Wildfires in San Diego County have displaced thousands.
Marty Graham reports for Reuters: “California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency to free up resources.”
“A blaze in San Marcos that erupted on Wednesday prompted officials to issue evacuation notices for thousands of residents and students at a California State University campus.”
Gov. Jerry Brown admits he wasn’t entirely accurate in saying Los Angeles International Airport is vulnerable to seawater rising.
Dan Weikel reports in the Los Angeles Times: ““The governor misspoke about LAX,” said Evan Westrup, a spokesman for the Brown administration.”
“Environmental officials for Los Angeles World Airports, the operator of LAX, said the airport has an elevation of more than 120 feet. “A 4-foot rise in sea level,” they said, “should have minimal impact on airport operations.”
Following more than 24 hours since the release of Brown’s revised budget, Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg says he’ll fight to restore social services the administration left out.
Melody Gutierrez reports in The San Francisco Chronicle: “And the termed-out Democratic Senator made it clear he isn’t above using the embattled High Speed Rail as leverage.”
“We have more than lifted to meet the governor’s agenda and his top priority items,” Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said. “It’s time that he do a little lifting as well to help meet our priorities.”
Alameda County officials also called on the governor for a restoration in social services to maintain economic growth and reduce poverty.
Carolyn Jones reports in The San Francisco Chronicle: “California has 8.7 million people - about 24 percent of the state population - living in poverty, according to the census. That's the highest percentage in the country, followed by the District of Columbia and Nevada. Nationwide, the figure is 16 percent.”
“Social service advocates said that seeing these figures continue to climb, while funding for safety-net programs ebbs, is endlessly frustrating.”
The two chief gubernatorial contenders for the GOP have been turning heads and making headlines as they duke it out for a spot on the November ticket.
David Sider reports in the Sacramento Bee: “It all made for good theater, if only anyone was watching.”
“In a state of 38 million people, where gubernatorial races are traditionally run by top-tier politicians with millions of dollars to spend on TV advertising and voter turnout operations, Donnelly and Kashkari are so low profile that, even in their most eventful weeks, they have difficulty making anyone care beyond their Twitter followers and friends on Facebook.”
Outspoken former Tim Donnelly spokesperson Jennifer Kerns is now a columnist for the Washington Examiner.
Carla Marinucci reports in San Francisco Chronicle: “She said her experiences as spokeswoman for the successful Colorado recalls, and on behalf of Prop. 8, give her cred in the conservative community, and she’s ready to take on some new challenges.”
“One of them, she said, is getting California more into the Beltway focus. “We’re out of sight, out of mind sometimes,” she said. She’ll try to remind them that “as California goes, so goes the nation.”
The governor signed legislation that will force the disclosure of political nonprofit donors.
The Associated Press reports: “Brown said Wednesday that he signed SB27 by Democratic Sen. Lou Correa of Anaheim.”
“It requires tax-exempt nonprofits involved in politics to report their donors and campaign committees that raise more than $1 million to list their top 10 contributors.”
The federal government reports that honeybees are dying off at a rate too high to guarantee their long-term survival.
Suzanne Goldenberg reports for The Guardian: “About a quarter of America's food crop depends on pollination from honeybees – including almonds, apples and beans.”
“A number of studies – including one from Harvard researchers last week – have linked the collapse of honeybee populations to a widely used class of insecticides, which either kill the bees outright or make them more susceptible to pests and disease.”
