Hope springs eternal, as they say, and nowhere is that more true than in parched California, caught in its four-year drought. Will El Nino be the answer to our prayers? Scientists think maybe so.
From the LAT's Haley Branson-Potts and Rong-Gong Lin II: "The hail storm was just the latest strange weather to hit the Sierra Nevada, influenced by the weather-changing phenomenon El Niño. For months, climate scientists have said El Niño is likely to bring more rain to Southern California this winter."
"But here's the big question in a state enduring four years of severe drought: How far north will El Niño's influence roam?"
"The El Niño hitting the mountains of the north is critical because California's vast waterworks rely on rain and snow from the Sierra to supply farms and cities. By contrast, much of the rain that falls in Southern California ends up in the ocean. Experts are becoming more optimistic about El Niño's northern reach."
For whatever reason, Californians are declining to vote in ever-increasing numbers, culminating in the last general election, which had the worst level of participation of any general election in the state's history. Tsk, tsk.
From Chuck McFadden in Capitol Weekly: "We Californians justifiably become excited about our many remarkable achievements: we make terrific movies; Silicon Valley leads the planet in technological innovation; our traffic jams are world class.
"But when it comes to voting, we give a statewide shrug."
"A mere 42.2 percent of registered voters — registered voters — bothered to cast ballots in the November 2014 general election. Los Angeles County bottomed out statewide with a turnout of 31 percent. It gets even worse: The June 2014 turnout was 25.2 percent."
The California Coastal Commission, which protects 1,100 miles of coastline from San Ysidro to Crescent City, is taking a look at fracking in Long Beach. We see a battle brewing.
The LA Daily News' Andrew Edwards tells the tale: "The California Coastal Commission will insist that Long Beach officials and their corporate partners running the city’s oil islands obtain an additional permit before following through onproposals to “frack” 13 local oil wells."
"At this point, Long Beach officials and managers of the California Resources Corp. subsidiary in charge of oil extraction operations have not yet decided whether fracking the oil wells makes financial sense. If they decide to pursue those plans, they have already obtained permits from the state agency that oversees oil and gas operations."
"That, however, may not be enough. Alison Dettmer, the Coastal Commission’s deputy director in charge of energy and ocean resources oversight, said her agency has taken the position that any fracking within the state’s coastal zone also requires a coastal development permit."
Speaking of oil, the findings of an investigation into water contamination are still secret after a year, despite attempts to pry the information loose.
From AP's Ellen Knickmeyer in the Sacramento Bee: "California oil-and-gas regulators have refused for nearly a year to release findings of what they termed a "highest-priority" investigation of possible oilfield contamination into the water aquifers that serve millions of people in and around Los Angeles."
"Concerns about the safety of oilfield injection wells in the region are among many dogging state oil and gas regulators."
"California is under orders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to do more to protect drinking-water aquifers from contamination by the oil and gas industry. California is the country's No. 3 oil-producing state. Home to more than 18 million people, the Los Angeles basin is also the scene of a more than century-oil oil industry that peaked in the 1930s but continues today."
Meanwhile, down in Orange County, federal officials are tracking an unusual issue -- the use of jailhouse informants. It's already a scandal, and things may about to get worse. There's even talk of a federal takeover of the DA's office.
From the OC Register's Tony Saavedra: "In an email obtained Wednesday by the Register, Department of Justice attorney Christopher Cheng is quoted telling County of Orange lawyer Nicole Sims that he is “keeping an eye” on repeated allegations that local prosecutors and investigators are illegally using informants held in jails run by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department."
"The email, sent by Sims’ boss, Leon Page, to county supervisors as a recap of the July 16 conversation, also shows that federal officials are monitoring how the county plans to rebuild a civilian office that oversees the Sheriff’s Department."
"Federal civil rights officials have been investigating Orange County’s jail system since December 2008, after an inmate was killed by other prisoners while a nearby guard watched “Cops” on television."
And now that we're at Friday, it's time to pose the question, "Who had a really bad week?" There are lots of possibilities for #WorstWeekinCA, but surely the citrus growers are near the top of the list. Battered by drought, the cost of producing crops has increased exponentially but the return to the farmer is flat.
"Zack Stuller is a grower in Exeter. He says he hasn't received water from the Central Valley Water Project in two years," reported Capitol Public Radio.
"He has spent $2,000 per acre-foot for water from distant agencies and $70,000 to dig a well for six-acres of lemons. "For the amount of acres that's there, doesn't pencil. But, I'm not going down without a fight. I'm gonna keep my trees alive."
"Think of a citrus tree as running a marathon. It runs all year and you're giving it the water that it needs. But, if we don't have any water next year or if we don't give it the amount of water that it truly needs, it might produce a good crop that we're gonna get a price for this year. Next year, that poor tree isn't going to produce."
How long can he hang on?