For only the second time in California's history, California's congressional delegation will not grow during the next decade, according to the latest U.S. Census figures.
From the L.A. Times' Seema Mehta: "As it has since the last reapportionment 10 years ago, the state will continue to have 53 members in the U.S. House of Representatives."
"California’s delegation did not lose or gain seats because its population grew at roughly the same rate as the rest of the nation. The state grew 10% between 2000 and 2010 to nearly 37.3 million residents. Nationwide, the country grew 9.7% to 308.7 million residents, the smallest rate of growth since the Great Depression."
So much for La Nina: At least so far, nothing has fallen flatter than the predictions about a dry winter. From KQED''s Climate Watch.
"But that doesn’t mean it’ll keep raining. The tap could be shut off at any time and Trenberth, for one, still thinks it'll happen. He says this is considered a “strong” La Nina and is still likely to wield influence over the winter as a whole. One clue is ocean temperatures in the central-to-eastern Pacific, which are running 2 degrees C (3.5 F) below normal. "That only occurs—probably less than 10% of the time, so it’s a relatively rare event and certainly stronger than anything we’ve seen in recent years," said Trenberth."
"Earlier in the season, Jet Propulsion Laboratory climatologist Bill Patzert told the Los Angeles Times that 82% of La Niñas since 1949 have produced below-average rainfall."
The fight over the Schwarzenegger administration's attempt to sell off state property has taken yet another twist: All seven members of the state Supreme Court have removed themselves from considering the governor's last-ditch attempt to push through the sale. The Bee's Kevin Yamamura has the story.
"They did not offer a formal reason, but it is safe to assume they did so because their court is housed in the San Francisco Civic Center, one of the buildings up for sale."
"Because the Supreme Court justices recused themselves, the state will call upon seven appellate court judges to serve in their place, according to Judicial Council spokeswoman Lynn Holton. To select them, the Supreme Court will go down an alphabetical list of judges. That could happen as soon as this week."
Meanwhile, Jerry Brown, who slept on a mattress on the floor during his first stint as governor, has rented an industrial-chic apartment above a restaurant near Capitol Park.
From the Times' Shane Goldmacher: "Their new residence is at the intersection of two busy thoroughfares in the heart of what passes for a hip downtown. There's a sushi spot downstairs and a fancified burger joint down the block that offers Mac-N-Cheese as a topping."
"It's still a very modest residence for the governor"
of the nation's most populous state, said Mark Friedman,
one of the building's developers. Neighbors seemed pleased by the addition of the Browns,
no matter the coming inconveniences of stepped-up security and media interest."
Capitol Weekly's Malcolm Maclachlan looks at the unusual case of an Indian tribe suing the Internal Revenue Service over taxes.
"The group operates 2,000 slot machines at a casino in Santa Ynez, about 125 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Unlike many lawsuits and disputes around tribes and taxes in recent years — such as disagreements on the collection of sales tax on reservations or state income taxes of casino revenues — the Santa Ynez Tribe is making no claims about the agency’s right to tax them."
“Congress has declared in its wisdom that distributions from gaming to tribal members, no matter where when or how, are subject to federal taxes,” said Glen Feldman, an attorney for the tribe with the Phoenix firm Mariscol Weeks MacIntyre and Friedlander."
And finally we look into our "Marathon Man" file to learn about the fellow in a pink tutu who ran 20 miles in the snow. Hey, it was all in a good cause.
"For every $200 donated to RSI, Jerimy Hallsten agreed to run one mile ... in a pink tutu. An anonymous donor agreed to match the first $2,500 dollars the company raised. Overall, the company raised $6,500."
"I was going to start further out east but the roads there were no sidewalks, said Hallsten. "While I trust myself, I don't necessarily trust other peoples driving abilities. I'm trying to run by as many of our programs and the homes that we have in Duluth. Now that I'm up here, I'll probably just do some loops and run by our main office up here and by the programs up here. I want to provide some humor for the people up here."
Where'd he keep the hot water bottle?....