SACRAMENTO, California, Dec. 31 -- Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-California, issued the following news release on Dec. 30: Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments: Mark Ibele, 65, of Davis, has been reappointed Director of the Office of Tax Appeals, where he has served in that position since 2017. Ibele was Staff Director of the California State Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review from 2013 to 2017, where he served as Deputy Staff Director from 2012 to 2013. He was Pri more PR

SANTA MONICA, California, Dec. 29 -- RAND issued the following commentary by by William Courtney entitled "Arms Control Held Hostage": William Courtney is an adjunct senior fellow at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. He was U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, Georgia, and the U.S.-Soviet Commission to implement the Threshold Test Ban Treaty, and deputy U.S. negotiator in the U.S.-Soviet Defense and Space Talks in Geneva. This commentary originally appeared on The Hill on December 25, 202 more PR