818 Roundup: Colby fire update, drought, NSA surveillance
Good morning, 818 readers! Today is Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014. Locals in the Glendale-area can expect to see a high of 82 and low of 52, according to forecasters at the National Weather Service.
We’re rounding up the top news items in the region:
The Colby Fire burning over Glendora has now burned 1,863 acres and is still 30 percent contained, officials said at a televised press conference around 5 p.m. Friday. As of last night, five homes had been reported destroyed and another 17 structures were damaged.
California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency in the state on Friday, emphasizing what area water experts have warned locals about. Brown’s announcement comes as state reservoirs reach critically low levels and cities across the state have instituted water-rationing measures, the Los Angeles Times reports.
President Obama proposed changes for how the National Security Agency collects data and conducts surveillance on American citizens in a speech yesterday in Washington, D.C. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), a senior member of the Intelligence Committee, has proposed legislation to end bulk phone record collection and instead require that the government seek an individualized court order to authorize searches from individual phone companies.
New legislation introduced this week by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Silver Lake) aims to restrict how long school districts can keep students’ social media data. One provision of the proposed bill was created in response to Glendale Unified School District officials’ decision to hire a company last year to monitor students’ social media posts postings as they relate to violence, suicide, cyber-bullying, or drugs.
Kaitlin Powers, a junior at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, was crowned the 2014 Miss La Cañada Flintridge Thursday night during the 102nd annual Installation and Awards gala for the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce and Community Assn. The dinner event was held in the ballroom at the La Cañada Flintridge Country Club.
-- Sameea Kamal, sameea.kamal@latimes.com
Follow on Twitter: @SameeaKamal.