This just in: the state Department of Parks and Recreation says it's got 65 deals going to keep parks open. Forty of those deals are signed; 25 more are still in the negotiation phase.
Candlestick Point in San Francisco, recently left for dead, is now annotated as "California State Parks Foundation exploring options" on the master list.
That leaves just five parks with "no partnership, donor or concession agreement," as the department puts it. But acting spokesman Clark Blanchard says he's not even willing to count out the Last Five: Benicia State Recreation Area, the California Mining and Mineral Museum, Gray Whale Cove State Beach, Providence Mountains State Recreation Area and Zmudowski State Beach.
And groups like the Sierra Club ("At last some good news!") and the Natural Resources Defense Council are cheering the language tucked in the Governor's budget summary out today that $10 million in additional dollars will allows the Parks Department to stretch out rescue- deal talks past July 1st.
Another $13 million will help the agency bolster its bottom line with capital improvements like credit card readers for parking fees and solar panels to reduce the energy bill in far-flung properties.