CALIFORNIA
Still smarting, Arnold picks Republican for court
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger nominated a moderate Republican to the California Supreme Court on Friday after being pilloried for days by members of his own party for picking a left-leaning Democratic activist to be his top aide.
The governor said politics had nothing to do with his nomination of San Francisco appellate Judge Carol Corrigan to replace Janice Rogers Brown, now a federal appeals court judge.
Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, a conservative group that has been sharply critical of the aide's appointment, said he was relieved the governor picked a Republican.
SeaWorld chose gender of baby dolphin — female
SAN DIEGO — SeaWorld San Diego said Friday it succeeded in selecting the gender of a baby dolphin — a first that could improve the population of captive sea mammals and reduce the need for new captures.
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SeaWorld announced the breakthrough the same day the 2-month-old female Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, still unnamed, was introduced to the media.
The mother dolphin, 26-year-old Sandy, was artificially inseminated 14 months ago and the calf was born in October.
Teen rigged exploding pens because he was expelled
ROSEMEAD — A teenager admitted rigging pens that exploded and injured three people at two high schools for revenge after being expelled, a detective said.
El Monte police arrested the 17-year-old boy on Wednesday after an anonymous phone tip led them to search his home.
They said they found explosive materials and books he allegedly used to learn how to booby-trap the pens to detonate when uncapped.
Victims who found them lying on the ground at Rosemead and El Monte high schools suffered minor burns and scratches on their hands and faces.
The name of the teen, who had attended Rosemead, was not released because he is a minor. Miller and school officials declined to say when or why he was expelled.
NEVADA
Las Vegas' share of river may run dry by 2007
LAS VEGAS — The booming Las Vegas area's water demands could outstrip the region's share of the Colorado River by 2007, according to the 2006 water budget approved by the Southern Nevada Water Authority board this week.
Kay Brothers, the Water Authority's deputy general manager, said conservation and careful planning could stretch the state's share beyond 2007.
But Brothers acknowledged the day is coming when southern Nevada will no longer be able to depend largely on its allotment from the river, which currently supplies 90 percent of its drinking water.
The 2006 water resource plan approved along with the agency's budget Thursday outlines some of those options. They include about 290,000 acre-feet of groundwater stored beneath the Las Vegas Valley, 30,000 acre-feet banked with California and an agreement with Arizona that guarantees Nevada 1.25 million acre-feet of water over the next 30 years.
