SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments. First, Nathaniel Kirtman III, 40, of Sherman Oaks, has been appointed to the California Lottery Commission. Kirtman has been senior vice president of publicity for NBC Universal since 2009 after serving as a vice president from 2006 to 2009.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Neotrope, a California-based brand identity, internet marketing, and PR firm established in 1983, today announced an extension on the deadline for its 2012 PR Grant program for nonprofit orgs to January 31.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — On Tuesday, San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee and Supervisor Malia Cohen today introduced a resolution at the Board of Supervisors to ensure that major redevelopment projects, such as Mission Bay, the Hunters Point Shipyard, and Transbay as well as affordable housing projects under the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency can continue after the State required their elimination.

VALENCIA, Calif. /California Newswire/ — LiveView GPS announced this week the launch of its new GPS tracking device – the Live Trac EZ GPS Vehicle Tracker – that takes only seconds to install and provides 10-second vehicle-tracking position updates.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /California Newswire/ — L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck today announced the 2011 results of the City’s Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) program including a successful 2011 Summer Night Lights (SNL) program resulting in a 35 percent reduction in gang related Part 1 crimes for all SNL sites.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) today announced that he will move forward with Senate Bill 331, which would prohibit new tobacco retailers from locating within 600 feet of a school.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee joined by Supervisors Scott Wiener, David Campos and Christina Olague announced the introduction at the Board of Supervisors a $1.8 million budget supplemental for HIV/AIDS care and treatment funding to protect essential services to the City’s most vulnerable despite severe budget shortfalls.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. /California Newswire/ — The Council of Energy Resource Tribes (CERT) today announced formation of a strategic business relationship with BioJet International. CERT is comprised of 57 sovereign Indian tribes as members. CERT members collectively own and manage more than 30 percent of the coal west of the Mississippi; 40 percent of domestic uranium; and 10 percent of known national oil and gas reserves in the United States.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ –- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments. First, Denise Brown, 60, of Fair Oaks, has been appointed director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — On the same day as the college football national championship game, California State Senator Alex Padilla announced he will be introducing legislation that would require that student-athletes injured during their college career be provided the necessary medical and financial support to complete their degree.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — S.F. Mayor Edwin M. Lee today appointed Christina Olague as District 5 Supervisor, filling the vacancy left by Ross Mirkarimi. ‘Christina Olague is my appointment for District 5 Supervisor,’ said Mayor Lee.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — On Friday, San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee announced that Salesforce.com is again expanding and creating more jobs in San Francisco, entering into the largest long-term lease in the City in more than a decade. Salesforce will occupy 400,000 square feet of office space at 50 Fremont, which when fully occupied, will accommodate 2,000 employees.

IRVINE, Calif. /California Newswire/ — PowerGuard Specialty Insurance Services announces that leading Chinese solar manufacturer, LONG ENERGY (Shenglong, Suzhou Shenglong PV-Tech Co., Ltd.), a client of Marsh Los Angeles, has joined the growing number of China-based solar panel manufacturers to adopt PowerGuard’s unique PowerClip extended warranty protection.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced today a partnership with Code for America to launch the world’s first Civic Startup Accelerator. Based in downtown San Francisco, the Code for America Accelerator will support entrepreneurs that launch companies to make City government more responsive, efficient and connected.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /California Newswire/ — On Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 2 p.m., former USA National Team members Diana Mkhitaryan and Rebecca Terzian and the 2011 VISA USA National Qualifier Heather Chan from the Los Angeles School of Gymnastics (LASG) will perform at UCLA’s Women’s Gymnastics 7th Annual John Wooden Challenge at The John Wooden Center (221 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095). The John Wooden Challenge honors all competing teams’ academic and athletic achievements.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — MCT Trading, Inc. (MCT), a leader in hedging and risk management services, announced that it has been named a 2011 Medallion winner for the annual Workplace Excellence Awards held by the San Diego Society for Human Resource Management (SD SHRM). Each year, the SD SHRM honors local companies having exceptional HR practices that become instrumental to their success and profitability.