There are three Democratic candidates on the ballot for tomorrow’s special election in SD-7: Susan Bonilla, Joan Buchanan and Steve Glazer. Organized labor support is split between Bonilla and Buchanan, but it is united in opposition to Glazer, who was, not so long ago, a key political strategist for Jerry Brown. Cathleen Decker has the story for the Los Angeles Times.
“The vitriol surrounding Glazer started in 2012, two years after he helped shepherd Gov. Jerry Brown into office, when Glazer was placed on the state labor federation's ‘do not hire’ list for supporting Democratic alternatives to two union-backed candidates.
“In 2014, he ran for an Assembly seat but lost when labor girded against him. That race served as the template for this year's state Senate warfare, with a few twists tossed in.
“Much of organized labor is backing Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla. Teachers and home-building trades have sided with former Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan. Both are Democrats; the sole Republican in the race, Michaela Hertle, withdrew and endorsed Glazer. But her name remains on the ballot...”
Columnist George Skelton, also of the Times, follows the same story, with a little (ok, a lot) more opinion tossed in. http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-election-20150316-column.html
If SD-7 offers high drama, the 2014 California election was a bit of a snooze: Governor Jerry Brown breezed to reelection, most assembly and senate seats went the way they were predicted (Raul Bocanegra, cough, cough), and there were no high-voltage ballot props driving intensity for voters. One group that was highly engaged: California’s political consultants, media buyers, etc. The Bee’s Jim Miller looks at the ‘campaign payday’ for California’s political pros.
“[The] past two years were anything but ho-hum for the hundreds of consultants, fundraisers, pollsters, media buyers and various campaign operatives that collectively netted almost $300 million from campaign committees for state offices and initiatives, according to a Sacramento Bee review of records filed with the secretary of state last month. The total doesn’t include tens of millions in additional campaign dollars that went to TV stations, postage and taxes – or spending on high-profile congressional races such as the face-off between Democratic Rep. Ami Bera and Republican Doug Ose….
“’Any way you could have spent money on a campaign 30 years ago, that still exists,’ said Sasha Issenberg, author of ‘The Victory Lab,’ a book on modern political campaigns. ‘But now you have this whole new set of categories you can spend money on, all in the realm of digital.’”
There’s an old Chinese curse that goes, “May you live in interesting times.” We’d say that four straight years of drought is getting darned ‘interesting.’ Matt Weiser at the Sacramento Bee looks at oncoming restrictions on water use.
“The State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday is poised to get even tougher on water conservation as California now seems assured of a fourth year of drought. The main focus of the proposal set for a board vote is landscape watering, responsible for about 70 percent of all urban water consumption in California.
“The board is expected to order every urban water agency in California to limit outdoor watering to specific days of the week – for both residential and business customers. In many cases, this would mean only two days per week.
“California has never before considered such a sweeping statewide mandate on landscape irrigation, not even during the drought of 1977, often referenced as the worst in modern times. But it now seems certain the present drought will eclipse that marker, making more drastic measures necessary.”
We can’t predict what lawmaker Frank Bigelow will think of those restrictions. As a Republican, he favors small government. As a Central Valley farmer, he’s living the drought in a way his colleagues can’t even imagine. Dan Morain spent some time with the Assemblyman and writes about it in the Sacramento Bee.
“Bigelow’s family has occupied this piece of California 30 miles east of Highway 99 since the 1800s. A master landscape artist could spend years depicting its rolling hills and granite outcroppings. He took me on a tour the other day and pointed out what I would never notice.
“Old oak trees are surviving, but the bull pines are dying of thirst. Grass here should be knee-high, but instead hugs the ground. That patch of brown there should have been green until the end of May. There used to be a spring by that rock. No more…
“In past generations, people who worked the land would dig maybe 30 feet to find water, then carve out trenches and rely on gravity to transport water from one end of the pastures to the other. Now, one of his wells is 900 feet deep, and it’s good for household use, not for his animals.”
And speaking of conservation, The California Energy Commission is looking at regulations to increase the efficiency of computers and monitors – an ever-larger piece of California’s energy picture. Marc Lifsher has the story at the Los Angeles Times.
“The commission is writing proposed minimum power consumption standards that it estimates would save 2,702 gigawatt hours a year of electricity. That's roughly the combined usage of the cities of Long Beach, Anaheim, Huntington Beach and Riverside. Utility customers could shave a total of $430 million off their annual electric bills, or about $20 a year for a household that owns one desktop computer, one laptop and one monitor.
“Computers and monitors are among the leading users of energy in California and ‘spend roughly half their time ... on but not being used.’ Commissioner Andrew McAllister said.
“Boosting efficiency is a good deal, he said. For example, a $2 investment in manufacturing a more power-stingy desktop computer would save $69 over five years, he said.”
And, finally, in our “what the heck is wrong with you?” files: a mystery man in Akron, Ohio has been pooping on cars for two years. And now, they’ve got him on camera.
“A resident filed a report with police after snapping a photo of the full moon happening in his driveway. The resident had filed another pooping report as well, [Akron police Lt. Rick Edwards] said, but told police it had happened another five or six times before.
“Police then started looking for similar instances and found 19 within the span of about two years, Edwards said.
“’I’m sure there are more victims out there,’ Edwards said.”
Police are asking for any information related to the ‘poopetrator.’ If we hear of any new developments we’ll be sure to follow up with story number two.