The giant Metropolitan Water District buckled to public and media pressure and yanked off its board agenda for today new five-year contracts that "would have hiked employee pensions 25 percent, and raised pay up to 23 percent." Staff writer Teri Sforza at the Orange County Register watchdog blog has been pushing the issue and reports on the change of plans and today's response by angry workers. Over the weekend, San Diego Union-Tribune editorial writer Chris Reed razzed the L.A. Times for missing the story, and a quick search finds nothing yet on the paper's website.