Which Way, L.A.?

Perchlorate

Last week, the Environmental Working Group issued a report that perchlorate had leaked into drinking water in 10 states and been found in lettuce irrigated by the Colorado River. Perchlorate, which is a component of rocket fuel, can also affect the thyroid gland with possible consequences for IQ, hearing and motor skills in young children. The Environmental Working Group is calling for clean up and further study. After last week's story, the Environmental Protection Agency reportedly issued a gag order on its employees. After several Senators reacted with outrage, the EPA responded that it never intended a gag order at all. How worried should consumers be? We ask an environmental toxicologist at University of California-Riverside, and representatives of the Environmental Working Group and the Environmental Protection Agency. Making News: Did Banks Tell Governor Davis to Raise Taxes? Governor Davis today signed a bill to help close the budget gap by cutting government services and borrowing $3.6 billion from state pension funds. Yet another, supposedly bipartisan, deal--the sale of $10 billion in bonds--has run into a road block. Evan Halper, who reports from Sacramento for the LA Times, has more on the impasse that pits California's Legislature against New York's Wall Street. Reporter's Notebook: In Search of the Other Mexico Cinco de Mayo commemorates the defeat of the French Army at Puebla, 100 miles east of Mexico City, on May 5, 1862. On this anniversary, reporter and author Sam Qui-ones has come north from Mexico for an appearance at the downtown library. makes some interesting observations about the changing face of Los Angeles, and the synergy that exists between the city and its transitional immigrant community.