On March 7th Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. requested a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration to bolster state and local recovery efforts following late January storms that caused major flooding, mudslides, power outages and damage to critical infrastructure across California.

Governor Brown also issued two emergency proclamations due to storms in late January and February – for the counties of Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, Yuba, Contra Costa, Orange, Riverside, San Francisco and Solano – which direct Caltrans to formally request immediate assistance through the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program. The proclamations also direct the Office of Emergency Services to provide assistance to specified counties as a result of the late January storms. Damage assessments for the February storms and for the damaged spillway at Oroville Dam are ongoing.

Today’s request follows two other separate Presidential Major Disaster Declaration requests – granted last month – to support the response and recovery efforts for the situation at Oroville Dam and the impacts of the early January storm system. In addition to today’s action, Governor Brown has issued emergency declarations connected to storms in December and early January and Oroville Dam. Last month, Governor Brown announced a four-point plan to bolster dam safety and flood protection statewide.

The Kiwanis Club of Carmichael will again open the Koobs Nature Area to the public on one Saturday per month, starting March 11. This nature area is a community treasure; a 4.7-acre parcel of flora and fauna that form diverse ecosystems for interaction and study. With hiking trails throughout the parcel, there is a riparian environment along a creek and three ponds, a bird sanctuary, butterfly gardens, and thirty markers forming a self-guided tour.

The Kiwanis Club has developed a new model this year—featuring learning stations with hands-on activities for study and fun. Key Clubbers, scouts, and others will guide kids and families through the activities. Each open date will feature a learning theme. March 11 will be Creepy Crawlies; April 22 is Earth Day, with refreshments and celebration of nature. May 13 will be Birds and birding; June 10 Flowers and their parts. Pond Critters are featured July 8, and on August 12 there will be Fairy Houses to find and explore. September 9 is Acorns and Oaks; and October 14 Nature Fun.

The nature area is free to all visitors, and is open from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm on open dates. There are booklets for the self-guided tour, and binoculars are loaned for checking out birds. There are areas of tree limbs and natural materials for kids to build and play. This is a wonderful place to be out enjoying nature within the Carmichael community. It is located at 5325 Engle Road, along the eastern driveway of the La Sierra Community Center, and across from the California Montessori Project. Visitors will see the banner sign on Engle Road (west of Garfield Ave) for the week before the open dates.

The nature area realized the vision of science teacher Earl J. “Ranger Jack” Koobs and served the nearby schools for environmental studies. When the schools closed, the nature area fell into disuse except for annual veterans’ events organized by Kiwanian Linda Jones. Linda’s stewardship kept the nature area going until, in 2016, the Kiwanis Club of Carmichael created a signature project to open the nature area to the public, once a month, to encourage families and kids to visit. Supported by the California Montessori Project parents, Troop 55 Boy Scouts, Foothill Key Club, and Del Campo Key Club, the nature area was spruced up and families came. With the new focus on learning stations, this should be a great place for families to visit. “I hope children in our community will come to feel that the Koobs Nature Area is theirs to explore”, says Jackie Delu, one of the Kiwanis leaders active in this project. The hope is that the word will spread about this wonderful resource, and families will mark their calendars for the open dates. See and like the Koobs Nature Area on Facebook. For questions, you may call 916-812-8867.

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today released annual applicant and appointee data for the administration's judicial appointments.

From 2011 through 2016, Governor Brown appointed 356 judges – including 45 in 2016 – from a pool of more than 2,000 applicants. Over those six years, nearly 40 percent of Governor Brown's appointees identified themselves as American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African-American; Hispanic; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; or Other/Unknown. Last year, Hispanic appointees accounted for more than one in five judicial appointments.

From 2011 through 2016, Governor Brown's judicial appointees included a number of notable firsts:

• Yvette Durant, the first woman judge ever appointed to the Sierra County Superior Court.
• Richard T. Fields, the first African-American man appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal.
• Marco D. Nunez, the first openly gay judge ever appointed to the Imperial County Superior Court.
• Sonia Cortés, the first Latino judge ever appointed to the Yolo County Superior Court.
• Marsha G. Slough, the first openly gay justice in the history of the Fourth District Court of Appeal.
• Luis A. Lavin, the first openly gay justice to serve on the Second District Court of Appeal.
• Therese M. Stewart, the first openly lesbian justice to serve on the California Court of Appeal;
• Ferdinand P. Inumerable, the first Asian-American judge ever appointed to the Ventura County Superior Court.
• M. Bruce Smith, the first African-American judge to serve on the Fifth District Court of Appeal.
• Paul Lo, the first Hmong American judge ever appointed in the country;
• Sunshine Sykes, the first Native American judge ever appointed to the Riverside County Superior Court;
• Sunil Kulkarni, the first South Asian American judge ever appointed in Northern California;
• Rupa Goswami, the first South Asian American woman judge ever appointed in California.
• Halim Dhanidina, the first American-Muslim judge ever appointed in California;
• Jim Humes, the first openly gay justice ever appointed to the California Court of Appeal;
• Miguel Marquez, the first Latino justice ever appointed to the Sixth District Court of Appeal;
• Rosendo Peña, the first Latino justice ever appointed to the Fifth District Court of Appeal;
• Chris Doehle, the first female judge ever appointed to the Del Norte County Superior Court;
• Kimberly Colwell, the first openly lesbian judge ever appointed to the Alameda County Superior Court;
• Mark Andrew Talamantes,  the first Latino judge ever appointed to the Marin County Superior Court;
• Kathleen O'Leary, the first female presiding justice ever appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three; and
• Raquel Marquez, the first Latina judge ever appointed to the Riverside County Superior Court.

Under SB 56 and SB 182, the Governor is required to disclose aggregate statewide demographic data provided by all judicial applicants by March 1.

In its continued quest to lead the nation in irresponsible governance, the California State Senate is moving forward with Senate Bill (SB) 54. The bill completely dismisses the millions of citizens who follow the law and want safe communities for their families and businesses. It’s also the latest embarrassing example of the legislature’s cult-like devotion to ignoring the fundamental responsibilities of government while obsessing over issues allowing for maximum moral grandstanding.

SB 54 effectively would turn California into a “sanctuary state,” making it harder for state and local officials to turn over violent, illegal alien criminals to federal officials for deportation. California would be the safest haven for these felons and predators and would instantly become a magnet for every illegal alien criminal in the country.

We don’t need more. Even ardent supporters of the bill acknowledge that if SB 54 is passed and signed into law up to 20,000 violent criminals will be shielded in Los Angeles and Orange counties alone.

Recently ICE conducted a standard immigration sweep in Southern California that resulted in more than 160 people being taken into custody. About 120 of those detainees had been previously convicted of serious, violent crimes such as robbery, assault and sex offenses. California shouldn’t allow illegal alien rapists, murderers and gang-bangers to be sent back to your neighborhood, mine or anyone’s neighborhood to commit more crimes, but they are all but guaranteeing a new set of victims by making us a sanctuary state.

SB 54’s author said during a hearing on the bill, “Any individual, irrespective of who they are and where they come from, who commits a heinous crime, we don’t want them in our neighborhoods, don’t want them in our communities, don’t want them in our state, we don’t want them in our nation. Period.” Then, with no sense of irony, he presented a bill to protect them from deportation.

Meanwhile, the 200,000 people fleeing a potential mega-flood in Oroville are probably scratching their heads wondering why the state government is working on harboring illegal alien criminals, mandating background checks for ammunition purchases, pumping out laws and rules about a microscopic universe of transgendered, or wearing out their throats screaming about President Trump, when the state is falling apart?

Oroville threatens unimaginable damage. We haven’t built major state water storage since the late 1970s even though our population has roughly doubled since that time. That’s malfeasance.

Our roads are a crumbling mess. We pay some of the highest gas taxes for potholed streets that feel like they’re paved with cobblestones and cramped highways that stretch commutes and keep us from moving goods around the state.

Our schools continue to be some of the nation’s worst even though K-12 education spending is checking in at more than $70 billion this year, up around $25 billion since just 2011. Is this what taxpayers should expect for that massive investment?

With our dams threatening disaster, roads falling apart and schools failing our children, would your first thought as a politician be: “Quick, let’s ban plastic grocery bags!”?

Californians are getting the worst possible civic deal. They’ve got a government that is diving down the Progressive rabbit hole, reaching into every aspect of their lives and charging them an arm and a leg to do it. At the same time, government is neglecting the very basic infrastructure that every citizen depends on. With public safety, they are fighting to actually make it worse.

The once-golden state is falling apart because government is ignoring the issues of the many for the issues of the few. To help all its citizens, California must repair and expand the state’s physical capital. It’s time to get building.

Senator Ted Gaines represents the 1st Senate District, which includes all or parts of Alpine, El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Sierra and Siskiyou counties.