Maddy Institute – April 23, 2019

23Apr

POLICY & POLITICS

North SJ Valley:

What do we like, dislike about Modesto? Many opinions – and chance to let mayor know

Modesto Bee

Residents can tell Mayor Ted Brandvold and other city officials what direction they want the city to go in during a Thursday meeting at Modesto Centre Plaza.

Central SJ Valley:

Fresno has hundreds of liquor store licenses. A new proposal would cut the number in half

Fresno Bee

Councilmembers Miguel Arias, Luis Chavez and Nelson Esparza are proposing to cap the number of liquor licenses issued in Fresno. Any business that wants a new license must buy one or more licenses and surrender at least one existing license.

South SJ Valley:

Tulare faces an ‘explosion’ in its homeless population

Visalia Times Delta

Nearly all 115 homeless people in Tulare are living on the streets, according to the 2018 Kings/Tulare Homeless Alliance‘s Point in Time report.

New city effort aims to wipe out ‘alarming’ number of sewer clogs

bakersfield.com

At least once a week, a team of city workers must unclog one of the system’s 55 lift stations, according to Street Superintendent Michael Connor, a process that can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $25,000.

State:

Gov. Newsom hits the 100-day mark with a long to-do list

Los Angeles Times

Newsom, the 51-year old governor of America’s most populous state, chose to spend the early months sketching out an expansive government agenda: expanded education and healthcare programs for the working poor, a nationally watched moratorium on the death penalty and close to $2 billion to tackle the state’s housing and homelessness crises.

● Gavin Newsom plays to a bigger audience as California’s problems await action San Francisco Chronicle

California Democrats are awash in cash as the next fight over control of Congress begins

Sacramento Bee

California Republicans are hoping to make up some of the ground they lost in 2018 congressional races — but first they’ll have to close an early fundraising gap. That’s one of the major takeaways from the first set of fundraising reports of 2019.

California’s Way to Win will give millions to grassroots groups for 2020 races

San Francisco Chronicle

Way to Win is trying to change the way wealthy donors fund political campaigns. Its strategy: Spend more on grassroots organizations and less on candidates whose main appeal is name recognition.

Little Hoover Commission Elects New Chairman and Vice Chairman

Little Hoover Commission

On Thursday, March 22, 2018, the Little Hoover Commission unanimously re-elected Pedro Nava as chairman and unanimously re-elected Sean Varner as vice chairman. This will be Mr. Nava’s fifth consecutive year term as chair and Mr. Varner’s second year term as vice chair.

Federal:

Likely Moves of Members of the California Delegation Following the Release of the Mueller Report

Capital Public Radio

From Rep. Devin Nunes to Rep. Adam Schiff, members of California’s Congressional delegation feature prominently in the drama in Washington following release of the Mueller report.

● Dem leaders stress more Trump probes, downplay impeachment Fresno Bee

● House Democrats start following Mueller’s leads as they investigate Trump Fresno Bee

● Mueller couldn’t answer some crucial questions in Russia investigation Los Angeles Times

● Former White House Counsel Don McGahn subpoenaed in aftermath of Mueller report Los Angeles Times

● Pelosi downplays impeachment talk in private call with House Democrats San Francisco Chronicle

● Mueller report takes muzzle off pro-impeachment Democrats San Francisco Chronicle

● 8 times the Mueller report shows Trump, White House spread false or misleading claims PolitiFact

● An annotated guide to the redacted Mueller report Politico

● The Mueller Report Demands an Impeachment Inquiry Lawfare

● Key Findings And Analysis From The Mueller Report NPR

● Brooks | It’s Not the Collusion, It’s the Corruption The New York Times

Trump sues House Democrat over subpoena to see president’s finances

abc30

President Donald Trump and his business organization sued the Democratic chairman of the House oversight committee on Monday to block a subpoena that seeks years of the president’s financial records.

● Care about balance of power? Root for Trump’s legal team in financial records fight Los Angeles Times

A Trump Fed choice steps aside, and another faces new doubts

Stockton Record

President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the Federal Reserve stumbled on Monday, with Herman Cain withdrawing from consideration and another pick, Stephen Moore, being enveloped by controversy.

● Fed running out of monetary ammunition OMFF

Supreme Court weighs Trump’s push to add citizenship question to census

Los Angeles Times

President Trump’s lawyers will urge the Supreme Court on Tuesday to overturn three lower courts and to clear the way for census takers to ask all American households next year whether their residents are U.S. citizens.

● The Four Pinocchio claim at the center of the census citizenship question Washington Post

● Citizenship and the Census Wall Street Journal

● Should Noncitizens Be Represented in Congress? Wall Street Journal

Fastest litigant in the west: California’s on verge of suing Trump more than Texas ever sued Obama

CALmatters

At a brisk clip of two new legal challenges every month, the state’s top law enforcement officer has turned the California Justice Department into one of the country’s most influential and prodigious battle stations of resistance to Washington policy.

Elections 2020:

Harris joins impeachment call during Democratic town hall

Fresno Bee

California Sen. Kamala Harris joined the call for President Donald Trump’s impeachment on Monday as five leading Democratic presidential contenders clashed in a series of prime-time town hall meetings that exposed deep divisions in a party desperate to end the Trump presidency.

● Harris proposing gun safety measures for first 100 days as president San Francisco Chronicle

Seth Moulton eyes Trump’s national security voters in 2020 presidential campaign

Fresno Bee

Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, who announced for president on Monday, said in an interview that he believes Donald Trump will be more difficult to defeat than many Democrats expect, even as he argued that his own national security credentials open the door with some of the president’s supporters.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s free college plan aims to eliminate most student debt

abc30

Elizabeth Warren revealed a new higher-education platform that aims to eliminate tuition for two- and four-year public colleges and cancel student loan debt for millions.

Juan Williams: Buttigieg already making history

The Hill

In the last 25 years, public acceptance of gay people has changed so much that Buttigieg is on track to skip the Jackson-like struggle and go straight to Obama’s winner’s circle.

Wait, this 2020 presidential campaign scenario seems eerily familiar

Modesto Bee

A renegade septuagenarian front-runner from the Northeast with loads of campaign cash who’s recently adopted the party as a convenient political home brings energized grassroots supporters posing a fervent challenge to a stuffy Washington establishment.

Other:

Facebook collected 1.5 million users’ email contacts without their knowledge

CNN

The world’s biggest social network said Wednesday night that the email contact lists had been “unintentionally” uploaded to Facebook (FB) following a design change almost two years ago, and the company was now in the process of deleting them.

Adding ‘should we?’ to ‘can we?’ in the debate over AI

AEI

Stanford University recently sent up a green shoot in an area badly in need of attention: the relationship between artificial intelligence and human well-being.

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

Sunday, April 28, at 9 a.m. on ABC30 – Maddy Report: “The 2018 Turnout: What it Means for 2020?” – Guests: Mindy Romero, USC Price School of Public Policy; John Myers, Los Angeles Times; and Secretary of State, Alex Padilla. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, April 28, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) –Maddy Report – Valley Views Edition: “Voters and Legislators: The Midterm’s New Faces” – Guests: State Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Salinas), State Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), State Sen. Andreas Borgeas (R- Fresno), Mindy Romero, USC Price School of Public Policy; John Myers, Los Angeles Times; and Secretary of State, Alex Padilla. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, April 28, at 7:30 a.m. on UniMas 61 (KTTF) – El Informe Maddy: “Cuenta atrás para el Censo del 2020” – Guests: Secretario de Estado Alex Padilla, Gisell Gasca – Mi Familia Vota y Alexei Koseff con San Francisco Chronicle. Host: Maddy Institute Program Coordinator, Maria Jeans.

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

Strawberries are ready for harvest in Fresno County

abc30

The harvest for this year’s strawberry crop is now underway in Fresno County. Above average rainfall in February delayed harvest by ten days this year but our recent run of mild to warm conditions have the berries ripe and juicy.

Meal Kits Have A Smaller Carbon Footprint Than Grocery Shopping, Study Says

Capital Public Radio

While it may seem that heaps of plastic from meal kit delivery services make them less environmentally friendly than traditional grocery shopping, a new study suggests that’s not necessarily true.

California Has Farmers Growing Weeds. Why? To Capture Carbon

KQED

California’s farmers are receiving millions of dollars to pull carbon out of the atmosphere. The state is paying them to grow plants, which absorb carbon and help move it into the soil where it can be stored long-term.

California bill encourages banks to work with pot businesses

Fresno Bee

California legislators considered a plan Monday intended to encourage more banks to do business with marijuana companies that have been frozen out of thousands of financial institutions.

● California’s Cannabis Industry Is Fighting City Hall(s) Forbes

Supreme Court Case Explores Privacy of Business Data in Food-Stamp Case

Wall Street Journal

The Supreme Court weighed whether government documents that contain private business information should be more broadly protected from release to the public, in a case with ramifications for companies, the press and open-government advocates.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime:

Court ruling could change the culture of fining defendants who can’t pay

San Francisco Chronicle

In one of the first tests of a January appellate ruling, a Contra Costa County judge effectively waived a man’s court fines and fees in a drunken driving case. Unless prosecutors can prove the man has the ability to pay, he’ll owe nothing.

Someone urinated in a female sergeant’s boots. Now the California Air National Guard faces coverup allegations

Los Angeles Times

The defiling of Pineda’s boots has led to allegations that high-ranking officers tried to bury the incident, including by destroying evidence that could have potentially identified a suspect through DNA, and retaliated against a male pilot who supported her efforts to find the perpetrator.

Drunk, high pedestrians becoming more of a problem. Here’s Fresno’s solution

Fresno Bee

Citing a rise in deaths of pedestrians under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or both, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer and District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp Thursday announced an expanded partnership with the Fresno Rescue Mission to help potential victims gain sobriety.

Public Safety:

What new CHP Modesto office commander sees as challenges

Modesto Bee

The new commander of the California Highway Patrol’s Modesto area office has traded one set of challenges — ice and snow — for another, which includes fog and more than four times the number of collisions.

S.J. county agrees to $300k settlement for jail death

Stockton Record

On Feb. 10, 2015, Manteca police arrested 27-year-old Alexander Jeffrey Sutherland for alleged public intoxication, booked him into the county jail and placed him alone in a sobering cell. It was the 107th time Sutherland had been booked into the jail. But this would be the last time.

These California bills would train nurses, judges and police how to spot their own biases

Los Angeles Times

A survey of white medical students and residents published in 2016 by the University of Virginia found that roughly half of those who participated believed myths about biological racial differences, including that black patients tolerate more pain and have thicker skin.

EDITORIAL: Lawmakers, media police radio access vital

Visalia Times Delta

Assembly member Todd Gloria, D-San Diego, is pushing AB 1555, which would require police and other law enforcement agencies to give requesting news media organizations access to encrypted radio communications.

EDITORIAL: Is CDCR’s message: ‘Women need not apply’?

Bakersfield Californian

Help us understand. Why, exactly, were workplace rules changed in 2015 that now leave pregnant California prison guards with an agonizing choice: either endanger their unborn babies, or change their employment status to one that imperils their careers?

EDITORIAL: SB 230 is fake deadly force reform. Senate should shelve it in committee

Sacramento Bee

SB 230, authored by Democratic state Sen. Anna Caballero of Salinas, represents a broken promise. It sounds like reform, but it won’t truly address the problem of unnecessary police violence.

Fire:

California may boost rules for homes at high wildfire risk

Fresno Bee

Years of increasingly deadly California wildfires spurred lawmakers to consider regulations Tuesday that would toughen local governments’ requirements for approving housing developments in high-risk areas.

California is paying tens of millions of dollars to settle claims from deadly wildfire

Sacramento Bee

California is preparing to pay at least $25 million in insurance and legal claims stemming from a deadly 2016 fire that ignited on state-managed property in Kern County.

ECONOMY / JOBS

Economy:

Study: Opportunity Zone-ready California could generate hundreds of millions in economic activity

California Economic Summit

More than three million Californians live in some 879 federally designated Opportunity Zones in disadvantaged communities throughout the state. California has more Opportunity Zones than any other state.

Fresno has hundreds of liquor store licenses. A new proposal would cut the number in half

Fresno Bee

Stock indexes end mostly lower as energy companies climb

Los Angeles Times

Wall Street capped a day of mostly sideways trading Monday with a slight gain for the benchmark S&P 500 index, as an increase in crude oil prices sent energy companies broadly higher.

A better approach to China trade

AEI

Smart people have worked hard on a China trade agreement, but the deal can’t turn out well for the US. Beijing is the primary cause but another is the Trump administration’s approach so far.

Jobs:

Modesto lands $35 million construction manufacturing plant bringing 250 jobs to city

Modesto Bee

Entekra, a Ripon-based company which specializes in automated, off-site wood framing for home construction, is building a new 200,000-square-foot factory on East Whitmore Avenue along the city’s southern border.

Visalia Fox looking for new exec director

Visalia Times Delta

The Visalia Fox Theatre is looking for a new executive director. After a 4 1/2-year stint running the downtown Visalia landmark, Erin Olm-Shipman’s last day will be April 27.

This Fig Garden Village restaurant is hiring. That means it’s (finally) close to opening

Fresno Bee

The Cowboy Chicken restaurant in Fig Garden Village is hiring. For job hunters, it’s a chance to apply. For the rest of us, that means the restaurant is getting closer to opening.

California Senate OKs ban on hairstyle discrimination

Fresno Bee

California could become one of the first states to outlaw racial discrimination because of hairstyles — such as braids and dreadlocks — in a move aimed at challenging long-held standards of professionalism in the workplace.

Supreme Court takes on LGBT employment discrimination

abc30

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear three high-profile cases involving employment discrimination against LGBT Americans.

● Supreme Court to Rule on Gay, Transgender Employment Rights Wall Street Journal

● EDITORIAL: A Supreme test for LGBT rights San Francisco Chronicle

EDUCATION

K-12:

Local woman recognized as Northern California’s school bus driver of the year

abc30

Salena Torres has been a school bus driver with the Southwest Transportation Agency for more than 18 years and over 232,000 miles without a crash. Monday morning, for the first time she got awarded for her service.

New, established schools in Merced County are getting new principals. Here’s who they are

Merced Sun-Star

Two district administrators are taking over leadership at Los Banos schools, including the new elementary school being constructed on B Street, officials said.

Riverway Elementary will open after flooding

Visalia Times Delta

After a weeklong spring break, Riverway Elementary School classes will resume as normal Tuesday despite flooding. The flooding of the campus’ first, second, and third-grade wing was a result of a malfunctioning sprinkler system, said Facilities Director Gerry Lemus.

Civil Rights Groups On Opposite Sides Of California Charter School Debate

Capital Public Radio

Legislation that would limit charter schools and increase oversight in California has sparked a debate between the NAACP and the National Action Network.

Rising rents in coastal California outpace teacher pay

EdSource

Teachers at the bottom of the salary scale working in coastal or metro areas of the state are being shut out of affordable housing. Many are spending more than 30 percent of their salary on rent, the federal cutoff for affordable housing, the EdSource analysis reveals.

California lags behind other states in quality and access to state-funded preschool

EdSource

California still has a long way to go to catch up with other states in quality and access to preschool, according to a national report that ranks all state-funded preschool programs.

Later school bells, alternative testing: California lawmakers try again on quashed K-12 bills

CALmatters

California hit the snooze button last year on legislation that would have let middle and high school students sleep in a little longer. The later—and, experts say, healthier—school start time would have been a national first had Gov. Jerry Brown not vetoed it.

California Department of Education Proposes New Uniform Complaint Procedure Regulations

AALRR

On March 29, 2019, the California Department of Education (CDE) proposed sweeping changes to state regulations on Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP).

Fixing school buses is an effective (and cheap) way to improve students’ health and academic performance

Brookings

Although the iconic vehicle may conjure images of nostalgia for many, the use of diesel fuel and an aging fleet mean these buses are some of the most polluting vehicles on the road.

Higher Ed:

California must design education that keeps up with the times, Influencers say

Fresno Bee

California Influencers this week answered the question: What Can We Do to Make Sure Our Kids Get Jobs? Below are the Influencers’ answers in their entirety.

Leveling the Playing Field in College Admissions

Public Policy Institute of California

Even without resorting to bribery, there are many advantages that students from high-income families have in college admissions, including living in safer neighborhoods, attending better high schools, and having more help preparing for the application process.

ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY

Environment:

Trash can be an annual challenge at the city’s 59 parks on Easter

Bakersfield Californian

It was Monday, the day after Easter Sunday, and the trash that filled the pickup bed was proof positive that large crowds of people serving Easter dinners, having egg hunts, sipping sodas and dipping chips generate tons of trash.

Mosquito control district asks for public’s help to limit mosquitoes

Stockton Record

As San Joaquin County prepares to feel warmer temperatures following recent wet weather, mosquito populations will be on the rise.

California’s war on plastic pollution targets tiny hotel toiletries

CALmatters

Assembly Bill 1162 would ban hotels, resorts and other vacation rentals from doling out shampoos, creams and other amenities in small plastic bottles by 2023. Rentals would have to replace the sample-sized products with dispensers or bottles larger than 12 ounces.

As California’s delta smelt spirals toward extinction, a future in captivity awaits

Los Angeles Times

Time may be running out for California’s most infamous fish. Despite a decades-long rescue effort, the tiny delta smelt appears closer than ever to vanishing from its only natural home, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Three Earth Day lessons for Green New Deal activists

Los Angeles Times

Nearly 50 years since the first Earth Day, the movement spawned by that historic gathering is rallying around calls for a Green New Deal to embody the aggressive action required to fight global climate change, create good-paying jobs and advance a more just society.

The inequalities of climate change: Rich nations get richer, poor get poorer

San Francisco Chronicle

Climate change is creating economic inequality worldwide, according to new research. Nations less responsible for global warming tend to be the ones losing ground, Stanford researchers say.

● How 18 Democratic Candidates Responded to a Climate Policy Survey New York Times

● Quiz: Climate change solutions CNN

Energy:

Fresno Bee

California utility Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. is asking state regulators for another increase in rates and profits, saying it’s needed for wildfire safety and to attract investment as the utility goes through bankruptcy.

● PG&E asks California for higher rates, profits abc30

● PG&E seeks higher rates, drops board member San Francisco Chronicle

● Regulators give PG&E a path to raise rates for wildfire costs San Francisco Chronicle

Edison asks for bigger profits, says bills would rise $14.40 a month for the average home

Los Angeles Times

California’s major monopoly utilities asked regulators Monday to approve higher profits for their shareholders amid a growing risk of destructive fires. The biggest request came from Southern California Edison.

Conservation groups ask judge to halt Trump drilling plan

Sacramento Bee

Four conservation groups have asked a judge to block a Trump administration plan allowing drilling, mining and other activities in seven Western states they say will harm sage grouse.

● When oil industry supports legislators, air quality suffers CALmatters

Trump administration ends waivers for purchases of Iranian oil

Los Angeles Times

The Trump administration said Monday it would not extend exemptions to its ban on imports of Iranian oil, exposing five countries, including several U.S. allies, to potential sanctions as early as next month.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Health:

Caring for relative and fear you’ll make mistake? Millions do, AARP report says

Fresno Bee

About a quarter of the nation’s 40 million family caregivers live with the fear that they will make a mistake on vital medical tasks such as giving injections or caring for wounds that could harm their loved ones, according to an AARP report released this week.

Who gets to skip vaccines? California plan would put the state – not doctors – in charge

Sacramento Bee

“Doctors are the only ones who know their patients well enough to make medical decisions such as which vaccines a child should or shouldn’t receive,” said Dr. Shannon Kroner. “It should never be up to a third party to make that type of medical decision.”

● Northern CA movie theater patron had measles. The U.S. outbreak toll is nearing a record Sacramento Bee

New device to treat ADHD without drugs while kids sleep

abc30

The FDA has approved a new medical device to help treat ADHD in children. The device delivers a low-level electrical pulse to parts of the brain responsible for ADHD symptoms.

Sexually Transmitted Disease Rates Continue To Rise In California

Capital Public Radio

Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are up in California over the past five years, including in places like San Francisco county, where people are contracting chlamydia at nearly twice the rate of the rest of California.

How do e-cigarettes like Juul impact your health?

San Francisco Chronicle

As vaping grows in popularity and the industry leader, San Francisco’s Juul, sells billions of dollars in vaping products each year, one key question remains unanswered: How do e-cigarettes affect your health?

Human Services:

Medicare confusion costs taxpayers money

abc30

Consumer Reports found that what consumers pay for their medications could vary by hundreds of dollars, even in the same city.

Google Searches For Ways To Put Artificial Intelligence To Use In Health Care

Capital Public Radio

The search giant’s push into artificial intelligence as a tool for health improvement is a natural evolution for a company that has developed algorithms that reach deep into our lives through the Web.

Video: Emergency Department Use in California

Capital Public Radio

Hospital emergency departments (EDs) are an important part of California’s health care system. They are sometimes called the safety net of the safety net because they provide care to all comers.

Infertility is a disease. This bill will require insurance companies to cover it

Sacramento Bee

Yes, infertility is a medical disease. It’s recognized as such by the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization. But the insurance industry doesn’t see it that way, choosing to view childbearing as elective.

Graying California: Profiles of Aging in the Golden State

Graying in California

We profile some of California’s 6 million seniors to better understand how their experiences point the way ahead and shape the California dream.

IMMIGRATION

Why Democrats aren’t rushing to change immigration laws

Roll Call

They don’t agree with Trump and public sentiment doesn’t provide a mandate toward a solution.

LAND USE/HOUSING

Land Use:

Fresno, Valley are still growing, but how many people are moving away?

Fresno Bee

Fresno County and its neighboring Valley counties each saw thousands of people leave to move somewhere else between 2010 and 2018. But those departures were outpaced by birthrates to drive an overall population increase in four out of the five counties.

Housing:

More homeless will hit Visalia streets

Visalia Times Delta

Dozens of homeless people hunkered down in tents were booted from the banks of the St. John’s River.

Newsom Teams With Fresno on New Affordable Housing Idea

GV Wire

Affordable housing developed in partnership with the state will be put on the fast track in Fresno and other cities under a plan unveiled Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

California housing bill targeting wealthy cities could rezone nearly all of Palo Alto

Los Angeles Times

Sen. Scott Wiener’s Senate Bill 50 aims to spur home building by requiring local governments to relax construction restrictions near mass transit.

Ads liken housing bill to ‘Negro removal’

San Francisco Chronicle

A provocative mailer by a deep-pocketed Los Angeles activist equates a state housing bill with “Negro removal,” a comparison that prompted state Sen. Scott Wiener and San Francisco Mayor London Breed to fire back Thursday.

PUBLIC FINANCES

He added up the tax increases California Democrats are proposing. The total? $15 billion

Fresno Bee

California is known for being a high-tax state, but those taxes could soon get increased even higher. Democrats are considering bills that would raise billions in new revenue.

California soda tax proposal shelved while lawmaker vows to try again next year

Sacramento Bee

A proposed California soda tax is dead for the year after the lawmaker running the bill announced Monday it’s being held in committee for the rest of 2019.

See also:

● California Proposal To Tax Soda Pushed To Next Year Capital Public Radio

● Proposed California tax on sodas is dead for the year San Francisco Chronicle

Walters: Battles over local tax measures heat up

CALmatters

A change in the governor’s office and expanded Democratic supermajorities in the Legislature have emboldened long-frustrated advocates of increasing taxes to expand health, welfare and education services.

Skelton: California gives out too many tax breaks. And it’s losing billions on them each year

Los Angeles Times

They’ve long yammered about conducting more oversight of just about everything the state does, but they invariably lose interest. There’s no political reward in wonky studies. But there’s lots of political risk in closing loopholes and requiring certain interests to pay higher taxes.

Social Security Costs to Exceed Income in 2020, Trustees Say

Wall Street Journal

Social Security’s costs are expected to exceed its income in 2020 for the first time since 1982, forcing the program to dip into its nearly $3 trillion trust fund to cover benefits.

Tax Attitudes: What Has Changed, What Has Not

Forbes

A review of recent polls on taxes shows that attitudes in one area been stable and in two, they have changed. Views in a fourth area are inconclusive. All may have implications for the 2020 elections.

TRANSPORTATION

Gas prices in California higher than at any time in past 5 years. When will the increase stop?

Fresno Bee

Gasoline prices continued to increase over the past week in Fresno and across California, but there are hopes that oil refineries in the state may be on the brink of resuming normal operations after a spate of maintenance work.

See also:

● Good, bad news hit California’s gasoline market Bakersfield Californian

5 reasons experts think autonomous cars are many years away

Fresno Bee

In the world of autonomous vehicles, Pittsburgh, Phoenix and Silicon Valley are bustling hubs of development and testing. But ask those involved in self-driving vehicles when we might actually see them carrying passengers in every city, and you’ll get an almost universal answer: Not anytime soon.

Possible course correction for Bird scooters in Bakersfield market

Bakersfield Californian

The Bird scooter service that took Bakersfield by storm in December is adjusting its local fleet in a way that appears to have reduced, at least temporarily, the number of vehicles available for use.

WATER

Gov. Gavin Newsom hits back at Trump in new fight over who controls California water

Sacramento Bee

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is taking unprecedented steps to combat President Donald Trump’s efforts to ship more water to his agricultural allies in the San Joaquin Valley.

“Xtra”

What you need to know about this week’s Clovis Rodeo, plus a peek at early action

Fresno Bee

Around 70 bulldoggers competed in the John W. Jones Sr. Memorial Steer Wrestling to kick off the 105th Clovis Rodeo, Monday. It’s the largest steer wrestling event in the U.S., according to Mark Thompson, Clovis Rodeo Board of Directors member.

Bass Lake Fishing Derby giving away $55,000. Here’s what else to expect

Sierra Star

Bass Lake is hosting its annual Fishing Derby on May 4 and 5, allowing fishermen the opportunity to take home a portion of its $55,000 purse. The event, sponsored by the Bass Lake Chamber of Commerce, kicks off the summer season at the lake.

Oliver! Opens At The Golden Chain Theatre

Sierra News

Another sensational production opens at the Golden Chain Theatre as our local troupe of talented thespians present Oliver! — the classic musical based on Charles Dickens’ novel, Oliver Twist.

Generations of riders enjoy tradition of Jackass Mail Run Saturday

Porterville Recorder

Over 117 horse back riders rode in the 2019 Jackass Mail Run this year, together with a stage coach, the mail wagon, and other wagons, and a couple of sulkies, on Saturday, April 20, escorting the mail up Highway 190 in the annual re-enactment that started in 1961.

Fireworks fizzle: Budget woes, construction extinguish Turlock’s Fourth of July show

Modesto Bee

The university and city of Turlock said in a news release Wednesday they canceled the event because of each organization’s limited financial resources and major construction projects underway on the Turlock campus.

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The Kenneth L. Maddy Institute at California State University, Fresno was established to honor the legacy of one of California’s most principled and effective legislative leaders of the last half of the 20th Century by engaging, preparing and inspiring a new generation of governmental leaders for the 21st Century. Its mission is to inspire citizen participation, elevate government performance, provide non-partisan analysis and assist in providing solutions for public policy issues important to the region, state and nation.

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