In brief: 20-term Waxman won’t run again

Washington – Rep. Henry Waxman, one of Congress’ fiercest negotiators and a policy expert on everything from clean air to health care, will retire at the end of the year after four decades in the House.

“It’s time for someone else to have the chance to make his or her mark,” the liberal California Democrat said Thursday in a statement announcing he won’t seek re-election.

Waxman, 74, was elected during the post-Watergate class of 1974 and represents perhaps the nation’s most glamorous district, including the movie star havens of Bel Air, Brentwood and Malibu.

Wendy Greuel, former Los Angeles city controller, told KPCC radio on Thursday that she would run for Waxman’s seat.

Another possible contender is Sandra Fluke, the former Georgetown University law student who testified to congressional Democrats that she wanted her college health plan to cover her birth control. Radio personality Rush Limbaugh branded her a “slut,” but later apologized.

Judge upholds gun control law

Hartford, Conn. – A federal judge upheld Connecticut’s gun control law on Thursday, saying the sweeping measure is constitutional even as he acknowledged the Second Amendment rights of gun owners who sued to block it.

Lawmakers, responding to the shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 20 children and six educators on Dec. 14, 2012, banned the sale of large-capacity magazines and made more weapons illegal under the state’s assault weapons ban.