Governing Sex Offenders
Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped at the age of 11 near her South Lake Tahoe home in 1991. She was found alive this week after being held captive by her abductor for 18 years at a hidden compound in Antioch. The man charged in the crime is a convicted rapist and sex offender who was under supervision by law enforcement agencies. The California Sex Offender Management Board oversees state policies governing sex offenders. We talk with board chair Suzanne Brown-McBride about what issues the case raises in her mind.
Education Cuts Hit Dixon Unified
Students and teachers across the state are settling in to the new school year, and in some cases they're not quite sure where things are heading. That's because the budget deficit deal struck this summer cut more than $5 billion from K-12 funding. That's on top of cuts made earlier. We visit Dixon Unified School District just west of Sacramento to see how the budget cuts are playing out there.
Schooling Military Kids
School can be complicated for kids in military families, especially during war time when parents get redeployed a lot. Some 20 states have joined a compact designed to help these kids transition from one school district to another. Now, a bill to allow California to join that compact has passed the Assembly and this week was sent to the Senate. That's good news in the Travis Unified School District in Fairfield. About a third of its students are in military families living on or near Travis Air Force Base.
Losing the Cornfield?
Think of California's state parks, and you might imagine soaring redwood trees, deserted beaches and wide open spaces. But one of those state parks is in the middle of downtown L.A., and many are worried it could be closed due to state budget cuts.
The Beatles at the Bowl
Forty-five years after Beatlemania gripped the West Coast, the Fab 4 are about to generate another craze. September 9 is the day the much-hyped video game "Beatles: Rock Band" makes its debut. This month also marks the 45th anniversary of The Beatles' first California concert. A performance at the Hollywood Bowl was immortalized on the band's only live album. For many fans who were there, the show was about more than just music.