Capitol Alert

Gov. Jerry Brown will be in Los Angeles this afternoon to welcome Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping as he touches down on the tarmac.

Also joining Brown: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The governor will attend several official events today and Friday tied to Xi's visit, including a tour this afternoon of the China Shipping Terminal at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro.

Xi is scheduled to arrive at LAX at 1:30 p.m., about two hours after Air Force One is set to leave the airport for San Francisco. President Barack Obama, who met with Xi earlier this week at the White House, is continuing his West Coast fundraising trip with a visit to the Bay Area.

Obama's calendar includes a dinner at the Pacific Heights home of novelist Robert Mailer Anderson (think "Boonville"), followed by a reception at the Masonic Center where Grammy winner Chris Cornell (think Soundgarden) will perform.

Back in Sacramento, the Senate Budget Committee looks at Brown's budget proposal for K-12 education, with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson expected to testify. The hearing, which starts at 9 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 4203, will be televised on the Senate's website via this link.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, will be at Microsoft Corp. in Mountain View, where he and members of the TechAmerica Foundation will release recommendations at 9 a.m. on cloud computing for state and local governments. Listed speakers at the half-day event include the head of the California Technology Agency, Carlos Ramos, as well as San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. The event will be streamed live at this link.

MODEL LEGISLATURE: Some 2,500 teens are in town, starting today, for the California YMCA Youth & Government program's 64th annual model legislature and court. Try not to scare them off.

NEW GIGS: Brown announced three appointments on Thursday, all Democrats:

• Brian Kelly, 43, of Sacramento, has been appointed undersecretary at the Business Transportation and Housing Agency. He has been executive staff director for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg since 2008, and he's worked for Senate leaders going back to Bill Lockyer in 1995. This position also does not require Senate confirmation. He'll be paid $172,992 a year.

• Jim Evans, 42, of Sacramento, was appointed deputy secretary for communications and strategic planning at the Business Transportation and Housing Agency. He has been a consultant for Sen. Mark DeSaulnier since 2009 and is a long-time Capitol denizen. (Full disclosure: He also worked for The Bee from 2003 to 2004.) This position does not require Senate confirmation. He'll be paid $129,900 a year.

• Robert Zachary Wasserman, 64, of Oakland, has been appointed chair of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. Wasserman has been a partner at Wendel Rosen Black and Dean LLP since 1996. This position requires Senate confirmation, and he'll be paid a grand total of $0 a year.

PHOTO CAPTION: China's Vice President Xi Jinping/Associated Press