POLICY & POLITICS
North SJ Valley:
UC Merced chancellor visits DC, discusses immigration with congressional leaders
Fresno Bee
Dorothy Leland made her way to Capitol Hill this week for the first convening of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.
See also:
· Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis to speak at UC Merced 2019 commencements Merced Sun-Star
Modesto school district bedeviled by cyber attack. Teachers ‘have just about had it’
Modesto Bee
More than a month ago, Sylvan Union School District put in a help ticket for costly assistance to combat a malware attack on its computer systems. As of Thursday, the IT professionals were still working on it.
Central SJ Valley:
Change is happening in Fresno schools and the workplace
California Economy Summit
Project-based learning is proving to be an effective path to developing a strong workforce and confident life-ready citizens. The good news is that this approach is taking root and spreading.
Fresno City Council members call on Brandau to apologize for reparations comment. He doesn’t
Fresno Bee
Steve Brandau’s last meeting Thursday as a Fresno city councilman was marked by a heavy conversation on race and calls from two of his council colleagues for him to apologize for comments he made about reparations for slavery.
See also:
● City Council president slammed for ‘racist’, ‘foolish’ comments about south Fresno abc30
Devin Nunes ups the ante: Two dozen people could be hit by criminal referral
Washington Examiner
Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., appeared to raise exceptions for the number of people who could be the subject of a criminal referral he plans to submit to the Justice Department in the coming days that focuses on the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.
South SJ Valley:
Salas Bills to Improve Health Care for Older Adults Clear First Hurdle
Hanford Sentinel
Assembly Bills (AB) 480 and 970, authored by Assemblymember Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield), passed unanimously out of the Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care on Tuesday.
For California’s new House Democrats, a happy home comes first
San Francisco Chronicle
Democrats across the country are unhappy with President Trump’s threat to shut the border with Mexico, and Rep. TJ Cox is no exception. But for the freshman Democrat from Fresno, it’s all about the cows. Local, Central Valley cows.
State:
PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government
PPIC
Two-thirds of Californians—a record high—say housing affordability is a big
problem in their region; seven in ten support Governor Newsom’s spending plan
to boost housing production.
The governor goes to Central America
CALmatters
The first time Newsom has left the United States in his official capacity as governor. The first time any California leader has taken an official trip to the Central American republic, or justified travel abroad as a fact-finding mission to learn more about a refugee crisis.
‘Secret’ DMV office serving California lawmakers would be closed under GOP proposal
Fresno Bee
The special Department of Motor Vehicles office is closed to the public, and if one Republican gets his way, it will be closed to the lawmakers and Capitol staff members using it.
California Bill Would Make Fishing Licenses Valid For A Full Year After Purchase
Capital Public Radio
Amid declining sales, the state Legislature is studying a bill that would make a fishing license good for 365 days from the date of purchase. Currently licenses expire at the end of December.
OPINION: California students can help renew our democratic spirit. Here’s how
CALmatters
Even with voter turnout in the 2018 midterm elections reaching historic highs, only about half of us made it to the polls. And for the first time in nearly half a century, a congressional election was invalidated due to election fraud.
Federal:
Trump backs off threat to close border, a day before visit to California
Los Angeles Times
President Trump backed off his threat to close the border with Mexico, one day before he travels to California to highlight what he is calling an immigration crisis.
See also:
● ACLU seeks to stop Trump on border wall funding Fresno Bee
● Trump backs off Mexico border shutdown threat, threatens tariffs abc30
● Trump to tour new southern border fence in California Sacramento Bee
● Trump backs off threat to close border, capping a week of retreats Los Angeles Times
● Trump backs off threat to close the U.S.-Mexico border Politico
Protesters call for release of Mueller report
abc30
A progressive advocacy organization is calling for a nationwide protest Thursday to demand the full release of the special counsel’s report and its underlying materials.
Trump needs Nancy Pelosi, his biggest adversary, to help pass revamped NAFTA
Los Angeles Times
President Trump is showing surprising deference to his top political adversary, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as he feels pressure to fulfill a signature election promise — approval of a revised trade deal with Mexico and Canada.
See also:
● 5 Dark Clouds Hanging Over NATO’s 70th Anniversary Capital Public Radio
Partisan bickering highlights aftermath of request for Trump’s tax returns
abc30
Republicans are charging that Democrats are taking presidential harassment to a new level in a move that amounts to sour grapes after Mueller investigation.
See also:
● The Democrats’ thin rationale for getting hold of Trump’s tax returns Los Angeles Times
Trump Picks Herman Cain for Fed Seat
Wall Street Journal
President Trump said Thursday he intends to nominate former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain to the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, signaling his desire to remake the nation’s central bank after complaining about it for months.
Trump nominates Jovita Carranza to run the Small Business Administration
Washington Post
President Trump announced Thursday night that he will nominate current U.S. Treasurer Jovita Carranza, a Latina woman, as the head of the Small Business Administration.
Make the Supreme Court bigger, but not the Democrats’ way
Los Angeles Times
Before we destroy the court to save it, we should decide on who or what is the real enemy of justice and democracy. The court is demonstrably too small, but it must be unpacked, not packed.
EDITORIAL: Senate’s nuclear turn foretells partisan policy whiplash
San Francisco Chronicle
The latest volley was in the service not of some consequential high court jurist but rather an assistant commerce secretary. More broadly, it made the Senate tradition of unlimited debate look more doomed than ever.
Elections 2020:
Harris skips vote on California disaster aid to campaign for president
Politico
When the Senate took contentious votes this week on a disaster aid package to help California rebuild after wildfires, Sen. Kamala Harris was in Sacramento — courting the support of labor unions for her presidential campaign.
For Democrats, all paths to the White House run through the House of Sharpton
Los Angeles Times
Sharpton’s approval is sought by political candidates far and near. The crusades he launched decades ago are now central to the speeches of almost every Democratic 2020 hopeful.
Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan latest Democrat to seek White House
Los Angeles Times
Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan says he’s running for president. The 45-year-old announced his bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination Thursday on ABC’s “The View.” He plans an official kickoff rally in downtown Youngstown on Saturday, where a big turnout by organized labor is expected.
Eric Swalwell looks like he’s running for president. The question is why
San Francisco Chronicle
He’s got a safe East Bay congressional seat. Speaker Nancy Pelosi likes him enough to put him on a leadership track. Yet he’s tossing all that away for the longest of long shots.
Other:
USA Today
When legislators propose new laws, they don’t always write the bills themselves. Corporations, interest groups or their lobbyists often write fill-in-the-blank documents then shop them to state lawmakers.
OPINION: How do we get people to vote? Let’s try financial incentives.
Washington Post
Americans might vote in presidential elections, when about 60 percent of eligible Americans vote. Yet fewer than half vote in midterm elections, and very few vote in local elections — arguably the elections with the most direct impact on our lives.
Can We Come Together? How Americans Are Trying To Talk Across The Divide
Capital Public Radio
A growing number of organizations are leading Americans in discussions about sensitive political issues. By at least one count, there are more than 200 of these groups nationwide.
Mark Zuckerberg’s call for internet rules only goes part way
Brookings
“The Internet needs new rules,” Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in the Washington Post. That a Silicon Valley leader would step forward and call for legislation and regulation is a noteworthy act of leadership that should not go unrecognized or unappreciated.
See also:
● Facebook’s Ad Algorithm Is A Race And Gender Stereotyping Machine, New Study Suggests The Intercept
Carlton Jones’ Facebook posts draw criticism
Visalia Times Delta
Social media continues to be Carlton Jones’ platform to address everything from the financially-strapped hospital to the homelessness plaguing California. Tuesday night, Jones found himself at the forefront of another social media backlash after a conversation he had with a Facebook user.
EDITORIAL: Santa Anita should stop racing until it knows why horses are dying
Los Angeles Times
The death toll has come as a sobering wake-up call for people who were unaware how dangerous a sport this is for horses.
AGRICULTURE/FOOD
What Gallo’s buyout of Constellation’s bargain-priced wines really means
San Francisco Chronicle
Yesterday the country’s biggest wine company announced a major deal with the country’s third-biggest wine company. E. & J. Gallo (the biggest) has agreed to purchase 30 wine and spirits brands, plus six wine production facilities, from Constellation Brands (the third biggest) for $1.7 billion.
Chain restaurants are suddenly serving vegan. Here are some meatless options in the Fresno area
Fresno Bee
Vegans have gone mainstream. The plant-based diet and movement may have taken a little longer to take hold in Fresno, but it is definitely here. The proof?
Council undecided on possible cannabis ordinances
Porterville Recorder
Tuesday night was full of discussion at the Porterville City Council meeting, with most of the conversation revolving around cannabis and service agreement increases with Promoting Self Worth (PSW).
California Senate approves fix for pot licensing snag
AP
Scores of cannabis cultivators have seen their temporary licenses expire before the state has been able to replace them. Companies caught in that backlog have been stranded in a legal lurch — technically unable to do business in the legal pot economy.
See also:
● EDITORIAL: C’mon Congress, it’s time to lighten up on pot Los Angeles Times
● OPINION: Cannabis companies are forced to deal in cash. Here’s how that could change CALmatters
CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime:
Human Trafficking In Fresno: A Huge Problem And Hard To Prosecute
VPR
Last week, Fresno Mayor Lee Brand introduced a new initiative aimed at
combating a huge problem here in the Valley: Human trafficking. The initiative
brings together city government, law enforcement, and aid organizations, many
of which have been addressing trafficking for years.
Even as prison sentences get shorter, crime continues to fall in California cities
Sacramento Bee
Crime fell in California’s cities for the first half of 2018 – years after criminal justice reform efforts aimed at emptying prisons, according to a report by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice.
Feds to California: You should ban hands-free use of phones while driving
East Bay Times
First, they said we couldn’t talk on them while driving. Then, we could no longer text while driving. Eventually, new laws banned us from holding them in our hand, even at traffic stops.
Public Safety:
The search for Fresno’s new police chief
abc30
The city of Fresno will be looking for a new police chief soon. Jerry Dyer announced he is retiring in October. Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer is among the longest-serving big city chiefs in California – on the job for 18 years as chief.
California’s emergency alert system has been a disaster. A statewide fix is planned
Bakersfield Californian
Local emergency preparedness agencies failed to adequately warn communities that death was approaching.
Sacramento Bee
But a popular law to prevent violence against women now rides on whether California Democrat Dianne Feinstein and Iowa Republican Joni Ernst can find common ground on gun rights and several other thorny social issues.
See also”
● California’s ban on high-capacity gun magazines was struck down. Can you buy them now? Sacramento Bee
● Renewal of Violence Against Women Act threatened by gun-rights dispute Los Angeles Times
Capital Public Radio
Just days before a showdown in the California Legislature over when police can use deadly force, police groups are embracing changes recommended by Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
See also:
● AG won’t release misconduct records despite court ruling AP
● EDITORIAL: Our View: Why good move by Sheriff Dirkse needs to be followed with full transparency Modesto Bee
Fire:
California Eyes Risk Pool As It Struggles With Costly Fires
Capital Public Radio
One option on the table to help homeowners afford insurance in fire-prone areas of California and for utilities to survive liability from devastating wildfires is the creation of a new state catastrophe fund.
ECONOMY / JOBS
Economy:
A year into Trump’s trade turmoil, an iconic California industry struggles to resist
CALmatters
Now, California’s lieutenant governor is among the busier officeholders in Sacramento—hustling to meet with members of Congress, federal agencies and trade organizations and deploying whatever influence she can to protect California’s place in the world market.
Fiscal therapy: 12 framing facts and what they mean
Brookings
The American economy is in great shape in many ways. Riding the cusp of an expansion that started in 2009, the stock market is up, consumer confidence is booming, and unemployment has fallen to historically low levels. But dig beneath the surface and trouble looms.
Jobs:
The U.S. added 196,000 jobs in March as economy shows signs of spring bounce
Washington Post
The low level of hiring in February now seems like an anomaly, possibly been caused by employers’ hesitation to bring on new employees in the deep of winter and an economic hangover from the lengthy government shutdown.
See also:
T-Mobile tests customer service center in Kingsburg
abc30
Kingsburg is answering the call from T-Mobile bringing 1,000 new jobs to the city. The un-carrier network plans to build a call center in Kingsburg although the exact location still hasn’t been decided. But the news of new jobs already has city officials buzzing.
Target raises its minimum wage to $13
abc30
Target is raising the minimum hourly wage for its workers for the third time in less than two years. The discounter said Thursday it plans to raise the hourly starting wage to $13 from $12 in June.
‘We Are Providing For Our Families’ – Aileen Rizo Reflects On Her Fight For Equal Pay
VPR
Listen to the interview above to hear Rizo talk about why she decided to sue
FCOE, and how some California laws have since changed to allow employees to
talk openly about their salaries without fear of retaliation.
One Powerful Insight and Three Urgent Workforce Priorities
California Economy Summit
A talented and adaptive workforce is the closest thing to a cure for growing economic insecurity and declining upward mobility. It also is a potent inoculant against disruptions from new technologies, foreign competition and other macroeconomic factors.
Career seekers find the future of facility management in California is bright
California Economy Summit
The need for a facility management workforce is going to increase in the coming years, which makes the California Community Colleges and the IFMA Foundation collaboration critical in training the next generation.
EEOC eyes September deadline for employers to report pay data
Reuters
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has told a federal judge that it will set a Sept. 30 deadline for larger companies to report pay data broken down by sex and race, after the judge revived an Obama-era rule requiring the information that the Trump administration had abandoned.
EDUCATION
K-12:
Change is happening in Fresno schools and the workplace
California Economy Summit
Project-based learning is proving to be an effective path to developing a strong workforce and confident life-ready citizens. The good news is that this approach is taking root and spreading.
FUSD will look into Bullard campus incidents that trustee says posed a safety risk
Fresno Bee
The Fresno Unified trustee seen on video in an altercation with a Bullard High student wants an investigation into what he describes as prior on-campus incidents involving that student.
Valley ROP students compete at Reedley College
abc30
Hundreds of high school and middle school students participated in the 2019 Tiger ROmP. It’s a Career Technical Skills competition that brings over 1,200 Valley ROP students to Reedley College.
Modesto school district bedeviled by cyber attack. Teachers ‘have just about had it’
Modesto Bee
More than a month ago, Sylvan Union School District put in a help ticket for costly assistance to combat a malware attack on its computer systems. As of Thursday, the IT professionals were still working on it.
KCOE recognizes excellence in education
Hanford Sentinel
Every day, over 28,000 students go to school in Kings County, where they encounter people that make them feel like the most important kids in the world.
SUSD lays out vision for future at Imagine Promise Summit
Stockton Record
Imagine that every Stockton Unified School District graduate is college, career and community ready. Imagine a district that offers opportunities for students to take internships and learn trade so they will be ready for the evolving workforce.
The big swing in school reform | In 60 Seconds
AEI
Over the past two decades, K–12 school reform has been dominated by testing,
standards, and charter schooling. But as AEI’s Frederick M. Hess explains,
we’ve come to a pivot point.
Higher Ed:
UC Merced chancellor visits DC, discusses immigration with congressional leaders
Fresno Bee
Dorothy Leland made her way to Capitol Hill this week for the first convening of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.
See also:
· Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis to speak at UC Merced 2019 commencements Merced Sun-Star
Key advice for the high school students dealing with college admissions
Fresno Bee
FABMom Jill Simonian recounts her own college admissions experience. In the process, she learned some valuable life lessons, which she shares.
Fresno City College to add 1,000 new parking spots on campus
abc30
After years of talking about it, Fresno City College is moving forward with plans to build a new parking structure on campus – one that will add a thousand stalls. Talk of more parking is big news on campus, as both students and faculty says it’s a long time coming.
ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY
Environment:
A California national park is getting its first cell tower. Not everyone thinks it’s a good idea
Fresno Bee
Verizon Wireless has won approval from the National Park Service to build a 138-foot-tall cellular tower in Sequoia National Park to improve cell phone service in that area of the park.
See also:
● NPS approves Wuksachi Village telecom facility within Sequoia National Park Porterville Recorder
Butterflies And Snow: Yosemite Winter Rangers Report
Sierra News
This week saw typical unsettled spring conditions with everything from thunder-snow squalls, high winds, corn snow and soft powder.
Daniel Duane On Yosemite’s Dying Glaciers
Capital Public Radio
Daniel Duane discusses his investigation of the impact climate change is having on Yosemite National Park, which was published this week in The California Sunday Magazine.
What California must learn from Midwest floods
Visalia Times Delta
In California, we call our greatest flood threat “atmospheric rivers.” One of these rivers in the sky directed a firehose of tropical moisture at Northern California, leading to March flooding along the Russian River. Truth is we got off easy.
California’s overdue for a ‘ground-rupturing’ earthquake. When, where will it hit?
Sacramento Bee
Believe it or not, the last 100 years have been relatively quiet for earthquakes among California’s most active faultlines. Expect that to change.
John Kerry is on a mission to hold Trump accountable on climate change
Los Angeles Times
Former Secretary of State John Kerry, the man who negotiated and signed the landmark Paris climate accord on behalf of the United States, is working on a new initiative that will seek to punish President Trump and other politicians for failing to combat climate change.
California’s next frontier in fighting climate change: your kitchen stove
Los Angeles Times
Induction cooktops have another advantage: They don’t burn natural gas, a fossil fuel that contributes to climate change. California is looking for ways to phase out fossil gas, not just from power plants but also from stoves, water heaters and furnaces.
Energy:
McNerney: President’s wind comments ‘blatantly false’
Stockton Record
Unlike President Donald Trump, Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, is not known for his Twitter profile or for being at the center of controversies. But Thursday on Twitter, the ordinarily low-key McNerney joined the fray concerning recent comments made by Trump about the dangers of wind-energy production.
PG&E’s new leader is nation’s highest-paid federal employee
Sacramento Bee
PG&E’s newly-appointed chief executive officer leaves his old job with a mixed record on renewable energy, a potentially costly entanglement from an environmental spill in Tennessee, and a singular distinction: He’s been the highest-paid federal government employee in the country.
See also:
· Do voters want San Francisco to buy PG&E’s infrastructure? SF Chronicle
California’s next frontier in fighting climate change: your kitchen stove
Los Angeles Times
Induction cooktops have an advantage: They don’t burn natural gas, a fossil fuel that contributes to climate change. California is looking for ways to phase out fossil gas, not just from power plants but also from stoves, water heaters and furnaces.
The CPUC Approves CalChoice Implementation Plans for Six Prospective Community Choice Aggregators
PublicCEO
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) implementation plans for six Southern California communities: Baldwin Park, Commerce, Hanford, Palmdale, Pomona and Santa Paula. All plans were prepared and submitted for CPUC certification with support from the California Choice Energy Authority (CalChoice).
HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES
Health:
With insulin price cap, drug industry is once again shamed into doing the right thing
Los Angeles Times
The United States doesn’t have a market-based economy for prescription drugs. It has a shame-based economy.
Exemptions Surge As Parents And Doctors Do ‘Hail Mary’ Around Vaccine Laws
California HealthLine
At two public charter schools in the Sonoma wine country town of Sebastopol, more than half the kindergartners received medical exemptions from state-required vaccines last school year.
More Chinese fentanyl may stay out of the US under a new bipartisan bill
Roll Call
Calls to address the opioid crisis resumed Thursday as lawmakers released a bill that aims to curb the flow of illegal opioids into the United States and another to help physicians learn more about a patient’s substance abuse history.
Human Services:
What One Man’s Brush With Death Reveals About Access To Health Care
VPR
Without insurance, other doctors turned him away, and emergency rooms failed to connect him with a specialist. For almost a year, he was ping-ponged around a disjointed system that didn’t know how to treat him and didn’t have the continuity to follow through.
See also:
· Medicare for all will provide essential health care for millions of underserved Americans Sacramento Bee
· Without Affordable Child Care, Escaping Poverty Is Tough KQED
· Obamacare fight obscures America’s real health care crisis: Money Politico
SJ Coroner’s Office recognized for organ donation efforts
Stockton Record
Jaclyn Manzanedo, manager of donation partner development with Donor Network West, said more than 4,500 people in San Joaquin County have benefited from organ and tissue donation over the past two years.
Dignity Health must pay $3.4 million to pharmacist fired amid DEA investigation
Sacramento Bee
Dignity Health must pay $3.4 million to a Woodland Memorial Hospital pharmacist who claimed she was fired in 2015 after she refused to fudge the pharmacy’s pill totals while the Woodland hospital was the focus of state and federal probes over thousands of pills missing from its narcotics inventory.
Bakersfield Californian
It could have been a public relations disaster. Instead, Kern Medical, Bakersfield’s only teaching hospital, never hired a first-year resident physician whose name has become associated with anti-semitic declarations on Twitter.
‘Cognitive Center’ opens to address mental health issues in Bakersfield
Bakersfield Californian
Chief operating officer Steve Horton and his team unveiled a new branch of the center based in Bakersfield, the Pacific Health Education Cognitive Center, to address mental health issues in the community with outpatient services.
Baby sex surgery sparks clash at California Capitol between doctors, LGBTQ community
Sacramento Bee
Who should get to decide what to do when a baby is born with atypical genitals? That’s the question lawmakers are grappling with as they consider a measure that would ban doctors from performing genital-altering surgeries on infants unless deemed medically necessary.
IMMIGRATION
ICE still making courthouse arrests in California as sanctuary law goes unenforced
Fresno Bee
ICE agents last week made an arrest at the Fresno County Superior Court in spite of direction from California’s top law-enforcement official limiting immigration enforcement in state courthouses.
See also:
· How border patrol chases have spun out of control, with deadly consequences Los Angeles Times
To Secure California’s Future, the State Must Invest in its Immigrant Workforce
California Health Report
In all of the fretting about how tech and robotics will influence life in the coming decades, we lose sight of more immediately pressing threats to our current workforce and way of life.
San Diego, Interrupted: Trump’s Threats To Close The Border Slow Cross-Border Trade
KPBS
President Trump’s threats to close the border have slowed cross-border commerce at the country’s busiest port of
entry, despite his comments Thursday indicating he intended to give Mexico a
year to stop the flow of migrants to the U.S.
‘Remain in Mexico’ policy for migrants creating ambiguity, fear
Roll Call
Nearly four months ago, the Trump administration launched its “Remain in Mexico” program, under which migrants seeking entry to the United States must stay in Mexico while their immigration court hearings go on north of the border. The government announced this week that it intended to expand the program beyond where it began in the San Diego-Tijuana corridor.
LAND USE/HOUSING
Mountain Area Home Sales For First Quarter 2019
Sierra News
During the first quarter of 2019, members of the of Fresno Realtors Association Multiple Listing Services in the Yosemite Gateway Branch sold 104 mountain area homes (single family residential properties) — coincidentally, the same number as last year.
Are in-law units the secret solution to the state’s housing shortage?
CALmatters
California lawmakers have pitched dozens of bold, high-profile solutions to California’s affordable housing shortage: billion dollar affordable-housing bonds, revamping the state’s signature environmental protection law, suing NIMBY-inclined cities into permitting more development.
PUBLIC FINANCES
Social Justice At The Heart Of Fresno Gas Tax Debate
VPR
Brand’s plan would have distributed $12 million from the SB1 gas tax roughly
equally among the city’s seven council districts, but the plan didn’t sit well
with most of the councilmembers who say they want equity first.
Will Newsom’s “inspirational framework” include more taxes and regulations?
Sacramento Bee
Three years ago, voters in America’s nation-state legalized recreational marijuana. In New York, a legislative push to do the same as part of a bigger state budget deal just went up in smoke (it might pass this summer when it’s a standalone vote).
Hiltzik: A change to Prop 13 that homeowners can get behind
Los Angeles Times
Advocates of the long-needed change have their fingers crossed, now that a measure to revise Proposition 13 has qualified for the November 2020 ballot.
A crackdown on misuse of taxpayer money?
CALmatters
As documented in this space on several occasions, local government officials throughout California have been thumbing their noses at a state law that prohibits them from using taxpayer funds for political campaigns.
California Budget & Policy Center
The California Budget & Policy Center was established in 1995 to provide Californians with a source of timely, objective, and accessible expertise on state fiscal and economic policy issues.
Growing Partisan Divide Over Fairness of the Nation’s Tax System
PEW Research Center
Today, 64% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the present tax system is very or moderately fair; just half as many Democrats and Democratic leaners (32%) view the tax system as fair.
TRANSPORTATION
Social Justice At The Heart Of Fresno Gas Tax Debate
VPR
Brand’s plan would have distributed $12 million from the SB1 gas tax roughly
equally among the city’s seven council districts, but the plan didn’t sit well
with most of the councilmembers who say they want equity first.
The U.S. has tried to build high-speed rail for 50 years
MarketPlace
Despite years of setbacks and the recent back-and-forth between President Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom over federal funds, the project continues. If completed, it would connect San Francisco to Los Angeles with the country’s first bullet train, after more than 50 years of proposals.
WATER
Yet more rain is on the way to Modesto, and it has shut a colorful foothill attraction
Modesto Bee
Forecasters see yet more rain in the Modesto area Friday, then a dry weekend and another chance of rain Monday. The above-average storm season forced the closure of Daffodil Hill in Amador County, usually one of early spring’s delights for admirers of the bright yellow flowers.
Irrigation district expects ‘significant’ litigation after Dixon canal electrocution
Sacramento Bee
As authorities investigate Monday’s incident in which two 17-year-old boys were fatally electrocuted at a Dixon canal, the agency that owns and operates the canal and its equipment anticipates “significant exposure to litigation.”
A California tax to clean up toxic drinking water has lawmakers jumpy
Los Angeles Times
The governor says the tiny tax is needed to raise enough money to clean up toxic drinking water throughout California, particularly in low-income farmworker communities of the San Joaquin Valley.
California Sunday Magazine
The great irrigator of Tuolumne Meadows and drinking-water source for San Francisco, that river thunders deep in spring but flows in autumn thanks to meltwater from Stock’s destination, the Lyell Glacier.
“Xtra”
‘If you build it, they will come.’ That didn’t happen in Fresno, but things are changing
Fresno Bee
The Grizzlies, who begin their 22nd season Thursday night with a new MLB affiliate (Washington Nationals) and $3.4 million worth of stadium improvements, are no longer alone. Downtown Fresno is no longer a geographic pariah.
Benefit concert raises money for Central Valley Honor Flight
abc30
On the stage at Tower Theatre red, white and blue lights shined down on performers singing at a benefit concert raising money for Central Valley Honor Flight.
Young Artists Spotlight: Bakersfield Trio
VPR
Violinist Alex Bailey, pianist Marisa Lifquist, and cellist/page-turner Lydia Lifquist perform this week on Young Artists Spotlight in a concert featuring the music of Max Bruch.
Fourth annual Run with the Heroes this Sunday
Madera Tribune
Valley Children’s will hold the fourth annual Run with the Heroes 5k Run and Awareness Walk on Sunday. As an added treat for participants, members of the Fresno State Bulldog Blitz will skydive and land right on the Hospital grounds at 8:45 a.m. The team is a sponsor of this year’s event.
All Aboard! Historic Railroad Opens For The Season
Sierra News
The Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad opens this weekend and now, before the crowds of summer arrive, is a beautiful time to visit. Tickets are available starting at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Apr. 6.
Free Entry To Yosemite For Earth Day Festival And More
Sierra News
Earth Day, National Junior Ranger Day, National Park Week, and John Muir’s Birthday will be celebrated in Yosemite National Park on Saturday, Apr. 20, with activities for all ages throughout the day — and all activities are free, including entry to the park to kick it off.
Your guide to wildflowers: Super bloom paints Kern County in various shades
Bakersfield Californian
The hills are alive in Kern County with orange, yellow and purple wildflowers.
Take me home! Animals available for adoption
Bakersfield Californian
These 10 animals at Kern County Animal Services are looking for their forever homes. Can you help?
Americans Hate Social Media but Can’t Give It Up, WSJ/NBC News Poll Finds
Wall Street Journal
Americans have a paradoxical attachment to the social-media platforms that have transformed communication, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds, saying they regard services such as Facebook to be divisive and a threat to privacy but continue to use them daily.