L.A. County supervisors sip from customized water bottles

The L.A. Times reports:

Los Angeles County officials say the cost of printing and affixing their own labels -- to avoid having the brand visible on TV broadcasts of their meetings -- is a drop in the bucket.

3 weeks in office adds $40,000 a year to pension

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Illinois taxpayers are on the hook for another one of those fat pension deals that state legislators have set up for themselves.

The State Employees Retirement System has signed off on granting former Rep. Kurt Granberg (D-Carlyle) a yearly pension of $113,305.

Which is $40,288 more a year than he would have gotten if his pension were based only on his 22-year legislative career, which ended in mid-January.

As media faces ax, scribes take hatchet to Deval Patrick

The Boston Herald

Uncertainty lingers after ruling in Vallejo bankruptcy case

Capitol Weekly reports:

A federal judge made a groundbreaking ruling earlier this month that the labor contracts of the bankrupt City of Vallejo can be overturned, but he is pushing for a settlement that would avoid nullifying the contracts.


A lawyer for the city’s labor unions said this week that one of the sticking points in the ttalks is a city demand that new hires and retirees begin paying 25 percent of the cost of their health care.

Some Santa Barbara Gov.Employees Get 83 Days Off A Year

Joe Armendariz

Injured Boston officers stay on payroll for years

The Boston Globe

Mass. Small-town sheriffs lock down big pay boost

The Boston Herald

Pike hires add to ‘burden’

The Boston Herald

Vallejo Bankruptcy ruling sets clock ticking

The Times-Herald reports:

Bankruptcy Judge Michael McManus could not have been much clearer in his ruling over the weekend that he has the power to void remaining contracts between two employee unions and the city of Vallejo.

And yet, McManus held his fire, suggesting in no uncertain terms that the two unions should work quickly to strike a bargain with city negotiators while they still can.

The alternative is that he will likely give void the contracts, and usher Vallejo into an era that could lead to another mass exodus of employees and further rancor at City Hall.

History in the making.

Boston Transit Agency Hires 300 New Workers Cuts Services

The Boston Herald reports:

While MBTA riders face packed subway cars and potential fare hikes, officials quietly cut scheduled subway and bus services even as they pumped up their payroll with more than 300 positions, according to MBTA documents obtained by the Herald.

As public transportation reached record ridership with an average of 1.3 million riders a day, the number of scheduled weekday trips on the Forest Hills bus line - the agency’s second most popular bus route - has dropped 16 percent since 2005.

Mass.Longevity pay puts strain on budgets:Bonuses continue amid city, town layoffs; Benefit long standard in unions' contracts

The Boston Globe

Montgomery Police Seeking Disability Find System Weighted in Their Favor

The Washington Post

The disconnect between those with job security and those without

Madison Capital Times

Posting salaries of Illinois state workers on Web meets resistance on Government Unions

Newsalert