2 L.A. council members urge changes in city's sex harassment training

Two members of the Los Angeles City Council called Wednesday for dramatic changes to the city's sexual harassment training, saying every employee should be required to take the sessions, not just managers.

Council President Herb Wesson and Councilwoman Nury Martinez — the lawmaking body's only woman member — also said in their proposal that sexual harassment training should be done in person, not through the two-hour online sessions now required.

Wesson said he did not view the proposal as a response to the high-profile sexual harassment lawsuits filed in recent weeks against Councilman Jose Huizar and John Lee, chief of staff to Councilman Mitchell Englander. Huizar and Englander have both called allegations in the respective lawsuits untrue.

"I do not believe that we have a problem in City Hall," Wesson said. "I do think from time to time these things come up and it's our responsibility to try to reduce the number of times that they come up."

Martinez, who is also the council's newest member, said she had been concerned for weeks that the city's training was not as extensive as the kind required at the state government level. "I was starting to look into this issue already, and in light of the current lawsuits, it's something we obviously need to look at," she said.

The city now requires that roughly 10,000 managers and supervisors take a two-hour sexual harassment training course that is online only, according to Personnel Department officials. Wesson and Martinez have called for new laws that would not only make sure the training is conducted in person but dramatically expand the number of people who would take it.

RaeLynn Napper, who runs the city's Equal Employment Opportunity division, found the prospect of such an in-person training for roughly 45,000 full-time city employees daunting. "We would have to be training 180 people a day, every day, to hit every employee within a year," she said.

Wesson and Martinez also proposed mandatory in-person ethics training every two years for the city's politicians and higher-level officials. Like the harassment training, those sessions — provided to at least 5,000 employees — are predominantly conducted online, according to an Ethics Commission official. They also pushed for mandatory in-person workplace violence training every two years for every worker.

The latter idea comes just a few months before the Personnel Department is scheduled to begin using a new online workplace violence prevention training program. Maggie Whelan, general manager of the Personnel Department, said in-person training would cost considerably more.

"If we had the resources to give stand-up training, that would be great," she said. "But frankly, we had resorted to the electronic training because it is the best way to reach the largest number of employees efficiently and cost-effectively."

Asked if she was worried about the potential cost of expanded training, Martinez said she was "more concerned about protecting the workers."

"If there's costs incurred as a result of making sure everyone gets trained appropriately, then that's what we have to do as a city," she added.

david.zahniser@latimes.com

12.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

North Dakota pipeline spill raises questions amid state's oil boom

WASHINGTON — About sundown one Sunday in September, North Dakota farmer Steven Jensen noticed that his combine was running over wet, squishy earth in a wheat field he was harvesting. When he took a closer look, he saw that oil had coated the wheels and that it was bubbling up about 6 inches high in spots.

That was Sept. 29; Jensen contacted authorities immediately. At least 20,600 barrels of oil leaked onto the Jensens' land from a pipeline owned by Tesoro Logistics, one of the largest land-based spills in recent history. Neither the pipeline company nor the state informed the public of the spill for 11 days.

Since then, why there was a delay in disclosure has proved to be one of several fundamental questions that Tesoro and state authorities have yet to answer. No one knows how long the pipeline was leaking before Jensen discovered it, nor why sensors on the pipe failed to detect the leak. Neither the state nor the company could say what the pipeline's capacity was. Experts on pipeline spills question the accuracy of Tesoro's leak estimate, disputing its methodology.

Jensen estimates that more than 20 acres have been affected by the spill and cleanup effort. He says Tesoro appears to be working hard to contain the spill, but he worries that it could seep into groundwater.

The questions have stirred concerns about North Dakota's handling of a major spill, especially because thousands of miles of pipe are being installed as part of the state's oil boom.

"If there is a spill of any sort, the public should be told immediately, so that they have confidence that their officials are responding appropriately," said Mac Schneider, a Democrat from Grand Forks and the minority leader in the state Senate. Schneider said he knew only what he "read in the papers."

Tesoro said it sent a news release about the spill on Oct. 10. Kris Roberts, who is leading the North Dakota Health Department's work with Tesoro on the cleanup, said the state saw no need to publicize the spill immediately because the site was remote.

"It's on top of a low hill, in the middle of a wheat field, in an area with no residents at all," Roberts said. "The public has a right to know. But do I have a responsibility to run out and tell the public every time there's a spill that isn't going to threaten them or the environment, and that the company is aggressively cleaning up?"

The North Dakota spill comes amid a national debate over granting a federal permit to the giant Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport tar sands oil from Canada to Texas. In March, an Exxon pipeline burst in Mayflower, Ark., spewing about 5,000 barrels of oil into a subdivision and a lake. In Michigan, cleanup continues on a spill of more than 20,000 barrels of oil into the Kalamazoo River that occurred in mid-2010.

Jensen smelled the oil in the wheat field before he saw it, raising questions about how long the pipe had been leaking. On Sept. 25, as Jensen was harvesting two miles from in his home in Tioga, he smelled what he thought was oil drilling at a nearby property. Bad weather kept him away from the field until the 29th, when he drove across the oil-soaked section.

The 35-mile-long Tesoro pipeline, which carries oil from Tioga to a rail depot near Columbus, N.D., was laid 20 years ago, meaning it is relatively new. But a pipeline's age has little bearing on reliability, with leaks more often linked to soil conditions and maintenance, said Carl Weimer, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust, a watchdog group in Bellingham, Wash.

Tesoro and regulators are trying to determine exactly when a quarter-inch hole opened in the pipe, which is 6 inches in diameter and buried about 6 feet deep. The company's leak detection sensors on the line failed, which Tesoro termed "unacceptable."

Tesoro tested the pipeline and others in the area in early September but did not get the results until Oct. 14. The tests showed weaknesses at several places, including the spill site, the company said.

After learning about the leak, Tesoro said, it shut down the line within 10 minutes, and a representative was there within hours.

The company initially reported that 750 barrels had spilled, but a week later revised it to 20,600. Tesoro based its estimate on soil samples over the 7-acre site, where the oil saturated soil about 3 feet down.

But Steve Wereley, professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University and an expert on spill flows, said such methodology gave Tesoro "just the roughest of ideas" about the spill's size.

"They should know how much oil they put in at the oil field, and how much oil they get at the rail depot," said Wereley, who helped establish an accurate flow rate for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "If we're talking about tens of thousands of barrels, shouldn't you notice 20,000 barrels missing at the end?"

Tesoro said it was investigating whether there was a discrepancy between oil that went into the pipe and what was received at the rail depot.

The company has cleaned up about 3,000 barrels of oil. The remediation is expected to continue until late 2014 and to cost about $4 million, the state and Tesoro said.

But Jensen is worried.

"They've been really nice and they've contained the spill as well as they can," he said. "But I still don't know if it will get into the water."

neela.banerjee@latimes.com

12.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

College football top 25: Central Florida, Stanford on the move

Central Florida rose from unranked commuter school in Orlando to No. 15, Clemson got dropped like a hot Howard's Rock and Stanford used a tremendous one-handed catch from Kodi Whitfield to get back in the national title chase. Professor Condi Rice was so excited she picked this season's Stanford team to be in next season's four-school playoff, prompting former Auburn coach Pat Dye to say something along the lines of "This is why girls should only be secretaries of State." All eyes now turn to Tuscaloosa, where Alabama needs to lead 60-7 after three quarters to be more impressive against Tennessee than Oregon was last month.

1; Alabama 7-0; Billboard magazine says Crimson Tide could stay No. 1 longer than "Hey Jude." (1)

2; Oregon 7-0; Aliotti asks that his $5,000 fine go into kitty for Pac-12 refs' postseason party. (2)

3; Florida State 6-0; Bobby Bowden to be honored Saturday but still won't be allowed to wear headset. (5)

4; Ohio State 7-0; Meyer is 19-0 in Columbus but had better shot at getting to BCS title game at Utah. (3)

5; Stanford 6-1; Rankman open-mike reading: "I think that I shall never see a mascot lovely as the Tree." (10)

6; Miami 6-0; To paraphrase Tark, NCAA got so mad at Miami it's going to put Slippery Rock on probation. (11)

7; Baylor 6-0; Scoring average of 64.7 is the average daily December temperature in San Diego. (12)

8; Missouri 7-0; Never won a Big 12 title but could claim the SEC in only its second season. (14)

9; Texas Tech 7-0; Went to Oklahoma undefeated in 2008 and came back with a 44-point loss. (16)

10; UCLA 5-1; Needs to avoid Washington's plight of losing after the Huskies lost to Stanford and Oregon back to back. (9)

11; Clemson 6-1; Coach who said he'd beat FSU five times out of 10 came off as half-cocked. (4)

12; Fresno State 6-0; If BCS ended today, Bulldogs would be putting all their chips in a Fiesta Bowl. (15)

13; Louisiana State 6-2; Miles auctions "The Hat" after it went trickless in loss at Mississippi. (8)

14; Oklahoma State 5-1; Returns to Iowa State for first time since 2011 loss that 'Bama so appreciated. (18)

15; Central Florida 5-1; This ranking has been approved by the Moose Lodge of Downtown Orlando. (NR)

16; Louisville 6-1; Well, at least the St. Louis Cardinals still have a chance to win a national championship. (6)

17; South Carolina 5-2; Team even more motivated this week after learning Missouri is in the SEC. (13)

18; Auburn 6-1; Free "Malzahn Miracle" milkshakes being served this week at Toomer's Corner Cafe. (NR)

19; Texas A&M 5-2; Johnny Gunslinger's right arm was in sling but he'll try to shoot it out vs. Vandy. (7)

20; Nebraska 5-1; Nebraska at Minnesota is a lot closer on a map than you might think. (21)

21; Oklahoma 6-1; Best way to cure Red River Rivalry hangover is to take two aspirin and call Kansas in the morning. (22)

22; Northern Illinois 7-0; Home to the two greatest running backs ever listed as quarterbacks in the media guide. (23)

23; Virginia Tech 6-1; Best effort this season remains that opening loss against No. 1 Alabama. (24)

24; Wisconsin 5-2; Right in the heart of its "I" portion of the Big Ten schedule: Illinois, Iowa and Indiana. (25)

25; Michigan 6-1; First team ever put back in top 25 after allowing 47 points to Indiana. (NR)

Dropped out: Washington (17), Florida (19), Georgia (20).

Moved in: Auburn, Central Florida, Michigan.

12.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

L.A. County supervisors advance plan for new women's jail

As Los Angeles County struggles to deal with rampant jail overcrowding, elected leaders took steps Tuesday to build a new women's jail in Lancaster but appeared on the verge of canceling a plan to ship 500 long-term inmates to a facility in Kern County.

The $75-million contract to send inmates to Taft was contentious when the board approved it in a 3-2 vote in late September. On Tuesday, Supervisor Gloria Molina said she no longer supported it and asked that it be reconsidered at next week's Board of Supervisors meeting.

Molina said she had changed her mind about the contract after learning that there was ongoing litigation between the state and the city of Taft over the jail the county planned to use.

"The last thing L.A. County needs is to be in the middle of two warring parties," she said in an interview, adding that she was upset that the supervisors had not been apprised of the litigation before they voted on the contract.

"I'm very disappointed with all the folks involved in this," she said.

The Taft facility was previously used to house state inmates, but has stood empty since the California Department of Corrections terminated its lease in 2011. Taft sued the state in August 2012, in an attempt to get back more than $500,000 in unemployment benefits paid to former employees after the facility closed. The city also sought to bar the state from exercising a contract clause that would have given it the right to lease the facility for $1 a year after 2017.

Representatives of the Los Angeles County attorneys' office, Taft and the state department of corrections did not return messages seeking comment Tuesday.

Molina said that finding additional jail beds and ensuring that serious offenders serve their full terms remain a priority, but that she now believed the county should not move forward until a consulting firm completes its work on a comprehensive jail plan.

That construction plan, projected to cost $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion, would be the county's largest building project ever, and would include tearing down and replacing the cornerstone of the nation's largest jail system — the Men's Central Jail — and reconfiguring other facilities.

However, supervisors did vote Tuesday to move forward with plans for a 1,604-bed women's jail at the Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster.

. Assistant Sheriff Terri McDonald said the primary women's facility in Lynwood is at 160% capacity, resulting in widespread early releases for county prisoners. If sentences are 90 days or less, inmates are processed and sent on their way. The majority of the remainder serves 10% of their sentences, while a small number convicted of more serious crimes serve 40%, she said.

Supervisors had previously planned to build a smaller facility at Pitchess Detention Center, but Mira Loma became available because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stopped using it. Moving the proposed women's facility to Mira Loma enables the county to build more beds at a lower cost.

At least two additional votes must take place before final approval is granted for the construction of the $110-million facility, but Tuesday's vote was necessary so the county can retain a $100-million grant it received from the state earmarked for building a women's jail, and seek an additional $80 million in state money for the design and construction of a proposed "reentry" facility for female prisoners completing their sentences.

The move was approved on a 4-0 vote, with board Chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas abstaining after expressing concern that by moving forward to retain the grant, the board was in effect committing to the project before the comprehensive jail plan is complete.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said that while he understood some of Ridley-Thomas' concerns, he believed that this component of the jails overhaul plan was a "no brainer" and said that it would irresponsible for the county to leave $100 million in state funds sitting on the table.

seema.mehta@latimes.com

abby.sewell@latimes.com

12.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tuition increases at public colleges in U.S. slow

The rise in tuition at public colleges slowed this year to the smallest increase in more than three decades, although financial aid has not kept pace to cover the hikes, according to a College Board study released Wednesday.

At public four-year colleges and universities across the country, the average price for tuition and fees rose 2.9% this year — the smallest annual rise in 38 years — to $8,893 for in-state students, the report said. Room and board adds about $9,500.

However, analysts urged students and families to pay closer attention to what they described as the more important figure: the net average cost after grants, tax credits and deductions. That was $3,120, up from $3,050 last year, for average net tuition and fees at four-year public colleges.

"It does seem that the spiral is moderating — not turning around, not ending, but moderating," said Sandy Baum, a co-author of the College Board study and research professor at George Washington University. Baum said that the relatively small increase, while still above the general 2% inflation, was good news and that she hoped it will encourage more students to enroll in college and apply for financial aid.

The tuition hikes at four-year public colleges from 2010 through 2012 had averaged 7.9%, 8.5% and 4.5%, respectively. California contributed to this year's national slowdown: the UC and Cal State systems froze tuition for the second year in a row after sharp increases for 2011.

At private nonprofit colleges, the average sticker price for tuition and fees was up 3.8%, to $30,094. That was a bit less than the rise of at least 4% in each of the previous three years. The much lower net cost, what students actually pay, averaged $12,460 after grants and tax benefits, up $530 from last year, the College Board reported. Room and board at private schools average about $10,820.

Both public and private colleges have faced more pressure from the public and federal government to keep costs down, said economist Jennifer Ma, a co-author of the report. "Obviously, they have been mindful of that," she said. For example, President Obama has proposed a new college rating system that takes pricing and financial aid into account.

Plus, with the recession receding, some state governments have started to restore higher education funding that had been cut after tax revenues shrank five years ago, experts said. California voters last year, for example, approved Proposition 30, which increased some taxes that helped avoid tuition hikes.

Once again, the annual College Board survey highlights California's two-year community colleges as the best bargain in the nation, with tuition and other fees for state residents averaging $1,424, compared with $3,264 nationwide.

UC's $13,200 in tuition and campus-based fees this year is above the $9,804 average at all doctoral degree-granting public universities, while Cal State's average $6,695 is below the $7,750 for master's degree institutions nationally.

A related College Board report tackled the controversial issue of rising student debt as part of the overall aid package. College Board President David Coleman said that too many students may be scared away from college by fears that education loans would be impossible to pay off when, he said, most college graduates are able to manage those payments.

According to the report, 57% of graduates of public four-year colleges in 2011-12 had school debt, with the average at $25,000. That amount is 22% higher than the load carried by graduates a decade ago.

At private nonprofit colleges, 65% of 2011-12 graduates had debt averaging $29,900, which was 24% more than a decade ago. Those figures do not include students who transferred into the colleges.

Coleman estimated that such loads would require payments of about $300 a month over 10 years, which he believes is manageable and worthwhile given the boost in income that most people receive over the long haul by earning a college degree.

"I don't diminish the concerns," he said. "But I want to be clear that a college education is one of the best investments a student or their families can make in terms of health, income and upward mobility."

Debbie Cochrane, research director for the Institute for College Access & Success, which pushes for college affordability, said that because many recent graduates are having a hard time finding well-paying jobs, many are straining to make their payments and are postponing car and house purchases and marriage as a result.

"It really is a signal of the financial toll the debt is taking," Cochrane said.

Students and parents should beware of colleges that show high loan default rates among their former students.

"That may show they have to question the quality of the education being provided," Cochrane said.

larry.gordon@latimes.com

12.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tuition increases at public colleges in U.S. slow

The rise in tuition at public colleges slowed this year to the smallest increase in more than three decades, although financial aid has not kept pace to cover the hikes, according to a College Board study released Wednesday.

At public four-year colleges and universities across the country, the average price for tuition and fees rose 2.9% this year — the smallest annual rise in 38 years — to $8,893 for in-state students, the report said. Room and board adds about $9,500.

However, analysts urged students and families to pay closer attention to what they described as the more important figure: the net average cost after grants, tax credits and deductions. That was $3,120, up from $3,050 last year, for average net tuition and fees at four-year public colleges.

"It does seem that the spiral is moderating — not turning around, not ending, but moderating," said Sandy Baum, a co-author of the College Board study and research professor at George Washington University. Baum said that the relatively small increase, while still above the general 2% inflation, was good news and that she hoped it will encourage more students to enroll in college and apply for financial aid.

The tuition hikes at four-year public colleges from 2010 through 2012 had averaged 7.9%, 8.5% and 4.5%, respectively. California contributed to this year's national slowdown: the UC and Cal State systems froze tuition for the second year in a row after sharp increases for 2011.

At private nonprofit colleges, the average sticker price for tuition and fees was up 3.8%, to $30,094. That was a bit less than the rise of at least 4% in each of the previous three years. The much lower net cost, what students actually pay, averaged $12,460 after grants and tax benefits, up $530 from last year, the College Board reported. Room and board at private schools average about $10,820.

Both public and private colleges have faced more pressure from the public and federal government to keep costs down, said economist Jennifer Ma, a co-author of the report. "Obviously, they have been mindful of that," she said. For example, President Obama has proposed a new college rating system that takes pricing and financial aid into account.

Plus, with the recession receding, some state governments have started to restore higher education funding that had been cut after tax revenues shrank five years ago, experts said. California voters last year, for example, approved Proposition 30, which increased some taxes that helped avoid tuition hikes.

Once again, the annual College Board survey highlights California's two-year community colleges as the best bargain in the nation, with tuition and other fees for state residents averaging $1,424, compared with $3,264 nationwide.

UC's $13,200 in tuition and campus-based fees this year is above the $9,804 average at all doctoral degree-granting public universities, while Cal State's average $6,695 is below the $7,750 for master's degree institutions nationally.

A related College Board report tackled the controversial issue of rising student debt as part of the overall aid package. College Board President David Coleman said that too many students may be scared away from college by fears that education loans would be impossible to pay off when, he said, most college graduates are able to manage those payments.

According to the report, 57% of graduates of public four-year colleges in 2011-12 had school debt, with the average at $25,000. That amount is 22% higher than the load carried by graduates a decade ago.

At private nonprofit colleges, 65% of 2011-12 graduates had debt averaging $29,900, which was 24% more than a decade ago. Those figures do not include students who transferred into the colleges.

Coleman estimated that such loads would require payments of about $300 a month over 10 years, which he believes is manageable and worthwhile given the boost in income that most people receive over the long haul by earning a college degree.

"I don't diminish the concerns," he said. "But I want to be clear that a college education is one of the best investments a student or their families can make in terms of health, income and upward mobility."

Debbie Cochrane, research director for the Institute for College Access & Success, which pushes for college affordability, said that because many recent graduates are having a hard time finding well-paying jobs, many are straining to make their payments and are postponing car and house purchases and marriage as a result.

"It really is a signal of the financial toll the debt is taking," Cochrane said.

Students and parents should beware of colleges that show high loan default rates among their former students.

"That may show they have to question the quality of the education being provided," Cochrane said.

larry.gordon@latimes.com

12.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Dodgers' Matt Kemp has surgery; team signs Cuban defector

Kemp underwent an operation Monday to clean up his sprained left ankle, a procedure that will prevent him from running for at least the next two months.

The Dodgers are hopeful Kemp will be ready to play on opening day, but if he isn't, are thinking their latest high-priced addition could help offset Kemp's absence.

Earlier in the day, the Dodgers signed Cuban defector Alexander Guerrero to a four-year, $28-million contract.

Guerrero, 26, projects to be a second baseman and offensive threat.

General Manager Ned Colletti said that Bob Engle, the Dodgers' international scouting chief, "thinks that [Guerrero] can play if not right away, very, very soon thereafter."

Guerrero's contract reflects his promise. After the first year of the deal, the Dodgers can't send Guerrero to the minor leagues without his consent, according to people familiar with the terms of the contract who spoke under the condition of anonymity because it hasn't been formally announced.

The Dodgers also can't offer Guerrero salary arbitration when his contract expires, meaning he will become a free agent after four years at age 30. Without a special clause in his contract, Guerrero would have had to accrue six full years of major league service time to become eligible for free agency.

Guerrero can earn an additional $4 million in bonuses over the lifetime of the contract. The bonuses are based on plate appearances.

Colletti said he wanted Guerrero to play winter ball in Latin America, which would give the Dodgers a gauge of how far he is from being ready for the major leagues.

Although Guerrero's signing takes the Dodgers out of the running for impending free agent Robinson Cano, it doesn't necessary rule out the return of Mark Ellis. The Dodgers have a $5.75-million team option on Ellis for 2014.

"I think Mark Ellis still has value to this organization, with or without Guerrero," Colletti said.

As for Kemp, the surgery was his second this month.

Kemp underwent a procedure to clean up his left shoulder less than two weeks ago. The shoulder was the same one on which he underwent major surgery last year.

The operation Monday, performed in North Carolina by ankle specialist Dr. Robert Anderson, was designed primarily to remove cartilage flaps.

Kemp sprained the ankle in a plate collision July 21 on a play on which he admitted to not running hard. The injury prevented Kemp from participating in the postseason, as the Dodgers' medical staff feared he could break his weight-bearing talus bone in his foot if he continued playing.

Kemp's talus bone is still healing. Kemp is expected to undergo another MRI exam in a couple of months to determine if more surgery is necessary.

Kemp can't put any weight on his foot for the next month. In the month after that, he will be in a walking boot. The Dodgers won't have a timeline for his return until he removes the boot and starts running.

Kemp's agent, Dave Stewart, said Kemp will still be able to strengthen his upper body and core, something he couldn't do last off-season. Kemp will also be on a program to strengthen his problematic hamstrings.

"We're anticipating he'll be ready for the season," Stewart said.

Kemp played in only 73 games this season. The two-time All-Star batted .270 with six home runs and 33 runs batted in.

Before Stewart revealed Kemp had surgery, Colletti was asked whether any of the Dodgers players were scheduled for surgery. Colletti said there weren't. Colletti later said he forgot about Kemp's procedure.

Changes are made to training staff

Sue Falsone resigned as Dodgers trainer to pursue other opportunities. The decision to part ways was Falsone's and not the Dodgers', according to a person familiar with the situation.

Falsone became the first female head athletic trainer for a major American sports franchise in November 2011. The Dodgers will still have a woman on the training staff next season, as assistant Nancy Patterson Flynn is expected to return. Greg Harrel, the other assistant trainer, is also expected back.

However, strength and conditioning coach Stephen Downey won't be back with the major league club.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

Twitter: @dylanohernandez

12.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

School iPads to cost nearly $100 more each, revised budget shows

Providing Pads to Los Angeles students will cost nearly $100 more — or $770 per tablet, a new school district budget shows.

This potential sticker shock can be avoided, but only after the L.A. Unified School District has spent at least $400 million for the devices. In other words, the district would have to buy nearly 520,000 iPads before getting lower prices. Officials did not answer questions Monday about how much the district would then spend on the remaining tablets.

The newly disclosed price, a 14% increase per iPad, appeared in a revised budget released in advance of a public meeting Tuesday on the $1-billion project.

The new spending plan for the first part of the project delays some costs and shifts others.

The goal is to provide iPads to every teacher and student, so officials remain optimistic about achieving the discount, even though start-up problems emerged immediately this fall. More than 300 students deleted security filters, allowing them to browse the Internet freely and prompting officials to suspend use of iPads at three campuses.

Parents also have expressed confusion about their responsibility for the devices. And officials have yet to purchase mechanical keyboards that will be necessary to use the iPads on new standardized tests.

The earlier cost estimate for each iPad "preceded the actual procurement process," the district said Monday in response to questions from The Times. "The negotiated discount [i.e. $678] does not go into effect until the district has reached the $400-million spending threshold."

The structure of the deal raises the stakes for what L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy recently referred to as a "pilot test." If the district pulls out of the deal, or buys fewer tablets from Apple Inc., the iPads become considerably more expensive.

The district began the rollout of the tablets with a $50-million budget that is supposed to outfit all students and teachers with iPads at 47 schools. That cost includes training and upgrading wireless Internet at these campuses.

That budget allotted $20.3 million for iPads, based on an early estimate of $650 per device. The revised budget adds more than $4 million for the tablets.

Another higher cost is classroom carts, which are used to charge the iPads and keep them secure. The cost for this first phase rose to $3.2 million from $2.6 million.

To keep the overall budget at $50 million, the district postponed some elements, such as a system for providing online courses. It also shifted costs to the general fund, which is used for basic operations. That shift is relatively small, about $550,000 at this point, although it's unclear whether more expenses would be transferred in the future.

The iPad project is funded almost entirely with school-construction bonds, a strategy that has attracted some criticism.

The price per device, higher than retail, includes a protective case, a limited three-year warranty, technical assistance and training, and one Apple TV setup per 20 students. The cost also includes curriculum from Pearson Education Inc. that is still being developed.

Overall, "we are right where we want to be," according to a written copy of the budget presentation.

Another topic at Tuesday's meeting will be the progress in getting schools ready for iPads.

In December 2011, the Board of Education approved broadband network upgrades for 138 schools. In the two years since, 40 projects have been completed; 39 more are in the construction phase.

Separately, 74 additional campuses were authorized in June. Of these, none have been completed, but nearly all are underway. The district has more than 1,000 schools.

Last week, Deasy proposed extending the schedule for completing the iPad distribution by a year, from December 2014 to December 2015, to deal with logistical challenges and as a response to critics inside and outside the system who say L.A. Unified is taking on too much too quickly.

howard.blume@latimes.com

12.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Shutdown likely to delay stimulus tapering, Fed official says

WASHINGTON — A top Federal Reserve policymaker said the central bank was unlikely to start reducing a key stimulus program for "a few months" because the partial government shutdown has muddied the economic picture.

Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said Monday that he would need to see strong jobs reports and signs that the nation's economic output, or gross domestic product, was on the upswing before he would support tapering the monthly $85-billion bond-buying program.

And if the economy got weaker, the Fed might need to increase its asset purchases rather than reduce them, he said.

Evans is one of 11 voting members of the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee, which holds its next meeting Oct. 29 to 30.

"October is a tough one," Evans told CNBC-TV of a possible decision to start tapering next week.

"December? I think we need a couple of good labor reports and evidence of increasing growth, GDP growth," he said. "It's probably going to take a few months to sort that out."

Economists said the 16-day shutdown probably cut about 0.6 percentage point from economic growth in the year's fourth quarter. It also stopped the production of nearly all government economic reports, a significant blow to the ability of Fed officials to gauge the strength of the recovery.

The data will start flowing again this week, highlighted by Tuesday's release of the September jobs report. The report had been scheduled for release Oct. 4.

Analysts project that the report will show the economy added 185,000 net new jobs in September, up from 169,000 the previous month. The unemployment rate is forecast to hold at 7.3%.

Evans said he wanted to see the economy consistently adding about 200,000 jobs a month, which it had been doing this year before labor market growth slowed in the summer.

But Evans warned that political fighting over fiscal policy in Washington was a drag on economic growth. And he said another budget and debt-limit fight looming early next year would be a factor in the Fed's decision-making when it meets in December.

"It's very difficult to feel confident in December given we're going to repeat part of what just took place in Washington," he said. "There was a lot of fiscal drama, which I think caught everybody's attention."

jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com

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Rim fire puts a dent in High Sierra wildlife habitat

GROVELAND, Calif. — The Rim fire that scorched a huge swath of Sierra Nevada forests also severely altered the habitat that is home to several of California's rarest animals: the great gray owl, the Sierra Nevada red fox and the Pacific fisher.

The fire burned 257,000 acres of High Sierra wilderness straddling the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park that harbors a geographically isolated and genetically distinct clan of roughly 200 great gray owls.

The blaze also came within 12 miles of 10 breeding pairs of the subspecies of red fox clinging to survival in the cold, steep slopes above the tree line, raising fears they could have been eaten by coyotes trying to escape the smoke and flames.

The existence of the foxes, which were thought to have been wiped out in the 1920s, was confirmed in 2010. They are currently under consideration for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Federal wildlife biologists are also concerned about the loss of potential habitat for the Pacific fisher, a member of the weasel family. Pacific fishers, members of an isolated Southern Sierra group of about 500 individuals that live in dense old-growth forests south of Yosemite's Merced River, are under consideration for federal listing.

"In the Rim fire, only birds that could fly the farthest and animals that could run the fastest survived," said John Buckley, executive director of the nonprofit Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center. "It killed squirrels and bears. For animals of which only a handful exist, it could be especially tragic."

The exact toll on wildlife will not be known until biologists are allowed to survey severely burned areas, which, for safety reasons, could remain closed for more than a year, federal forest officials said.

Even without that information, federal agencies are developing post-fire management strategies such as reforestation and salvage logging projects to protect certain species from extinction. That effort has been interrupted by the federal government shutdown, which furloughed federal wildlife biologists.

Preliminary reports from the fire area indicate that the blaze destroyed or damaged dozens of nesting and roosting areas for spotted owls, goshawks and great gray owls — the largest owl in North America. They stand 2 feet tall and have a 5-foot wingspan, with piercing yellow eyes accented by large facial disks.

Roy Bridgman, wildlife biologist for the Stanislaus National Forest, said he "visited a great owl nest that had been around for 20 years and it was collapsed. For a species with a tiny population, any loss at all is a big hit."

On a recent weekday, however, John Keane, a U.S. Forest Service research wildlife ecologist, found a reason for cautious optimism at an expanse of lush meadowlands about 10 miles west of Yosemite where he has studied great gray owls for 15 years.

The meadows edged with 80-foot-tall cedars and ponderosa pines were spared by the fire, which began burning in August. Peering through binoculars and methodically scanning the treetops, Keane said, "If I had to put money on it, I'd say there are still owls here."

Future research will help determine whether enough of the owls survived in the region to sustain the state-endangered raptor.

Two months after the fire raged across one of the wildest areas in the state, rare and common animals alike continue searching for food and shelter in, as one resident put it, "patches of green, wherever they can find them."

Lill Mcleod, general store manager at Camp Mather, a tourist destination about a mile away from the meadowlands patrolled by great gray owls, said, "Starving animals including countless bobcats and at least four mountain lions have been coming after the squirrels and chipmunks in the camp."

"The heartbreaker," she added, "was a horribly injured, emaciated bear we found staggering along a road here. He couldn't see or hear or smell because his head was so badly burned. He had a broken paw and kept wiping his face in the dirt."

That bear, along with an injured cub found a few days later, was euthanized by California Department of Fish and Wildlife game wardens. Three other adult bears were found dead nearby, Mcleod said.

Local populations of bears, deer and other relatively common animals are expected to recover. But prospects for the black-backed woodpecker, a candidate for listing under the California Endangered Species Act, remain uncertain.

The woodpecker plays a key role in post-fire forest ecology by creating nesting holes in snags for other birds and mammals such as Western bluebirds and squirrels, environmentalists say. It is also threatened by the salvaging of burned trees.

Those competing interests are already playing out on fire-stripped slopes where the woodpeckers are feasting on wood-boring beetles that began swarming dead trees while they were still smoldering.

Beneath the woodpeckers, crews with chain saws and big-rig trucks were removing snags and salvaging timber from roads and utility corridors.

"We're looking for silver linings," Bridgman said with a sigh. "But we're caught between extremes."

louis.sahagun@latimes.com

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