In the state's never-ending water wars, Southern California plans to purchase land in the vast delta east of San Francisco.
From the Bee's Dale Kasler and Ryan Sabalow: "In a controversial move that could shake up California’s water community, Southern California’s most powerful water agency moved a giant step closer Tuesday to purchasing a cluster of islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta."
"Following months of negotiations, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s board of directors authorized its general manager to enter into a contract to buy the islands from the owner, Delta Wetlands Properties, a company controlled by Swiss conglomerate Zurich Insurance Group."
"Metropolitan delivers water wholesale to 19 million people through 26 agencies. The board’s vote, with 54 percent of its member agencies approving under Metropolitan’s weighted voting system, immediately set off alarm bells in the Delta and elsewhere in Northern California."
Speaking of shaking things up, California may legalize cannabis for recreational use on November's ballot, according to early projections that show a near-60% voter approval rating for the proposition.
From Brooke Edwards in the OC Register: "There are increasing signs that 2016 might just be the year the largest state in the nation legalizes recreational marijuana."
"Polls have shown from 56 percent to 60 percent of California’s likely voters in the November presidential contest support legal pot. And due in part to hefty financial backing from a Silicon Valley billionaire, the leading pro-marijuana measure – the Adult Use of Marijuana Act – has gotten off to one of the strongest starts among dozens of proposed initiatives on different topics being pitched for the Nov. 8 ballot."
“We believe that AUMA has a very strong chance of passing in 2016,” said Chris Beals, chief strategy officer for Irvine-based Weedmaps, which has donated $500,000 to the campaign. “While there is still much work to be done to further educate voters on the issue, support for ending prohibition is strong in California.”
Communities facing health hazards from air pollution will see new representation as the state Senate Leader proposes to change the Air Quality Board by adding 3 new members in an effort to lead the state back to more environment-friendly practices.
LAT's Tony Barboza reports: "The leader of the state Senate said Tuesday that he will push to reverse efforts by the Southern California air quality board to adopt pollution rules friendlier to industry, saying swift action is needed to prevent a rollback of environmental gains."
"State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) said he will introduce legislation to add three new members to the South Coast Air Quality Management District board — one public health expert and two environmental justice members — to represent communities suffering from pollution."
"The move comes days after the South Coast air board's new Republican majority voted to fire longtime executive officer Barry Wallerstein and to reaffirm the panel's recent adoption of oil industry-backed emissions rules on refineries and other major pollution sources."
Full steam ahead; high-speed rail gets a decisive victory after a judge ruled that claims made by the plan's detractors had no merit.
Fresno Bee's Tim Sheehan reports: "In a major setback to foes of the California high-speed rail project, a Sacramento judge rejected claims by opponents in Kings County that plans for the bullet train system violate state law."
"The ruling by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny is a blow to efforts to stop the project and boosts California’s $64 billion plan to develop a system of high-speed electric trains to ultimately connect Los Angeles and San Francisco, by way of Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley. But Kenny’s ruling still could be appealed to a state appellate court."
"Kenny, who heard oral arguments from attorneys Feb. 11, issued the ruling late Friday, but the court didn’t release it to the public until Tuesday morning."
It's no Netflix, but the California Supreme Court's in-session online streaming feature will be fully fleshed out and ready sometime 'soon.'
The AP's Jonathon J. Cooper writes: "The California Supreme Court will begin streaming oral arguments online."
"Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye (TAN'-ee KAN'-teel sah-kah-OOH'-ay) announced the change Tuesday in her annual "state of the judiciary" address to a California lawmakers."
"A court spokesman says officials plan to begin streaming San Francisco arguments in May, but Los Angeles sessions will come later because of technological limitations."
In other news, the FBI isn't only facing legal pressure from Apple: Federal agents also are under investigation for alleged misconduct in the shooting-death of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum during the recent Oregon siege. .
From NPR's Laura Wagner: "At a news conference Monday, authorities said Oregon State Police's fatal shooting of one of the occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, was "justified." But now the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General is investigating possible misconduct by members of the FBI team involved in the operation."
"At the news conference, authorities from two Oregon counties who led the local investigation into the shooting alleged that the FBI agents failed to disclose as many as two shots they fired at Finicum, NPR's Kirk Siegler reports. They confirmed that neither of those shots hit Finicum, but the revelation was enough to prompt the federal government to launch an internal review."
