05Sep

POLICY & POLITICS

Valley:

Costa prepares to represent both Valley growers and those in need at Farm Bill talks

Fresno Bee

Rep. Jim Costa is a talker. He will be the first to admit it. He did a lot of talking that day, as he made his usual rounds up Highway 99 and back again for appearances at various community events in Fresno and Madera. But the longtime lawmaker also spent a fair amount of time listening.

See Also:

● Rep. Jim Costa discusses support of President Trump in the ag community Fresno Bee

OPINION: An Ocasio-Cortez for the GOP?

The Wall Street Journal

Meet Elizabeth Heng—a Republican running in California’s 16th Congressional District. Like Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Heng is young (33). Like Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, she’s a racial minority (Cambodian). And like Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, she’s a millennial female running against an established male politician.

Valadao to host Military Service Academy Information Night

Hanford Sentinel

On Sept. 19, Congressman David Valadao (R-Hanford) will host his annual United States Military Service Academy Information Night at Hanford West High School.

Modesto City Council creates committee to fix delays in sales tax-funded road projects

Modesto Bee

The Modesto City Council on Tuesday night unanimously voted to reject a recommendation to repeal an ordinance that created a commission to oversee Measure L sales tax spending to improve traffic conditions throughout Stanislaus County.

See Also:

● EDITORIAL: Fix oversight committee, don’t toss it out Modesto Bee

Magazine names Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs to annual Politico 50

Stockton Record

Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs was placed on Politico Magazine’s annual Politico 50 this month for his initiative to bring a universal basic income pilot to the city.

State:

What’s left on Jerry Brown’s desk?

Modesto Bee

The mad rush to pass bills before the end of session may have ended on Friday, but the uncertainty surrounding some of their fates remains. Here are a handful of the subjects Gov. Jerry Brown must decide on by the end of the month.

Some good news, and lots of bad, from state legislative session

Bakersfield Californian

Last week the California Legislature wrapped up another two-year session, so it’s time to start counting the wins and losses.

See Also:

● Capitol Chat: Legislative Wrapup Capital Public Radio

California lawmakers OK a bill allowing them to live outside their districts

Sacramento Bee

Before they left town last week at the end of the 2018 legislative session, California lawmakers sent Gov. Jerry Brown a bill that makes it easier for them to live outside the districts they represent.

California Attorney General Candidate Faces Ethics Panel

Capital Public Radio

Steven Bailey, a Republican who served as an El Dorado County judge from 2009 through August 2017, is accused of using the job to aid his political campaign, improperly accepting gifts and steering business to a firm where his son worked.

Proposition 3: An $8.87 billion water and habitat bond

CALmatters

California needs a clean, safe and reliable water supply to meet its needs as the population grows and the climate changes.

Hunter indictment sheds light on 'personal relationships' for congressman

San Diego Union-Tribune

The criminal indictment issued against Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife, Margaret, late last month alleges years of cavalier spending — luxury resorts, fine dining, tequila shots and more — all paid for with political contributions.

Federal:

Kavanaugh says a 'good judge' must be an 'umpire' and 'neutral' arbiter

ABC30

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing got off to a fiery start as Democrats call for the hearings to be delayed.

● Rancorous, partisan start for Kavanaugh high court hearing Sacramento Bee

● Kavanaugh Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings Off To A Raucous Start Capital Public Radio

● Sen. Harris fears Kavanaugh will put Trump before country San Francisco Chronicle

● 10 things to watch for in the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing Wednesday Los Angeles Times

● Trump put Brett Kavanaugh in an awful spot on the eve of his confirmation hearings Los Angeles Times

● Harris and Feinstein vs. Kavanaugh CALmatters

● Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings Off To A Raucous Start NPR

● Brett Kavanaugh Supported Broad Leeway For Presidents Under Investigation NPR

● Unresolved recusal issues require a pause in the Kavanaugh hearings Brookings

● The Most Intense Moments From Day One of the Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings The Cut

● With Kavanaugh Hearings Underway, Supreme Court Ads Fill the Airways Roll Call

● Who Is Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump's Pick For The Supreme Court? NPR

● President Trump's Supreme Court Pick: Brett Kavanaugh PolitiFact

● Brett Kavanaugh ruled Consumer Financial Protection Bureau structurally unconstitutional PolitiFact

● Pro-ACA group: Court pick Kavanaugh refused to uphold pre-existing condition ban PolitiFact

● Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings To Focus On 6 Hot-Button Issues NPR

● Kavanaugh Could Tip Supreme Court Against Gun Control Laws NPR

● EDITORIAL: Brett Kavanaugh’s low road to high court San Francisco Chronicle

● EDITORIAL: The Kavanaugh hearings don’t have to be an exercise in futility Los Angeles Times

Trump, others dispute book’s description of unhinged leader

Fresno Bee

An incendiary tell-all book by a reporter who helped bring down President Richard Nixon set off a firestorm in the White House, with its descriptions of current and former aides calling President Donald Trump an "idiot" and a "liar," disparaging his judgment and claiming they plucked papers off his desk to prevent him from withdrawing from a pair of trade agreements.

See Also:

● Tape 'Fear': Hear Trump and Woodward discuss tell-all book, then read about what it got right or wrong Hanford Sentinel

● Trump suggests Woodward book bombshells 'could be just made up' Los Angeles Times

The steep price Donald Trump will pay for his unmeasured words

Modesto Bee

Donald Trump thinks his attacks on John McCain worked for him. Trump supporters will say his actions and tweets are all part of a grand strategy. If so, it’s a flawed one because he so often must back off of it.

Is Trump About To Be Able To Say 'You're Fired' To A Lot More People?

NPR

In Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump has nominated someone to the Supreme Court who believes, as he does, in an expansive view of presidential power. Could the president hire and fire civil servants at will, for example? That question is at the heart of a concept that likely will come up often at Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings this fall.

Obama to Join Midterm Battle, Starting in California and Ohio

The New York Times

The former president’s return to public politicking comes at a momentous point in the 2018 election season, furnishing Democrats again with one of their most formidable and popular campaigners in the closing months

Democrats Outperforming Republicans in Small Donations

The Wall Street Journal

In 28 of the 30 most competitive House races and five of eight tossup Senate races, as rated by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, the Democratic candidates have outraised the Republicans in donations of less than $200, the Journal’s review found. In all, the Democrats in those 38 races have collected about $35 million in small donations, quadruple the Republicans’ small-money haul.

See the Democratic and Republican House Seats in Play

The Wall Street Journal

Since the start of the year, a growing number of Republican-held House seats have come into play, with far fewer Democratic seats considered competitive, based on aggregated race ratings from three leading handicappers. Control of the House of Representatives will turn on the outcomes in this relatively narrow slice of contests.

EDITORIAL: Politicizing Hunter, Collins indictments: This time, Trump’s tweet really went too far

San Diego Union-Tribune

A president seeking to interfere with the U.S. system of justice is obviously wrong. But it’s not just unethical. It’s un-American. It’s an attack on core democratic values — something that helped lead to Richard Nixon’s impeachment in 1974.

Other:

The business of digital privacy and security will be huge

AEI

Now that the first waves of the internet are behind us, security will come to the fore. Already, firms are distinguishing themselves by their privacy policies and business models. Policymakers should not ignore the very healthy and growing incentives to develop, buy, and deploy technology solutions to technology problems.

State Democratic head walks back controversial In-N-Out tweet. ‘There is no boycott’

Fresno Bee

California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman drove into Fresno on Monday, where he attended a Labor Day breakfast and addressed his recent tweet aboutboycotting fast food chain In-N-Out.

Ag leaders of tomorrow being taught in novel Valley program

The Fresno Bee

Ag Prep is an example of Linked Learning in action. It’s a program operated by The Wonderful Company with seven high schools. Ag Prep connects with young people by combining their interests with the high-tech needs of the agricultural industry.

Rising global temperatures to cause insect crop losses, food shortages: Study

ABC30

Rising global temperatures are leading to a boom in the number of insects devouring crops worldwide, and could cause future food shortages.

Apple season opens in Tehachapi

Bakersfield Californian

True to its tradition, Pulford Appletree Orchard opened its gate Saturday and started selling apples.

California Vineyards Struggle Amid Farmworker Shortage

Fortune

Wine makers face a perfect storm of problems regarding the issue: The ongoing battle about U.S. immigration policies and competition from other higher-paying, local industries, such as construction, which are helping the area recover from last year’s wildfires.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime:

California's 'cautionary tale' for others considering no cash bail system

Visalia Times-Delta

A controversial public safety bill was signed into law this week — Senate Bill 10. The new law — which will take effect on Oct. 1, 2019 — eliminates the cash bail system. It is the first of its kind in the nation.

See Also:

● EDITORIAL: California has 13 months to figure out how to eliminate money bail. Here's what needs to be done Los Angeles Times

Cities may not prosecute homeless people for sleeping outside if they have no access to shelter, appeals court rules

Los Angeles Times

Prosecuting homeless people for sleeping on public property when they have no access to shelter violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, a federal appeals court decided Tuesday.

See Also:

● Homelessness: It’s not a crime to sleep on the street — absent other options, court says San Francisco Chronicle

● California is rife with laws used to harass homeless people Los Angeles Times

Over 1,000 drunk drivers arrested in California over Labor Day weekend, 22 killed in crashes

San Francisco Chronicle

Labor Day weekend saw 1,086 DUI arrests and 22 people killed in crashes, in the state, the California Highway Patrol reported Monday morning.

Safe Streets meeting talks of spike in robbery crimes

Bakersfield.com

Goal No. 1 for the monthly meeting of the Safe Streets Partnership is to reduce the number of gang-related shootings in the city. But this time, BPD Capt. Joe Mullins and Sgt. Daniel McAfee were concerned primarily about a recent spike in robberies, including “crews” of three or four armed individuals making off with spools of lottery tickets from convenience stores and neighborhood markets.

Public Safety:

Fresno Co. DA's office recognized by U.S. Attorney

ABC30

The Fresno County District Attorney's office received an award from the US Attorney's Office on Tuesday, called the "Outstanding Law Enforcement Agency Award."

EDITORIAL: Why Brown should sign these two police transparency bills

San Diego Union-Tribune

In an era in which cellphone cameras have made it easier to document complaints about police misconduct, law enforcement authorities and unions need to recognize and respond to the loss of trust that has resulted — not treat every attempt to increase the transparency and accountability of police agencies as attacks on the safety of officers.

See Also:

● EDITORIAL: Jerry Brown helped make cops untouchable. He owes California to right that wrong Sacramento Bee

Stunned by a surge in mass shootings, California lawmakers send nine gun-control bills to the governor

The Los Angeles Times

The action by the Legislature was applauded more than 3,000 miles away in Parkland, Fla., where a 19-year-old gunman killed 17 students and employees at a high school in February. Among the legislation waiting approval by Brown are proposals to lift the age for buying rifles and shotguns from 18 to 21, and to prohibit the purchase of more than one long gun a month.

Fire:

Pilot shortage has Cal Fire tankers sitting on runways during wildfires

Sierra Star

California’s long and deadly wildfire season is wearing down its firefighting pilots and causing Cal Fire to ground as many as six aircraft at a time because of staffing shortages.

Fire in Tahoe National Forest not as large as initially feared

San Francisco Chronicle

Firefighters battling a blaze in a steep river canyon in Tahoe National Forest are counting on nine large air tankers and seven helicopters to halt the spread of the North Fire.

ECONOMY / JOBS

Economy:

Amazon is 2nd publicly traded US company to reach $1 trillion in market value

ABC30

Amazon has become the second publicly traded company to be worth $1 trillion, hot on the heels of Apple.

See Also:

● Amazon is 2nd US company to hit $1 trillion market value. Apple was first. Which is next? Hanford Sentinel

● Apple walked to $1 trillion. Amazon sprinted there Los Angeles Times

Your credit score may have just gone up, but that doesn't mean you can rest easy

Los Angeles Times

First the good news: Your credit score may have just gone up. That’s because the big credit agencies have cleaned house a bit, removing outdated info that may have been weighing on your creditworthiness.

The federal budget outlook: We are not winning

Brookings

The 2017 tax cut, the 2018 spending deals, and anticipated higher interest rates raise projected deficits and debt, while expectations of a stronger economy and lower healthcare spending work in the opposite direction. The net effect is that the CBO now projects a debt-to-GDP ratio of 94.5 percent in 2027 under current law.

The rise of the middle class safety net

Brookings

New research from Richard Reeves and Christopher Pulliam find that the American middle class—families making between $37,000 and $147,000 per year, as defined by the Future of the Middle Class Initiative at Brookings—has become increasingly reliant on welfare benefits such as Medicaid, food stamps, and housing assistance over the last 50 years.

US trade deficit widened to $50.1 billion in July

AP News

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the deficit in goods and services — the difference between what America sells and what it buys from other countries — rose to $50.1 billion in July from $45.7 billion in June. Exports slipped 1 percent to $211.1 billion. Imports increased 0.9 percent to a record $261.2 billion on increased purchases of trucks and computers.

OPINION: Trump Swims Against the Tide on Trade

The Wall Street Journal

Republicans are split on trade. Although Mr. Trump’s working-class base supports his tough approach, the rest of the party doesn’t. After the November election, Republican officeholders will face a decision: Stand up to Mr. Trump or concede and allow themselves to be branded the antitrade party.

Jobs:

As job market skyrockets, customer service tanks

Stockton Record

Service industry employers are especially short of help, with more jobs than workers to fill them. And workers are quitting at the highest rate in 13 years for better opportunities.

How the U.S. economy turned six good jobs into bad ones

Los Angeles Times

Changes in the labor market have upended myriad jobs that used to pay well, dragging down wages and leaving millions of American workers feeling misled and frustrated.

EDUCATION

K-12:

EPA names Merced County teacher one of most innovative environmental teachers of 2018

Merced Sun-Star

A Merced County teacher was just named one of the most innovative environmental educators in the country.

How Stanislaus Library gives talented kids a place to shine

Modesto Bee

Children who want to show their talents and make some money have about five weeks to prepare for the Stanislaus County Library’s annual All-Kids Craft Fair.

"What's free time?" Students ask Stockdale High senior during summer visit to China

Bakersfield.com

In speaking to students and staff at the school, she learned it’s common for students to come in at 6 or 7 a.m. each day and stay until 10 p.m. She said students also go to school most days of the week.

State's most interesting contest is over education

CALmatters

It’s a battle between two Democrats but one that encapsulates the political war over California education that has been raging for years between the education establishment, particularly the California Teachers Association, and an “Equity Coalition” of civil rights groups and Tuck’s fellow reform advocates.

Higher Ed:

UC system to get 100% renewable power in less than 10 years

San Francisco Chronicle

The University of California system on Tuesday set a goal of powering all its campuses and medical centers with 100 percent renewable energy by 2025, as part of its efforts to fight global warming.

ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY

Environment:

Fresno coffeehouse using compostable straws, cups

ABC30

At The Revue coffee shop in Fresno's Tower District, conversations are happening over a green cup of joe.

City Council to hear report on future of recycling program at meeting Wednesday

Bakersfield Californian

The Bakersfield City Council will hear a report on the state of Bakersfield’s recycling program at a council meeting Wednesday evening.

Climate Change Is Going To Cost California, And The Bill Will Be Staggering

Capital Public Radio

It could soon cost us $200 million a year in increased energy bills to keep homes air conditioned, $3 billion from the effects of a long drought and $18 billion to replace buildings inundated by rising seas, just to cite a few projections.

You’ve Heard of Outsourced Jobs, but Outsourced Pollution? It’s Real, and Tough to Tally Up

The New York Times

Many wealthy countries have effectively “outsourced” a big chunk of their carbon pollution overseas, by importing more steel, cement and other goods from factories in China and other places, rather than producing it domestically.

OPINION: How Jerry Brown Can Seal His Legacy as a Climate Champion

The New York Times

The message he needs to hear is: For the sake of our children’s future and your own legacy as a climate champion, please sign the bill.

Energy:

California wants 100% clean power by 2045. Wishful thinking?

San Francisco Chronicle

In the past decade, California has tripled its use of renewable power, raising wind turbines above hills and plugging vast fields of solar panels into the grid. That may have been the easy part.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Health:

Feeling itchy? Stealthy mosquito biting people in the Central Valley

ABC30

The small, striped Aedes aegypti mosquito has established itself in all areas of the Valley, and many of you have mosquito bites to prove it. Sanger has become the latest battleground in the fight against a mosquito which can carry diseases such as Zika and Dengue Fever.

Faster medicine: video calls bring psychiatrists to emergency room patients’ bedsides

Modesto Bee

Memorial Medical Center is using technology to broaden patient access to psychiatry services in emergencies. The Modesto hospital rolled out telepsychiatry service in July and already has assisted dozens of patients in crisis who came through the emergency-room doors.

How California kept pregnant women, new moms from dying

San Francisco Chronicle

As deaths of new and expecting moms multiplied in the United States, the picture in California and the rest of the developed world veered in the opposite direction.

Health Law’s Constitutionality Is Back in Focus With GOP Lawsuit

The Wall Street Journal

Republican state attorneys general plan to argue Wednesday before a federal judge that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional and should be struck down, making their case as some GOP candidates are trying to shift focus away from the health law.

OPINION: Get Sick, Go Bankrupt and Die

The New York Times

The G.O.P. can’t come up with an alternative to the Affordable Care Act because no such alternative exists. In particular, if you want to preserve protection for people with pre-existing conditions — the health issue that matters most to voters, including half of Republicans — Obamacare is the most conservative policy that can do that.

Human Services:

Hospital consolidation in California linked to higher health prices

San Francisco Chronicle

Growing consolidation among hospitals and doctors’ practices in California is linked to higher health insurance premiums and higher prices for specialty and primary care, according to a study by UC Berkeley researchers published Tuesday.

Saint Agnes gets high marks as regional hospital

The Business Journal

U.S. News & World Report has named Saint Agnes Medical Center as one of the Best Regional Hospitals in California, with high ratings for performance in three adult procedures.

VA hospital expanding into Clovis

ABC30

A dirt lot on the northeast corner of Herndon and Armstrong is the future home of the Veterans Affairs Central California Health Care System's newest campus.

New Tehachapi hospital one step closer to opening

Bakersfield Californian

State officials have given Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley the OK to begin stocking supplies and allowing staff into the new hospital building, another step toward its long-awaited opening to patients.

Pay raises, tuition reimbursement in new deal with Dignity Health

Sacramento Bee

After months of picketing, petitions and federal mediation, lab scientists and technologists at Dignity Health announced on Labor Day that their 200-plus members in the Sacramento region had ratified a five-year contract that provides raises of 3 percent annually.

Why is San Diego's heart attack rate 20% lower than the rest of the state?

San Diego Union-Tribune

Be There San Diego, an organization leading a wide-ranging effort to reduce heart disease by getting doctors from different organizations to work together, is getting national attention for reducing the region’s heart attack risk.

IMMIGRATION

Does ICE Have Unlimited Authority To Make Courthouse Arrests?

Capital Public Radio

California’s supreme court chief justice and immigrant rights groups criticized ICE last month after the federal agency arrested an undocumented man inside a local Sacramento courtroom.

OPINION: What Trump and His Foes Get Wrong About Immigrants

The Wall Street Journal

Violent crime in the U.S. has plummeted in recent decades, and studies repeatedly have shown that legal and illegal immigrants alike commit crimes at lower rates then their native-born counterparts.

LAND USE/HOUSING

Land Use:

Fashion Fair location for H&M clothing store to open September 13

ABC30

The Fashion Fair location for the new H&M clothing store will open September 13th, according to an official press release from H&M. The location will carry clothes for men and women along with their H&M Kids clothing line.

See Also:

● People will line up for this new H&M store opening. Here’s what they can win Fresno Bee

Neighbors not happy about Clovis mental health treatment center

ABC30

A sober living facility in the City of Clovis will soon transition to a mental health treatment center, and neighbors are not happy.

Housing:

Rent Control Could Change Dramatically As Millions Of Dollars Pour Into Proposition 10 Debate

Capital Public Radio

The potential expansion of rent control under the measure has spurred debate over whether it’s the right answer to the state’s ever-climbing rents.

Federal Policy Changes Can Help More Families with Housing Vouchers Live in Higher-Opportunity Areas

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Where families live largely determines the quality of their children’s schools, the safety of the streets and playgrounds, and the characteristics of their neighbors. It also can affect adults’ access to jobs, transportation costs to work, access to fresh and reasonably priced food and other basic goods and services, and the distance between child care and jobs.

PUBLIC FINANCES

Is Stockton fiscally prudent? Or miserly?

Stockton Record

Standard & Poor’s, the money gurus who were such doomsayers during Stockton’s fiscal crisis, gave the city an attaboy last week, upgrading a $9.4 million municipal bond.

Republicans may scrap tax cuts' next phase after backlash on state and local tax deductions

Los Angeles Times

House Republicans had planned to use a second phase of tax cuts to force Democrats into a difficult vote ahead of the midterm election. Now party leaders may drop the effort, fearing it could backfire by antagonizing voters in some hotly contested congressional districts.

TRANSPORTATION

Multi-million dollar project underway to revitalize community of Calwa

ABC30

Crews are hard at work paving the future of the Calwa community in Southeast Fresno. It all starts with $1.3 million project to fix Orange Avenue, that is years in the making.

Could autonomous car testing be the rebirth of Castle Airport in Atwater?

Merced Sun-Star

A roughly 310-acre space is now being called the California AutoTech Testing and Development Center, a project that benefited from a $6.5 million injection of cashin this year’s state budget attributed to Assemblymember Adam Gray, D-Merced.

Driverless? Autonomous Trucks and the Future of the American Trucker

UC Berkeley Labor Center

Autonomous trucks are best suited to long-distance highway driving, while humans will still be needed to navigate local streets and handle non-driving tasks.

Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

Bloomberg

At current global sales rates, consumers buy a million electric vehicles every six months. A million electric vehicles is half the number of new cars Californians buy every year. Californians will soon be presented with compelling, cost-competitive electric vehicles of many different types. Those factors will probably drive sales up significantly.

How ride-sharing and self-driving cars could fill gaps in urban transportation

Bloomberg

After New York City approved a one-year cap on ride-sharing vehicles, Jack Karsten and Darrell West discuss how cities can work alongside the companies serving up new transportation technologies in order to alleviate traffic congestion and meet the needs of commuters.

WATER

Supreme Court decision in Redding case could spell bad news for Modesto Irrigation District customers

Modesto Bee

A state Supreme Court ruling may bode well for the Modesto Irrigation District, whose controversial subsidy of farmers is being challenged in a class-action lawsuit.

EDITORIAL: California water wars would get crazy complicated if Trump administration dives in

Fresno Bee

The Trump administration wants to renegotiate the landmark 1986 agreement for the sprawling federal and state water projects and how they pump water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. That further complicates debates over who gets the water.

“Xtra”

Nope, last year ‘wasn’t a hoax.’ New season brings same new-and-improved Bulldogs

Fresno Bee

All the chess pieces remained on the board, and yet it was only natural to wonder: Can Fresno State build upon last year’s stunning reversal? Will the Bulldogs play with the same soundness and unity? Was 2017 just a giddy mirage?

New restaurants: Downtown Fresno adds a juice bar, fried chicken, sushi and coffee

Fresno Bee

Fried chicken, juice made from kale and spinach, sushi, locally roasted coffee and charcoal sorbet. That unusual collection of foods is what four new restaurants are bringing to the ever-evolving downtown Fresno food scene.

September may be the best time to book holiday travel

ABC30

The temperatures are still in the 90s, but some experts think it's not too early to plan your holiday travel.

Haunted mazes, festivals and more coming to Hanford

Hanford Sentinel

Hanford Parks and Recreation is looking ahead to the chilly air and pumpkin spice flavor of fall and have announced a slew of autumn activities.

Take A Ride Through Yosemite Valley… On A Green Dragon

Capital Public Radio

People travel from all over the world to witness the epic views of Yosemite Valley — and many tourists check out the region by riding a green dragon.

6th Annual Taste of Downtown set for Sept. 13

Bakersfield.com

The 6th Annual Taste of Downtown will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. Sept. 13 in the Downtown Arts District located at Eye Street from 18th to 19th streets and Wall Street from Chester Avenue to H Street.