Thanks to the recent storms, Shasta Reservoir is at a milestone high and "will be full by May."
Paul Rogers reports in the Mercury News: "Sunday's storms brought more rain to Northern California, but they also helped the state hit a key milestone in its efforts to recover from the historic four-year drought."
"Shasta Lake, the largest reservoir in California and a critical source of water for Central Valley farms and cities from the Bay Area to Bakersfield, reached 100 percent of its historic average Sunday as billions of gallons continued to pour in from drenching downpours."
"The 21-mile-long reservoir, north of Redding, holds enough water when full for the needs of 23 million people for a year. Three months ago, on Dec. 8, it was just 29 percent full. On Sunday, it hit 77 percent full -- and 101 percent of the historic average for mid-March -- the first time it has reached that "normal" milestone in three years."
So-called "secret lobbyists" face ousting as regulators consider reworking the role of 'expert' at the Capitol.
AP's Alison Noon reports: "California regulators are considering a plan to curb secret lobbying at the state Capitol."
"The Fair Political Practices Commission plans to vote Thursday on narrowing a regulation that allows people to avoid identifying themselves as lobbyists by attending Capitol meetings as experts. They comply with current rules by working alongside lobbyists who are properly registered."
"The regulation has faced scrutiny as a way for former legislators and officials to skirt state rules requiring they wait a year after leaving office to lobby their former colleagues."
Although still off in the distance, California's next gubernatorial election in 2018 has many wondering, 'who's next?'
LAT's Phil Willon writes: "Welcome to your guide to the 2018 California governor’s race. The election may be far away, but listening tours are already underway, political consultants are doling out advice and pundits are handicapping favorites and wildcards."
meanwhile, a woman remembers her birth and life throughout the past century, and all the transitions in Yosemite that occured in between.
Alice Daniel writes in KQED: "Helen Coats stands at her kitchen sink, letting it fill with water for the breakfast dishes. “On with the chores,” says the 88-year-old. “I’m always doing something around the house when I have time.”
"Outside her window, she notices a Subaru wagon pulling up her driveway. Her daughter’s dog starts barking."
"“Oh, it’s Seventh-day Adventists, I mean Jehovah’s Witnesses. They’re coming to preach,” she says, as she opens the door leading to her screened-in front porch."
Lawmakers eyeball tobacco policy in California amid rising health concerns about e-cigarettes and the younger population.
LAT's George Skelton reports: "State Sen. Jeff Stone remembers vividly where he was when he heard that pop singer Nat King Cole had died."
"He was on the Santa Ana Freeway in the back seat of his mother’s car, headed from Anaheim to Los Angeles to visit his grandparents. It was Feb. 15, 1965, and he was 9."
“I was alarmed that Nat King Cole had died of cancer from smoking,” the Temecula Republican remembers."
Government transparency gets analyzed as 'carve-outs' from public records laws omits politicians from having to submit inter-legislative records.
Johnathon J. Cooper reports for The AP: "Californians are entitled to view a wide variety of emails, memos and other records created by their state and local governments. Ask to see who your state lawmaker is emailing, however, and they'll get a two-page canned response that says, in essence, "no way."
"Access to public records is considered paramount to maintaining trust in government holding politicians accountable. But California lawmakers wrote themselves out of the 1968 Public Records Act that requires other government officials to release their records when the public asks."
"Lawmakers instead apply their own, less transparent law."