The Sacramento region, which is at the heart of California's water supply, is starting to issue strict rationing orders as a third dry year looms.
From the Bee's Matt Weiser: "The city of Folsom led the pack on Monday, imposing a mandatory 20 percent water conservation order. On Thursday, Sacramento County asked customers in unincorporated areas to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 20 percent. The cities of Sacramento and Roseville are likely to consider their own measures during the first week of January"
"In some cases, these will be the strictest water rationing orders the region has seen since the drought of 1976-77, one of the worst in history."
California's cap-and-trade auctions, in which carbon emission "permission slips" are sold off as part of the state's law to curb greenhouse gas emissions, appear to have been successful despite a rocky start.
From KQED's John Myers: "While the initial auction at the end of 2012 turned in somewhat disappointing results, 2013's auctions gained a head of steam; to date, more than 324 million carbon allowances have been traded. Each credit is an allowance for one ton of carbon emissions."
"But it's the cash value of those carbon allowances that was watched most closely through 2013 around the state Capitol. ARB officials say all told, carbon credits issued and bought in the year were valued at almost $1.1 billion. Most of that money didn't flow into state coffers -- a decision in the implementation of California's 2006 landmark climate change law that some environmental groups say the Legislature should revisit... but won't."
San Francisco's public school teachers, among others, are fleeing San Francisco's quickly rising housing costs.
From the Chronicle's Marisa Lagos: 'Morgan and Traverso aren't alone. A recently released state population survey found that more than 15,000 people moved into Alameda County between July 2012 and July 2013, many fleeing San Francisco and its sky-high housing costs."
"The union that represents teachers and other school employees says the couple's story is being told all too often lately. Every time a teacher leaves the city to live elsewhere, it's a loss for the students, argues United Educators of San Francisco President Dennis Kelly. Longer commutes, for one, mean less time teachers can spend at schools."
The impact of a judge's decision last week on San Jose's efforts to curb pension costs is causing uncertainty, and the fundamental questions about the inviolability of pension rights have yet to be resolved.
From Calpensions' Ed Mendel: "Mayor Chuck Reed and other Measure B backers argued that cutting the cost of pensions earned by current workers in the future, while protecting amounts already earned, is needed to get significant savings."
"But a series of state court rulings are widely believed to mean that the pension offered current workers on the date of hire becomes a vested right, protected by contract law, that can only be cut if offset by a new benefit of comparable value."
The swelling Latino population in California is translating into political power statewide and in many cities, but there are exceptions. Escondido is one of them.
From the AP's Elliot Spagat: "As Latinos surpass whites as California's largest racial or ethnic group early next year, more are getting elected to public office, including the mayors of Los Angeles and Sacramento, members of Congress, lieutenant governors and leaders of the state Legislature"
"Not so in Escondido — Spanish for "Hidden." It is among a smattering of cities with large Latino populations that have eluded their grasp."
"The north San Diego suburb elected its first Hispanic to its City Council in its 125-year history in 2008, not counting a one-term member in the 1990s, Elmer Cameron, who played down his Mexican ancestry. Councilwoman Olga Diaz, the daughter of Mexican immigrants who learned English as a second language, is running for mayor next year in the first elections with district, instead of at-large, voting to the council."