PG&E, California's huge utility that services customers from nearly the Oregon line to central California, was responsible for a "litany of failures" that led to the fatal San Bruno natural gas explosion. That's the key finding of a year-long federal investigation.
From an impressive Mercury News quartet -- Steve Johnson, Pete Carey, Paul Rogers and Joshua Melvin: "Opportunities were missed that could have and should have prevented this tragedy," said Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board. Accusing the company of having "exploited weaknesses" in government pipeline regulations "to the detriment of public safety," she noted that the seeds of the disaster were sown in 1956 when PG&E first assembled the shoddily welded steel pipe through San Bruno's Crestmoor neighborhood."
"This tragedy began years ago with PG&E's installation of a woefully inadequate pipe," Hersman said. "It was compounded over the years by a litany of failures."
"That included the company's failure for 54 years to detect a serious welding flaw in the pipe, which finally broke apart Sept. 9 when an electrical glitch at a Milpitas gas-line terminal caused a slight increase in gas pressure."
Assembly Speaker John Perez, a Los Angeles Democrat, is bungling his job big-time, and even in an era of diminished expectations because of term limits, his performance is dismal, says the Bee's Dan Morain.
"As his second full year as speaker draws to a close, Pérez appears to be insular, ham-handed and a bully who doesn't seem to understand that a leader shouldn't stoop to meaningless fights with individual legislators."
"In a state where unemployment sits above 12 percent and the budget is in perennial distress, the guy who holds what used to be called the second most powerful position in the state is embroiled in public spats with Pasadena-area Assemblyman Anthony Portantino and Sen. Kevin de León, whose downtown Los Angeles district encompasses Pérez's."
"What's worse, Pérez is emerging from the fights bloodied and bruised."
The lawmaker who played a key role in saving the city of Vernon from disincorporation is calling on lawmakers to consider an audit of that city's power utility and finances.
From Sam Allen in the LA Times: "State Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) on Monday led an effort to block legislation that would have disbanded Vernon and made it an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County. On Tuesday, De Leon requested an emergency meeting of the Legislature’s Audit Committee to consider an audit of the Vernon Light & Power Department, citing concerns about the utility’s financial health."
"Earlier this month, The Times reported on significant losses Vernon suffered in a series of aggressive investments in its energy businesses. Between 2005 and 2010 the city posted a $130 million decline in net assets and amassed close to $500 million in debt."
"The Times also reported this week that the Internal Revenue Service is investigating $419 million intax-exempt bonds Vernon issued in 2009 to help pay for a 15-year supply of natural gas. The IRS declined to comment on the probe, but experts said the agency is most likely focusing on whether or not the purchase qualified as a tax-exempt project.
Jerry Brown says some state lawmakers view taxes as some sort of sexual disease. He said that in Las Vegas, which seems a perfect locale for the comparison.
From the LAT's Anthony York: "Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday accused some state lawmakers of adhering to “the notion that taxes are like some kind of sexually transmitted disease.”
"Brown made the comments at a clean-energy summit in Las Vegas, during a panel discussion that included Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval."
"Brown's original 2011-12 budget included a plan to raise vehicle, sales and income taxes, but could not find any Republican support for the measure in the Legislature. He has said he would like to see revenue proposals on the November 2012 ballot, but has not yet backed any specific tax proposal."
California's state schools chief, Tom Torlakson, says the state may join the growing redvolt against the No Child Left Behind law, contending that the federal rule has outlived its usefulness.
This report comes from the Cabinet Report's Tom Chorneau via Capitol Weekly: "Torlakson, who earlier last week sent a sharp rebuke of NCLB to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, said in an interview that NCLB was a law that had outlived its usefulness and that the nation’s schools needed Congress to undertake a complete revision of the law."
“I think there is a consensus to leave behind, No Child Left Behind,” Torlakson said. “And to leave behind the (Annual Yearly Progress) which is a failed system and put in a new one that would be based more on the growth model that we use here in California.”
"Governors and state school officers from around the country have been inundating Duncan with requests for relief from federal proficiency targets aimed at getting all students proficient in math and reading by 2014 – targets that some of the nation’s best-run public schools are finding almost impossible to keep up with."
