11/16 - Julie Chen, Mark Wilbur, David Fleming,

Julie Chen - CBS ("The Talk"; "Big Brother")

Chen is the leading host of a talk show on CBS titled The Talk, along with a panel of four other moms. Along with Chen, the panel includes Sharon Osbourne, Sara Gilbert, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini and Marissa Jaret Winokur. The show is similar to The View  Julie Suzanne Chen (born January 6, 1970) is an American television personality, news anchor, and producer for CBS.[1] She has 15 years of newscasting experience. She is best known for co-anchoring CBS's The Early Show, alongside Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez. She has been the host of the U.S. version of Big Brother since its debut in July 2000. She is currently the starring co-host of the CBS daytime series, The Talk, which features a panel of five hosts, discussing controversial maternal topics and contemporary issues. The Talk premiered on October 18, 2010. Julie Chen has been host of "The Early Show" since October 2002. Throughout that time she has covered many of the biggest news stories, including the war in Iraq, and reported for the program during the war from Kuwait and Qatar in March 2003. Chen has also interviewed many of the world's top newsmakers, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Queen Rania of Jordan and former Defense Secretary William Cohen, as well as celebrities such as Tom Hanks, Ellen DeGeneres, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez, Barbra Streisand, Robert DeNiro and Robert Redford, among many others.  Chen has served as news anchor of "The Early Show" and anchor of the "CBS Morning News," the Network's early-morning broadcast, since Nov. 1, 1999, when "The Early Show" debuted under that title. Prior to joining "The Early Show," Chen was a reporter and anchor for WCBS-TV, the CBS-owned station in New York (1997-99). Chen spends her summers doing double duty between hosting "The Early Show" and "Big Brother," which began its 12th season on the Network in July 2010. Before joining CBS News, Chen worked as a reporter for WDTN-TV Dayton (1995-97).

Mark Wilbur-CEO Employers/Incoming BizFed Chair for 2011
David Fleming, BizFed Founding Chair

BizFed recently went on a tour of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta - and saw the crumbling/aging infrastructure, the environmental issues, the vulnerability to earthquakes, the sinking farmland, etc. That area provides nearly 40 percent of SoCAL drinking water - without it, we're in bad, bad shape.  NOW, with the new Legislature - a big push will be crafting a new bond for the 2012 ballot (since the last one was pulled off the Nov ballot). And there is lots of work to be done to educate, inform lawmakers/all and then execute on proposed measures to both protect the enviro up there AND the economy through keeping water flowing down here.  There ALSO now is a proposal for TUNNELS to carry water down to SoCal. THIS is being considered because of all the dustup previously over "peripheral canals" - and all the opposition that has derailed that.