State Sen. Ron Calderon is expected to surrender to federal authorities today after being indicted on corruption charges last week.
Andrew Lopez reports for NBC Los Angeles: “The 56-year-old Montebello Democrat was traveling when the 24-count indictment was announced on Friday, and FBI officials said he agreed to surrender when he returned.”
“Prosecutors said Calderon accepted about $100,000 in cash bribes, chartered plane trips, high-end golf trips and gourmet meals. Calderon allegedly accepted these bribes in exchange for supporting or opposing legislation.”
A mysterious illness reported in five California children has polio-like symptoms.
Eryn Brown in the Los Angeles Times: “A small number of children in California have come down with polio-like illnesses since 2012 -- suffering paralysis in one or more limbs and other symptoms -- and physicians and public health officials do not yet know why.”
“A virus may play a role, said Dr. Carol Glaser, leader of a California Department of Public Health team investigating the illnesses, which are occurring sporadically throughout the state.”
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will lead a panel on hyperpartisanship and present a report on the California Legislature since the 2012 election reforms.
John Diaz reports in SF Gate: “The report by USC's Christian Grose, a public policy professor, noted that the centrist shift coincided with the arrival of two voter-prescribed reforms: a 2008 initiative that took the drawing of legislative district boundaries out of the hands of elected officials and a 2010 initiative that replaced partisan primaries with a system in which the top two finishers would advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.”
“While Grose cautioned against making a direct cause-and-effect link, advocates of such reforms - most notably Schwarzenegger - suggest they are delivering their promised antidote to polarization and gridlock.”
Friday is the deadline to introduce bills in the Legislature. Water and ethics issues stand out as lawmakers’ priorities this year.
From the Associated Press’ Fenit Nirappil: “Drought and water issues will play a prominent role in this year's legislative session as most of California is dealing with the consequences of one of the driest periods on record.”
“Since the Legislature reconvened in January, 1,929 bills were introduced in advance of Friday's deadline.
The legislation reflects a sense of urgency among lawmakers after three dry winters have forced farmers to fallow fields and some communities to declare mandatory water reductions. At least 17 communities have dangerously low drinking water supplies.”
California’s multi-billion dollar almond crops are being left to dry up in the drought.
Scott Smith of the Associated Press reports: “With California’s agricultural heartland entrenched in drought, almond farmers are letting orchards dry up and in some cases making the tough call to have their trees torn out of the ground, leaving behind empty fields.”
“In California’s Central Valley, Barry Baker is one of many who hired a crew that brought in large rumbling equipment to perform the grim task in a cloud of dust.”
Los Angeles could be experiencing its wettest rainstorm in two years this week.
Rong-Gong Lin II writes in the Los Angeles Times: “The first storm, expected to hit Wednesday evening, could bring as much as a quarter of an inch of rain to Los Angeles County and leave by Thursday morning. A stronger second storm will arrive in time for the Friday afternoon commute and power through Saturday, dousing the coast and valleys with 1 to 2 inches of rain and as much as 4 inches in the mountains.”
“It’s been … years” since this much rain has come to Los Angeles, said National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Sukup. The last time this much rain has come to Los Angeles was on March 25, 2012, when 0.91 inches of precipitation fell in downtown.”
Brown’s administration is launching a successor to the enterprise zone program to free up various development subsidies for hundreds of local governments and businesses in California.
Jim Miller in the Sacramento Bee: “For most of his first term, Gov. Jerry Brown led efforts in the Capitol to scrap enterprise zones and redevelopment areas, two programs that many local officials viewed as important job-creating tools. Now the administration is pushing an economic development program of its own.”
“Supporters of the new Economic Development Initiative call it a major improvement over the enterprise zone program. Unlike enterprise zones, the portfolio of tax perks worth up to $750 million annually is not limited to particular parts of the state. And proponents say the program will encourage the creation of higher-paying jobs.”
Finally, the oldest piece of Earth was found on an Australian sheep farm.
Will Dunham reports for Stuff: "To put it mildly, this is one gem of a gem."
"Scientists using two different age-determining techniques have shown that a tiny zircon crystal found on a sheep farm in Western Australia was the oldest known piece of our planet, dating to 4.4 billion years ago."
"Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, the researchers said the discovery indicated that Earth's crust formed relatively soon after the planet formed and that the little gem was a remnant of it."