For the first in Orange County’s history, voters will choose from an all-Vietnamese-American ticket for First District Supervisor. Incumbent Republican candidate Janet Nguyen faces off against Duna Nguyen, a Garden Grove councilwoman and fellow Republican, and attorney Trung Nguyen, a Democrat. [OC Register]