The recent storms have provided drought relief to half of California, but salmon fishing still has a way to go before it recovers.
Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW: "California salmon anglers are looking at another bleak fishing season, despite the remarkably wet winter – a lingering impact from the state’s five-year drought."
"This week, state and federal fisheries regulators released their estimates for the numbers of adult fall-run Chinook salmon swimming off California’s coast. The news was even more grim than the drought-weakened numbers of fish last year."
"An estimated 54,200 adult fall-run Chinook salmon reared in the Klamath River are swimming off the Pacific Coast – among the lowest number on record and down from 142,000 in 2016. Of the adult fish reared in the Sacramento River and its tributaries, biologists estimate there are 230,700 in the Pacific Ocean – 70,000 fewer than last year."
READ MORE related to Environment: Researchers study effects of rainfall on earthquakes in CA -- Daily Californian's SHAYANN HENDRICKS; Los Angeles County billionaire gives $5 million to San Jose flood victims relief fund -- L.A. Times' JOSEPH SERNA; What Amazon's green energy initiative means for Inland Empire fulfillment centers -- The Press-Enterprise's FIELDING BUCK; Review: 'Water & Power: A California Heist,' with citizens in the crossfire -- N.Y. Times' JEANNETTE CATSOULIS; 'Spoil sites' for Oroville Dam spillway debris, Hyatt Powerplant starting up soon -- Chico Enterprise-Record's DAN REIDEL; LAFCo moves forward with study of Oroville's water bills -- Chico Enterprise-Record's RISA JOHNSON; Sunny days dwindling in the north valley -- Chico Enterprise-Record's STAFF
Two youngsters have been cited for vandalism that destroyed equipment and clothes used for special needs students.
Sacramento Bee's LORETTA KALB: "Two boys, ages 11 and 13, have been cited in a vandalism spree at a Sacramento County school for disabled adults that left feces and wheelchairs in the swimming pool, as well as flame retardant all over clothes that serve as a lifeline for students."
"The episode at Laurel Ruff Transition School occurred around 6:30 p.m. Feb. 22 during a weeklong break in classes. Sacramento County sheriff’s officials said witnesses reported seeing two boys on the roof and banging on doors some time before an alarm sounded."
"The Sheriff’s Department issued a news release Thursday evening announcing that detectives had identified the two boys. The youths were cited for burglary and vandalism and released to their parents, the news release said. Their names have not been released because they are juveniles."
READ MORE related to Education: Records reveal discipline inconsistencies in UC sex harassment -- The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV/JILL TUCKER; New El Camino Real principal aims to build trust after shake-up over school spending -- Daily News' BRENDA GAZZAR; Campus announces restriction of public access to educational content -- Daily Californian's REVATI THATTE; State to leave college, career readiness metric off upcoming school and district report cards -- EdSource's FERMIN LEAL; California policymakers must pay more attention to infants and toddlers, advocates say -- EdSource's ASHLEY HOPKINSON
Disgraced ex-Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva continues to find himself in a legal stranglehold.
Sacramento Bee's CATHY LOCKE: "Former Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva’s legal troubles continued Thursday as the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office executed search warrants at his home and the Stockton Kids Club."
"Tim Daly, a spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office, confirmed the searches but said he could not discuss what investigators were seeking. Daly said an arrest warrant also had been issued for Silva, but he declined to say what the charges are."
"Silva’s attorney Mark Reichel said Silva is out of the county on vacation. Reichel said investigators were searching for financial documents related to the Stockton Kids Club. He said he did not know what the charges are against his client."
READ MORE related to Local: Councilman Paul Koretz fights for a third term on L.A.'s Westside -- L.A. Times' DAVID ZAHNISER; New polling place found after fire damages Mormon church in Van Nuys -- Daily News' WES WOODS; PHOTOS: LA Sanitation plans to clear drainage channel and uproot homeless camp sites -- Daily News' STAFF; Former DWP employee pleads no contest to embezzling $4M in public funds -- Daily News' STAFF; Senate looks at gender inclusion on CalCentral, meets Ben Gould -- Daily Californian's SAKURA CANNESTRA
The Bullet Train continues to face stumbling blocks that emperil its future.
Sacramento Bee's DAN WALTERS: "Late Wednesday, the California High-Speed Rail Authority dispatched a report to the Legislature, crowing about progress in building a statewide bullet train system."
"It boasted of spending $2.3 billion so far on an initial 119-mile segment in the San Joaquin Valley “that will bring passenger rail service to connect the Central Valley to the Silicon Valley by 2025."
"The report implies that the bullet train, a high priority legacy project for Gov. Jerry Brown, is on a fast track to completion."
READ MORE related to Transportation: Gov. Brown asks Trump to reverse course and let California have rail funds -- L.A. Times' RALPH VARTABEDIAN
A Department of Health Care Services executive is under scrutiny after a recent audit revealed that certain businesses practices may have violated anti-discrimination laws.
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "An executive at the Department of Health Care Services kept a “do not hire” list for almost two years that may have run afoul of anti-discrimination laws, according to an audit disclosing recent improper activities by state workers."
"The health care executive appeared to be the highest-ranking state worker to be investigated in State Auditor Elaine Howle’s latest report on public employee misconduct."
"Other examples included a parole agent who misused a state vehicle for her personal commute, a Caltrans analyst who spent about seven hours a week taking smoke and lunch breaks, and a university librarian who perused websites related to online video games for about 85 hours at work in a 13-month period. The audit does not name the individuals involved."
The California Supreme Court has just ruled that state employees may no longer circumvent network transparency by utilizing personal or private devices.
Sacramento Bee's CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO/RYAN LILLIS: "State and local government officials can no longer shield from scrutiny their communications about public business by using private phones and accounts, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday, handing a major victory to media and transparency advocates."
"The state’s high court issued a unanimous decision, saying the public has the right to view messages about government business conducted in that fashion."
"A city employee’s communications related to the conduct of public business do not cease to be public records just because they were sent or received using a personal account,” Justice Carol Corrigan wrote in the ruling. “Sound public policy supports this result."
READ MORE related to Policy: Public officials can't shield government business by using personal email, state Supreme Court rules -- L.A. Times' MAURA DOLAN; Court says California officials' private texts and emails are public records -- AP's SUDHIN THANAWALA
A Seattle-based startup in its infancy is working to connect fork-to-farm consumers with a direct line to the pasture.
Sacramento Bee's CATHIE ANDERSON: "If you’ve tried but failed to go whole hog, you might want to settle for splitting a cow. The folks at Crowd Cow will let you team up with others and buy one."
"This 2-year-old Seattle-based startup operates like crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, except that instead of finding backers to fund projects, these entrepreneurs find beef lovers who want to go in on a cow together and have pre-selected cuts of meat delivered to their door. Crowd Cow recently invited a fourth-generation Oregon House rancher to join their list of beef suppliers: Carrie Richards of the Richards Grassfed Beef."
“We are a grass-fed beef company, and we sell wholesale right now,” Richards said. “But we get a lot of family and friends who want to buy steaks or 10 pounds of ground beef but not an entire animal. If we sell to Crowd Cow, we could sell them the entire animal, and they would be able to cut it up into smaller portions (for customers)."
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Revelations of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' pre-confirmation contact with the Kremlin has forced him to recuse himself from the followup investigation by the feds.
Sacramento Bee's GREG HADLEY/TERESA WELSH: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced he will recuse himself from a federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, while defending his contacts with the Russian ambassador during the election as proper."
"I should not be involved in investigating a campaign in which I had a role in,” Sessions said in a press conference Thursday."
"Still, Sessions denied any wrongdoing and disputed assertions that he spoke with the Russian ambassador about the campaign."
READ MORE related to Beltway: Trump business associate led double life as FBI informant -- and more, he says -- L.A. Times' JOSEPH TANFANI/DAVID S. CLOUD
A former sheriff's official has testified that Lee Baca was actually aware of plans to obstruct the FBI's investigation into misconduct at the Sacramento County Jail.
L.A. Times' JOEL RUBIN: "Despite his claims of ignorance, former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was deeply involved in efforts to interfere with FBI agents as they investigated abuses in county jails, a retired sheriff’s official testified Thursday."
"William “Tom” Carey, a former Sheriff’s Department captain who has admitted to playing a central role in the scheme to obstruct the FBI, told jurors that he personally updated the sheriff on the efforts to thwart the federal investigation and that Baca attended several crucial meetings to discuss how to handle the crisis."
"Speaking in a sober monotone during several hours of testimony, Carey, 58, was a potentially powerful addition for government prosecutors as they try a second time to convict Baca."
READ MORE related to Public Safety: California Today: Hefty paychecks for police officers and firefighters -- N.Y. Times' MIKE MCPHATE; Retired captain disputes ex-Sheriff Lee Baca over charges of hiding FBI informant -- Daily News' SUSAN ABRAM; Thousands attend public viewing of casket of Whittier Police Officer Keith Boyer -- Daily News' SANDRA MOLINA
L.A. County's Mexican consul urges concerned immigrants to remain cautiously calm.
Daily News' GRACE WYLER: "It’s been a busy month for Carlos García de Alba — perhaps the busiest in his 30-year career in the Mexican diplomatic corps."
"As the Mexican consul general in Los Angeles, García de Alba is at the front lines of his country’s response to President Donald Trump’s new immigration policies, overseeing the largest Mexican consulate in the United States as well as a regional consular network responsible for an estimated 2.3 million Mexican citizens living in Southern California."
"Like other Mexican consulates across the country — including in Santa Ana and San Bernardino — the L.A. outpost has been flooded with calls and visits since Trump’s inauguration. Mexican citizens are scrambling to renew passports, register their children for citizenship, and get legal advice in preparation for what their government has called the “new reality” of living as a foreigner in the United States."
READ MORE related to Immigration: 'Illegal' spray-painted on Latino man's van in Long Beach -- The Press-Telegram's JEREMIAH DOBRUCK; Some citizens rally to protect undocumented immigrants -- Chico Enterprise-Record's ASHIAH SCHARAGA/DANI ANGUIANO
A Simi Valley hospital's $41M expansion project has nearly doubled the institution's capacity and efficacy.
Daily News' GREGORY J. WILCOX: "Simi Valley Hospital on Thursday celebrated the opening of the Thakkar Family Emergency Pavilion, a $41 million expansion project."
"The largest element of the project is the emergency pavilion. It adds 5,500 square feet to the existing Emergency Department and increases the number of patient rooms from 10 to 18. The department also has a two-bay triage area, a family room and a paramedic radio room."
"It is named for the hospital’s husband-and-wife medical team of Dr. Kant Thakkar and Dr. Irma Harriman, who donated $1 million to kick off the fundraising effort for the ER expansion project."
READ MORE related to Health: Stem cell: Knee arthritis in new $33 million research plan -- DAVID JENSEN in Capitol Weekly; A California fight for universal health care -- Capitol Weekly's LISA RENNER; ASUC organizes menstrual product drive for Berkeley community -- Daily Californian's MICHELLE PERALES; Syphilis among California newborns spikes amid broader STD epidemic -- California Healthline's ANNA GORMAN; State fires contractor after problems put HIV patients at risk -- California Healthline's ANNA GORMAN
