Now here's good news: The Sierra snowpack, the crucial indicator of California's water supplies, is above average for the first time in years! That sound you hear in the background is the Hallelujah chorus.
From the LAT's Bettina Boxall, Frank Shyong and Joseph Serna: "A series of powerful snowstorms in the Sierra Nevada has resulted in a small milestone in drought-stricken California: The snowpack is now higher than average for this time of year."
"The storms, which are likely to continue into Friday, have fattened the mountain snowpack to levels California hasn't seen for two years, said Steve Nemeth, water supply forecaster for the state Department of Water Resources."
"The announcement was welcome news to a state that has struggled with extremely dry conditions for more than four years. However, experts were quick to point out that California's drought is far from over. Statewide, the snowpack is 111% of average for the date. In the northern Sierra, it is 116% of the norm; in the central Sierra, 121% of average and in the southern Sierra, 85% of the norm."
Parched locales already are feeling some joy -- including Lake Tahoe. Okay, so the drought's not over. But it's a start.
The Chronicle's Evan Sernoffsky tells the tale: "More than 6 billion gallons of water have poured into Lake Tahoe in less than two days, helping the lake begin to recover from four years of crushing drought."
"Since midnight Monday, the lake has gone up 1.92 inches, the equivalent of 6.39 billion gallons of water."
"The water comes as a winter storm slams the Sierra, bringing several feet of snow to higher elevations and rain at lake level, which sits at roughly 6,223 feet."
When Assemblyman Henry Perea, the Fresno legislator who built a power base as a leader of the business-friendly Democrats, abruptly announced his resignation, people wondered what he was going to do. Now we know: He's heading to the drug industry.
From the Bee's Jeremy White: "Now Perea will be working for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America on political advocacy in California, Arizona and Nevada. Influence law prohibits him from directly lobbying California lawmakers, but Perea said in an interview he hopes to offer “strategic advice to the team as they deal with issues that come up throughout the year.”
“They do a lot of great work surrounding bringing cures to patients, and it’s an organization I’m excited about joining,” Perea said. “I think PhRMA plays a big role in healthcare and I look forward to helping shape that in the future.”
"Perea’s new employer spent around $428,000 on lobbying in California during the first three quarters of 2015, according to official disclosures. In 2013 to 2014 Perea raised nearly $50,000 from pharmaceutical industry donors."
For those who like volunteering for committees, here's a possibility: The secretary of state's advisory committee on elections.
From Mary Plummer at KPCC: "The California Secretary of State's office is accepting applications from volunteers to help advise it on ways to make voting a better experience for non-English speakers and those who speak English as a second language."
"Under a new bill signed in September, the state will create the Language Accessibility Advisory Committee comprised of 15 people. The group will meet once a month in Sacramento or teleconference to address such issues as improving translations of voting materials and increasing outreach to communities where English is a second language."
"Not knowing English can be a high barrier to voting; registration can be confusing and the number of choices on the ballot can be daunting. In California, there's the added challenge of serving voters who are so diverse that state elections information is offered in 10 languages."
For decades, Associated Press reporter Doug Willis, an engineer-turned-newsie, covered California politics -- and just about everything else, too. He died last week at the age of 77.
From Capitol Weekly Editor John Howard: "You’ll like it here,” he told me. “People think they’ll stay a couple of years in Sacramento and move on, and they stay for 20 years.” He was right. He had no desire to go elsewhere in the AP system, either, and I was glad he didn’t. When AP wanted him to go to Washington, D.C., he always turned it down. “I viewed it as a threat,” he said, only half jokingly."
"Doug was an unusual mix. He was at Stanford in the engineering program, steeped in mathematics and as precisely organized as a diamond cutter."
"But when a political figure visited the campus, Doug told me he was fascinated by the reporters covering the event and by the tumult of news gathering. He wound up writing a story for the school paper. From then on, he focused on journalism and never looked back."
And from our bulging and well-thumbed "Cose Encounters" file comes the story of a mysterious object whizzing through the night skies of California and Nevada.
"Dazzled by the sight, witnesses promptly took to Twitter to opine over its source. Was it a shooting star? A missile? A UFO?..."
"Some speculated that the light might be a shooting star from the Geminid meteor shower, which began on Dec. 4. However, the Geminid shower was expected to peak around Dec. 13 and end on the 17th."
"Several aviation and weather officials said the light was not an aircraft, BuzzFeed reported. Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, told the news outlet that he had “no idea” what the object was. McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas also confirmed that it was “not a plane.”
It wasn't a bird, either...