State climate indicators show the Sacramento River’s peak runoff now arrives nearly a month earlier — in March instead of April — compared with the mid-20th-century record. Looking ahead, the Department of Water Resources projects the Sierra’s April 1st snowpack will shrink by roughly half to two-thirds before the end of the century.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday that fractional interests in life insurance policies, purchased from the original insureds based on a strategic decision that the death benefit will likely come due before the premium payments deplete the value, are “securities” within the meaning of federal law because the profits come from the “efforts of others,” namely the investment firms selling the products.

Post-litigation advice to clients in connection with carrying out—or not carrying out—terms of a settlement agreement are part and parcel of petitioning activity that is protected conduct under the anti-SLAPP statute, Div. Eight of the Court of Appeal for this district has held.

Survey after survey shows that many Americans lack a basic understanding of civics. According to a 2024 Annenberg Public Policy Center survey, most Americans can only name one right guaranteed by the First Amendment, while about 36% of Americans cannot name all three branches of government, and only about half of American adults can identify which party controls each house of Congress.