Here's your daily briefing...
Drought strategy worked: Californians largely complied with unprecedented calls for 25 percent cuts in water usage during the recent multi-year drought, according to a report from the Public Policy Institute of California. At the same time the organization found fault with the strategy, calling the blanket cuts a ‘blunt instrument,’ while praising efforts to gather usage data and requiring water agencies to prove each district has enough water on hand to supply customers three years into the future.
Budget nears vote: Legislators were busy swapping out some of the fine print and other minutia from the state budget Wednesday, as the document nears an expected vote today. An amusing typo is among the items being stricken from the bill.
Poverty claim false: PolitiFact said gubernatorial candidate and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made a false claim when he said California is home to 77 of the nation’s 300 poorest cities. The group said Villaraigosa mis-represented conditions caused by a spike in unemployment four years ago at the height of repercussions from the 2008 financial collapse.
Gun claim “mostly true”: While some members of congress may have gained a new awareness this week, handguns and rifles are quite popular in the US. How popular? Lieutenant Governor, gubernatorial candidate and firearm foe Gavin Newsom said Americans are 25 TIMES more likely to be fatally gunned down than residents of any other industrialized country. PolitiFact said the stat came from the American Journal of Medicine and said the figure is similar to, but higher than, numbers produced in a similar study — earning the claim a rating of “mostly true.”
When pigs sail: A half dozen feral pigs were spirited off a Delta island Tuesday by animal rights activists, who said they “rescued” the animals with the permission of the land owner. Some boaters are objecting saying the swine roamed free and accused activists of “stealing” the creatures. The porcine pack was set loose on the island in 2013.
And, on the California Report: California Secretary of State Alex Padilla discusses electronic ‘pollbooks’ and Russian election hacking in California…United Parcel Service employee speaks out about yesterday’s San Francisco shooting…California lawmakers a join anti-Trump lawsuit…State budget includes a new gun control provision…Concerns are growing about abuse of the farmworker visa program in California.