Prepare yourself for a rare weekend downpour.
Julia Prodis Sulek reporting in the Mercury News: "In a state beset by drought, poor air quality and winter wildfires, the welcome weather forecast calls for 2 inches of rain on the valley floor and 4 to 5 inches in the mountains by Monday. Much more is needed, however, to alleviate a drought emergency gripping the Golden State."
"We need a lot more, several series of storms to catch up," said Marty Grimes, spokesman for the Santa Clara Valley Water District, where reservoirs are at extremely low levels and rainfall is at 21 percent of normal for the season."
Republicans in the House yesterday were successful in passing legislation to relieve California's troubled farmers by circumventing environmental protections.
Mike Gardener reports in UT-San Diego: "That measure, however, appears to have little chance of becoming law. The Senate has routinely blocked similar attempts and President Barack Obama has already promised a veto should it reach his desk."
"Meanwhile, California Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin again warned that rationing may be on the way if drought-busting storms fail to materialize in the waning weeks of winter."
“We may quickly get to the point that we’re asking all Californians to take mandatory cuts in their water supplies,” Cowin said."
Almond lovers rejoice: Brown's $25 billion Bay Delta Conservation Plan appears to be written with nut growers in mind.
Joaquin Palomino's long read in the East Bay Express: "Many growers in the western San Joaquin Valley will have to make similarly tough decisions in the coming months, and Westlands, which is one of the most politically powerful agencies in the state, is revving up its PR machine to rally support for struggling farmers."
"But many environmentalists have little sympathy for the Westlands almond growers. They note that if farmers hadn't zealously planted water-intensive crops in the desert, they wouldn't be in such a tight bind. "One of my associates referred to it as the 'Westlands death march,'" said Tom Stokely, a longtime water activist and member of the environmental group California Water Impact Network. "While Westlands is pursuing water and growing crops, in the long run it can't be sustained."
"Since climate change could make droughts — even ones as severe as this year's — much more common, some water policy experts have also suggested taking huge swaths of farmland in the western San Joaquin Valley out of production permanently. This would conserve water, benefit the environment, and save taxpayers millions of dollars."
"But Westlands growers aren't ready to give up their almonds. Instead, they're banking on Governor Jerry Brown's $25 billion water project, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), to keep them afloat. While the plan, which includes building two giant water tunnels to ship water south to Westlands and Southern California, espouses the goals of repairing the delta's impaired ecosystem and ensuring a more reliable water supply for California, its primary objective is maintaining agriculture — and almonds — in an area that gets very little rain."
California's looming pension crisis is an up to bat issue for state officials. Gov. Jerry Brown yesterday heeded the state's largest public pension provider of retirees' longer life expectancies
Fenit Nirappil reporting for the Associated Press: "In a letter sent to the board of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, he urged members to acknowledge the demographic changes immediately and phase in the costs over three years rather than waiting two years, as CalPERS' staff recommends."
"No one likes to pay more for pensions, but ignoring their true costs for two more years will only burden the system and cost more in the long run," Brown wrote."
A possible contender to Brown's relection bid announced he's raking in campaign contributions.
Josh Richman in Political Blotter: "Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari announced Wednesday he has raised $976,000 in the first two weeks of his campaign, and said there will be a lot more coming soon."
"Practically none of that sum had been reported to the Secretary of State’s office by Wednesday afternoon, so it was not yet possible to assess from whom or how many the contributions came."
"But if the figure is accurate – and it’s hard to imagine a candidate who would lie about such a thing, knowing it’ll all have to be reported in detail – it confirms suspicions that Kaskhari, 40, of Laguna Beach, is the man for whom the GOP’s deep pockets have been waiting."
Speaking of elections, we now know Sandra Fluke won't be vying for Rep. Henry Waxman's seat, and Wendy Greuel is breathing a sigh of relief.
Sean Sullivan for the Washington Post: "Fluke's national profile would have made her an intriguing candidate for a number of prominent women's groups, potentially putting them in a tough spot: Who to back? An established candidate with deep ties to the community of women's organizations (Greuel) or a rising star with celebrity status and the potential to draw widespread attention to issues and potentially raise lots of money (Fluke)?"
Approaching months will be full of deal brokering between the state's parties. Oh, did you forget we have two parties? Sometimes the Democrats do too.
Jim Miller reports in the Sac Bee: "For Republicans, the proposed change in the budget reserve proposal is the latest in what they contend is a string of recent Capitol agreements undone by Democrats. Republicans accuse Democrats of eroding a Capitol word-is-your-bond tradition on issues ranging from welfare to water."
“The public wants us to work together to get things done. But when a deal is not a deal, it strikes at the very fundamental premise that you can trust those you’re negotiating with,” said Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff of Diamond Bar."
The country's eighth-largest city is getting national spotlight for its mayoral race.
Alexander Burn in Politico: "A race that looked at first like it might be dominated by the ugliness of Filner’s fall has instead become a contrast of big-picture themes, between a youthful Democrat stumping on inequality and inclusion and a more seasoned Republican emphasizing moderation and competence with the government ledger. The mayor’s post would be a national prize for either political party: Alvarez would join a vanguard of unabashedly liberal Democratic mayors elected over the past year, while Kevin Faulconer would be the only Republican mayor of a top-10 U.S. city."
Blame it on the polar vortex: 38 years later, this Michigan prison escapee was tracked down in San Diego.
Tony Perry in the L.A. Times: "When she was convicted of larceny in 1976, Hayman already had convictions for disorderly conduct, drug use and theft. She was sentenced to 16 to 24 months at the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti, Mich."
"She escaped after 10 months, probably by walking away from the unfenced facility, authorities said."
"Her capture might be attributed to the snowstorms that have gripped Michigan and much of the country. Unable to do street-level investigations, an officer in the Department of Corrections apprehensions unit selected the records of about 40 escapees from the 1960s and 1970s."
