By DAN WALTERS, Sacramento Bee

This hasn't been the worst fire season in California history -- at least not yet -- but it's been bad enough and over time, brush and forest fires are increasing in frequency and damages due to drought and population growth in the state's fire-prone areas.

When the Peace Officers Research Association of California began airing advertisements last week about the difficulty and danger of being a cop, it was more than routine image polishing.

A recent statewide poll found that just one-sixth of Californians like how the Legislature is doing its job.

The state Assembly's Democratic so-called leadership proved Thursday that even that record-low approval rating is probably much too high by wimping out on reforming an overcrowded overly expensive and unmanageable prison system.

Three years ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that created a new system to collect data on California teachers but forbade intermingling its numbers with students' test scores to evaluate teachers' performance.

Those who meander along California's middle of the political road often find themselves ambushed in the crossfire between red-blooded conservatives and true-blue liberals.

Traditionally, California was a state of homeowners, but as its population and housing prices soared, its home ownership rate dipped to the nation's second lowest.

As the Cold War wound down and new military technology emerged two decades ago, Washington politicians were compelled to acknowledge two realities: It was time to shrink the nation's military establishment, and Congress couldn't bring itself to close outmoded military bases that were high-profile components of local economies.

As two legislative committees opened hearings on water legislation this week, California state Sen. Joe Simitian, one bill's author, reminded colleagues that they are held in low esteem by voters, but could prove the state is still governable by cracking the decades-long water stalemate.

Over the years, this space has charted the decline in what we used to call "vocational education," pointing out the folly of putting so much official stress on academic test scores and college preparation when the vast majority of students will either drop out of high school or enter the work force without college degrees.

Other than passing two state budget revisions that failed to close a chronic deficit, the California Legislature has done almost nothing so far this year.

For that and other sins of omission and commission, the Legislature finds itself with a historically low approval rating of just 17 percent among California voters in a recent Public Policy Institute of California poll.