San Francisco Chronicle

Cal, city police scramble to gear up for Coulter talk

- By Jill Tucker

Conservati­ve commentato­r Ann Coulter plans to speak at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza on Thursday, campus officials said, prompting the university and the city to scramble to prepare for what they fear could be another violent showdown between fans and opponents of President Trump.

Coulter is expected to bring her own security for the afternoon appearance, but campus officials — who had urged her to reschedule for a later date — believe that won’t be sufficient.

“We’re going to be doing what we can in this short amount of time that’s left to provide safety and security to our students, other members of the campus community, the public, and, if need be, Ms. Coulter,” UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said Tues-

PHILADELPH­IA — Contaminat­ion from former or current military installati­ons has ignited a nationwide review of water on or around bases that used a firefighti­ng foam containing toxic chemicals.

The military is now testing nearly 400 bases and has confirmed water contaminat­ion at or near more than three dozen, according to an analysis of data by the Philadelph­ia Inquirer and Daily News. The new numbers offer the best look to date at the potential scope of the problem.

But despite more than $150 million spent on the effort so far, the process has been slow and seemingly disjointed. The Air Force, for example, has completed sampling at nearly all of its targeted bases; the Navy, barely 10 percent. The Army has not begun. The branches and the Pentagon say they are coordinati­ng, but have varying responses on how many bases must be tested, and limited informatio­n about remediatio­n timelines and cost.

The lack of answers has been so confoundin­g that Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., moved to amend the defense spending bill to compel the Pentagon to release a list of all bases that used the foam.

Contaminat­ion has been found near 27 military bases in 16 states.

 ??  ?? Ann Coulter is expected to speak in Berkeley on Thursday.
Ann Coulter is expected to speak in Berkeley on Thursday.

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