Capitol Basement

Whites, women, Reeps

2013-05-23T13:26:52Z

By the time the ballots were counted in LA's mayoral race, it became clear that Eric Garcetti won because he did well with two key constituencies -- women and Republicans.

From the LA Daily News' Brenda Gazzar: "City Controller Wendy Greuel's lackluster performance in the San Fernando Valley and with women voters in Tuesday's Los Angeles mayoral election, along with Councilman Eric Garcetti's strong backing from whites and Republicans in the city were key factors in Garcetti's victory over the once prohibitive favorite, analysts said Wednesday."

"While Valley voters and women were split almost evenly down the middle, Greuel needed at least 54 or 55 percent of both those constituencies to carry the win, said Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University." (An exit poll by LMU, released just before the polls closed, can be seen here. And voters also decided to cut medical marijuana dispensaries down to 135, less than a fifth of those currently operating.)

Meanwhile, Gov. Jerry Brown, that contumacious geezer and raconteur, had them rolling in the aisles during his address to a business group. Which goes to show that Sacramento can be funny after all.

From the Mercury-News' Steve Harmon: "Gov. Jerry Brown, who once had a frosty relationship with the business folks who ran the traditional Sacramento Host breakfast, had them rolling in laughter Wednesday with one quip after another in a 30-minute address."

"He joked about being the smartest person in the room, quoted a Zen master and college professor while coining a "Jerry Brownism," and drew a connection between being called "contumacious" by a federal judge and being kicked out of school as a youngster..."

"When I did (the Peripheral Canal in 1982), I didn't know there was such a thing as smelt. I never heard of smelt. Now, the smelt has probably got a more powerful lobbyist than most of the people in this room."

Speaking of contumacious, the federally appointed prison receiver says Brown's attitude shows that California isn't ready to run its own prisons.

From the LAT's Paige St. John: "The immediate focus of J. Clark Kelso's ire is California's refusal to implement his May 1 directive requiring the state to move nearly half the inmates from two Central Valley prisons afflicted withvalley fever. Brown's administration responded that the order was "ambiguous" and that the state would delay any action until receiving further input from the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta."

"The state's refusal "even to take preliminary steps ... suggest that they may not yet possess the requisite concern for preventing unnecessary morbidity and death among inmates to justify further transition of the prison medical system back to Defendants' control," Kelso wrote.

Three years after a municipal corruption scandal engulfed the city of Bell in LA County, the office that tracks and disburses state money issued its final report.

From Ruben Vives and Hector Becerra in the LA Times: "State Controller John Chiang issued his final audit on Bell on Wednesday morning, nearly three years after the scandal uncovered overpaid city leaders, overtaxed residents and other financial mismanagement..."

"Among the audit's findings, Bell currently has a negative cash balance, caused in part by the city's move to stop collecting the excessive taxes. Bell promised to refund more than $3 million in overpaid taxes to residents and businesses, but auditors found that the city had not done so."

The saga of the Busted Bay Bridge Bolts continues, this time with with word that similar items had been installed a decade earlier on the Richmond bridge.

From the Chronicle's Jaxon Van Derbeken: "Caltrans decided to install high-risk steel rods on the Bay Bridge's new eastern span after a supplier pointed out that the agency had already approved them for the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, according to documents the agency released Tuesday."

"However, the galvanized, high-strength rods that Caltrans approved in 2001 for the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge's seismic retrofit were tightened to far lower tension levels than the 2,300-plus rods installed on the eastern span. Experts say tension is a key factor in causing high-strength steel to snap - something that has already happened with 32 rods on the new Bay Bridge."

There's interest in a shield law -- protection for reporters -- at the federal level in the wake of the Justice Department's seizure of AP reporters' phone records, but the issue has come up, and died, before.

From Roll Call's John Gramlich: "Bipartisan momentum is building for legislation that would give reporters new legal protections from government authorities who want them to reveal their confidential sources. But it’s far from clear whether the effort can overcome the objections that derailed similar bills in the Senate in 2007 and 2009."

"Reps. Ted Poe, R-Texas, and John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., appeared with a group of lawmakers from both parties Wednesday to announce growing House support for “media shield” legislation (HR 1962) that would create a judicial process to ensure that reporters are not compelled to identify their sources unless certain conditions are met. The conditions include requiring government investigators to prove that “the public interest in compelling disclosure outweighs the public interest in gathering or disseminating news or information.”

And from our "Someobody's Always Watching" file comes word that a tender moment in the wilderness was captured on film, but romance wins out and all is well.

"Mel Reyes got down on one knee and asked Jordie Egbert to marry him when they reached the top of Rattlesnake Ridge in North Bend, Wash."

"They probably felt very alone in the wilderness, but they weren't, and that might have been a good thing."

"Geoff Parker, a photographer, was hiking with his wife when she pointed out the couple. The two were out celebrating their first anniversary."

We'd never know about it, except for Instagram and Facebook ...

Finally

2013-05-22T14:53:46Z

Eric Garcetti won the race for mayor Tuesday in Los Angeles, where he will be the first elected Jewish mayor of L.A. and that city's youngest mayor in a century.

From the LAT's Seema Mehta and Laura J. Nelson: "During early returns Tuesday, Greuel led the race by a slight margin. But as the night wore on, Garcetti's lead grew. Election tallies from the city clerk's office posted at 1:38 a.m., with nearly 73% of precincts reporting, showed Greuel had fallen 8 points behind Garcetti."

"After seeing those numbers -- Greuel 46%, Garcetti 54% -- she called Garcetti at 1:42 a.m. to concede the race..."

"Garcetti, a city councilman, and Greuel, the city controller, were onetime City Council allies. Both raised in the San Fernando Valley, Garcetti and Greuel were vying to be the leader of a city of 3.8 million people that has only recently shown signs of lifting itself out of a five-year economic mire -- one that triggered perennial budget deficits, layoffs and cuts in basic services such as street paving and tree trimming." And the turnout appeared to be miserable, too ...

Meanwhile, LA voters are giving a thumbs up to the city council's efforts to regulate marijuana dispensaries, while rejecting a couple of other pot measures.

From the LA Daily News' Rick Orlov: "Los Angeles voters decided Tuesday to back a City Council plan to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries and cap their number at 135, while rejecting two competing proposals from outside groups."

"Proposition D would also increase the tax on medical marijuana sales to 6 percent. It was developed by the City Council after an initiative measure qualified for the ballot that would have overturned the city's plan to ban all dispensaries."

"Ordinance F, written by dispensaries that would be shut out of the 135 cap, would have allowed a virtually unlimited number of dispensaries as long as they maintained a distance from schools, parks and churches and followed other restriction. A third measure, Ordinance E, caps the number at 135, but does not have a tax increase or other restrictions. Its main supporters decided to shift their backing to Prop. D."

Gov. Brown's budget is running into flak from fellow Democrats, who hope to restore at least some social service programs. The Capitol's traditional Reep-vs.-Dem budget fight is being replaced by Dem-vs.-Dem.

From Capital Public Radio's Ben Adler: "Many Democrats have been hoping state revenues would improve enough to restore at least some of those cuts, such as Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), who spoke at the rally for after school programs. "To the degree that we have a little bit of additional money - yes, we want to pay down debt and yes, we want to put some money away, appropriately, for a Rainy Day, but then we need to reinvest where we can," Leno said."

"But Democrats in the Senate and Assembly have different priorities. The Senate hopes to increase money for mental health programs, adult dental coverage and career technical education. The Assembly is focused on child care programs, courts and child poverty grant increases for the state's welfare-to-work program."

"However, Gov. Jerry Brown has made it very clear he's not interested in any of that. "Everybody wants to see more spending," he said last week as he released his updated budget proposal. "That's what this place is - it's a spending machine. You need something? Come here and see if you can get it! Well, but I'm the backstop at the end, and I'm gonna keep this budget balanced as long as I'm around here."

Gov. Brown's effort to take $500 million from the special fund fueled by the state's cap-and-trade auctions and use it instead in the state budget is drawing bipartisan criticism.

From the Bee's Dan Walters: "The two Democrats and one Republican on a Senate budget subcommittee denounced Brown's plan, which was included in a revision of his state budget last week."

"The $500 million loan to the general fund is designed to partially offset the Brown administration's forecast that revenues will dip below earlier projections in the 2013-14 fiscal year by $1.8 billion, but members of the committee said it made little sense since the same budget proposes to repay some of the state's "wall of debt," which is mostly money owed to schools."

"Money from the fees is supposed to pay for programs that reduce greenhouse gases, and the Legislative Analyst's Office had warned in the past that using the fees for other purposes could be illegal."

(For a more detailed look at the issue, click here for Capitol Weekly's story last week.)

The state's election officers, responding to demands from a number of media organizations, says she'll expand the release of campaign finance information to include daily spreadsheets listing raw data.

From the AP's Judy Lin: "California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has agreed to expand the way her office presents campaign finance data online after initially rejecting the request from a coalition of good-government groups, research organizations and newspapers, her spokeswoman said Tuesday."

"The Secretary of State's Office will make California's entire campaign finance and lobbying database, known as Cal-Access, available for download on one spreadsheet daily by Labor Day. Currently, the secretary of state's office creates CD-ROMs upon request and sends them by mail for $5, or the public has to search online by each candidate, group or committee.

The groups that asked for the change to the state's website applauded Bowen's decision and say it will help the public keep track of who is funding the campaigns of elected officials."

"The groups that asked for the change to the state's website applauded Bowen's decision and say it will help the public keep track of who is funding the campaigns of elected officials."

Finally, from our "Best Dressed Crooks" file comes the tale of a woman who robbed a bank in what looks like a floor-length ball gown.

"Stuart police are looking for someone who robbed a local bank while wearing a bright green dress, officials said."

"Officers responded to a report of a bank robbery at First State Bank in Stuart around 3:45 p.m. Monday, authorities said."

"The suspect handed the teller a note demanding money and the teller complied, police said. The suspect fled and a witness later reported seeing the suspect climb into the trunk of a car parked in a nearby alley."

A vision in green chiffon....

By your leave

2013-05-21T14:38:22Z

Employers, under legislation moving through the Assembly, would be prohibited from hassling workers who take advantage of California's family-leave law -- a law that's already on the books and is supposed to be followed.

From the AP's Judy Lin: "The legislation would protect workers who use the California Paid Family Leave insurance program, which allows qualified employees to take up to six weeks off with partial pay. Supporters say nearly 37 percent of workers who needed the leave did not apply for the benefit for fear of being fired, angering their employers or hurting their chances at promotion. They cited a 2011 study by the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research based in Washington, D.C..."

"The leave is part of the State Disability Insurance program, which is funded through employee paycheck deductions."

"Employer groups including the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Restaurant Association oppose the bill. It would transform an employee-paid insurance program meant to replace lost wages into a protected leave of absence, a move that increases costs to all employers, especially small businesses, said Jennifer Barrera, a lobbyist for the chamber."

It's Election Day in Los Angeles, and a two-year campaign is finally coming to an end, with Eric Garcetti ending the race with a shrinking lead over Wendy Greuel. So far the big winner, though, is apathy.

From the LAT Seema Mehta: "The frenzy of activity occurred as spending passed the $33-million mark on Saturday, breaking previous records as unlimited outlays by independent donors and "super PACs" continued to play a dominant role in Tuesday’s contest. In the campaign’s final days, Garcetti vastly outspent Greuel on the airwaves and other campaign efforts, but Greuel had far more support from the outside groups."

"A new poll by the Los Angeles Times and USC showed Garcetti’s lead over Greuel narrowing, and Greuel struggling to secure her San Fernando Valley base, which is viewed as critical to her chances on Tuesday."

"The Los Angeles Times visited mid-Wilshire, the only city neighborhood that has consistently picked a winner in the last six primary and runoff mayoral elections. Greuel and Garcetti both have their supporters there, but many voiced an indifference about the race that has been evident citywide."

Speaking of elections, it's early days yet, but the political landscape in Berkeley already reflects the 2014 elections, as an array of contenders eye Nancy Skinner's seat.

From Capitol Weekly's Nik Bonovich: "Among the candidates, two are African-American, two are women, two are gay and one is Asian and each comes from different communities in the district. Each candidate will try to appeal to their base of voters, but with such a strong field of candidates with crossover bases it will be an all-out battle on campaign tactics, messages, themes and who is best able to represent and deliver to these voters."

“This district one of the handful of districts in the state that are truly progressive,” said potential candidate Sam Kang. “The member must carry the responsibility to push the progressive consciousness in Sacramento. Without that person pushing, the rest of the state will suffer. That’s how influential and critical this district is. People here not only know they are progressive, but love that they are progressive. Whoever is elected here must know how to translate that and have the skills and experience to push that progressive agenda in Sacramento.”

"The likely contenders represent various genders, ethnicities and sexual orientations. All are determined political activists who are proud of the legacy of the district. “If anything, this district is looking for the most progressive candidate and one who is pushing the envelope,” said Parke Skelton, who is currently not involved in the race but was the consultant that elected Nancy Skinner in 2008."

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Assembly GOP Leader Connie Conway, the target of coup rumours just weeks ago, appears firmly in the saddle.

From Capitol Weekly's Jim Cameron: "Two days after Democrats secured 54 of 80 seats in last November’s election, Assembly GOP Leader Connie Conway was re-elected in a unanimous caucus vote and appeared to be secure in her position."

"But whispers of her possible demise as leader surfaced last month as a result of the party’s loss of seats in the election, reportedly coming from the ranks of 10 freshman additions to the Assembly."

"In a lengthy interview, Conway appeared confident as she spoke about her role and future. If she was concerned about a possible coup, it was not apparent."

Newton Russell, an amiable, by-the-book lawmaker who served three decades in the Legislature, has died at the age of 85.

From the Bee's Dan Walters: "Russell, a Republican, was dubbed the "conscience of the Senate" for his frequent admonitions to colleagues about following procedural rules and understanding the details and potential consequences of legislation. He was particularly critical of expanding "peace officer" status to additional blocs of state and local employees that would qualify them for higher pension benefits."

"Russell, an insurance agent by profession, was first elected to the Assembly in 1964 from a Glendale-centered district, and a decade later won a special state Senate election. He retired in 1996. The area he represented was dependably Republican during his career but after his retirement became dominated by Democratic voters and legislators."

"Russell's brother, John, who preceded him in death, was best known as the star of a popular television series, "The Lawman," in the 1960s. Both brothers served in World War II, John in the Marine Corps and Newt in the Navy."

And from our "I've Got That Sinking Feeling" file comes word that a man was swallowed by a sinkhole inside the building where he worked. This is when you need your sense of humor.

"A sinkhole in East Rutherford, N.J., popped up inside a warehouse around 12:30 p.m. Monday and consumed a man and his forklift entirely."

"The forklift operator, identified by The Record as Bronx resident Danny Rodriguez, was taken to a local hospital and treated for a back injury. Emergency personel were on scene to contain the incident, evacuating the building."

"Assistant Fire Chief John Giancaspro told NJ.com that officials are still trying to determine the cause of the estimated 40-by-40-foot sinkhole."

Only in New Jersey ....

Milk run

2013-05-20T14:21:28Z

A fight over whey is under way, with California's dairy farmers pitted against cheese processors.

From the LAT's Marc Lifsher: "It's not Grade A, homogenized, pasteurized milk that's at issue in the state Capitol. Rather, agriculture lobbyists are focused on the price of whey, a milk byproduct probably best known to consumers who've read the Mother Goose nursery rhyme about little Miss Muffet eating her "curds and whey."

"Once thrown away as waste, whey has become a valuable commodity, left over from processing cheese and then used in hundreds of foods, including baby formula and protein powder. Whey has become a profit center for cheese makers that invest in processing equipment."

"Financially distressed dairy owners want a bigger share of the whey windfall. They're asking lawmakers to overhaul the California Department of Food and Agriculture's complex milk-pricing formula. The pricing scheme is the subject of a department administrative hearing set for Monday. California is the only state with its own pricing plan.

The public may want to curb pension costs, but they have to be careful how they do it: A court ruled that an attempt in Pacific Grove was unconstitutional.

From Calpensions' Ed Mendel: "One of the first local ballot measures aimed at cutting public pension costs, a cap on Pacific Grove payments to CalPERS approved by voters three years ago, was ruled unconstitutional by a Monterey County superior court judge last week."

"Judge Thomas Wills ruled Friday that Measure R violated the contract clause of the state constitution, reaffirming the view that pensions promised on the date of hire are a “vested right” that can’t be cut without providing a new benefit of equal value."

"In a tough week for the measure‘s backers, the Pacific Grove city council voted 5-to-0 Wednesday to seek a court ruling on the legality of a follow-up measure to roll back police pensions, rather than put the plan on the ballot as the council did with Measure R."

The non-partisan Legislative Analyst, who advises the Legislature on all things budgetary, gave Gov. Brown some suggestions on how to spend some $1 billion in tax revenue approved by voters. Brown is standing pat.

From the Kimberly Beltran in the Cabinet Report: "Three months ago the typically reserved nonpartisan Legislative Analyst used especially robust language in calling into question a plan from Gov. Jerry Brown to use new corporate tax revenue to improve energy efficiency at K-12 schools and community colleges."

"Last week, the governor released his revised May budget and the only change Brown made to his vision for how the state should distribute Proposition 39 proceeds was to propose giving small districts a minimum grant award rather than allocating money based on each district’s average daily attendance."

"As a result, Brown faces something of a confrontation with the influential LAO as well as a gaggle of legislative leaders who have bills pending that would enact different regulations for how the $1 billion-a-year new revenues should be used."

The LA mayoral campaign is sputtering to a close, with voters heading to the polls this week in what may be low-turnout finish.

From the LAT's James Rainey and Seema Mehta: "A two-year campaign that has drawn record spending will see either the first woman or the first Jew elected as Los Angeles mayor. But despite those milestones, candidates Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti sped around the city Sunday trying to avoid another distinction: drawing the lowest turnout for an open mayoral seat in modern history."

"The two candidates reached out to voters in churches, at a pizza parlor and in a bowling alley on a long day of campaigning — their last extended opportunity to connect directly to voters before Tuesday's election. Both focused particularly on African American voters, who polls show have tended to favor Greuel, the city controller, though many remained undecided."

"In a race in which she has had the financial advantage because of massive expenditures by organized labor, Greuel has been fighting to make up the 4 percentage points she trailed Garcetti by when the two emerged from a March primary to become the finalists for mayor. Greuel still lagged 7 percentage points behind City Councilman Garcetti, 48% to 41%, according to a USC Price/Los Angeles Times poll released Saturday night."

As the state's fire season gets under way, it's a good idea to remember just who is out on the front lines -- state prison inmates.

From The Sun's Beatriz E. Valenzuela and Andrew Edwards: "The men had all the right gear, but their uniforms were not the bright yellow many associate with firefighters. Instead theirs were bright orange, a sign all the men on the crew were state inmates working on the frontline of the wildfire."

"We have a lot of the inmate hand crews up there on that fire," said Venture County fire Capt. Dan Horton at the Springs Fire command post. "They have the training, the fortitude and the strength to do this job. And they do a great job. "

"Cal Fire and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation operate 42 adult and two Division of Juvenile Justice conservation camps that house more than 4,000 inmates, according to corrections officials."

And finally from our bulging "Dumb Crooks" file comes the tale of two young guys in Fresno who accidentally dialed 911 with their cell phone -- as they were doing crimes.

"The call, which went to 911, started like any other call to the police dispatcher, with the operator asking, "What is your emergency?" But when no one answered, the operator didn't hang up, instead staying on the line and listening to the pair, who police identified as Nathan Teklemariam and Carson Rinehart, both 20, as they talked about wanting to do drugs. It wasn't long before the conversation turned to breaking into a car."

"Get the bolt and give me the hammer just in case," one of the two voices on the phone said. Shortly after that statement, the dispatcher heard a window shatter and the people on the phone started yelling that they found prescription drugs."

"As the two were driving away, police were already in the area searching for the men based on clues that the 911 dispatcher was feeding to them."

Just another night in Fresno ...

LA story

2013-05-16T15:20:47Z

In the race for mayor in Democrat-rich Los Angeles, contender Wendy Greuel gets smacked in a Spanish-language ad for once being Republican, and a Pete Wilson Republican at that.

From the LAT's Kate Linthicum and Seema Mehta: "The 30-second commercial, which was produced by a "super PAC" backing Greuel's opponent in next week's election, draws links between Greuel and Wilson, the former California governor who pushed a 1994 initiative to block immigrants in the country illegally from accessing state social services."

"The ad splices together photos of Greuel and Wilson and says: "During the anti-immigrant era of Pete Wilson, Wendy Greuel was a Republican."

"The Greuel campaign says the ad is misleading because Greuel, who switched her party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in 1992, "vehemently and publicly opposed" Wilson's initiative."

Among the twists and turns in the governor's budget is a move to have the counties pay for key services from money they save in health care costs.

From the U-T's Michael Gardner: "California’s counties are leery of Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget maneuver to immediately siphon money from local coffers, leaving behind an IOU that would be repaid through savings realized much later..."

"Brown argues that overall counties will save as much as $300 million immediately — and $1.3 billion annually in three years — when thousands of low-income Californians become eligible for subsidized health care starting Jan. 1 under the new federal Affordable Care Act."

"In a complicated move, Brown wants to quickly lower by a like amount state payments to counties for welfare programs, such as CalWORKS and child care. That would force the counties to shift health care savings to pay a bigger share of those programs."

Speaking of the budget, Gov. Brown in unveiling his rewritten budget demanded prudence and restraint, but a number of groups already are challenging him for more money, led by advocates for the poor.

From the Mercury-News' Steve Harmon: "Democratic legislators and liberal advocacy groups signaled Wednesday they are ready to fight to restore safety net programs devastated by years of cuts, a day after Gov. Jerry Brown emphasized a sober economic outlook in a revised budget that leaves little room for improving the lot of the poor."

"Brown vowed to spend within the state's means, proclaiming he is the "backstop" to the "big spending machine" of interest groups and liberal legislators sure to bang on his door for help."

"Brown scaled down hopes with a $96.4 billion budget that was $1.3 billion smaller than he'd proposed in January, saying that federal "sequestration" cuts, lower wages and a hike in Social Security taxes had quelled economic growth."

The state isn't the only one with budget issues: In LA, officials are finding out that they don't know exactly how much money may be tucked away. Sounds like a reprise of the state Parks and Recreation Department.

From KPCC's Alice Walton: "The recent discovery of an extra $43 million in the Department of Transportation's budget shows just how little Los Angeles city leaders know about so-called "special funds," the chair of the Budget and Finance Committee said Wednesday."

"There are between 600 and 700 special revenue funds on the City of L.A.'s books. These funds hold money from grants and taxes that are set aside for specific projects. And in the case of LADOT, sometimes the funds hold city dollars that should be reimbursed back to the General Fund."

"There was a change in management in the Department of Transportation," Councilman Paul Krekorian told KPCC's Take Two. "And there was an early detection around October 2011 that this fund seemed to have more money that it should have in it, so they launched a forensic accounting effort that involved reviewing of 11,000 documents."

As 2014 approaches, it is becoming clearer that the counties are unable to cope with the new influx of patients.

From Alexa Underwood in HealthyCal: "More than one million people in California suffer from mental illness – the largest number of any state. When the final phase of the new federal health care law starts in January of next year, more California residents than ever before will be able to seek help for problems ranging from depression, anxiety, and addiction to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder."

"But mental health providers in the state’s Central Valley are unprepared for an influx of thousands of patients. State and county officials remain in the planning phases, even though new patients will be able to access these services in less than nine months."

"Manuel Jimenez, director of Merced County’s Mental Health and Alcohol and Drug Services, said that they haven’t begun expanding programs just yet."

Finally, on a serious note but reminding ourselves that most political junkies like beer, from our Beer Gardens file comes a tale of complaint from a beer writer who is fed up with hops.

"That’s when I realized that I had a problem. In fact, everyone I know in the craft beer industry has a problem: We’re so addicted to hops that we don’t even notice them anymore."

"Hops are the flowers of the climbing plant Humulus lupulus, a member of the family Cannabaceae (which also includes, yes, cannabis), and they’re a critical ingredient in beer. Beer is made by boiling grain to turn its starches into sugar, which is later converted to alcohol by yeast."

"While the grain is boiling, brewers add hops to tone down the mixture’s sweetness—without hops, beer would taste like Coke. Recipes usually call for only a few grams of hops per gallon of beer produced, but those little flowers pack a big punch. In addition to their bittering properties, hops impart strong piney, spicy, or fruity flavors and aromas. They also contain antimicrobial agents that act as natural preservatives."