Environmental Legislation

The Don Henley-Geffen Records legal battle--which could drastically redefine the nature of recording contracts in the music business--intensified this week as EMI Music confirmed its mega-dollar bid for music publishing rights to Henley's song catalogue.

A congressional stampede to pass oil spill legislation gathered momentum Thursday as a Senate committee voted to impose tougher penalties on water polluters, and lawmakers unveiled a comprehensive bill to strengthen environmental and safety rules on offshore drilling. The measures expected to move forward in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon blowout also include a rewrite of decades-old maritime liability law and a tightening of ethics rules for officials who oversee offshore drilling.

Former Rep. Morris K. Udall (D-Ariz.), known for his productive environmental stewardship and for the wit that prompted him to title his failure to achieve the nation's highest office "Too Funny to Be President," has died. He was 76. Udall, who represented southern Arizona in Congress from 1961 until 1991, died late Saturday of Parkinson's disease at the U.S. Veterans Medical Center in Washington, D.C. His death was announced in Tucson by the family foundation.

Gov. Pete Wilson signed major environmental protection legislation Thursday empowering the California Coastal Commission to bypass the courts and order a swift halt to prohibited development. The commission sought the additional authority in part because it was unable under existing law to step in quickly enough to prevent developer damage in the exclusive Sweetwater Canyon area of Malibu and up the coast at Big Sur.

Walnut teacher Alan Haskvitz has been selected as a finalist for the Reader's Digest Award as a Hero in Education. Haskvitz was nominated because of his innovative teaching programs and community involvement with students. He teaches eighth-grade social studies at Suzanne Middle School and has organized student projects, such as rewriting the polling instructions posted in L.A.

West Hollywood City Councilman Paul Koretz announced that he will run in the April 9 election for one of four open seats on the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees. Although his City Council term does not end until next year, Koretz said he intends to resign from the council if he is elected to the college board. Before being elected in West Hollywood in 1988, Koretz worked as an aide to Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude.

The City Council has granted Hughes Development Co. an 18-month extension to complete requirements necessary to subdivide a 50-acre site into 12 lots. The council approved the extension 3 to 2 because of delays in building a horse trail on the property and in complying with new state environmental legislation. Everett Hughes, co-owner of the company, said development business has been slow and that he has a possible buyer for the project.

Several Westside legislators were hailed as environmental heroes this week after maintaining a perfect pro-environmental 1995 voting record in Congress, according to officials at the League of Conservation Voters. Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles), Julian Dixon (D-Culver City) and Tony Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) all scored 100, voting for the environment each of 13 times monitored by the Washington-based league for its annual national environmental scorecard.

With no recorded opposition, the Senate sent President Reagan a bill to strengthen the Safe Drinking Water Act by creating a national program to protect underground aquifers from pollutants. The bill became the first important piece of environmental legislation to clear Capitol Hill and go to the White House since the 99th Congress began nearly 18 months ago. The proposal, passed 382 to 21 by the House on May 13, would authorize a big jump in spending through 1991.

State lawmakers have won praise and criticism for their votes on environmental legislation from the California League of Conservation Voters, a political watchdog group that monitors how elected officials vote in Sacramento. The league's 20th annual environmental voting chart, which was released Tuesday, revealed that two Ventura County lawmakers supported the majority of conservation bills last year, while three local legislators did not. State Sen. Gary K.