Folks in Sacremento aren’t crazy about surfing city streets
The short version
With all the heavy rain and snow that Northern California has received the past couple of weeks, the decision was made yesterday to open the Sacremento weir, flooding crops and fields in an effort to avoid flooding in the city of Sacremento. This is a huge undertaking that is almost certainly going to affect some food prices as flooded crops are completely lost. The move was a bit of a gamble but had to be done.
What the hell is a weir?
2. a fence, as of brush or narrow boards, or a net set in a stream, channel, etc., for catching fish.
For the purposes of this conversation, go with the fence concept. In the case of the Sacremento Weir, this is a 100-year-old monstrosity consisting of 48 wooden gates, each of which has to be opened manually by a state worker with a long hook. The poor guy had to get up and wander out there in the middle of the night to open these things and let the water flow downstream. The gates can’t be shut until the water behind them recedes below the gates, which could take a while.
Additionally, there are five other weirs and several spillways upstream. This is all a very complicated but effective means of flood control.
Who made this decision?
No one person makes the decision to open the weir and flood the fields. It’s actually a rather complicated process. That’s a good thing.
- Water levels 3.5 miles downstream from the weir must be at least 30 feet.
- Reliable forecasts must indicate that the water will continue to rise.
- Water levels at various upstream lakes have to be considered.
Ultimately, if all the boxes are checked then the Department of Water Resources makes the call and opens the weir after publishing their intention to do so. No farmers are caught off guard or anything. The water drains mostly into fields such as rice paddies and other row crops that can handle a little extra water. That doesn’t mean crops aren’t damaged, but the damage isn’t as severe as it would be with more fragile crops.
And even with all this water, California is still technically in a drought. They have a long way to go.
May Covers April Vogue
Because political fashion is a thing
The short version
British Prime Minister Theresa May is going to be on the cover of American Vogue in April. Photographer Annie Liebowitz snuck across the pond and took the PM’s pictures at May’s country estate. This is the first time any British Prime Minister has appeared on the cover of the American fashion magazine.
A little more detail
Vogue magazine’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, seems to be getting a little more politically involved of late. Just earlier this month she was seen leaving Trump Tower after a meeting with the president-elect. Now, the Guardian is breaking news this morning that UK Prime Minister Theresa May is going to be the cover girl for the April edition of the American magazine. This is kind of a big deal on two different fronts.
First, the April issue of Vogue is not its largest. March holds that title. There are a lot of people who only buy the March and September issues because that is when all the fashion labels buy multi-page ads for their upcoming seasonal collections. After that big issue, April comes in pretty thin and doesn’t get a lot of attention. Putting the PM on that cover could do a lot to boost sales, especially if there’s anything in the content that might prove controversial.
Second, this has never been done before and wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to make happen. Ms. Wintour was directly involved in securing the Prime Minister for the shoot. Rather than taking the pictures at 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the PM, they waited until May was out at her country estate known as Chequers. This avoids the controversy of an American company using the Downing Street residence for profit, and also made it easier to keep the photo shoot under wraps.
To capture the Prime Minister, Wintour sent the woman who is arguably the best portrait photographer in the US: Annie Liebowitz. Liebowitz is the biggest photographic gun in the large Condé Nast arsenal and her choice is significant. Either British photographer Nick Knight or Italy’s Steven Meisel would have been more convenient, and probably less expensive. In choosing Leibowitz, Wintour makes sure the pictures have a distinctly American tone to them, something not duplicated in any of the other Vogue brands.
As for why the British Prime Minister would even be a candidate for the Vogue cover, Americans need to understand that May absolutely loves everything to do with fashion. She is much more flashy about her appearance than, say, the late Margaret Thrasher was. She’s been known to wear leopard print to official functions and has even been criticized by some in the Conservative party for wearing very expensive leather pants. We are all more accustomed to heads of state keeping their attire quiet and unremarkable. May breaks that mold in a rather strong way.
Still, the timing here is interesting. America’s soon-to-be first lady last appeared on the cover of Vogue immediately after her wedding in 2005. The magazine has a tradition of featuring the first lady at least once during her husband’s administration, going all the way back to Helen Taft. The current first lady, Michelle Obama, has appeared on the cover three times since 2009. Yet, when it comes to putting her successor on that enviable place, Wintour is having some difficulty finding a designer who is willing to dress Mrs. Trump. Because the magazine’s relationship with designers is critical, it cannot afford to dress the first lady, or anyone else, in a designer’s clothing without their blessing. While Mrs. Trump will certainly eventually get her first lady cover, it could be a while. So, the British PM gets to go first.
Are we making too much of this?
Absolutely. If Ms. May wasn’t such a politically controversial figure herself, given that whole Brexit thing, and if the political divide in the US weren’t as ferocious, then this would certainly be a page-six, one-column story. Politically, however, the stakes are high. Being in charge of Britain’s exit from the EU isn’t exactly a great way to make new friends and the PM can use all the moral support she can get, even if it’s not from her own constituents.
Ultimately, this is a brilliant power move by Anna Wintour designed with one purpose in mind: sell more magazines. That’s her job and she does it better than anyone else. While other magazines have been in decline, the Condé Nast titles Ms. Wintour oversees have all seen increases in revenue. Now, she’s taken one of the least read issues of the year and made it a must-buy. Every other publisher is green with envy. Fortunately, green is a good color for April.
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