California

Qualifying to Saturday's CIF Southern Section Track and Field Divisional Championships at Mt. San Antonio College required the local entrants who earned such advancement to turn in very good results at last weekend's divisional prelims all over Southern California. This weekend, however, the bar will be raised from very good to exceptional. Of course, that's to be expected as divisional championships and CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet berths are on the line with the trip to Cerritos College available for the top 12 finishers in the 800-meter, 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs and top nine in every other event.

Employers in California added 28,800 jobs to payrolls in June, a surprisingly positive number amid a weak labor market nationally. The state's unemployment rate rose slightly, to 11.8%, from 11.7% the month before, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday morning. Click for a state-by-state map of unemployment rates California had lost 29,200 jobs in May, due in part to manufacturing sluggishness from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. The addition of jobs this month, though a surprise, is one more sign of the fickle nature of this economic recovery, economists say.  L.A. TIMES

After an embarrassing, month-long outage, California's online database of campaign contributions and lobbying went back online in the final hours of 2011, once again allowing residents of the state that houses Silicon Valley to easily find out what corporations and unions are spending money to influence their elected officials. The state's tottering Cal-Access database crashed Nov. 30 and remained offline for most of the month. In the meantime, staff at the secretary of state's office posted PDFs of new campaign contributions and responded to requests for historical data by hand-searching old files.

Under fire for spending $111,316 in taxpayer funds to feed themselves this year, state senators have decided to end the practice. All members of the upper house will be billed $2,000 a year to pay for stocking the coffee room and to cover their meal expenses when sessions extend into the lunch or dinner hour, said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento). The five-member Senate Rules Committee, which Steinberg chairs, voted Tuesday to implement the new system.

TAMPA, Fla. -- California is not expected to play much of a role in the presidential election for Republicans. The Golden State has voted for the Democratic candidate in every election since 1992. Perhaps because of this, the GOP delegation to the Republican National Convention was relegated to the back of the forum hall. -- Dan Evans, Times Community News E-mail: dan.evans@latimes.com Twitter: @EditorDanEvans

A group of California visual effects artists is mounting a long-shot campaign to dismantle foreign film tax credits, contending that they hurt U.S. workers and violate international trade agreements. More than 150 visual effects workers in the last two weeks have donated funds to challenge the legality of foreign film subsidies that have buffeted California's visual effects industry. "We're fighting for the industry we love," said Rachael Campbell, a visual effects artist and campaign donor.

California's unemployment rate ticked up a notch in August, to 12.1% from 12% the month before, according to new data from the  U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics . Employers shed 8,400 jobs from payrolls. The numbers were little surprise to economists, who had anticipated no growth after national data showed that employers added no jobs nationally in August, when the U.S. unemployment rate stayed steady at 9.1%. "Businesses are very reluctant to hire people," said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at Cal State Channel Islands in Camarillo.

On Nov. 17, La Cañada Books & Toys brings a little history and magic to the community. Gerald Schiller, noted author and magician, will be signing True Stories of Old California from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at La Cañada Books & Toys. Schiller, a member of The Magic Castle, will also entertain with his special form of magic. Schiller has combined careers in a variety of fields. For almost 30 years he taught high school English and cinema studies, and, at the same time, wrote and directed educational and documentary films.

Wendelin F. G. Jung died Saturday, March 9, 2013 in a tragic car accident. She was 49 years old and was born in Los Angeles, California. She lived in Eagle Rock, California and worked at Good Land Realty and UPS. She is survived by her siblings, Roderic Jung, Regan Jung, Bridget Springer, Valerie Pawlik, her best friend and “sister” and Auntie Ida (Wong). She has two nieces, Bridget Hahnlein and Cristina Hahnlein and a cat named Spider. Services will be held at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, 2411 Montrose Avenue,Montrose,CA 91020 on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers and gifts, please donate in memory of Wendy Jung to the Pasadena Humane Society at www.phsspca.org and link to support.

Ruth Fitzgerald Whitsitt Ruth Fitzgerald Whitsitt was born September 6, 1920 in McComb, Mississippi, and passed away on May 3, 2012 in Fresno, California. Ruth graduated from Southwest Mississippi Junior College in 1940 and came to Glendale in 1942 where she lived until her husband's death in December 2010. Before leaving the workplace to raise a family, she worked for Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and Pacific Telephone Company. In 1967 she went to work for Webb's Department Store as the beauty shop manager until 1977.

A year ago Grace Graham-Zamudio settled for runner-up, third- and fourth-place finishes at the state championships. The Glendale Community College women's track and field star wouldn't settle for anything less that first in 2013. It resulted in Zamudio leaving the California Community College Athletic Assn. Track and Field State Championships, which was held at the College of San Mateo, and Glendale college with a triple crown. “The last race was definitely special, I know during the last lap I was thinking, 'This is my last lap as a Vaquero,'” said Zamudio, who capped off an incredible two-year career with the team by winning the 1,500-meter race in four minutes 36.13 seconds and the 5,000-meter in 17:41.

SANTA ANA - Good-bye hugs were exchanged in right field before a few tears and plenty of beads of sweat were wiped away by many of the members of the Glendale Community College baseball team. It came shortly after the Vaqueros saw their season wrap up Saturday with a 4-3 defeat against El Camino Compton in an elimination contest of the Southern California Fullerton Super Regional at Santa Ana College. “It's a special group of guys,” said Glendale college Coach Chris Cicuto, whose team finished 27-13.

After she stepped on to the all-weather track Saturday, Grace Zamudio realized the weather conditions would be conducive while looking to further elevate her decorated racing career. There was less wind and more heat around Antelope Valley College for the Southern California Championships, paving the way for the Glendale Community College women's track and field star to gobble up some more individual accolades while also looking to punch her ticket to the California Community College Track and Field Championships.

Grace Zamudio likely won't have any trouble getting motivated with another trip to the California Community College Track and Field Championships at stake. Zamudio will lead a group of Vaqueros scheduled to compete in the Southern California Championship on Saturday at Antelope Valley College. The field events begin at 11 a.m., followed by the running events at 1 p.m. Zamudio, who has already advanced to the state meet in the 10,000 on Saturday after clocking 39 minutes 15.48 seconds for a victory at the Southern California Regionals prelims at Antelope Valley College, will attempt to win the 1,500- and 5,000-meter races Saturday.

Jin Park certainly isn't a stranger to the playoff stage. He's soaked up some past experiences, including an appearance with the talented Glendale Community College men's golf team that advanced to the state tournament in 2011. Things will now be a bit different for Park, who will tee off at the Southern California Regionals on Monday at Costa Mesa Golf and Country Club. Park, a Burbank High graduate, will be the lone representative from Glendale college to participate in the 36-hole event and attempt to qualify for the California Community College Athletic Assn.

Times Community Newspapers received major accolades in this year's California Newspaper Publisher Association contest, including 17 first-place awards and six second-place nods. Winners were announced Saturday at the statewide awards at the Sheraton Universal in Universal City. "It always feels good to be honored by your peers, and getting honored in so many different categories makes it that much more gratifying," Editor Dan Evans said. "Every single aspect of the paper, from design to sports, photography to investigative reporting, entertainment to online, received recognition.

After qualifying for the Southern California Regionals and then competing in the Western Conference Tournament last week, the members of the exhausted Glendale Community College men's tennis team made the long trek to San Diego on Tuesday. While the Vaqueros were glad to return to the playoffs for the first time in two seasons, they were not able to shake off fatigue. Fifth-seeded Glendale saw its season end with a 5-1 loss against third-seeded San Diego Mesa in a quarterfinal match.

With essentially a brand new cast of players, the Glendale Community College women's tennis team did something it hadn't done since 1999 - qualify for the Southern California Regionals. While the Vaqueros would have liked to have extended their season, they made strides to improve the program's outlook. "It's a tremendous reward just to get this far," Glendale assistant Coach Deo Sy said after seventh-seeded Glendale suffered a 5-0 road loss to second-seeded Mt. San Antonio College in a first-round match Tuesday.

Wind gusts topping 70 mph were recorded Monday afternoon as Southern California was buffeted by a major Santa Ana wind event. The National Weather Service said the high winds were causing dust storms and had created zero-visibility conditions in some desert areas. In Lancaster, winds were clocked at 70 mph amid a sand storm. In Imperial County, a 73 mph gust was reported. Scattered power outages were also reported. A high-wind advisory is in effect across Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley, where gusts could peak at 45 mph, said weather service meteorologist Andrew Rorke.