Finally, some good news – some very big good news – on the water front. A historic agreement signed by seven states and the federal government last week in Las Vegas will, in time, provide San Diego and the rest of Southern California with a huge new supply of water. What's more, this vast additional source comes with none of the infrastructure costs normally associated with building new reservoirs or underground storage.

A major power plant has been proposed in Carlsbad, and the clock is ticking on a permitting process that must be completed by next fall. NRG has applied to build a $500 million facility that could generate 544 megawatts of electricity, enough to serve 360,000 families. An application for a site east of the existing and outdated Encina Power Station was quietly submitted Sept. 14. Now, we are three months into a 12-month decision process.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – When he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1998 and then sought the presidency in 2004, John Edwards framed his campaigns around his biography. Now as he runs a second race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Edwards campaigns as a man with a plan – indeed, a candidate with many plans and positions on the issues of our time.

Judgment day is Jan. 3 for arguably every presidential candidate except Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R). No, it's not the day when it will be decided whether they go to heaven or hell, but rather the day when their futures as presidential candidates in 2008 will be judged.

Expect the unexpected is fast becoming the operative axiom for the 2008 presidential race. It's already scrambling the presidential fields for both Democrats and Republicans. There is, however, an ominous catch for the Dems: In an election cycle that should overwhelmingly favor them, their leading candidates have by far the more serious problems.

Some candidates never learn. They go negative when their poll numbers are falling because their political strategists tell them that mudslinging will cut opponents down to size. Yet negative campaigners never seem to consider the possibility that they'll be the ones who wind up getting soiled, coming off as desperate, petty and unlikable.