Money talks: That $3.6 million that Cal Fire hid from the state budget went for a variety of purposes -- including $33,000 for a conference at a Pismo Beach resort.
From the Bee's Kevin Yamamura: "A California fire account hidden from state lawmakers paid for $22,000 in metal detectors,$30,000 in GPS units – and $33,000 for a conference at a Pismo Beach resort, according to a spreadsheet released Tuesday showing expenses dating back to 2011."
"Since 2005, the state Department of Forestry andFire Protection directed a share of high-dollar wildfire settlements to an off-budget fund managed by the California District Attorneys Association, the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal reported Friday."
"Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott told The Bee on Tuesday he never knew the $3.66 million fund was cloaked from state leaders and the Department of Finance. Cal Fire froze the account last year and scheduled it for dissolution in February at the request of the prosecutors' group."
The new engagment and active role of young voters is getting a lot of attention lately, but things aren't exactly what they seem. The youth electorate isn't that engaged, after all.
From Capitol Weekly's Amy Wong: "The lack of engagement is a critical factor in dampening both parties’ new registrants. And that is unpleasant news for get-out-the-vote pros in both the Democratic and Republican parties."
"The “younger registrants are identifying less with each of the state’s two major parties, registering as No Party Preference (NPP) in large numbers. At 38.5% Democratic, 18-24 year-olds are the only age cohort below 40% Democrat. 18-24 and 25-34 year-olds hold significantly higher NPP registration than Republican registration— at 29.6% and 28.1%, respectively. Youth hold nearly double the Other Party registrants compared to the general registered population.”
“The rising youth electorate in California may not mean future growth in Democratic party registration rolls. If current trends continue, a younger electorate will mean even smaller percentages of both registered Democrats and Republicans— an accelerated decline in identification with the state’s two major parties,” the report noted."
Taking guns away from people who have them unlawfully isn't easy to do -- law enforcement people say it will take time and money.
From the Chronicle's Wyatt Buchanan: "Nearly 20,000 registered gun owners in California are ineligible to have guns yet still do, and it could take three years and $25 million for authorities to confiscate the weapons, law enforcement officials told a legislative committee Tuesday."
"The registered gun owners lost their legal rights to keep the weapons due to felony convictions, domestic violence actions, mental health conditions or addiction to narcotic drugs, among other reasons. California Department of Justice officials have listed 19,784 such gun owners in an "armed prohibited persons system" and say they own nearly 39,000 handguns and more than 1,600 assault weapons. (Assault weapons are banned in California, but people who purchased them before the ban can have them legally.)"
"But while California is the only state in the country that has a system to cross-check registered gun owners with offenses that result in a prohibition on ownership, it does not have the manpower to keep up with the rapidly expanding list, which grows by about 3,000 people per year, according to Stephen Lindley, chief of the bureau of firearms within the state Department of Justice."
The wet season started with a bang, but as February closes in, that snowpack in the Sierra -- the core of California's water supply -- is dwindling.
From Paul Rogers of the Mercury-News: "When it comes to rain and snow in California, this winter began with great promise. But hopes for a bountiful year appear to be evaporating."
"The Sierra Nevada snowpack is at 93 percent of the historical average for the end of January, according to the state Department of Water Resources survey completed Tuesday afternoon. That's not bad -- but a month ago it was 140 percent."
"What happened? Huge storms in early December dumped lots of snow across the Sierra, and rain filled reservoirs all over the state. There has been almost no rain and snow in January. "It's not looking nearly as rosy as it did on Jan. 1," said Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program with the Department of Water Resources."
Meanwhile, a panel of federal judges gave California six more months to cut its prison overcrowding.
From the LAT's Paige St. John: "The U.S. District Courts' order that moves the deadline from June to December also demands California divulge whether it intends to file a motion to cease federal oversight of its prison healthcare system."
"The state in early January filed such an action to end oversight of the care given to mentally ill inmates, and Gov. Jerry Brown had vowed to seek a similar end to healthcare oversight as well. In the meantime, the judges put California’s motion to dismiss prison population caps altogether on hold."
"Last week, one of those judges also ordered the state to produce details of its plans to return some 9,000 prisoners now housed in private prisons out of state, and to tell the court where it intends to house them."
