Five SoCal Must-Reads: 12 Media Outlets Team up on High-Speed Rail Coverage

In Los Angeles | Photo by cyan79 via KCET's Southern California Flickr Pool

A big picture look at the region:

• What will mobility be like by mid-century in San Diego? Lots of public transit, highways, or some balance in between? The Atlantic Cities' Eric Jaffe talks about the 2050 Regional Transportation Plan in A Fight for Future of San Diego.

• With budget slashing at municipalities and the state, there's a power shift going on in California, says Chapman University's Fred Smoller at Zócalo, and it's merging at the county government level. As an example, Smoller asks if Orange County can learn something from Nassau County in New York where the county is the dominate government service provider.

• Two lesbians, one from West Hollywood and the other from Long Beach, made Miss California USA history by being the first openly gay contestants in the pageant's 60 years of existence, according to Ruben Vives at the LA Times.

• A dozen California media outlets, including a number from Southern California, teamed up with the Fresno Bee to send a reporter to Spain where its high-speed rail system has the most in common with the one planned for here. "The trip was a major step forward in a growing collaborative effort by California news organizations to cover high-speed rail in a way that makes good business sense," said Mark Katches at California Watch.

• It's has not been a landmark season for winter storms and that could mean an increased fire risk. Orange County Registar's Sciencedude Pat Brennan looks at it through lens of his audience, but the map tells the story statewide.