The Public Utilities Commission got two new members and the California Energy Commission
got a new member and a new chairman, as Gov. Brown continued his pro-consumer shakeup at the two powerful regulatory bodies.
The LAT's Marc Lifsher tells the tale.
"Michael Florio, a senior
attorney for the Utility Reform Network, known as TURN,
was appointed to serve
a five-year term. Brown also named Catherine Sandoval, a Santa
Clara University
law professor, telecommunications expert and former
Rhodes scholar, to the
five-member, constitutionally independent panel…"
"The governor reappointed
Robert Weisenmiller, an energy consultant, to the California
Energy Commission
and designated him to serve as chairman, beginning
Feb. 6. Weisenmiller has
four years left on his five-year term. A second, five-year slot went to Carla
Peterman, a UC Berkeley doctoral candidate, solar-energy specialist and another
Rhodes scholar."
Also on the appointments: Dana Hull in the Merc, David Siders in the Bee, John Howard in Capitol Weekly.
Even during a recession and record unemployment, there
is good pay in education, such as the $350,000 salary for Jeffrey Armstrong at Cal-Poly, the highest salary in the state university system.
From Julia Hickey at the San Luis Obispo Tribune: "Armstrong, 51, will assume
the post on Feb. 1. His proposed salary will earn him 6.6 percent more than former
President Warren Baker, who at age 72 was the highest-paid president in the CSU
with a salary of $328,209 when he retired in July 2010 after 31 years in the
position."
"Armstrong may earn more than current top earners
Don W. Kassing, president of San Jose State University,
and Cal Poly interim
President Robert Glidden, with salaries of $328,200 each."
Speaking of college and money, let's talk about some
real money: UCLA just got a $100 million donation from Meyer and Renee Luskin, with half of the money going to the School of Public
Affairs. The LAT's Larry Gordon has the story.
"Half of the Luskin donation will go to UCLA's School
of Public Affairs, where
it will support graduate student financial aid, and
teaching and research in
such fields as public policy, urban planning and social
welfare. The school
will be renamed in honor of the couple."
"The other half of the gift will help build a 282-room
conference center and faculty club that is intended
to replace the existing
campus faculty center if opposition does not alter
or stop the project."
California's fourth- and eighth-grade students aren't doing too well, when compared
to students nationwide, according to the latest testing.
The San Bernardino Sun's Debbie Pfeiffer and Canan
Tasci report.
"Large gaps also remain between the scores of Latino
and
black students and their white and Asian peers. In California and at the national level, Latino and
black
students scored about 35 points lower than white and Asian students."
"As a science teacher, these results are
troubling," said state Superintendent of Public Instruction
Tom Torlakson.
"Despite the enormous efforts being made by educators,
we're seeing the
consequences of lagging behind other states in investing
in education."
State Controller John Chiang wants more resources to handle audits and ferret out
wrongdoing as he examines the finances of local governments.
From Patrick McGreevy in the LAT: "State auditors say they have
received dozens of reports suggesting that the kind
of mismanagement and fraud
found in Bell may be
occurring elsewhere in the state and that they want
new authority to launch
investigations into possible wrongdoing."
"State Controller John Chiang is in discussions
with Gov. Jerry Brown to give
Chiang's office added legal tools and more staff to
dig into the finances of
cities and other municipal agencies, officials said
at a legislative hearing
Tuesday."
And now, from our "And You Thought 'General Hospital' Was Weird" file, comes the story of a guy who dressed up like
a doctor and wandered through a hospital, bandaging
stuffed animals and leaving weird notes.
"This happened after a patient woke up to see bandaged
stuffed animals, notes about castration around his
room and placed cotton balls
on a private area of his body."
"All the guys were just freaked out about it.
Obviously, the hospital was pretty freaked out about
it," says South
Charleston Assistant Police Chief Robert Houck. "Just
the whole security
factor, of being in a hospital ... the amount of time
he was able to spend in
that room before something suspicious came out of it,
kind of makes you be
concerned."
Right, chief. Kind of concerned....
