KAMALA D. HARRIS SPEAKS TO FULL HOUSE AT ACCENTURE PANCAKES AND POLITICS
California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris spoke with Chamber members at the Accenture Pancakes and Politics Breakfast Speaker Series on Friday. Harris discussed her priorities for 2012 as well as her office's role in mortgage settlements with major banks and preventing violent crime. "Sometimes we exist in silos. We need to have conversations on how we can work on issues and get things done," said Harris, who made history in 2011 when she became the first woman—and first African American and South Asian American—to serve as attorney general of California. "One thing we can do better is create and cultivate private/public partnerships." Contact Jessica Duboff, 213.580.7558.


High Speed Rail Chairman provides latest update
This week the Chamber's High Speed Rail Task Force met with Dan Richard, chair of the California High Speed Rail Authority, to discuss the revised business plan released in April. Revisions to the plan include cost savings as a result of a blended rail approach and early investments in urban bookends. The revised document laid out a plan for the first operating segment to come south from Merced to Burbank, which was one of the main goals of the Chamber's High Speed Rail Task Force. Richard also discussed a $1 billion Memorandum of Understanding recently signed with Southern California rail operators to begin upgrading and investing in existing systems immediately. Contact Jessica Duboff, 213.580.7558.

News Alert: Governor Brown to speak with Chamber members during ACCESS Sacramento
The Chamber announced today that Gov. Jerry Brown will speak at the ACCESS Sacramento luncheon on Wednesday, May 23. The luncheon, which will be held from 11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., will also feature State Treasurer Bill Lockyer and State Controller John Chiang. Contact Jessica Duboff, 213.580.7558.

World's largest electric vehicle conference in town next week
EVS26, the premier conference and exhibit for electric vehicles and the electric drive industry, will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on May 6-9. The Chamber has partnered on this event, which features 42 lecture sessions, and featuring more than 200 presentations. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with industry leaders at the dialogue sessions held in the Exhibit hall featuring more than 250 presenters and graphic presentations! Learn more.

UCLA ranks among nation's top universities in research and development spending Reinforcing its position as one of the nation's top research universities, the University of California, Los Angles ranked seventh in the nation in research and development spending in the 2010-11 fiscal year, according to a recent survey by the National Center for Science and Engineering. Read more. Paramount Pictures employees kick off global day of community service Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc., today mobilized more than 1,400 employees in 18 countries around the world in a day of community service to celebrate its 17th Annual Viacommunity Day. Viacommunity Day is a Viacom-wide effort that deploys thousands of volunteers each year to serve in communities where Viacom has operations. This year, Paramount volunteers around the world supported a wide range of activities including beautifying public schools, cooking and packaging food for HIV/AIDS patients, reading aloud with students, beach clean up, and wildlife preservation efforts. In Los Angeles alone, more than 700 employees participated in the day long program. Read more. Click here to submit your member good news.