As if California Democrats didn't have enough to fight over, now the tensions of race and ethnicity are showing up in key contests.
The Bee's Jim Miller and Jeremy B. White tell the tale: "The racial and ethnic overtones of politics in California, the country’s most diverse state, surfaced again last week. Two Democratic Assembly incumbents, Mike Gipson and Cheryl Brown, both of whom are black, are facing challenges from Latina opponents within their own party."
"The challenges to Brown and Gipson are motivated by their stances on environmental legislation, not race. But the prospect of unseating two black incumbents, with African Americans’ share of the state’s population dwindling, stirred concern."
"One African American legislator, Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles, accused interests backing the challengers of being “tone-deaf” and questioned their willingness to “work with black California.”
Legal advisers to the state's political watchdog say the disclosure rules involving lobbyists need to be toughened and tightened in order to let the public know how spending affects legislation.
From the LAT's Patrick McGreevy: "In a report to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, attorneys for the panel are proposing sweeping new requirements aimed at shedding light on how lobbying firms are spending tens of millions of dollars annually in Sacramento."
"Without additional disclosure, the public cannot determine how interest groups spend money to influence state legislation and agency action," wrote general counsel Hyla Wagner and senior council Emelyn Rodriguez."
"Currently, companies that hire lobbyists must report the amount they pay the advocates, but other spending to influence government officials can be lumped together under a category, "other payments to influence," without any explanation."
The rains courtesy of El Niño are welcome indeed -- especially for those hoping to replenish California's depleted groundwater supplies.
From the Chronicle's Peter Fimrite: "But as El Niño asserts itself, Desatoff has what at first glance seems like a head-scratching plan for the wet weather. Instead of steering Sierra flows through ditches and canals to crops like oranges, grapes and almonds, Desatoff plans to move water onto bare earth — in this case, a neatly graded 60-acre bowl of sand 15 miles east of Fresno."
"Bucking the belief that dams are the only way to capture water, the irrigation district lets the precious liquid soak in at percolation sites so it stores in the ground. The agency introduced these “recharge ponds” to the region in the 1920s, and today is leading a popular charge."
"This winter, dozens of water agencies across the state are counting on a drenching El Niño to produce surplus water to stash in the earth and make up for what’s been pumped out at unprecedented rates due to the recent absence of surface supplies."
Speaking of El Niño, the rains may be falling -- for now -- but the state has plans to continue the tough water conservation rules
From the LA Daily News' Steve Scauzillo: "The state is preparing for a fifth year of drought — with or without El Niño storms — as evidenced by the release Friday afternoon of its next set of mandatory water conservation regulations."
"California’s urban water users will be squeezed further with additional emergency water-saving regulations that could extend until Oct. 31 depending on the extent of winter precipitation, mountain snowpack and water levels in the state’s reservoirs, according to the State Water Resources Control Board."
“The recent rain and snow are an extremely welcome start, however we’ve got to keep conserving, El Niño or not,” said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the state water board. “We don’t know if the next two months will bring us the considerable rain and snow that we need to make a dent in this drought. Even with promising Las Vegas odds, we are not going to bet on the weather.”
That gas leak at Porter Ranch not only stinks, it's dangerous. Authorities are holding off doing the cleanup until they're sure they don't have to worry about a surprise blast.
From the LAT's Tony Barboza, Garrett Therolf and Jack Dolan: "The possibility of a catastrophic explosion prompted state regulators Saturday to delay plans to capture and burn leaking natural gas that has sickened and displaced thousands of residents of Porter Ranch."
"Mohsen Nazemi, deputy executive officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, whose hearing board was expected to approve the plan at a public meeting in Granada Hills, acknowledged the proposal was “very unusual” and that the idea is now on hold until local fire officials and state and federal regulators, have signed off on it."
"For almost three months, a damaged well at Southern California Gas Co.’s Aliso Canyon reservoir has been spewing noxious fumes and foul odors into nearby communities, raising health concerns. After several failed attempts to plug the well to the underground gas storage reservoir, the company is drilling a relief well to seal off the leak 8,500 feet beneath the surface."
Finally, from our "Everybody Out of the Water" file comes word of the shark found in a Florida swimming pool. This is just the latest in a long series of episodes confirming that Florida really is an awful place.
"The five-foot black tip shark was found in the Mariner's Cay condominium pool in Lake Worth and removed by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers according to a Sun-Sentinel report."
"The woman also reported seeing two men running from the scene at the time of her discovery and an FWC officer contacted management after noticing surveillance camera's in the area."
"This incident is the focus of an ongoing and active investigation," FWC spokesperson Rob Klepper told Patch."
Lucky it wasn't a Great White ...
