OUR PICKSLos Angeles Looking for Water | The Nuclear Missile Next Door | Murder Hornets, and more

Growing Threat of Sovereign Citizen Extremism Spans Borders and Ideologies  (Christine M. Sarteschi, HSToday)
Their numbers and activities are increasing. Freedom from taxes and laws is very seductive to those who get drawn in.

As Drought Hammers Mono Lake, Thirsty Los Angeles Must Look Elsewhere for Water  (Louis Sahagún and Ian James, Los Angeles Times)
With a third year of drought shrinking the creeks that cascade down the eastern Sierra Nevada, the level of Mono Lake has fallen so low it has triggered a 72% reduction in the amount of water Los Angeles can divert from area streams this year.
On April 1, Mono Lake’s level measured just under 6,380 feet above sea level—about 1 inch below a threshold set in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s licenses for diverting alpine runoff from streams that feed the lake east of Yosemite National Park.
The measurement, taken at the start of a new runoff year, triggered a requirement that the DWP reduce its annual water exports from 16,000 acre-feet, which is enough to supply 192,000 residents, to 4,500 acre-feet, enough to serve 54,000 residents.

Mangroves vs. Seawalls? Mix May Be “Best of Both Worlds” to Take on South Florida Sea Rise  (Alex Harris, Miami Herald)
Along most of the historic South Florida coast, mangroves were nature’s way of protecting the coast from waves and hurricanes. As development inched closer to the water, seawalls became the method of choice to separate land and sea.
With 2 feet of sea level rise on the horizon by 2060, which is the right choice for extending the life span of cities like Miami?
The science—at least for pure flood control—suggests the man-made answer wins out over nature’s solution, with some caveats.

With ‘Far Worse’ Threats Lurking, Plan Rallies Agencies to End Pandemics Within Decade  (Bridget Johnson, HSToday)
“Whether natural, accidental, or deliberate, infectious disease threats are increasing in frequency and severity,” warns Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense.

Text Message Trove Shows Oath Keepers Discussing Security Details for Trump Associates  (Kyle Cheney, Politico)
Roger Stone and Michael Flynn were among them.

Lethal Darts Were Fired into a Ukrainian Neighborhood by the Thousands  (Alex Horton, Washington Post) At Svitlana Chmut’s house outside Kyiv, there are carrots in her garden and deadly Russian mini-arrows in her yard. A pile of the sharp, finned projectiles rounded up by Chmut are now gathering rust in the spring’s fine mist.
These projectiles, called fléchettes, are rarely seen or used in modern conflict, experts have said. Many landed in the street in the strike, Chmut said, including some observed by Washington Post reporters, among fields of gear and the occasional liquor bottle or chocolate bar abandoned by retreating Russian soldiers.