SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins has been honored as a Clean Water Champion by Clean Water Action California in recognition of her leadership on water and other environmental issues during the 2011-12 legislative session.

Atkins was one of only 13 legislators to receive an “A” on Clean Water Action’s scorecard, which tallied votes on 16 bills related to water, environmental justice, pollution prevention, the public’s right to know about environmental threats, and attempts to roll back the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA.)

BERKELEY, Calif. — A California man faces a felony hate crime charge after officers spotted him spray painting anti-gay graffiti on campus buildings at the University of California-Berkeley.

Anthony Garcia, 23, of Huntington Park, Calif., was booked on a hate crime charge after officers caught him following a foot chase on Saturday night, reported the Oakland Tribune.

During the chase, police said Garcia fell and cut his forehead; a second suspect fled the scene.

The vandalism was categorized as a hate crime due to its derogatory references towards sexual orientation.

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — The prosecution of four gay men arrested in the 2009 Warm Sands sex sting wasn’t discriminatory, the Riverside County Superior Court has ruled.

Lambda Legal filed an amicus brief with the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of Riverside County on April 19, saying the arrests amounted to discrimination because the operation targeted only gay men.

A three-judge panel concluded that “there is substantial evidence to support the trial court’s determination that the prosecution did not engage in invidious discrimination.”

Among the 229 contestants competing for the title of Miss California USA this weekend will be Kylan Arianna Wenzel, a 26-year-old transgender woman from Century City, Calif.

Wenzel will be the first ever transgender contestant after the Miss Universe Organization changed its rules in April last year — Miss Universe operates the Miss USA pageant, and the local pageants that determine the state delegates.