Belmont Beacon
MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2014 - OCTOBER 19, 2014
belmontbeacon.com
VOLUME 1, NO. 24
California’s water officials neglect their Bill to own laws and waste water mandate by jennifer schlueter child-abuse training for teachers signed into law
50th anniversary. In great condition, valued at $24,000, the now-yellow bike was green when it was stolen 42 years ago on March 4, 1972. It was taken from the backyard of a police officer’s residence in Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) bill to strengthen training requirements and prevent child abuse in schools was signed into law by Governor Brown Monday. The legislation would require all school employees to be trained according to standards developed by the Department of Education in the proper identification and reporting of child abuse, so that abuse can be stopped in its tracks. Gatto’s AB 1432 addresses the lack of training on how to recognize and report child abuse in K-12 settings. The California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act requires certain professionals, known as mandated reporters, to report to law enforcement or protective services known or suspected instances of neglect, or physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Despite these requirements, current law does not require school districts to train personnel on detecting and reporting child abuse, nor does it inform them of their responsibilities or that failure to report is a misdemeanor punishable by jail time. Gatto’s legislation addresses this problem by requiring school employees to complete reporting training. The Assemblyman has been working closely with child advocates and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom
Please see page 2
Please see page 2
-Photo by Terry Miller
California’s law makes water bills of state officials defining water rates and rules public record. Thus, The Center for Investigative Reporting examined their data and found the state’s representatives wasting up to eleven times as much water as the typical California
household. Fresno City Councilman Oliver Baines is responsible for this number, using 4,000 gallons a day. After finding out that he had defective sprinklers using 1.24 million gallons of water in 2012, Baines now cut his usage to 149 gallons per day in March of this
year. According to NBC, he apologized and admitted to not being “a model of water usage.” Next to Baines’ wasting due to leaking sprinklers, Mike Soubirous, member of the Please see page 4
Bike Stolen in 1972, destined for Australia is intercepted at LA/LB seaport U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Outbound Enforcement Team officers at the Los Angeles/Long Beach (LA/LB) seaport, in partnership with California Highway Patrol (CHP) investigators and National Insurance Crime Bureau special agent, intercepted a stolen 60-year-old 1954 FL Harley-
Davidson Hydra-Glide motorcycle, destined for Australia. CBP seized it on September 9 and turned it over to CHP for further investigation and to return to its rightful owner. The bike features a trumpet style horn and a 50 years medallion on its front fender, denoting Harley-Davidson’s