Grumpy Editor observed keeping the California drought “alive” seems to be the goal of some journalists as was the case over the weekend with an Associated Press story with a second paragraph that read: “California is, in fact, in midst of a drought. Last year capped the state's driest four-year period in its history, with record low rainfall and snow.”
“In midst of a drought?” Hey, California’s drought, despite what Gov. Jerry Brown and environmentalists say, is over.
That followed a lead that mentioned Donald Trump, at a Fresno rally, declared, “There is no drought.” That brought cheers from those attending.
Trump accused state officials of denying water to central valley farmers so they can send it out to sea “to protect a certain kind of three-inch fish,” the AP story pointed out, adding that Trump said, “You have a water problem that is so insane. It is so ridiculous where they’re taking the water and shoving it out to sea.”
Grumpy Editor found the much-heralded El Niño in recent months brought almost the normal average snow pack to California's Sierra Nevada. Snow serves as a reservoir with slow release of water over a long period.
Water from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada is channeled to Southern California via the Los Angeles Aqueduct, completed in 1913.
Meanwhile, going into spring, California's largest reservoir, Lake Shasta in Shasta County, rose above its average level for the first time in three years as did the state's second-largest, Lake Oroville in Butte County.
Other precious Golden State water is wasted. Billions of gallons of water were released from Lake Folsom a few months ago --- to avert flooding. Other areas discharged water to protect endangered smelt and salmon. The dumped water simply flowed to the Pacific Ocean.
The Pacific also gets a boost from the Los Angeles area where the Los Angeles River almost overflows from major rainstorms. Its much-sought contents also ends up in the ocean rather than into additional reservoirs that should be, but somehow are never built, to provide water storage for drought periods.
IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...
With Memorial Day today --- honoring those who died in military service --- a Watters' World segment on the Fox News Channel found most people, when asked about the holiday, knew little about what it represents...Vietnam War veterans probably mumbled a few choice words on learning President Barack Obama, on his visit last week to Hanoi, lifted the U.S. embargo on selling arms to the former enemy...So how is the U.S. economy? A new Fed report found nearly one in four workers juggles two jobs and one in three workers has no retirement savings or pension...With more than five months to the national elections, MSNBC and CNN during the week continued to spend much time with multiple talking heads focusing mostly on anti-Trump chatter that often produces laughs to knowledgeable viewers. Those two channels also provided heavy coverage of protesters outside of Trump gatherings while other newsworthy national and international happenings were not covered ...Time-consuming work by David Goldstein, investigative reporter for CBS2/KCAL9, Los Angeles, compared millions of voting records from the California Secretary of State’s office with death records from the Social Security Administration and found hundreds of dead voters in Southern California, most in Los Angeles County. The finding did not make national headlines...The New York Times sent out voluntary buyout packages to some of its employees working in its newsroom and business department...Former governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee faced Fox News cameras again on Thursday, filling in for Sean Hannity...Tribune Publishing nixed a second takeover bid from Gannett Co. --- but said it is open to further talks...Biggest concern with Americans: economy, jobs, security, taxes? Guess again. The Los Angeles Times, in an editorial last week, declared "climate change is the most pressing issue of our time."
Television's highly-rated 1977 newspaper drama “Lou Grant,” starring Ed Asner as a gruff TV news editor, made it to DVD last week.
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