"The proposal by the State Water Resources Control Board would also mean less onerous conservation mandates for California’s fastest-growing communities, as well as those that have created new “drought-resilient” water supplies for themselves through recycling, desalination or other means."
"Oh, and before all that — two days before the California decision — 195 nations agreed to a landmark deal to fight climate change. The Paris agreement is expected to fuel the solar industry's rapid growth, as countries work to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius, a daunting task."
"It all adds up to a major turning point in how our energy is going to be generated," said Adam Browning, executive director of Vote Solar, a national advocacy group. "We’ve seen leaders at all levels essentially deciding it’s time to start planning like we want to stay on this planet for a while, and taking action to make that happen."
Finally, the main event in a San Francisco trial: "Shrimp Boy" speaks his piece.
From the Chronicle's Bob Egelko: "Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow took the stand in his racketeering trial Monday, testifying about a life of crime that he hoped to escape after his release from prison in 2003 — before the government broke its promise to give him a new home and a new identity."
"The first defense witness after five weeks of prosecution testimony, Chow — speaking publicly for the first time since his arrest in March 2014 — told jurors he had promised himself more than a decade ago, after days of waterfront meditation, to renounce lawbreaking. He also loudly and indignantly denied charges that he had plotted the murders of two rivals for leadership of Chinatown organizations, as prosecutors allege."
"Chow had served 10 years of a 28-year sentence on previous racketeering and gun convictions when he was freed in 2003 after testifying against his former boss, Peter Chong, on charges of running a criminal operation in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Angered by what he regarded as Chong’s betrayal — “He stole my lawyer,” Chow testified — he agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors, knowing retaliation was likely when he returned to the streets."
State law requires elected officials to live in their districts. But federal elected officials -- members of Congress -- are under no such restriction, and a few actually live somewhere else.
From the LA Tmes' Javier Panzar: "Napolitano is not alone. Of her 52 House colleagues, at least five do not actually live in the district they represent."
"Some state and local lawmakers have been prosecuted for not living in the districts they ran to represent -- a requirement under California law. When it comes to Congress, federal law only requires members live in the same state as the district."
"Paul Mitchell, vice president of consulting firm Political Data Inc., said voters rarely seem to care about such perception issues."
"When you are voting, particularly on big national issues like gun control, foreign policy, taxes, education ... the fact that somebody lives in a different area isn't exactly going to be a trump card," he said."
And from our "Backseat Driver" file comes word of an interesting practice in Holland: Trading sex for driver's training. If only this was around when I was in high school.
"After debate over the controversial practice came up in a recent parliament meeting, justice minister Ard van der Steur and transport minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen gave their interpretation: Offering driving lessons for nookie did not equal prostitution "since sex was not being sold," Dutch News reported. But the opposite, a student offering sex for driving lessons, was a no-no."
"A story in USA Today noted that while prostitution is legal in the Netherlands, opponents of the so-called "ride for a ride" trend feared the income from a prostitution-branded arrangement couldn't be taxed because the escort would not be properly licensed."
"The ministers conceded the barter was "undesirable" but reiterated it was legal, Dutch News said."
Grab the stick shift ...
