Teachers and unions breathed easier after a California appeals court overruled a lower court judgment that allowed public school teachers to be fired at will regardless of tenure or other job protections.
LAT's Howard Blume, Joy Resmovits and Sonali Kohli report: "In a major victory for unions, a California appeals court on Thursday reversed a lower court ruling that had thrown out tenure and other job protections for the state's public school teachers."
"The case was being closely watched across the country by those who argue that allowing administrators to more easily fire bad teachers would improve schools and student performance. Right now, there are a series of job protections that can be invoked before school districts can remove a tenured teacher."
“I think it’s a win certainly for educators, but also a win for students,” California Teachers Assn. President Eric C. Heins said of the ruling. “The trial never made the connection between the harms [the plaintiffs] were alleging and the statutes they were challenging. I think the laws have been working.”
SEE ALSO: California court sides with teacher unions -- Dan Frosch with The Wallstreet Journal.
A group of California's water warriors have mounted a legal challenge against the state's largest water distributor, contending that the recent $175 million dollar sale of islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta was illegal.
From Capital Public Radio's Amy Quinton: "Two counties, two water agencies, and environmental groups in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are suing California’s largest water wholesaler over its efforts to buy five islands in the Delta."
"The lawsuit alleges that the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California improperly exempted itself from state environmental reviews in its $175 million purchase of Delta land."
"Metropolitan has suggested using the land for habitat restoration or to facilitate Governor Jerry Brown’s plan to build two tunnels to carry water to southern California."
SEE ALSO: Congressional challenge to Obama water deal in California -- AP's Ellen Knickmeyer reporting in OC Register.
Lawmakers have shifted their focus to cyberterrorism and the safeguards California has in place (or lack thereof) to protect us from such an attack.
Techwire's Samantha Young reports: "Frustrated that California’s cybersecurity readiness suffers from “underlying systemic issues,” two Assembly lawmakers have urged Gov. Jerry Brown to rethink how the state prepares for a potential cyberattack."
"The request by Assemblymembers Ed Chau, D-Arcadia, and Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, came just weeks after California’s chief information security officer (CISO) struggled to defend the Department of Technology’s cybersecurity readiness before two Assembly committees."
"At issue is a state auditor report released last summer that revealed California’s dismal compliance with its own security standards to protect sensitive information."
A California assemblyman seeking a congressional seat has been ordered to stay away from his estranged wife, a Baldwin Park City Council member, after she alleged that he violently abused her during their marriage.
From the LAT's Richard Winton: "A Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner Alan Friedenthal granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday that requires Assemblyman Roger Hernandez (D-West Covina) to have no contact with Councilwoman Susan Rubio, whom he is divorcing."
"Hernandez, who has served in the California Assembly since 2010, is challenging Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk) for her 32nd Congressional District seat. "
"Married in June 2013, the couple began divorce proceedings in 2014. Rubio alleges in a declaration seeking the order that during the marriage Hernandez engaged in “pushing, shoving, hitting and choking" her."
One member of the Manson family has been recommended for parole nearly five decades after the grisly slayings rocked California.
"A California review board recommended parole Thursday for former Charles Manson “family” member Leslie Van Houten, who was convicted along with other members of the cult in the 1969 killings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca."
"Van Houten, 66, had been denied parole 19 times by the state parole board since being convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. After the two commissioners on the panel issued their decision at a hearing at the California Institution for Women in Chino, Van Houten said she felt “numb,” according to her attorney, Richard Pfeiffer."
“The opposition to parole has always been the name Manson,” Pfeiffer said. “A lot of people who oppose parole don’t know anything about Leslie’s conduct. Her role was bad. Everyone’s was. But they don’t know what she’s done since then and all of the good she’s done.”"
Despite nearly a billion dollars in funding and a decade of federal oversight, California prisons are still doling out poor healthcare to inmates.
A fifth state prison is still providing substandard care despite billions of dollars spent for improvements and a decade of federal oversight, California’s inspector general reported Thursday."
"Care at Wasco State Prison, 30 miles north of Bakersfield, remains inadequate, the inspector general said."
"California is attempting to regain control of the prison health care system a decade after a federal judge seized control. Under federal oversight, the state has spent $2 billion for new prison medical facilities, doubled its annual prison health care budget to nearly $1.7 billion and reduced its prison population by more than 40,000 inmates."
Big Oil spends Big Bucks backing business-friendly Dem Cheryl Brown amid 'liberal discontent.'
Jeremy B. White writes in Sacramento Bee: "A California Democrat facing a rare challenge from the left over her environmental record has gotten a $1 million boost from Chevron."
"The independent expenditure on behalf of Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, D-San Bernardino, should sharpen the divisions in a race showcasing liberal discontent with business-friendly Assembly Democrats. Environmental and labor groups angered by Brown’s stance on climate legislation last year have backed a challenger and fellow Democrat, attorney Eloise Gomez Reyes."
"The independent expenditure committee also took $500,000 from the California Dental Association and $250,00 from the California Apartment Association."
And the person who had the worst week in California, #WorstWeekinCA, we offer Scott Kernan, the director of the state prison system, who was told that yet another of the state's prison medical facilities is dispensing substandard care.
From the AP: "A fifth state prison is still providing substandard care despite billions of dollars spent for improvements and a decade of federal oversight, California’s inspector general reported Thursday.
"Care at Wasco State Prison, 30 miles north of Bakersfield, remains inadequate, the inspector general said."
"California is attempting to regain control of the prison health care system a decade after a federal judge seized control. Under federal oversight, the state has spent $2 billion for new prison medical facilities, doubled its annual prison health care budget to nearly $1.7 billion and reduced its prison population by more than 40,000 inmates"