The City Council hired a law firm to represent the Ethics Commission as it defends its decision to fine Councilmember John Lee over gifts he allegedly accepted in Las Vegas.

The talks played out over the last year as critics became increasingly vocal about the potential for taxpayers to be saddled with the bill if the Games lose money.

L.A. County certified 2,227,461 vote-by-mail, in-person, conditional and provisional ballots. The Times compared the process with previous midterm primaries.

The agreement ends weeks of lobbying by outside interests and negotiations among Democrats in the California Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom about how to handle a surge of income tax collected on stock market gains related to artificial intelligence.

The assessment has not changed since 1996, and the funds are used to operate and repair the city’s streetlight system.

California’s next governor will face tough decisions on a highly controversial piece of healthcare policy: what to do about health coverage for the more than 1.4 million low-income residents without legal status.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Thursday limiting medical billing in ride share accident litigation, averting a November showdown between Uber and the state’s trial attorneys. The agreement comes as Uber pushes forward with a lawsuit against two prominent L.A. law firms.

Proponents of a controversial billionaire tax pledge to make sure it appears on the November ballot to backfill federal healthcare funds.

The omission is the latest strain in a yearlong standoff between California leaders and the Trump administration over federal disaster aid.

A bill making its way through the California Legislature would make public records less public. It’s a bad fix for an unclear problem.