BardTech

The post How to help Californians whose tap water is tainted appeared first on BardTech . David Gorn Contributor David Gorn is a contributing writer for CALMatters and formerly was an editor and reporter for public media, including NPR and its California stations. Karen Lewis knows about water problems. The 67-year-old lives in Compton, where the water coming out of her tap is tinged brown by manganese, a metal similar to iron, from old pipes. The water is supplied by the troubled Sativa Los Angeles County Water District. The district has been plagued by administrative scandal and charges of mismanagement, and it hasn’t been able to generate the money needed to fix the brown water. Lewis has sat through innumerable community meetings and heard years’ worth of explanations, and she’s had enough. “Nothing’s been changed,” she said. “They’re not going to change.” Lewis is one of an estimated 360,000 Californians who can’t safely drink the water that flows to their homes. I...

The post California lawmakers are one step closer to bringing back Obama-era net neutrality protections appeared first on BardTech . California’s state Assembly voted 58-17 on Thursday to advance a bill , called S.B. 822, that would implement the strongest net neutrality provisions in the U.S. The bill now heads back to the Senate for final approval. If a vote is not held by end of day tomorrow — the deadline for lawmakers to pass any legislation until 2019 — it won’t get the official green, or red, light until next year. The bill, written by Democratic Senator Scott Wiener, would not only bring back Obama-era net neutrality rules ousted by the FCC in December , but go a step further, adding new protections for internet users. The bill  prohibits internet service providers from blocking or throttling lawful content, apps, services or non-harmful devices. Plus, it bans paid prioritization, the practice of directly or indirectly favoring some traffic over other traffic in ...