Mike Taugher, water journo and spokesman was 50

The longtime former Contra Costa Times reporter and a leading journalist on California water issues who left to become spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife last year died Sunday while vacationing with his family in Hawaii. He was 50. Police in Maui say his family members couldn’t find him immediately after coming back to shore while snorkeling and that after being pulled unconscious from the water a short time later emergency crews were unable to revive him. Obituaries: Mercury News; Chronicle