Results tagged “California” from Daily Link

Better late than never ... or is it? After almost a quarter-year of politicking and stalling, California has something resembling a budget. It's not perfect. It's barely adequate. It's bound to put California into the same predicament next fiscal year.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he has struck a compromise with the Democratic-controlled legislative leadership, and if he signs off on the budget, it is bound to mean deep cuts to some programs - and many angry Californians.

The same vigor, charm and charisma that proved successful in the bodybuilding arena and in Hollywood seems to be yielding diminishing returns in Sacramento. He can't strong-arm the legislature into passing a budget on time.

If the star of "Kindergarten Cop" can't get lawmakers in line, who can?

How about you?

Next 10 invites Californians to step up to the plate.

Next 10 is a nonpartisan think tank, made up of academic and environmental organizations and businesses primarily in the Silicon Valley, and it studies and makes recommendations on where California should focus its budgetary and infrastructure priorities.

The think tank launched an online simulator, California Budget Challenge, as an education device.

California Budget Challenge offers a chance for the public to focus on budgetary priorities for the next five years. The budget begins with a baseline deficit of more than $12 billion.

The list goes down through a list of choices to be made for how much should be budgeted for K-12 and higher education, health care, social services, the environment, the legal system and jobs programs. Then, choices are available for how revenues should be raised - through sales, income, business and vehicle taxes, and whether a new carbon tax should be levied.

Every time a selection is made, the budget updates to relects costs or savings of a proposed action. Also, every selection shows how many Californians support the action.

Afterwards, there is the option of sharing the custom budget results.

The California Budget Challenge is both fun and informative, yet it fails to capture the difficulties of real-world consequences. It's simple to click on buttons and go from a billion-dollar deficit to a surplus. In Sacramento, though, politicians are concerned with procedural gamesmanship ... and all those dreaded "special interests" who'll come to demand elected officials' heads on pikes.

Still, anyone concerned about California's spending should give the Budget Challenge a try. Then, come back to the Daily Link and share your experiences and choices on our comments board.

Wanderlust seems to be infectious around these parts.

Remember Zac Sunderland? He's the 16-year-old Marina del Rey teen who set about exploring the world in his 36-foot fiberglass sailboat, Intrepid. He was also featured in the Daily Breeze, and more importantly, The Daily Link.

Sunderland's site has a biography, images and a blog that lists his global coordinates. Thus far, he has been very good in providing daily updates.

Well, it is.

Photography social networking site Flickr has the LA South Bay group. More than 200 amateur and professional photographers share the people and places they captured in Torrance, the Beach Cities and the Peninsula.

Anyone can join this group and share their own photos. The photos can even be "geotagged" by placing their location on an interactive map. The group also maintains a discussion board.

A free basic membership allows uploads of up to 100 megabytes. A paid pro account allows for unlimited uploads.

There are more than 4,000 photos in the group. A few hundred or thousand more wouldn't hurt.

A Know section article today explored the huge impact of Dust Bowl-era immigrants on California.

By 1937, officials from counties all over the state met in Sacramento to try to figure out what to do about the flood of needy immigrants. “Los Angeles is the most seriously hit of all the counties of the state,” declared a July 11, 1937, San Francisco Chronicle article on the upcoming summit. Officials said nearly 20 percent of Los Angeles County’s estimated 2.3 million population was on relief, a forerunner of welfare. Between April 1936 and April 1937, more than 2.9 million people had entered California by auto; of those, 74 percent said they planned to settle in Southern California.

If you want to learn more about the era, check out these links:

See Dorothea Lange’s haunting photos of Dust Bowl refugees

More tales of Dust Bowl immigrants

PBS coverage

Learn more about the blues music that chronicled the era

Wild about wildflowers?

The combination of winter rains and warm weather conspire for what may be Southern California’s most vibrant spring blooms in many years, according to an LA.Com story by Breeze staff writer Jim Farber.

Want to see them?

Try George F Canyon's nature trail on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

If you want to re-create the wildflower experience in your own backyard, try this list of native plants of the Peninsula that are suitable for gardening.

If you want to get out of the South Bay, spring grasses, flowers and trees are sprouting on the Santa Monica Mountains. Annuals are in bloom at the Joshua Tree National Park in Twentynine Palms, near Palm Springs.

In Los Angeles County, the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve outside Lancaster is predicting an abundant blossom of the state flower, known by its scientific name as Eschscholzia californica.

For the specifics on visiting the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, consult our Ask Us column from Feb. 12.

For links to other wildflower destinations in addition to Antelope Valley, visit the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants. It includes links to more than 90 wildflower locations, an extensive catalog of native plants and the California Wildflower Hotline, which information about what's blooming where, updated weekly .

Kite fliers take to the skies — well, at least the kites do, anyway — at the Redondo Beach pier Sunday. The pier hosts the 34th annual Festival of the Kite, a free event taking place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Kite-flying experts show off their stuff for prizes and audience delight. Kites are also on sale at Sunday’s event. Non-kite activities include a hot-dog-eating competition and music provided by a band from Bishop Montgomery High in Torrance.

Redondo Beach’s Sunshine Kite Company sponsors the festival.