14Aug

POLICY & POLITICS

North SJ Valley:

Straight Pride organizers consider Modesto Centre Plaza for Aug. 24 rally

Modesto Bee

The organizers of the proposed straight pride rally are talking with city officials about using Modesto Centre Plaza.

Trump’s death-penalty push puts House Dems like Josh Harder in tough spot

San Francisco Chronicle

Attorney General William Barr says the Trump administration wants congressional legislation to accelerate death penalty proceedings for cop killers and mass shooters.

Central SJ Valley:

Mike Karbassi wins special election in Fresno City Council Race

Fresno Bee

Early returns from Tuesday’s special election showed one candidate jumped out to an early lead. Mike Karbassi, a 35-year-old small business owner, had nearly 60 percent of the vote when the first results posted at 8 p.m. The initial numbers included mail-in ballots and had no precincts reporting.

Will Council Override Brand Veto? Would be First in 12 Years.

GV Wire

After five years of a mayor not executing a veto, Lee Brand in 2019 issued three. And, he may suffer his first veto override at Thursday’s council meeting.

Fresno mayor candidate Elliott Balch drops out of 2020 election

Fresno Bee

Elliott Balch, the chief operations officer of the Central Valley Community Foundation, posted a message to his Facebook page Tuesday saying he’s exiting the mayor’s race.

See also:

● Elliot Balch Mayor Elliot Balch Campaign Statement

Study: Fresno ranked among shortest commutes in US

The Business Journal

For all of Fresno’s shortcomings when it comes to being workforce friendly, at least we aren’t wasting away our lives commuting to work.

How Devin Nunes turned Twitter parody accounts into political ‘weapons’ – against himself

Sacramento Bee

Rep. Devin Nunes in a recent court filing referred to the parody social media accounts that taunt him on Twitter as a “weapon.”

South SJ Valley:

Kings County throws in towel on high-speed rail lawsuits

The Business Journal

No track for the bullet train in Kings County has been laid, but most of the 65-mile right-of-way has been bought and a number of bridges are near completion as of summer 2019.

Urquhart up for Lindsay city clerk

Porterville Recorder

Jack Urquhart has been sitting in as a temporary city clerk for the City of Lindsay, and is looking to be officially appointed to the position by the City Council at the regularly scheduled Council meeting tonight.

Nomination period extended for Orosi

Porterville Recorder

Registrar of Voters, Michelle Baldwin, is announcing to all Tulare County residents the Consolidated Districts Election will be held on November 5, 2019.

City Council to decide on naming new park after Sikh civil rights leader after committee vote

Bakersfield Californian

The Bakersfield City Council will soon decide if a new park in Bakersfield will be named after Sikh civil rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra after a committee vote on Tuesday.

Grove: Kern County’s way of life is under attack

Bakersfield Californian

Kern County is one of the leading oil-producing counties in the nation and the benefit of this industry is not just seen in our county, but globally, as our oil fields help power California and much of the world. Kern County produces 72% of California’s oil and 70% of our natural gas. The industry also fosters stability and economic growth as well as enhances the health, education and economic development within our communities.

See also:

· Opinion: Keep natural gas and renewable natural gas in California Bakersfield Californian

State:

Big issues still up in the air

CALmatters

The California Legislature’s 2019 session began last winter amidst great hopes and fears.

California officials warn of ‘unsustainable’ taxpayer costs in disaster bill

San Francisco Chronicle

A bill that finance officials warn could saddle state taxpayers with expensive and unnecessary premiums for disaster insurance is sweeping toward passage in the Legislature.

Prop. 13 reform measure shelved — backers seek new tax plan

San Francisco Chronicle

A 2020 ballot initiative that would dramatically change Proposition 13, California’s landmark property tax-cutting measure, is being pushed aside by its backers in favor of a revised plan they believe will have a better chance of passing.

EDITORIAL: DMV audit detailed Motor Voter screw-ups. Why did Newsom try to bury it?

Fresno Bee

The “Friday dump” is a trick that PR experts use to hide bad news. It works like this: You release bad or unfavorable news late on a Friday, when most people supposedly tune out for the weekend. With any luck, few will be aware of your misdeeds or misfortunes come Monday morning.

Federal:

Federal workers sue for the right to criticize political candidates

abc30

The largest union of federal workers announced it’s suing the U.S. government in a bid to get it to drop its rules restricting workers from criticizing Trump, candidates.

Elections 2020:

Evangelicals view Trump as their protector.

Washington Post

Will they stand by him in 2020?

Julián Castro to Trump: ‘In El Paso, Americans were killed … because they look like me’

Los Angeles Times

In an ad to run on Fox News, Julián Castro accuses President Trump of inciting racism leading to the El Paso shooting that killed 22 and wounded dozens more. In the spot, the presidential candidate looks into the camera and addresses Trump directly.

Harris has missed plenty of votes while campaigning. She’s not alone

San Francisco Chronicle

The nation’s Capitol shuts down in August, and presidential candidates who serve in Congress are taking advantage by hitting the campaign trail. But even before the reprieve, plenty of candidate-lawmakers were racking up missed votes, as the presidential primary has had them crisscrossing the country in search of supporters and to two presidential debates.

Warren Would Have to Defy History to Prevail Over Biden

National Journal

She’s dominating among white progressives. He’s winning with the voters who decide Democratic presidential nominations.

● Elizabeth Warren Introduces Sweeping Gun Control Plan NPR

Tom Steyer Bought a ‘Grassroots Campaign’ for $10 Million

NY Magazine

Tom Steyer decided to run for president last month because, in his view, none of the Democratic Party’s 20-plus presidential candidates had demonstrated a serious commitment to solving “the overriding issue” besetting our republic — the corrosive influence of concentrated capital on our politics.

Opinion: Why Joe Biden’s Gaffes Matter

The New Yorker

This past Wednesday, in Burlington, Iowa, Joe Biden gave a speech to address what he and his Presidential campaign are solemnly calling “the Battle for the Soul of Our Nation.”

Election officials’ concerns turn to information warfare as hackers gather in Vegas

CNNPolitics

As hackers sit down to break into dozens of voting machines here in Las Vegas this weekend, some state and local election officials that have flown in to witness the spectacle at one of the world’s largest hacking conventions are becoming increasingly concerned about another threat to November’s midterm elections: information warfare.

Election report sounds alarms on voting integrity

MSNBC

Fmr. U.S. Amb. to Russia, Michael McFaul, edited the new Stanford University Cyber Policy Center’s report on securing American elections and he joins Morning Joe along with Stanford’s Alex Stamos to discuss.

Other:

When we stop talking to each other, democracy dies in silence

Washington Post

What happens to a democracy when people stop talking to one another about what matters to them and the country? When people are afraid to speak their minds because they fear the personal blowback likely to come their way? Or worse, when they come to believe that their concerns, their views and their values just don’t matter to anyone anymore, and so they “turn off and tune out,” to quote an old line?

Making Money Is a Patriotic Act

Wall Street Journal

The businesses we created help Americans by providing jobs, growth, goods and services.

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

Sunday, August 18, at 10 a.m. on ABC30 – Maddy Report: “Higher Ed: A Good Investment for Students and Taxpayers?” – Guests: Sarah Bohn, Radhika Mehlotra and Patrick Murphy from PPIC and Dorothy Leland – Former Chancellor – UC Merced. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, August 18, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) –Maddy Report – Valley Views Edition: “The Valley’s Public Universities: An Update” – Guests: President Joseph I. Castro from California State University, Fresno; President Ellen Jun from California State University, Stanislaus; and President Lynette Zelezny from California State University, Bakersfield. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, August 18, at 7:30 a.m. on UniMas 61 (KTTF) – El Informe Maddy: “Higher Education and Path in California” – Invitados: PPIC Olga Rodriguez and Marisol Cuellar. Presentado Por: Coordinadora del Programa del Maddy Institute, Maria Jeans.

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

Trump slows advance in China trade war. What’s it mean for California, Valley agriculture?

Fresno Bee

In the escalating trade war between Chinese leaders and President Donald Trump, agriculture in California and the Valley stands to potentially be hit even harder than it has already by tariffs.

● Americans’ attitudes toward China are getting much more negative, thanks to Trump Fresno Bee

● US delays tariffs on cellphones, laptops and toys from China abc30

● Trump’s New Tariff Target List: Flags In, Bibles Out, Frog Meat Delayed Capital Public Radio

● Trump backs down again, delays many new tariffs on China until December Los Angeles Times

● U.S. Retreats on Chinese Tariff Threats, Stocks Soar Wall Street Journal

Researchers look at new avocado that could be grown in the Valley

abc30

Avocado prices spiked this summer due in part to a smaller California crop and growing global demand. Researchers are tasked with tasting a newer avocado, one which could someday be grown in the Valley commercially.

Stanislaus farm income dipped in 2018. Here’s why experts aren’t overly worried

Modesto Bee

Gross farm income in Stanislaus County declined to $3.57 billion last year, officials said Tuesday, but they stressed the long-term health of the business.

When should you pick a peck of produce? Tips for getting the best

Modesto Bee

Growing your own summer vegetables can be very rewarding, but picking them too soon or late can be disappointing and frustrating. Some vegetables are easy to tell when ripe – such as tomatoes (soft but firm) and zucchini (monitor the size). Other vegetables are not as forgiving.

Almond growers anxious to see how harvest shakes out

Bakersfield Californian

The annual shaking of the almond trees has begun as local growers start harvesting a crop that could be especially promising this year for Kern County.

Cow toots lawsuit settled in court

Visalia Times Delta

Tulare County has settled a lawsuit with three environmental groups that argued local regulators weren’t doing enough to cut pollution from industrial dairies and feedlots. Tulare County is the No. 1 milk-producing county in the nation, home to more than a million cattle.

Is Grass-Fed Beef Really Better For The Planet? Here’s The Science

Valley Public Radio

For the environmentally minded carnivore, meat poses a culinary conundrum. Producing it requires a great deal of land and water resources, and ruminants such as cows and sheep are responsible for half of all greenhouse gas emissions associated with agriculture, according to the World Resources Institute.

Pesticide Air Monitoring Shows Low Numbers Well Below Health Concerns

California AG Today

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) released air monitoring results indicating that most of the pesticides monitored in the DPR air monitoring network in 2018 were found below levels that indicate a health concern.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime:

What’s going on in California jails? Our investigation into prison reform’s unintended consequences

Sacramento Bee

Some sheriffs viewed the changes as a burden, not an opportunity. Some jail officials aren’t separating violent or mentally ill patients from the general population. Their jails lack adequate health care. And as we’ve found, deaths are up. In some places, they’re way up.

Inmate killed herself one day before parole hearing. Now California will pay $1.5 million

Sacramento Bee

Erika Rocha was 15 when she was accused of shooting the operator of a Southern California group home in February 1996.

Public Safety:

Facial recognition program mistakes 26 California lawmakers for criminals

Fresno Bee

When two California lawmakers came together Tuesday to champion a bill that would block police departments from using facial recognition technology in their body cameras, it was personal.

● Facial recognition misidentified 26 California lawmakers as criminal suspects San Francisco Chronicle

● EDITORIAL: Facial recognition scanners mistook legislators for criminals. Are you next? Sacramento Bee

Threat of white nationalism undergirds violence against Hispanic communities

Fresno Bee

With the most recent wave of mass acts of violence against minoritized communities, including people of color, seldom has the media or nation at large been willing to confront what has undergirded this violence, which by no means is recent history, but an indelible part of this nation’s very foundation: the real threat of white supremacy and white nationalism.

SJ mayor announces ‘first-of-its-kind’ proposal to combat gun violence

abc30

Two weeks after the deadly Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has proposed a comprehensive plan to combat gun violence and reduce its cost on the public.

The U.S. Once Had A Ban On Assault Weapons — Why Did It Expire?

Capital Public Radio

To secure enough votes in 1994, the ban’s sponsors in Congress accepted a “sunset provision” — meaning it would last 10 years but need to be reauthorized. Politics in the U.S. changed.

Trump Advisers Are Wary as President Considers Gun Proposals

Wall Street Journal

Following mass shootings, Trump is interested in exploring legislation with new gun restrictions, but his aides are divided on the right approach.

How Online Gun Sales Can Exploit a Major Loophole in Background Checks

New York Times

Federal law barred Jody Lee Hunt from ever owning a gun. But when he wanted to buy one, it wasn’t hard: He found a seller on Facebook.

Editorial: California should ban private prisons

San Francisco Chronicle

One of the bills to watch in the closing weeks of the California Legislature’s current session would phase out private for-profit prisons in California. Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar measure last year, but there are indications the timing might be right, both politically and pragmatically.

ECONOMY / JOBS

Economy:

Child Poverty in California

Public Policy Institute of California

Child poverty rates remain higher than before the recession.

Treasury yields invert, stoking fears of possible recession

PBS NewsHour

An economic alarm bell has sounded in the U.S., sending warnings of a possible recession ahead.

Banks are paying people to borrow money. That’s alarming news for the global economy.

Washington Post

For Americans accustomed to paying 4 or 5 percent mortgage rates, let alone the double-digit figures consumers endured in the early 1980s, the new loan from Denmark’s Jyske Bank might seem inconceivable.

See also:

● U.S. Mortgage Debt Hits Record, Eclipsing 2008 Peak Wall Street Journal

Racial Wealth Gap Could Cost U.S. $1.5 Trillion from 2019 to 2028

Newsweek

America’s racial wealth gap could cost the country between $1 trillion and $1.5 trillion from 2019 and 2028 by impacting consumption and investment, according to a study released by consulting firm McKinsey on Tuesday.

EDITORIAL: A Tactical Tariff Retreat

Wall Street Journal

A tacit admission that trade wars aren’t cost-free to consumers.

Jobs:

The Fed’s rate cuts at 3.7% unemployment are almost unprecedented

Brookings

Why did the Federal Reserve choose to cut interest rates during a period of low unemployment and rapid economic expansion? Economist Isabel Sawhill explains this shift in strategy and how it could affect the 2020 election.

Barstool Sports founder, AOC butt heads on Twitter over threats to fire unionizing staffers

Washington Post

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called out the founder of media company Barstool Sports on Tuesday after he threatened to fire “on the spot” any employee who reached out to a writer offering to chat about unionization.

Exclusive: Google’s jobs search draws antitrust complaints from rivals

Reuters

Google’s fast-growing tool for searching job listings has been a boon for employers and job boards starving for candidates, but several rival job-finding services contend anti-competitive behavior has fueled its rise and cost them users and profits.

EDUCATION

K-12:

SUSD has some new things in store for students

abc30

One of the most anticipated new additions at Selma High is the football stadium that’s expected to open in October.

Stanislaus education board denies charter school for refugee, immigrant students

Modesto Bee

The Stanislaus County Board of Education rejected a petition Tuesday for the New Colossus Academy, a proposed Modesto charter school to specialize in educating refugee and immigrant students and asylum seekers.

See also:

● EDITORIAL: Why common sense could not overcome politics in SCOE’s shameful Colossus denial Modesto Bee

Kumon Math and Reading Center opens in Visalia

Visalia Times Delta

Tamryn Tanimoto always planned on making math a part of her career. On Aug. 1, the Laguna native made her dream come true by opening Kumon Math and Reading Center in Visalia.

‘Powerful Relationship’: Students, teacher seek bond as Burton begins school year

Porterville Recorder

A powerful relationship between teachers and students was among the goals for the Burton School District as it began its new school year on Monday.

PC Smart Lab finishes another fun summer

Porterville Recorder

Porterville College SMART Lab has just finished another fun filled summer full of science camps. There were five weeks of summer science camp this year. Life, earth and physical science modules were covered.

New school year means some new changes at BCSD, KHSD

Bakersfield Californian

The first day of school is Wednesday for several Kern County schools, and Bakersfield City School District and Kern High School District students might notice a few changes this school year.

Ethnic studies may soon be mandatory. Can California get it right?

Los Angeles Times

In actions that would affect more than 6.5 million California students, state lawmakers are poised to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement in high school and at Cal State universities.

● Ethnic studies proposal for high schoolers called leftist, anti-Semitic Orange County Register

Nationwide project provides free science materials to meet California’s new standards

EdSource

While California students began taking a new statewide science test this past spring, school districts were still struggling to get teaching materials aligned to the state’s new science standards into classrooms.

High school starts early for California freshmen in ‘summer bridge’

EdSource

As thousands of incoming high school freshmen fret about the start of a new chapter, some California schools are relying on summer bridge programs to help students adjust to the new academic environment.

Opinion: The Smear Campaign Against Charters

Wall Street Journal

Far from being ‘resegregated,’ some of our schools are actually majority-minority—and that’s by parents’ free choice.

Higher Ed:

CSU says its $1.5 billion reserve isn’t a ‘surplus,’ but California lawmakers want answers

Fresno Bee

The California State University insisted it didn’t do anything wrong when it accumulated $1.5 billion in reserves over the past decade, but lawmakers at a hearing this week pressed it for more details on how the college justified raising tuition while stashing away so much money.

● CSU head answers questions about secret $1.5B reserve fund San Francisco Chronicle

Fall semester begins at COS Hanford Center

Hanford Sentinel

Over 13,000 students will attend College of the Sequoias’ three campuses this week for what school officials are expecting to be another successful year of higher education.

BC schedules active shooter trainings for campus, community

Bakersfield Californian

Bakersfield College’s Department of Public Safety is holding Active Shooter Response Trainings for the campus community and general public throughout September and October.

ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY

Environment:

Hoping to get a nickel for that can? With California’s recycling crisis, good luck

Los Angeles Times

When California’s largest operator of recycling redemption centers, RePlanet, went out of business last week, the state suddenly lost nearly one-fifth of its redemption centers in one day. “‘Crisis’ is an understatement,” said Jamie Court, president of Santa Monica-based advocacy group Consumer Watchdog. “The bottom just fell out with RePlanet, that’s what happened.”

Increasing humidity, driven in part by climate change, is making even modest heat waves unbearable

Washington Post

Forty million people were under heat alerts Tuesday across the Central and Southern United States as a hot and sultry air mass led to dangerously hot conditions.

Toxic algae has killed dogs across the U.S. this summer. Now California is on alert

Sacramento Bee

Toxic, blue-green algae blooms that poisoned dogs across the country this summer with deadly results.

Trump overhauls enforcement of Endangered Species Act. Critics predict more extinctions

Los Angeles Times

The Trump administration moved on Monday to weaken how it applies the 45-year-old Endangered Species Act, ordering changes that critics said will speed the loss of animals and plants at a time of record global extinctions.

Energy:

Trump’s clean energy plan is ‘flimsy, fake,’ California leaders say as they sue

Sacramento Bee

A day after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced California’s significant progress in cutting greenhouse gas emissions in efforts to combat climate change, the state joined a coalition of attorneys general on Tuesday to legally challenge President Donald Trump’s plan to roll back clean energy initiatives.

See also:

● 21 states sue Trump administration over new coal rules Bakersfield Californian

● California sues to stop Trump rollback of Obama-era restrictions on coal-burning power plants Los Angeles Times

● California sues Trump over greenhouse gas emissions. Now the rest of us need to step up Los Angeles Times

● 22 states sue Trump over repeal of Obama-era power plant rules The Hill

● States Sue Trump Administration Over Rollback of Obama-Era Climate Rule New York Times

Grove: Kern County’s way of life is under attack

Bakersfield Californian

See also:

· Opinion: Keep natural gas and renewable natural gas in California Bakersfield Californian

PG&E says it’s ready to propose bankruptcy exit plan on Sept. 9

San Francisco Chronicle

Whether PG&E will preserve its ability to be the only party that can formally propose a path out of bankruptcy protection is still to be decided.

California oil regulators made ‘dummy’ approval files for risky drill permits, records show

Desert Sun

Just as chefs and cleaners use steam to remove stubborn bits of dirt from pots and carpets, oil companies in California use steam injection to extract the state’s uniquely heavy, hard-to-pump petroleum.

Judge bars Trump from taking energy panel’s advice

Fresno Bee

A judge barred the Trump administration on Tuesday from acting on the recommendations of an energy advisory panel that was created to make it easier to extract fossil fuels from public lands and waters.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Health:

‘A lot more West Nile activity’ prompts neighborhood spraying, officials say

Fresno Bee

An uptick in West Nile virus in mosquitoes has prompted insecticide spraying in some Fresno and Clovis neighborhoods in the hopes it will reduce the likelihood of human infections, according to the Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District.

Valley health officials issue new warning over vaping after spike in respiratory illnesses

abc30

At least seven people, in the last two weeks, have been treated at Adventist Health Medical Center with severe breathing problems. The symptoms start out flu-like, shortness of breath, fatigue, a loss of appetite, nausea and confusion, but they can quickly escalate.

Pesticide Air Monitoring Shows Low Numbers Well Below Health Concerns

California AG Today

Don’t blame this high-volume drugstore in high-overdose community

Bakersfield Californian

The Kern River Valley has one of the most severe opioid problems in California. One particularly stricken burg in the area, Wofford Heights, has an opioid overdose rate five times the national average.

Air Pollution May Be As Harmful To Your Lungs As Smoking Cigarettes, Study Finds

Capital Public Radio

Smog can spike during hot days. A new study finds that the effects of breathing air pollution may be cumulative. Long-term exposure may lead to lung disease, even among people who’ve never smoked.

See also:

● How to Reduce Exposure to Air Pollution The New York Times

Deadly recalled products still lurk in many child-care centers

Los Angeles Times

The recall system can be effective at removing dangerous products from store shelves. But it falls short in making sure the products are returned, which happens with only a fraction of recalled products.

CA requires suicide prevention hotline printed on student ID cards

abc30

As junior high students and high schoolers head back to school, they may spot a new addition to their ID card. It’s a phone number, 1-800- 273-8255, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Human Services:

California union members back strike against Kaiser Permanente; 5 other states still voting

Fresno Bee

The Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West said Monday that thousands of California workers in its Kaiser Permanente unit have voted overwhelmingly to support a strike against their employer in early October.

Large employers question ‘Medicare for All’ plans, survey shows

Washington Post

Most large employers say a “Medicare for All” system would lower the number of uninsured people in the United States, but they are concerned it could increase health care costs and taxes while stifling innovation and quality, a new survey shows.

New program aids cancer treatment in Spanish-speaking women

Business Journal

Kaweah Delta Medical Center in Visalia has revealed the results of its participation in a potentially groundbreaking program and study in breast cancer treatment.

Public Health in Schools Meets Religious and Philosophical Beliefs

EdNote

In the past year, New York City saw a large scale measles outbreak, bringing forth news stories and public discourse around whether states should permit exemption from vaccines on religious or philosophical grounds.

Trump Shift Fuels Fear of Too Few Medicaid Docs

PEW Trusts

State health officials say an Obama-era rule, which the Trump administration wants to drop, forces them to spend a lot of time collecting and analyzing Medicaid data with little benefit.

Why Doctors Should Organize

The New Yorker

Meeting the challenges of modern medicine will require more than seeing patients.

IMMIGRATION

Fresno State grad and local artist paint mural on border wall

abc30

As the waves pushed in at Tijuana Beach, several artists were feet away, stroking up and down the Mexico border wall. A former Fresno State graduate and current U.C. Davis doctoral student Lizbeth De La Cruz started the project.

What Does President Trump’s Latest Immigration Crackdown Mean For California?

Capital Public Radio

As President Donald Trump published controversial new rules on Monday making it harder for legal immigrants to get green cards if they use Medicaid, food stamps and other social safety net programs, California has reacted with anticipated outrage.

● The Trump administration’s ‘public charge’ proposal has one goal: Keep immigrants out Washington Post

● California counties file first lawsuit over Trump ‘public charge’ rule The Hill

● EDITORIAL: Trump’s callous attack on immigrants who need public aid Los Angeles Times

● EDITORIAL: Trump’s immigration rule is an affront to nation’s principles San Francisco Chronicle

● EDITORIAL The ‘Public-Charge’ Ploy Wall Street Journal

NFL Players Help Make Bail For Bakersfield Activist Detained After Reading Poem Critical Of ICE

Valley Public Radio

A Bakersfield College student and farmworker who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after publicly reading a poem critical of the agency was released Monday afternoon after two NFL players and immigration advocacy organizations posted his bail.

LAND USE/HOUSING

Proposal would save golf at Stockton’s Swenson Park

Stockton Record

A proposal that would save golf at north Stockton’s Swenson Park but end golf at south Stockton’s Van Buskirk in a matter of days is expected to be considered by the City Council next week.

PUBLIC FINANCES

Budget Decider: Making choices that impact millions

CALmatters

California lawmakers have passed a $215 billion budget filled with progressive eye-catchers. But what if you had the awesome power to tax and spend, charting a new course for California?

CalPERS faces ‘very serious risk’ in $1.2 billion long-term care case, judge warns

Sacramento Bee

A judge is urging CalPERS to settle a major lawsuit over price increases for its long-term care insurance policies.

More fallout from nepotism report: California state worker receives $250,000 from lawsuit

Sacramento Bee

A former California state worker who said in a lawsuit that she was fired for cooperating with a nepotism investigation has settled her case for $250,000.

California’s Trump tax return law raises fears of Republican lockout

Politico

The possibility of Trump’s absence from 2020 primary ballots threatens to suppress turnout at a time when Republicans need every vote they can get.

Taxpayers paid over $90 billion more under Trump tax law

Finance Yahoo

Despite the majority of Americans receiving a tax cut, the IRS pulled in an additional $93 billion for 2018 from taxpayers on individual income taxes than it did for 2017, according to new data from the IRS. This is in part thanks to the Treasury Department processing 1.5% more individual returns for 2018 than 2017.

U.S. Budget Gap Widens 27% in First 10 Months of Fiscal Year

Wall Street Journal

The government collected $2.9 trillion in receipts, a 3% increase, while spending climbed 8% so far this fiscal year.

TRANSPORTATION

Kings County throws in towel on high-speed rail lawsuits

The Business Journal

No track for the bullet train in Kings County has been laid, but most of the 65-mile right-of-way has been bought and a number of bridges are near completion as of summer 2019.

Study: Fresno ranked among shortest commutes in US

The Business Journal

For all of Fresno’s shortcomings when it comes to being workforce friendly, at least we aren’t wasting away our lives commuting to work.

Sacramento city students soon will ride buses for free. Will suburban students be next?

Sacramento Bee

Tens of thousands of students living in Sacramento or attending school in Sacramento will soon be able to ride buses or light rail trains.

Officials: Despite tragic death, Tulare County intersection safer than before

abc30

Since a four-way stop was installed two months ago, the California Highway Patrol says there have only been two crashes at the intersection of Avenue 256 and Road 124 (also known as Oakdale and Oakmore).

WATER

President Trump signs bill to name dam after Schafer into law

Porterville Recorder

Last Friday, Congressman Kevin McCarthy’s bill to name Success Dam after Richard L. Schafer, longtime Tule River Water Master, was signed into law by President Trump.

Farmers use tech to squeeze every drop from Colorado River

Bakersfield Californian

This U.S. Department of Agriculture station outside Greeley and other sites across the Southwest are experimenting with drones, specialized cameras and other technology to squeeze the most out of every drop of water in the Colorado River — a vital but beleaguered waterway that serves an estimated 40 million people.

Planning for a Drier Future in the Colorado River Basin

PPIC

The Colorado River’s waters are over-allocated, making it hard to address the challenges climate change brings. We talked to Doug Kenney of the University of Colorado about managing the basin for a drier future.

“Xtra”

Taco Truck Throwdown 9 returning to Chukchansi Park in August

abc30

Mark your calendars! Taco Truck Throwdown 9 is happening August 17th at Chukchansi Park. The event has grown in popularity each year and will feature more 30 taco trucks as they compete for the title of best taco truck in the world.