The Douglas iris is a wildflower native to central and northern California and parts of southern Oregon.
(Blogpost extra: In a last-minute addition to this edition of The Newsletter, I share some thoughts on today's eclipse. See below.)
The first time I recall encountering a field of Douglas irises, which may have been at Wilder Ranch State Park just north of Santa Cruz, I looked around for the ruins of a homestead. It didn't occur to me that these could be wildflowers—I figured they had to be remnants of some long-ago-planted garden.
I grew up ten miles from Manhattan in New Jersey, which is known as the Garden State, and deserves that nickname outside the brutalized swath that is the Turnpike. But the woods that flanked the Hackensack River and surrounded the Oradell Reservoir, my childhood nature refuges, had nothing to compare with the Douglas iris. Or the California poppy. Or, to my knowledge, the Calochortus lily (see below). All of California is special in my eyes, and Santa Cruz maybe especially so.
I write as always from my beloved home in the urban forest that is Midtown Sacramento, and take you today to another of my hometowns.
A Spring Guide, a Garden, and a Bunch of Pretty Murals
Even if you aren't planning to visit Santa Cruz this spring, you might enjoy this virtual visit.
Santa Cruz Murals
Santa Cruz County is home to amazing murals. One amazing person is working to document them in one place.
• California’s Attorney General Has a Message for Elk Grove: You Are Not Off the Hook | Opinion
Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen speaks at a press conference at Elk Grove City Hall on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, condemning hate against the Asian-American Pacific Islander community and outlining plans to increase public safety.
(04/05/2024) → The Sacramento Bee
• Latest Indictment Accuses Former Local Goodwill CEO Richard Abrusci of Crimes Against Additional Nonprofits
Former Goodwill Sacramento Valley & Northern Nevada CEO Richard Abrusci faces additional charges in a federal indictment alleging he stole more than $1.5 million from multiple area nonprofits.
(04/05/2024) → Sacramento Business Journal
• Longtime Leader, CEO of Sacramento Family Justice Center to Retire
Since the center’s founding, Faith Whitmore and employees have served nearly 27,000 victims, including 13,000 children.
(04/05/2024) → The Sacramento Bee
• 'By Any Means Necessary' Sacramento Zoo Officials Say They Will Raise $50 Million for Relocation to Elk Grove
Although Elk Grove taxpayers will shoulder most of the $302 million cost of the initial phase of the relocation and construction of a new Sacramento Zoo, other parties including the Sacramento Zoological Society will share the burden.
(04/05/2024) → Elk Grove News Net
• California to Pay $2 Million to Sacramento, Alameda Counties to Settle Environmental Suit
A California state agency is paying $2.26 million to Sacramento and Alameda counties to settle a lawsuit that alleges underground leaking storage tanks.
(04/05/2024) → The Sacramento Bee
• Researcher Lands Prestigious Grant for UC Davis Health
Gun Violence Expert Dr. Shani Buggs Talks Need For More Funding, Diverse Perspectives.
(04/05/2024) → The Sacramento Observer
• Gov. Newsom Promotes Delta Tunnel; Reservoir
At a press event to celebrate the above-average snowpack survey in the Sierra Nevada on April 2, Newsom unveiled the state’s controversial updated California Water Plan.
(04/05/2024) → Elk Grove News Net
• Corporate Citizenship Awards: John Finegan; Beck Ag
The Sacramento Business Journal’s Corporate Citizenship Awards honor the individuals and organizations that go above and beyond to give back to the Sacramento-area community.
(04/05/2024) → Sacramento Business Journal
• California Snowpack Above Average for a Second Year
The California Department of Water Resources announced the water content of the Sierra Nevada snowpack at 110% of the April 1 average.
(04/02/2024) → CapPublicRadio
• California Fails to Adequately Help Blind and Deaf Prisoners, US Judge Rules
Thirty years after prisoners with disabilities sued the state of California and 25 years after a federal court first ordered accommodations, a judge found that state prison and parole officials still are not doing enough to help deaf and blind prisoners.
(04/08/2024) → California Healthline
• Business Groups and Lawmakers Battle Over Ballot Measure to Limit California Tax Increases
Anti-tax groups in California have qualified a measure for the November ballot that would make raising state and local taxes much more difficult. It’s a showdown that’s been building for nearly five decades.
(04/08/2024) → CalMatters
• Opinion: I've Covered California's Homeless Since Before the Word Was Used. This Is What I Learned
I thought my journalism and others’ could change policy, perhaps even inspire a New Deal-style response equal to the challenge. Such was my naiveté.
(04/06/2024) → Los Angeles Times
• These Californians Just Got Protection From Big Rent Hikes
Tenants in many new privately owned, low-income units will be protected from double-digit increases. So will some in existing units, after a state committee on affordable housing imposed a rent cap.
(04/05/2024) → CalMatters
• CA Budget Deal Gets Early Start on Deficit
Not filling open positions in state government, cutting a school facilities program and several climate initiatives, delaying funding for public transit — these are some of the first steps that California officials plan to take to deal with a looming multibillion-dollar budget deficit.
(04/05/2024) → CalMatters
• Bill to Mandate ‘Science of Reading’ in California Schools Faces Teachers Union Opposition
The move puts the fate of AB 2222 in question, but supporters insist that there is room to negotiate changes that can help tackle the state's literacy crisis.
(04/04/2024) → EdSource
• Photographers Capture Spectacular Streaking Lights of Southern California
It quickly became clear that Elon Musk’s SpaceX was responsible for the show. The lights were a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 new Starlink satellites into orbit. The rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 7:30 p.m., and it’s trail was visible from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree National Park.
(04/02/2024) → SF Gate