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Stockton native Dino Cortopassi refused to concede on Wednesday, holding onto hope that vote-by-mail and provisional ballots will give his Proposition 53 a comeback win.

Prop. 53 trailed 51 percent to 49 percent, or by nearly 250,000 votes statewide. According to published reports there may be millions of votes outstanding. The measure would force a public vote on state megaprojects such as the Delta tunnels and high-speed rail. In a prepared statement, Cortopassi compared the campaign against Prop. 53 to the Germans’ blitzkrieg on Poland in 1939. Opponents, including Gov. Jerry Brown, raised more than $22 million while Cortopassi and his wife, Joan, spent about $5 million.

California’s drought is forcing farmers across the state to squeeze the most out of every last drop of water, but what if it was possible to grow a bountiful crop with no water at all? One local winery is doing just that, with a centuries-old technique enjoying a renaissance in parched California. A soft breeze is blowing through Amador County, where the birds are chirping, the flags are flying and the wine is flowing at Andis Wines. For winemaker Mark McKenna, “It’s a dream come true.”

A California ballot measure that could put two of Gov. Jerry Brown’s legacy projects on the line was trailing slightly in incomplete counting late Tuesday. With more than 5 million votes counted, the “no” vote against Proposition 53 reached 50.9 percent, with a lead of 98,568. The ballot measure would make the state get voter approval before launching any state project needing $2 billion or more in revenue bonds. Brown supports a $64 billion high-speed rail project and two proposed giant tunnels costing $15.7 billion to carry Northern California water for use by Central and Southern California cities and farms.

Most people think access to water is a God-given right, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. History is filled with legal precedents trying to resolve basic water rights; essentially sorting out the “haves versus the have nots.” Even today, in water-scarce areas like South Africa and the Middle East, unstable governments are allowing private companies to provide water services. Unfortunately many of these large corporations are callously controlling limited water resources making access to this life-giving substance an economic burden for the poor.

A giant, solar-powered pipe unveiled by Vancouver researchers at Land Art Generator Initiative 2016 could end California’s drought problem. California has had state-wide drought restrictions in place for years, to the point where some have asked if the Golden State will be dry until the clock finally runs out on this ball of dirt we call the Earth. This pipe is supposed to help solve those problems by filtering seawater. Unlike the filtering systems that are already used, though, it would use electromagnetic filtration to gather drinking water without having an adverse effect on the oceans themselves.