Today, the Assembly Public Safety Committee will take up AB 144, legislation introduced by Anthony Portantino (D-Pasadena) to ban the open carry of a handgun in the state of California. The controversial legislation has reinvigorated the decades-long debate over the effects of gun legislation on public safety.

Dear Gallup,

The federal Central Valley Project (CVP) will be delivering more water to farmers this spring thanks to a wet March. Farmers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta should receive 65 percent of contract water supplies according to the Bureau of Reclamation. This is a 10 percent increase from the Bureau's March 22^nd projection.

The California Independent Voter Project (CAIVP) has issued a formal letter urging the Citizens Redistricting Commission to adhere to the precepts of Proposition 11, which forbids consideration of political party membership from being a factor in the redrawing of legislative, constitutional, and congressional districts.

With Congressional District 36 candidate Michael Chamness being denied an injunction to suspend electoral rules in the upcoming special election, he was dealt yet another blow when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied him a writ of mandamus in a case meant to challenge California's new top two open primary measure.