Politico's Burgess Everett and Seung Min Kim report that Senator Barbara Boxer has announced that she will not run in 2016.
"California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer will not run for reelection in 2016, she announced in a Youtube video message released on Thursday morning.
'I am never going to retire. The work is too important. But I will not be running for the Senate in 2016,' she said in the video."
It’s no Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but the Delta Smelt is heading to the Supreme Court. The tiny fish species, said by some to be teetering on the edge of extinction, has required strict shepherding of their aquatic habitat—often precluding scheduled water deliveries to farms and other users in the south state.
From David Savage at the Los Angeles Times: “Citing the severe state drought, lawyers for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider a strict federal rule from the 1970s that calls for curtailing the water diversions to protect the threatened delta smelt and other imperiled species regardless of the cost to humans and the economy.
“The reduced pumping ‘has had a huge impact,’ said Bob Muir, a district spokesman. Over the last five years, state officials say pumping has been reduced 10% to 30% each year to keep more fresh water in the delta, the only place in the world where the tiny native smelt is found.”
Speaking of courts, a state audit revealed that California spent $30 million on ‘questionable’ court spending and salaries. Alexei Koseff’s story in the Bee here; Patrick McGreevy and Maura Dolan have the story in the LA Times.
"’This report concludes that questionable fiscal and operational decisions by the Judicial Council and the AOC have limited funds available to the courts,’ State Auditor Elaine M. Howle wrote in a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers who requested the review….”
“[The] specter of waste was likely to hinder the efforts of court leaders to persuade the Legislature and Brown to restore funds. The cuts have caused widespread delays in getting legal matters resolved.
"’Thirty million dollars is an alarming sum of money,’ said Judicial Council Administrative Director Martin Hoshino. ‘For the average citizen in tough economic times and for our frugal governor, it is not OK. Every nickel and dime adds up.’"
Cue great rejoicing at Mulvaney’s B&L: yesterday, a federal judge struck down the state’s two year-old ban on serving foie gras.
“U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson in Los Angeles ruled that the state prohibition on the sale of foie gras, a fatty liver dish made from force-fed ducks and geese, illegally encroached upon the regulatory domain of the federal government.
“California lawmakers passed the groundbreaking ban in 2004 amid concern that force-feeding poultry is inhumane. The law took effect eight years later, immediately putting a crimp in California’s dining scene, where the French-inspired fare is celebrated at many high-end restaurants for its rich, creamy flavor.”
For readers who like that rich, creamy flavor (with a side of cruelty), here’s where to find foie gras in the Bay Area and in Sacramento.
Three of five seats on the Covered California board are up for grabs as of January 1. John Howard has the story at Capitol Weekly.
“Two seats held by appointees of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expired last week. A third became vacant following the resignation last month of Robert Ross, the president of the nonprofit California Endowment, which advocates for improved access to health care….”
“The terms expired a week ago for Susan Kennedy, Schwarzenegger’s former chief of staff, and Kim Belshé, his ranking health adviser and now the head of First 5, a nonprofit child advocacy group. Schwarzenegger put both on the board as part of an intensely negotiated, complex political deal in the waning days of his administration when the newly elected Jerry Brown was poised to take office. The seats do not require Senate confirmation.”
The Sacramento Bee covers some changes: Gareth Elliot, whom Governor Brown recently appointed to the UC Board of Regents has joined Sacramento lobbying firm Sacramento Advocates; and California Democratic Party communications director Tenoch Flores has announced plans to step down.
Downtown Sacramento health inspectors are on a roll: two days before Christmas, they shut down the Crest Theatre’s candy counter for code violations; on January 30 they closed the capitol’s basement cafeteria for a cockroach infestation.
“Griselda’s World Cafe, shuttered after a Dec. 18 inspection and a Dec. 30 re-inspection, received permission to re-open after passing a third inspection Tuesday. But a top legislative administrator said Wednesday that the cafe will remain closed at least until officials have a chance to meet with the cafe’s owner – and maybe longer.
“’I didn’t want to reopen it, even though she passed inspection, until I had chance to talk to” cafe owner Griselda Barajas, said Debra Gravert, the Assembly’s chief administrative officer. She hopes to meet with Barajas by the end of the week, she said.”
And, file under: These are the things that make everyone else think Californians are crazy. KQED’s Maria Judnick dug up a list of bizarre Northern California laws you didn’t know existed. Some favorites:
“[A] law prohibiting used underwear to be employed in wiping off cars in a car wash, the regulation requiring elephants walking down Market Street to be wearing leashes, and the rules against piling horse manure higher than 6 feet on any street corner…. You can be fined up to $1,000 for what is deemed ‘molestation of butterflies.’”