SeeCalifornia.com

Up and down the coast of California the polar bears were out on Jan. 1, 2013, plunging into the chilly Pacific waters in observance of New Year’s Day. There’s plenty of CHILL in the air and there likely will be more as the year wears on. Here are few news items you may have missed:

• Desalination plant ready to be built: Poseidon Resources Corp. of  Stamford, Connecticut just secured $1 billion to finance a Carlsbad desalination plant, the first of its kind in California. Expected to be completed in 2016, the plant uses reverse- osmosis technology to supply up to 7% of the region. IDE Technologies Ltd. of Israel will design the water- treatment system and run the facility for Poseidon. The project includes 10 miles of pipeline to an aqueduct in San Marcos, with the plant located adjacent to NRG Encina power station at the beaches of Carlsbad.
• New Salinas school named after bandido: If you’re a kid, would you want your school named after the biggest, baddest bandido in local history and lore? Probably. A new elementary school in Salinas has been named Tiburcio Vásquez, after one of the state’s most notorious Old West bandidos. Logic for the honors?  Mexican-Americans who comprise over 60% of local population say Vásquez was defending his land from greedy white settlers who overran the state.
• 876 new laws  were signed and enacted in 2013, including the controversial Dream Act; undocumented immigrants who qualify for President Obama’s deferred action status will be able to get a California driver’s license; voice technology texting while driving a car is permitted; tax increases enacted; and a law prohibits employers from demanding your private login information to social networks. California Department of Fish & Game (DFG) will now be called Department of Fish and Wildlife.  Drivers pulled over by police are permitted to show officers their proof of insurance on an electronic device such as a smartphone; registered nurses can prescribe drugs like the pill without a doctor’s signature or prior visit, and cars made in the year 2000 or later will no longer require a tail pipe emissions test.
• Rescue effort out of control: When a man fell into the ice at a Wrightwood, CA lake this past week,  a chain reaction panic saw nearly a dozen people fall through thin ice into the lake trying to rescue him. It took nearly 10 minutes, but bystanders helped pull everyone to shore with no serious injuries.
• Riot gear for ABC Liquor Officers: The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in California spent more than $70,000 for bullet-resistant helmets and gas masks for its officers, although the nature of their work involves regulation of establishments selling liquor to underage drinkers. The department’s $55 million budget relies on licensing fees from approx. 115,000 businesses that sell, import or manufacture alcohol.