Brauton’s Milkvetch are the green plants seen in the photo above. They are endangered plants.
Brauton’s Milkvetch Endangered
A reader wrote regarding our September 29 story, “Power Pole Replacement Project Needed, But an Endangered Plant Is Threatened.”
The story started, “Ironically, if the wooden power poles in the Santa Monica Mountains north of Pacific Palisades caught fire, it would help propagate an endangered plant: Astragalus brauntonii, known as Braunton’s milkvetch. . . .Currently, about 220 wooden power poles in the brush-covered mountains, from Mulholland down through upper Temescal Canyon and above the Highlands, need to be replaced.”
The reader said “I was hiking today (October 6) on that trail above the Highlands and noticed a thriving colony of Brauton’s Milkvetch by the side of that very spot where workers bulldozed some plants when they broadened the fire road.
“The plant may be officially endangered but it is clearly growing vigorously in the Santa Monica Mountains! What is done is done but the protection of these plants obviously cannot be used as an excuse for any further delay of the pole replacement project.
“Speaking of protection of endangered species, why doesn’t the State Parks stake that area with orange ribbons to protect that colon of Milkvetches at least while work is or should be ongoing on pole replacements?”
Anyone Else Receive Extra Ballots?
Circling the News received an email today, October 7, from a Pacific Palisades resident: “We are a house with four registered voters. We just received six unsolicited ballots in the mail. Two were for people who lived here 12 years ago and subsequently moved out of state.
“This has never happened in any previous election. I used to volunteer and ultimately ran two polling stations. This sort of mistake would have been impossible there. Yet now we have two fake ballots in an area where everyone is particularly motivated to vote. The same people who sent us these extra ballots are the ones who would presumably also be checking their validity afterwards….I wonder how many households in the Palisades are also receiving extra ballots?”
CTN contacted the resident and he sent a photo of the extra ballots. “Of course, we’re not going to be voting twice, so those extra ballots will be destroyed,” he said. The resident wrote that after living all over the world, and in Africa where “corruption is endemic, we insist on voting in person and are uncomfortable that California is doing this [sending ballots to all residents].”
(Editor’s note: Out of curiosity, has anyone else received extra ballots? Please contact Circling the News if you have.)
All registered voters are receiving ballots. Above phrasing of unsolicited ballot is a partisan talking point. It’s up to voters to change their own addresses once they move. Many don’t- example steve bannon who in 2016 was registered in 3 states to vote. As for us, we receive all kinds of mail for prior residents of our home, going back over 25 years. Happy to report that we have only received our own ballots.