After years of study, the state and federal governments are cautiously moving forward with a proposal to build a big underground pipeline to quench the water needs of some 25 million people. Roger Patterson is with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California:
Patterson: "This is a key piece of our water infrastructure - and frankly, part of making the economy in Southern California work for the future."
But people who live in the Delta, like sixth-generation farmer Joy Baker, say a tunnel would bring…
Baker: "Total decimation. We will lose our land. We will lose our ability to farm our land. We will lose our homes. We will lose our livelihood. We will lose the Delta, bottom line."
The proposal is just a draft so far. A more formal recommendation could come this summer.
GOP Lawmakers Respond to LA Teacher Arrests
Republican state lawmakers are introducing legislation that would
speed up the process California school districts use to fire
teachers.
It's a response to the arrests of several Los Angeles Unified
School District teachers on sexual misconduct charges.
Assemblyman Steve Knight says the legislation takes suggestions
from the district and LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Knight: "Mayor Villaraigosa and LA Unified
have come forward with some needed reforms - reforms that make
sense to me as a parent and a legislator. And we cannot
allow deficiencies in the law and rigid contracts to stand in the
way of allowing law enforcement and school officials to protect our
children."
The legislation would eliminate the requirement that districts
remove all allegations more than four years old from a teacher's
file. It would also allow districts to fire teachers for
disciplinary reasons without pay after an administrative
hearing.
Democratic State Senator Alex Padilla has been working on a similar
bill. He's in discussions with the district and teachers
unions.
