Los Angeles Times | Sunday, October 12, 2014

Pushing a green agenda

Mark Z. Barabak, writes that San Francisco hedge-fund billionaire Tom Steyer has been spending millions of dollars in a campaign to elevate global warming from a political afterthought to a top-tier issue. Vilified by conservatives, Steyer is supporting Democrats across the country, devoting $40 million from his own pocket in the effort. Read the story

A system’s long history of turmoil

Abby Sewell, who covers Los Angeles County government, reports that the Los Angeles Unified School District’s student information system has become a technological disaster. The software, launched this semester, is plagued with "data quality and integrity issues," Supt. John Deasy acknowledged last week. Teachers have been unable to enter grades and attendance or even figure out which students were enrolled in class. Read the story

Gap in Ebola screening

David Willman, based in Washington, D.C., reports on research that suggests that a fever is not a surefire sign of an Ebola infection. In a World Health Organization study of 3,343 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola, nearly 13% of those infected did not have fevers. Nick Zwinkels, a Dutch physician who closed a Sierra Leone hospital after Ebola killed members of his staff, wrote, "It seems that only measuring the temperature as a form of triage is insufficient." Read the story

State by state, a national plan

Alana Semuels and Maria L. La Ganga report that successes by the antiabortion movement at the state level have resulted in the enactment of 230 abortion restrictions since 2011 -- more than in the entire previous decade. Even though most Americans support abortion, legislatures across the country, many with new Republican majorities, have passed laws that, if upheld, would drastically reduce access to abortion for millions of women. Read the story

Military fatigue in China

Sean Silbert, reporting from Beijing, writes that China’s mandatory military training for teens is being met by a pushback from students and parents. The role of the camps -- designed to instill a sense of patriotism, collectivism and national defense -- has been questioned amid incidents including fatal overexertion and a suicide. Supporters counter that military training is exactly what's needed to toughen up the country's teenagers, who are derided by many as spoiled "little emperors." Read the story