[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Republicans see Rep. Jerry McNerney's GOP-leaning seat as one of their strongest pick up opportunities in an otherwise abysmal year for the Republican brand, but a developing scandal by Republican candidate Dean Andal threatens to give McNerney the breathing room he needs.

brownsox over at the Daily Kos has more:

"One of the GOP’s top House recruits for this cycle may be in grave trouble. Assemblyman Dean Andal, challenging freshman Rep. Jerry McNerney in California’s Republican-leaning 11th District, has been accused of ties to a leak from the Board of Trustees of San Joaquin Delta College, in violation of California’s open government laws.

In a nutshell, members of the Delta board of trustees met to discuss terminating the contract of a delinquent contractor. Information from that meeting was illegally leaked to the contractor, who was then able to use that information to maintain the contract with Delta College. This is a serious crime, and a major betrayal of the public trust.

And if Board of Trustees member Ted Simas is to be believed, Andal -- a consultant to the aforementioned contractor, PCCP Mountain House, on the Delta project -- was personally privy to that information."

read more »

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Valerie Novak
San Joaquin Delta College student

As a working, single mom, attending community college was my only affordable option for a higher education. I’m proud that I’m attending community college with my daughter, and thankful that we can afford it.

It hasn’t been easy though. A few years ago, fees jumped dramatically when my son, daughter, and I enrolled in our local community college. Paying the fees for three of us was a real struggle.

While I am in school, I work different jobs to make our goals in education possible, both as a trained private chef and a community instructor in food preparation. When I complete my studies at the community college level, I plan to transfer to a four-year institution to pursue my degrees in nutritional science. My goal is to achieve the degrees required for a professional dietetic career that will include teaching in the community college system.

I’m not alone in the struggle to pay for higher education. Ask any community college student trying to earn an income, and they will tell you how important low, stable fees are to them. Every dollar up or down in fees makes a huge difference.