Newsletter: Essential California: The snowpack and the drought

Good morning. It is Thursday, March 31. Firefighters and campus police came to the aid of ducklings who fell into a storm channel at Cal Poly Pomona. This video shows the rescue and the ducklings’ reunion with mom. Here’s what else is happening in the Golden State:

TOP STORIES

CEO gone

The head of the Los Angeles County Fair Assn. has resigned after a Times investigation that found James Henwood Jr. made more than $1 million in 2014 while the organization was hit by financial losses. Henwood led the fair association for two decades. A state audit on the group’s books is pending. Los Angeles Times

Lead cleanup

After facing intense criticism, state officials will use blood tests to guide the cleanup of lead contamination in southeast Los Angeles County. The decision comes just days after The Times reported that data showing elevated levels of lead in children near the old Exide plant were not being used to dictate the clean-up of 10,000 homes. “We are talking about simple coordination among state departments to protect our most precious resource, our children, and it shouldn’t take media inquiries to break through the bureaucratic malaise,” said L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar. Los Angeles Times

Legal reasoning

Justice Goodwin Liu is shaking up the California Supreme Court by speaking out on the cases the court declines to hear. He’s taken up the practice of writing lengthy dissents on the majority’s refusal to take up certain cases. It could give lawyers insight into the judge’s thinking on a host of legal issues. Los Angeles Times

DROUGHT AND CLIMATE

Snow levels: There are 58 inches of snow in the Sierra Nevada — a big improvement from this time last year but still not enough to end the drought. The snow included 26 inches of water content, which is just short of average for this time of year. The snowpack “seems good because it’s so much better than last year,” said Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program. Los Angeles Times

Back to life: Yosemite National Park had a couple of tough years thanks to the drought. Now, streams and waterfalls are full and the park appears to be back to life. Los Angeles Times

L.A. AT LARGE

Death of politician: Former cable executive Bill Rosendahl was the first openly gay man to serve on the Los Angeles City Council. At City Hall, he was a vocal advocate for the LGBT community, the homeless and, later in life, medical marijuana. He left office in 2012 after he was diagnosed with cancer. He died Wednesday at age 70. Los Angeles Times

Port project stalled: A judge has sided with the city of Long Beach in its lawsuit challenging a $500-million rail yard project approved by the Port of Los Angeles. Judge Barry P. Goode found the environmental analysis of the Southern California International Gateway Project didn’t fully assess the impact to air quality in Long Beach. Long Beach Press-Telegram

Get ready: Lucy Jones gave her final broadcast interview as a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey to Larry King. As usual, Jones used the opportunity to tell Angelenos to prepare for the Big One. “People are afraid of dying by the earthquake, but you should really be more afraid of being bankrupted by the earthquake,” she said. Ora TV

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Opinions on immigration: Two-thirds of Californians believe illegal immigration is a major problem, but they reject the idea of mass deportation and instead believe many immigrants who are in this country illegally should be allowed to remain in the country and apply for citizenship. Those are among the key findings of the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll. Views on illegal immigration also cut along generational lines. “Really the debate about immigrants is a debate about identity. And younger people are much more likely than older generations to have experienced some diversity in their schools and their own life,” said Manuel Pastor, director of USC’s Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration. Los Angeles Times

Trump effect: The Trump campaign could wreak havoc on California’s down ticket races this June. “The wave of new voters attracted by Trump tends to relish the candidate’s hostility toward government and its spending ways.” Los Angeles Times

SoCal visit: Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is on a swing through Southern California. He taped an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and had a fundraiser scheduled in Newport Beach. He’s scheduled to be on KFI-AM later today. CBS Los Angeles

Security costs: How much did it cost San Francisco to police the Super Bowl? Officials say the tab may be $1 million more than the original $1.7 million estimate. Police Chief Greg Suhr said the city stepped up security in the wake of terrorist attacks in San Bernardino and Paris. SFGate

Untapped voters: Latinas could be key to voter turnout when the California primary rolls around. The National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Education Fund found women play an influential role when it comes to engaging the Latino community with politics. “There’s this misconception that there’s apathy among our community members and that people don’t want to vote because they just don’t care. And that’s actually untrue,” said Angelica Peña with NALEO. 89.3 KPCC

CRIME AND COURTS

Court history: The woman behind the “Fuhrman tapes,” which played a pivotal role in O.J. Simpson’s murder trial, is finally speaking out about her experience. Over a period of nine years, Laura Hart McKinny recorded her interviews with LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman. On those tapes, Fuhrman used the N-word 41 times. “It was such a surreal experience sitting 30 feet away from grieving families who had lost loved ones tragically and 20 feet from an alleged killer and imagining that something that I had done years before might have an impact on them,” McKinny said. Vanity Fair

BUSINESS

Pay to play: Studios and networks have scaled back or eliminated their in-house casting departments. Filling that vacuum are “workshops” where actors pay to read for casting directors and their assistants. In California, it is illegal to exchange money for the prospect of employment, yet no one has been prosecuted for this practice since the Krekorian Talent Scam Prevention Act passed in 2009. Hollywood Reporter

HOUSING

Adult dorms: Co-living spaces are popping up around Los Angeles. Each person gets a bunk bed and flatscreen TV (they’re called pods) and then common space is shared. By day, the beds can be used as desks. “PodShare makes life more affordable because there is no security deposit or cost of furnishings and we provide flexible living,” said Elvina Beck of PodShare. Motherboard

Pave paradise: When the 101 Freeway came to Hollywood, almost no one was happy about it. “Movie stars worried about their Whitley Heights homes. Merchants fretted about a sweeping concrete viaduct over Franklin Avenue. The Hollywood Bowl Association feared noise pollution.” KCET

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Farmworkers unite: The National Steinbeck Center will unveil an online presentation of photographs Sunday that capture the farmworker movement in 1975. The Californian

Made for TV: Reading Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander’s thoughts on their show “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” may make you want to binge-watch the 10-hour miniseries. BuzzFeed

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Sacramento will be sunny with a high of 72. In San Francisco, there will be low clouds with highs reaching 61. Los Angeles will be mostly sunny and 69. It will be sunny and 73 in Riverside. San Diego will be partly sunny and 66.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California Memory comes from Eli Bensky:

“I remember friends going to the San Fernando Valley to buy sacks of oranges. Pre-WWII cars would overheat going up the Cahuenga Pass, and so there was always a burlap bag of water hanging from the front bumper to cool the radiator. Imagine cars stopping to fill the radiator today.”

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Alice Walton or Shelby Grad.