TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

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1. 

   LOIS HENRY: Sacramento blunders with your public records

   By Lois Henry

   Tuesday, Jun 18 2013 10:30 PM

   I'm tired of Sacramento playing chicken with the public's right to access its own government. Gov. Jerry Brown is about to sign Assembly Bill 76, the budget trailer bill, which includes language that will make parts of the Public Records Act "optional" for government agencies.

   Not to be cynical or anything, but if agencies didn't legally have to give people records detailing their own waste, fraud and abuse, do you really think they would?

   The answer to that is NO. This whole thing is all about saving money but it never had to come to this, which I'll get to.

   Brown went down this road a few years ago when he suspended the Brown Act, California's open meetings act. (It wasn't named for Jerry or his governor-father, by the way.)

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2. 

   LOIS HENRY: Anxieties ramp up over freeway shortcomings

   As painful as the impending extension of Highway 58 will be (no matter which route is chosen), the one thing I think we all expected was that it would enhance traffic flow. Turns out things are a touch more complicated. Yes, the...
3. 

   LOIS HENRY: The readers talk back, and Scott Cox just talks

   When an email to the entire newsroom starts off "If Lois Henry wasn't so stupid and full of herself...," you know you're in for a super great day. That's right. It's time again to share some of the inside scoop of what it's like working...
4. 

   LOIS HENRY: One man's quest for answers stonewalled by Kern County

   No one stonewalls like Kern County. John Hayes knows that better than most. He's been banging his head against the county's impenetrable masonry for the past two years trying to get answers and accountability for what he believes was a...
5. 

   LOIS HENRY: Some good news on spay and neuter options

   If you care about Kern's animal overpopulation problem, life sometimes can be pretty depressing. The county animal shelter continues to take in hundreds more animals than it can care for, resulting in the awful reality that we must kill...
6. 

   LOIS HENRY: Why officers' names must sometimes be disclosed

   I adamantly disagree with Sheriff Donny Youngblood's decision to withhold names of officers involved in major incidents. Not only on basic legal grounds but also in light of one particular statement he made during his press conference on...
7. 

   LOIS HENRY: Vidak, Perez fail to impress with media behavior

   This so-called special election for the 16th Senate district has brought out some exceedingly unspecial behavior on the part of the two main candidates. In short, Republican Andy Vidak and Democrat Leticia Perez need to grow up. It's...
9. 

   LOIS HENRY: Impartial reviews should be standard procedure, not just in Silva beating case

   Of course the possible beating death of David Sal Silva by a swarm of law enforcement officers should be investigated by an outside agency. No question. That's almost verbatim what I said about the death of David Turner, shot by Kern...
10. 

    LOIS HENRY: Silt chokes the lower Kern; explanation is muddy

    Sediment releases from Southern California Edison's dam on the lower Kern River have gunked up the river for miles and ruined a once thriving fishery, according to local anglers. "They've killed the ecosystem," said avid fly fisherman...
11. 

    LOIS HENRY: Corps' complaint about my column was all wet

    My apologies to those who've had their fill of Kern River news from me lately, but I have a couple housecleaning items. First, representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers called me last week after my column on how low river levels will...
12. 

    LOIS HENRY: All parties suffer as the Kern gradually dries up

    Low. Very low. Historically and, as one person put it, tragically low. That's the state of the Kern River right now and it's only going to get worse as we move into the summer months. The Kern has always been fickle, roaring down the...

13. LOIS HENRY: Cal Water wants to tap more from Kern River Valley wallets

    I hear all the time how people only pay attention to water when taps go dry.Well, the folks in the Kern River Valley are paying attention big time right now. Not because the water has stopped but because of the ginormous bills it's bringing...
14. 

    Rescue group again planning puppy adoptions

    In an effort to stem the flow of puppies into the Kern County Animal Control Shelter, Cathey's K-9 Rescue is beginning its second annual "puppy surrender" program. By appointment only, the rescue will take litters of pups and issue a...