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ByAliciaChang The Associated Press LOSANGELES NASAhopes to try again to launch a "fly- ing saucer" into Earth's at- mosphere to test Mars mis- sion technology after losing the chance because of bad weather, project managers said Thursday. The space agency is working with the U.S. Navy on the Hawaiian island of Kauai to see if it can get the experimental flight off the ground in late June. During the current two- week launch window, the team came "tantalizing close," but winds spoiled ev- ery opportunity, said proj- ect manager Mark Adler of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Winds must be calm for a helium balloon to carry the disc-shaped vehicle over the Pacific so it doesn't stray into no-fly zones. "We're ready to go. We're not giving up," Adler said. NASA has invested $150 million in the project so far, and extending the launch window would come with some cost. If the flight doesn't happen this sum- mer, it would be postponed until next year. The mission is designed to test a new supersonic ve- hicle and giant parachute in Earth's stratosphere where conditions are similar to the red planet. For decades, NASA re- lied on the same parachute design to slow spacecraft streaking through the thin Martian atmosphere. The 1-ton Curiosity rover that landed in 2012 used the same basic parachute as the twin Viking landers in 1976. With plans to land heavier payloads and even- tually astronauts, NASA needed to develop new drag devices and a stronger para- chute. Measuring 110 feet in di- ameter, the new parachute is twice as large as the one that carried Curiosity. Since it can't fit in a wind tunnel where NASA does its tra- ditional testing, engineers looked toward the skies off Kauai. NASA had rigged the test vehicle with several GoPro cameras with the hope that viewers would follow the ac- tion live online. Project scientist Ian Clark called the weather de- lay "hardly even a hiccup" in the long road to landing spacecraft on Earth's plan- etary neighbor. "We're still very enthu- siastic," Clark said. "We're still very optimistic about the opportunities that we think we'll have in front of us to do this test." SPACE NASAhopes to launch its 'flying saucer' The Associated Press SACRAMENTO A bill mak- ingiteasiertofireabusiveed- ucators heads to Gov. Jerry Brown two days after a judge found California's teacher tenurelawsunconstitutional. AB215 passed the Assem- bly on a 76-0 vote Thursday. The bill is carried by Dem- ocratic Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan of Alamo after three years of failed legislative attempts to over- haul teacher dismissals. The bill would create a separate, expedited firing process for teachers ac- cused of abusing students and certain drug crimes. It also accelerates appeals for other dismissals. AB215 is backed by teach- ers unions and some educa- tion-reform groups but is opposed by school admin- istrators. On Tuesday, a Los Ange- les County Superior Court judge ruled that California's laws governing teacher fir- ing and hiring infringe on students' rights to equal ed- ucation. SACRAMENTO Bill OK'd to reform teacher dismissals By Matt Hamilton The Associated Press PORT HUENEME Offi- cials expect a temporary shelter on a California military base could fill up next week as Central American children who entered the country ille- gally are sent there amid a surge in border cross- ings. Numbercouldtriple During a tightly con- trolled tour of the facil- ity Thursday at Naval Base Ventura County, a government offi- cial said the number of teens housed at the 42,000-square foot con- verted warehouse could more than triple to 575 by early next week. Kenneth Wolfe, a spokesman for the De- partment of Health and Human Services' Ad- ministration for Chil- dren and Families, said he could not confirm the estimate as "the numbers change by the hour." The shelter is one of three planned for mili- tary bases in California, Oklahoma and Texas following a spike in the number of children caught crossing the bor- der, mostly from Central America. More than 47,000 children have been ap- prehended at the Mex- ican border since the start of the budget year in October. Amenities set up At the California shel- ter, neatly made bunk beds and extra dining tables have been set up for the children. Dirt soccer fields were cre- ated for outdoor play, and many are excited to watch the World Cup matches on television, according to a shelter supervisor. Reporters were not al- lowed to speak with the children, who range in age from 13 to 17. During their stay, the teens were learning long division in math class and drawing in art. Lunch was pizza bread, Caesar salad and apple- sauce served on brown disposable plates and eaten under white tents outdoors. Each child is as- signed a bunk bed and locker. Girls and boys are housed separately in sparsely decorated quarters hung with pic- tures made by the chil- dren or featuring char- acters such as X-Men and Green Lantern. In the classroom ar- eas, posters feature the president and Ameri- can icons such as Rosa Parks. The facility has air conditioning but offi- cials haven't needed to use it yet, and chil- dren bathe in individ- ual showers. After their arrest on the border, the children are transferred to HHS' custody and placed at a shelter until case work- ers find a relative or sponsor to care for them and ensure that they at- tend immigration court hearings on federal gov- ernment efforts to de- port them. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Thursday there is no free pass for children or anyone else caught trying to cross the bor- der illegally. "I am not encourag- ing in any way, shape or form illegal immigra- tion," Johnson said. IMMIGRATION St at e migrant kids shelter could fill By Donna Cassata The Associated Press WASHINGTON California Republican Kevin McCar- thy quickly amassed sup- port to become House ma- jority leader on Thursday, but his likely ascent shut conservatives out of the chamber's top leadership jobs, leaving them fuming and exposing deep fissures within the GOP. Within 48 hours of Rep. Eric Cantor's lightning pri- mary-election downfall, McCarthy and his depu- ties aggressively rounded up votes with a pitch to Southern Republicans and pointed private conversa- tions on the House floor in a race that occasionally had the markings of a per- sonality-driven contest for class president. Republicans sought to project an aura of unity but failed to quiet conser- vative complaints that such quick party elections after Cantor's defeat gave them little time to rally around an alternative who better reflects the right's ideol- ogy and the emboldened tea party. Votes are sched- uled for next Thursday for majority leader, the No. 2 job behind Speaker John Boehner, and for majority whip, the No. 3 party post. But that may well not be the end of it. Several Re- publicans asserted that next week's action won't quiet ambitious lawmak- ers or factions in the GOP caucus, and leadership con- tests after November's na- tional midterm elections could produce a brand new lineup. Despite conservative dis- content, Boehner's job does not appear to be in serious jeopardy for now. But some lawmakers noted there was a limit to his security. "The speaker is speaker in 24-hour increments. Literally 50 guys can call a revolt," said Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, a Boehner ally. Cantor suffered a stun- ning defeat to little-known college professor Dave Brat in Tuesday's Virginia Re- publican primary, a race that underscored the rift within the GOP between pragmatic, establishment conservatives and farther- right contenders press- ing for no-compromise ideological stances. Brat cast Cantor's past positive comments on possible im- migration changes as am- nesty for those here ille- gally — a characterization Cantor heatedly rejected — and turned it into a defin- ing issue in the race. Cantor is the first House majority leader to lose his seat by being defeated in a party primary election since the post was created in 1899, according to Eric Ostermeier, research asso- ciate at the University of Minnesota's Center for the Study of Politics and Gov- ernance. Cantor announced on Wednesday that he would step down as majority leader at the end of July. He endorsed McCarthy as his successor and the House whip moved swiftly to se- cure the votes. "I don't think anyone counts votes better around here, and I think he has a very, very commanding lead," said Rep. Cole. McCarthy, the four-term congressman from Bakers- field, California, will face Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, the chairman of the Rules Committee, in the contest for majority leader. An- other Texan with stronger bona fides in the conserva- tive ranks, Rep. Jeb Hen- sarling, passed on the race on Thursday, saying, "After prayerful reflection, I have come to the conclusion that this is not the right office at the right time for me and my family." If conservatives were powerless to put the brakes on McCarthy's quick rise they weren't keeping quiet about their frustration. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, was among several law- makers calling on GOP leaders to put off the elec- tion, suggesting it was rigged. "Leadership's tactic has always been call the elec- tion as fast as you can, don't let anybody have time to organize except those who had the heads-up and the head start," King said. Hensarling had been the conservatives' choice, and King and others had no one else to get behind. "I'm looking for a can- didate that has not sup- ported some form of am- nesty, and Jeb fit that, and now we don't have an an- nounced candidate that fits that and I'm very troubled by that," King said. "Be- cause if there's any single issue that cost Eric Cantor his seat, it was amnesty." The discontent seemed to irritate some of Mc- Carthy's supporters who mocked criticism that their candidate wasn't conserva- tive enough. "When they say 'More conservative this, more conservative that,' it doesn't mean anything to me. The more exotic mem- bers around here once again failed to have a can- didate, they failed to show up. They don't debate. So they don't like any of the candidates," said Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., who was lining up votes for Mc- Carthy. "They just come out here to you guys and com- plain, and they blog and they Facebook, but when it's time to actually raise money and go recruit can- didates and win elections so that you can stop Obama which is what they say they want to do, they don't have the capability of doing it," Nunes said. POLITICS GOP upheaval: A front-runner, discontent J.SCOTTAPPLEWHITE—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., leaves House Speaker John Boehner's office on the day a er House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., was defeated in the Virginia primary at the hands of a tea party challenger, at the Capitol in Washington, on Wednesday. By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press GRANTS PASS, ORE. State water masters on Thursday were evaluating demands from farmers in a federal irrigation project and from the Klamath Tribes to en- force their senior water rights in drought-stricken Klamath County, the Ore- gon Water Resources De- partment said. The city of Klamath Falls was told to shut down some municipal drinking water wells to satisfy the calls from the Klamath Rec- lamation Project, which serves 1,200 farms strad- dling the Oregon-Califor- nia border, water resources spokeswoman Racquel Rancier said. However, the city in- tends to contest the order to shut down two wells, saying state law priori- tizes human consumption, City Manager Nathan Cher- peski said. One of the wells is high in manganese and only used as an auxiliary. The other serves the northern end of the city, including a hospital and the Oregon In- stitute of Technology. Cherpeski said the city is hiring an expert to eval- uate how much impact drawing water from that well has on Upper Klam- ath Lake, the primary res- ervoir for the Klamath Project. He said the well is only 180 feet inside a one-mile zone around the lake where wells can be shut down to satisfy wa- ter rights. The city has never had to impose water ration- ing, and the City Council is likely to discuss the issue, he added. Future demands by water users could affect other city wells. Klamath Water Users Association represents the irrigation districts serving farms on the Klamath Proj- ect. Director Greg Adding- ton said that even with the water demand and ground- water pumping, some farmers would not get wa- ter this year. The drought has left reservoirs with no more than 60 percent of the water needed to serve the project. Rancier said water mas- ters are evaluating the situation on rivers flow- ing through the Klam- ath Tribes' former reser- vation, where last year the demand for water forced ranchers to stop irrigating pastures. The tribes invoked their water rights to maintain stream flows for fish. This year's call covers sections of the Sprague, Wood and Sycan rivers and several creeks. Representatives of the tribes and ranchers irri- gating from those rivers did not immediately re- turn telephone calls for comment. The tribes' right dates to time immemorial, and the project's right dates to 1905. This is the second straight year of drought in Klamath County. Last year's drought prompted ranchers to sign an agree- ment with the tribes on sharing during times of scarcity and improving fish habitat. Legislation to fund aspects of the agree- ment is pending in the U.S. Senate. OREGON St at e ey es de ma nd s fo r wa te r in K la ma th C ou nt y The Associated Press RIVERSIDE A group of Riverside County prop- erty owners, builders and others have petitioned the federal government to re- move Endangered Species Act protections for a Cali- fornia songbird. The petition filed Wednesday with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service claims that the coastal Cal- ifornia gnatcatcher is plen- tiful in Mexico, and doesn't need to be protected, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported. The group cites new DNA evidence showing that the blue-gray songbird is not a distinct subspecies as previously thought, but a single species that ranges from Southern California to the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. "It's the same species whether it crosses a geo- graphic boundary or not," said Bruce Colbert, ex- ecutive director of the 300-member Property Owners Association of Riverside County, a non- profit research and lobby- ing group that represents entities affected by land- use decisions. The gnatcatcher was listed as threatened with extinction in 1993. The U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife designated 197,303 acres in San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Ber- nardino, Los Angeles and Ventura counties as criti- cal habitat, which is land considered essential for the species' recovery. At the time, federal of- ficials estimated the eco- nomic impact of the result- ing restrictions would total $915 million by 2030. That included delays and non- development of property within the habitat area. Gnatcatchers were once plentiful between South- ern California's coast and mountains, but their num- bers declined dramatically as most of their coastal sage brush habitat was taken over by development. WILDLIFE Gr ou p wa nt s so ng bi rd o ff th re at en ed s pe ci es li st FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 9 A