December 3, 2020

03Dec

POLICY & POLITICS

 

North SJ Valley:

 

Why does this Stanislaus County ZIP code have the area’s most COVID cases?

Modesto Bee

Genevieve Ramirez did everything she could to keep her family safe from the coronavirus. She would only leave her West Modesto home, which she shared with her mother and sister, to buy groceries. She wore a mask religiously and didn’t attend any large gatherings, said her son, David Ramirez.

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Opinion: Merced County shows San Joaquin Valley the best way to report COVID-19 outbreaks

Merced Sun-Star

Five high schools. A city fire department. Various nursing homes. A cheese-making plant. What they have in common is an unwelcome sign of the times: They became places of COVID-19 outbreaks.

 

New Modesto council members take office as outgoing members say goodbye

Modesto Bee

The Modesto City Council said goodbye Tuesday evening to three outgoing council members and welcomed the three who have replaced them in ceremony that was more abbreviated than previous ones because of coronavirus pandemic restrictions over public gatherings.

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City of Modesto levies stiff penalty on city clerk. Her attorney threatens to sue

Modesto Bee

The Modesto City Council has reduced the salary of longtime City Clerk Stephanie Lopez after an investigation concluded she had emailed public documents without having the city attorney’s office first review them and included comments critical of city officials, primarily the city attorney, in her emails.

 

From Farmworker to Astronaut: Story Of Stockton’s Jose Hernandez To Be Told In Netflix Movie

Capital Public Radio

Netflix plans to shoot a movie about one of Stockton’s hometown heroes — a kid who rose from working in the farm fields to reach for the stars. NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez launched into space in 2009, spending 14 days orbiting the Earth. He was the first person to tweet in Spanish from space — fitting since he didn’t learn to speak English until he was 12.

 

Central SJ Valley:

 

Fresno County saw record voter turnout in the 2020 election. Here’s how many cast ballots

Fresno Bee

A record number of Fresno County voters cast ballots in the Nov. 3 election, according to numbers certified on Friday by the county Registrar of Voters Office. The registrar tallied 370,068 ballots submitted, which is 74.65% of the 495,748 residents who are registered.

 

Hospital ICUs in Fresno, Valley on thin ice as COVID-19 overwhelms medical facilities

Fresno Bee

Hospitals in Fresno and across the central San Joaquin Valley are already confronting their usual wintertime increase in patients requiring treatment in intensive-care units for flu and pneumonia, as well as serious circumstances like strokes, heart attacks and trauma.

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Rafer Johnson, 1960 Olympic champion and Kingsburg HS grad, dies at 86

abc30

Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth. No cause of death was announced.

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South SJ Valley:

 

COVID Update:

 

Shafter aims to spruce up downtown with new incentives program

Bakersfield Californian

The owners of Jiffy's Store on Central Avenue in downtown Shafter have made a few improvements lately — new tiles and such — but co-owner Mnuir Obaid says what's really needed, not only at his store but at neighboring shops along Central Avenue, is exterior work.

 

Governor Newsom appoints Bakersfield woman to Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board

KGET

On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced Raji Brar of Bakersfield has been reappointed to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.

 

Bakersfield-born musician part of two record projects recently nominated for Grammy Awards

Bakersfield Californian

He has shared performance venues around the world with the likes of Soundgarden-alum Chris Cornell, Grammy-winning guitarist Larry Carlton, and classic rock and pop legends Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins.

 

State:

 

Churches in state evaluating Supreme Court ruling

Porterville Recorder

Churches across the state are now evaluating the possibility of holding indoor services after a Supreme Court ruling that blocked restrictions on church meetings in New York state.

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Republicans took back four house seats in deep-blue California. How did they do it?

Sacramento Bee

Republicans have clinched four of the seven competitive House races in California, proving wrong the dismal projections of their chances in 2020 and setting up the party for possible further success in 2022.

 

Newsom Teases A New Stay-At-Home Order, But Local Officials Are In The Dark

Capital Public Radio

Gov. Gavin Newsom hinted heavily at a new stay-at-home order Monday while warning that California hospitals are on track to run out of intensive care unit beds by mid-December.

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How election officials fought fiction with fact

CalMatters

Pet videos populate Facebook all the time, but one posted during this frenzied election season stood out: A service dog named Maggie Magoo had voted by mail in Santa Cruz, its owner said. Not just that, the owner claimed Maggie was registered to vote using her microchip number as a social security number.

 

Dianne Feinstein Backs Alex Padilla To Replace Kamala Harris In The Senate

HuffPost

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is supporting California Secretary of State Alex Padilla for the soon-to-be vacant Senate seat of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

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California politicians skewered for social crimes in the age of coronavirus

Politico

California politicians are drawing scorn for the unthinkable: dining out, spending Thanksgiving with relatives and traveling out of state.

 

Column: Newsom endures two embarrassments with French Laundry dinner and unemployment scam

Los Angeles Times

Mix a governor’s hypocrisy with a touch of elitism and perceived incompetence and you can create a killer negative campaign ad. On the positive side for Gov. Gavin Newsom, he carries California’s vastly preferred political brand — Democrat — has a clean image, is gifted with telegenic looks and seems to always be trying.

 

Walters: GOP congressional wins set stage for 2022

CalMatters

It is remarkable — even amazing — that as Democrat Joe Biden rang up a nearly 2-to-1 victory over Republican President Donald Trump in California this year, Trump’s party regained four of the seven congressional seats it lost two years ago.

 

Federal:

 

Lack of COVID empathy cost Trump election, ex-campaign manager says. ‘People were scared’

Fresno Bee

President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager says the president’s lack of empathy surrounding the coronavirus pandemic cost him reelection.

 

Stimulus update: Pelosi, Schumer back bipartisan COVID relief bill, ask to 'sit down' with McConnell

abc30

Democratic leaders swung behind a bipartisan COVID-19 relief effort Wednesday, cutting their demands for a $2 trillion-plus measure by more than half in hopes of breaking a monthslong logjam and delivering much-sought aid as a coda to a tempestuous congressional session.

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Trump threatens to veto defense bill over liability protections for tech companies

Los Angeles Times

President Trump on Tuesday night threatened to veto the annual defense appropriations bill unless Congress abolishes a law that protects technology companies from liability over most content published by their users.

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Can President Trump Pardon Himself and His Family?

Wall Street Journal

As his term comes to an end, President Trump is being urged by some supporters to consider pardons for close allies, family members and even himself. Mr. Trump “needs to pardon his whole family and himself,” Fox News host Sean Hannity said this week on his radio show.

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Trump Reasserts Fraud Claims Despite Lack of Evidence, Losses in Court

Wall Street Journal

President Trump delivered a lengthy speech from the White House on Wednesday in which he insisted that he won the election and again declined to concede to President-elect Joe Biden less than two months before Inauguration Day.

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How Trump’s fury at Silicon Valley fixated on the little-known Section 230

Politico

President Donald Trump’s yearslong crusade against social media titans like Facebook and Twitter has turned into a concentrated attack on one previously obscure technology statute from the mid-1990s — a fixation that’s only escalating in the twilight of his presidency.

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Some federal judges plan to retire when Trump exits. Will Biden be able to replace them?

Los Angeles Times

For the last four years, some federal judges postponed retirement plans rather than give President Trump the opportunity to name more conservatives to the nation’s powerful appeals courts. When Joe Biden assumes office, many of those judges are expected to step aside to allow the new Democratic president to appoint their successors, especially if Democrats regain the U.S. Senate.

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Census delays could push apportionment to Biden administration

Roll Call

Internal documents released Wednesday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee show the Census Bureau has run into far more problems than publicly disclosed in its rush to finish tabulating results from the 2020 count, possibly resulting in delays that would let the incoming Biden administration have final control over results.

 

Biden’s Planned Health-Care Law Reboot Could Stall Under GOP-Controlled Senate

Wall Street Journal

President-elect Joe Biden has said he intends to focus his health-care policy on a reboot of the Affordable Care Act and launch the first federally run health-care plan. But as with much of his agenda, the fate of his plans rests on which party has control of the Senate following Georgia’s runoff elections in January.

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Republicans object to Biden nominees, a sign of what's to come

abc30

President-elect Joe Biden's Cabinet picks are quickly running into the political reality of a narrowly controlled Senate that will leave the new Democratic administration dependent on rival Republicans to get anything done.

 

Democrats’ post-Trump challenge: Keep the online fundraising gusher flowing

McClatchy

Democrats benefited from an unparalleled online fundraising surge during Donald Trump’s

tenure in the White House, delivering record sums of money to the party and overwhelming even the incumbent president’s campaign in 2020.

 

Opinion: America needs a COVID-19 Commission

Brookings

Even as the coronavirus surges, the end to our long national nightmare is in sight. Several effective vaccines will soon become available and Donald Trump’s deceptive, chaotic presidency will soon end. The Biden administration will have no choice but to hit the ground running, as they are clearly preparing to do.

 

Other:

 

Homeland Security Watchdog to Probe Department’s Use of Phone Location Data

Wall Street Journal

The Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog said it would open an investigation into the use of mobile-phone surveillance technologies to track Americans without a warrant, the latest salvo in a debate within the U.S. government over the legality of such techniques.

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MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

 

Sunday, December 6, at 10 a.m. on ABC30 – Maddy Report: Policing the Police - Guest: Laurel Rosenhall with CALmatters, Ron Lawrence with California Police Chiefs Association and Alice Hoffman with California Chapter - NCAAP. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

 

Sunday, December 6, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report - Valley Views Edition: No show this week!- Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

 

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

 

Around Kings County: Valley sees loss of farm jobs — down 20%

Hanford Sentinel

Valley farmers have had a tough time this year and those who work on those farms are fewer in number. In the four-county South Valley, ag jobs are down 20% year-over-year - worse in some counties. 

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COVID-19 pandemic tests resilience of Kern ranchers

Bakersfield Californian

Kern County cattle ranchers have seen their fair share of challenges — drought, floods, catastrophic forest and rangeland fires, depressed markets, increased taxes and regulations and market uncertainty.

 

Blue Diamond reports $1.59 billion in revenue. Almond milk from Turlock is a hit

Modesto Bee

Blue Diamond Growers had $1.59 billion in revenue in its latest annual report, boosted in part by the new almond milk operation in Turlock. The Sacramento-based cooperative saw a 1.5% increase in the fiscal year ending Aug. 28 over the previous year.

 

North American farmers profit as consumers pressure food business to go green

Reuters

Beer made from rice grown with less water, rye planted in the off-season and the sale of carbon credits to tech firms are just a few of the changes North American farmers are making as the food industry strives to go green.

 

Environment to benefit from ‘biggest farming shake-up in 50 years’

The Guardian

Wildlife, nature and the climate will benefit from the biggest shake-up in farming policy in England for 50 years, according to government plans.

 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/FIRE/PUBLIC SAFETY

 

Crime:

 

Jury trials suspended for a month in Central California county as COVID-19 cases spike

Fresno Bee

The Tulare County Superior Court is suspending all criminal and civil jury trials through Dec. 31 due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in the county. Court officials said they want to avoid potential risks to trial jurors, witnesses, court staff, bench officers and the general public.

 

What is financial abuse? Oftentimes people don’t realize they are victims, experts say

Fresno Bee

Imagine being forced to pay for the vehicle that your former lover drives. Imagine getting your credit report and discovering that same ex used your Social Security number to open credit cards in your name, then learning you have to pay off the accumulated debt, but get to keep nothing that was purchased.

 

Feds warned California this spring that new jobless program could face trouble with fraud

Sacramento Bee

Soon after they began doling out billions in aid last spring to those who lost their jobs to the COVID-19 pandemic, federal officials warned the states that the money represented a jackpot waiting to be looted.

 

Public Safety:

 

Two deputies file complaint as coronavirus outbreak grows at Stanislaus County jail

Modesto Bee

Almost 100 inmates and staff at the Stanislaus County jail have tested positive for the coronavirus, as authorities deal with a growing outbreak. The Sheriff’s Department is also facing criticism in a complaint that it’s not following its own protocols and mitigation measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 illness.

 

Overcrowding Is Fueling California's Worst Active COVID-19 Prison Outbreak, Advocates Say

KQED

A surge in COVID-19 cases at a Central Valley prison for men is now the largest active outbreak in the California prison system, according to state data. Nearly 1,000 inmates at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran have active cases of the virus — nearly all reported within the last two weeks.

 

Fire:

 

California winds bring fire threat, possible power outages

Bakersfield Californian

Californians hoping December would finally usher in wetter weather after a disastrous fire season were instead bracing Wednesday for another round of dry winds that raised the threat of wildfire danger and widespread power shutoffs.

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ECONOMY/JOBS

 

Economy:

 

Fresno County Econ Forecast: Brick-and-mortar Transitioning, But Here To Stay

Business Journal

Fresno County businesses, farmers and retailers have weathered a tornado of unpredictable events in 2020. But in 2021, commercial and residential real estate are expected to thrive.

 

SBA Releases Detailed Information About PPP Borrowers

Business Journal

The U.S. Small Business Administration released detailed information regarding borrowers of the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program.

 

Kern Taxpayer’s Association 81st Annual Meeting to focus on local economic and real estate market

Bakersfield Californian

The Kern Taxpayer’s Association will be hosting its 81st annual meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 9. The meeting will focus on the economic and real estate market in Kern County, and will be held in a virtual format from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.

 

Income Inequality and Economic Opportunity in California

PPIC

The current recession threatens to deepen California’s economic divide. Low-income families, communities of color, and women have been hardest hit, and past recessions suggest their wages will take longer to recover.

 

The Free Market Has Failed U.S. Working Parents

Harvard Business Review

The U.S. government can and should do more to support working parents. In fact, the nation is an outlier among Western industrialized countries for its lack of adequate, federal family policies in four key areas: paid leave; affordable, quality childcare; fair work schedules; and living wages.

 

Jobs:

 

‘Lemme see that pretty face.’ Service workers report spike in harassment amid pandemic

Fresno Bee

Bartenders, restaurant servers and other food service workers face increased health risks during the COVID-19 pandemic — and also less-than-pleasant treatment from customers whose tips account for much of their pay, according to a new survey.

 

How long before the millions of jobs lost during COVID-19 come back? What experts say

Fresno Bee

Jobs lost early in the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to come back — but it may take a while, experts say. Financial research provider Moody’s Analytics said it could take four years to regain the 22 million jobs that went away in March and April, multiple news outlets reported this week.

 

Here’s what California workers need to know about the state’s new COVID-19 workplace rules

Fresno Bee

More than eight months into the pandemic, California officially has rules in place aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19 at workplaces. The emergency rules will be in effect at least until late May. The standards board of Cal-OSHA may extend the period and could also work to make those rules permanent.

 

California’s minimum wage is set to increase again in January

Sacramento Bee

In 2021, California’s minimum wage will be $14 an hour. That brings it one step closer toward an end goal of $15 an hour for all employers statewide by 2023. The $14-an-hour minimum wage applies to all employers with 26 or more employees; employers with fewer employees must pay a minimum of $13 an hour for work as of Jan. 1.

 

Google violated U.S. labor laws in clampdown on worker organizing, regulator says

Reuters

The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint on Wednesday accusing Alphabet Inc’s Google of unlawfully monitoring and questioning several workers who were then fired for protesting against company policies and trying to organize a union.

 

U.S. Jobless Claims Drop, Offering Ray of Hope for Labor Market

Bloomberg

Applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell by the most in almost two months, offering some hope that the gradual recovery in the job market will continue despite a spike in Covid-19 infections and renewed business restrictions.

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EDUCATION

 

K-12:

 

Bakersfield special education community remembers Rafer Johnson

Bakersfield Californian

Rafer Johnson won an Olympic gold medal, tackled an assassin and became a goodwill ambassador for the United States, but the decathlete might best be remembered in Bakersfield as an advocate for the local special needs community.

 

Start of California high school sports on hold. CIF blames lack of state health guidelines

Fresno Bee

High school sports – both practice and competition – won’t start until January at the earliest, the California Interscholastic Sports Federation wrote in a statement late Tuesday afternoon.

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3 PUSD schools reopen on limited basis

Hanford Sentinel

Porterville Unified School District is gradually beginning to bring back students back to campus. The district began offering in-person instruction on a limited basis on Monday as Los Robles, Vandalia and West Putnam Elementary Schools reopened for grades K-6.

 

New plan for children offers comprehensive system to meet learning needs

CalMatters

California has a new blueprint to deliver on our commitment to meet the Early Learning needs of every California child while improving the quality and training of their teachers and caregivers. The plan is a critical start to meeting our kids’ developmental needs by ensuring equitable access to high-quality health and learning opportunities.

 

Pandemic’s spread in California upends plans for return to school in January — or beyond

EdSource

The surge in Covid-19 cases in California is coming at exactly the wrong time for school districts contemplating reopening schools for in-person instruction. Before the surge, the majority of students in the state were still getting classes via distance learning, but schools were reopening at an accelerating pace.

 

Black and Latino students in California are suffering most from the pandemic, a lawsuit says.

New York Times

Families and community organizations in Los Angeles and Oakland sued California this week, saying that it has failed during the pandemic to provide low-income Black and Latino students the free and equal education that the State Constitution guarantees.

 

Valley Voices: COVID-19 shows that Gov. Newsom, legislators must close California’s digital divide

Fresno Bee

For many of us, 2020 will be marked in our collective memory as the year of shelter-in-place, social distancing, and video conferences from home for work, school, and doctor visits.

 

Higher Ed:

 

Discrimination from some California college professors? Fresno State student speaks out

Fresno Bee

After a large spike in anti-Muslim hate crimes directed leading up to the 2016 election, many Muslim college students in the central San Joaquin Valley still feel unsafe on campus and face discrimination from professors and peers, according to a new report from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

 

Pass-Fail Hardball

Inside Higher Ed

Many colleges adopted pass-fail grading policies in the spring term to give students breathing room amid COVID-19 disruptions. Students are again lobbying for such policies for the term that’s swiftly coming to a close.

 

ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY

 

Environment:

 

Environment to benefit from ‘biggest farming shake-up in 50 years’

The Guardian

Wildlife, nature and the climate will benefit from the biggest shake-up in farming policy in England for 50 years, according to government plans.

 

Energy:

 

Porsche launches effort to make carbon-neutral ‘e-gas’

Los Angeles Times

Porsche has no plan to make an electric version of its iconic 911 sports cars. So, how to ensure continued sale of its flagship model far into the future, when governments around the world, including California’s, are planning to eventually ban sales of new internal combustion cars?

 

Biden could help San Francisco win billions from Big Oil over climate change

San Francisco Chronicle

Once considered as much a publicity stunt as a viable legal pursuit, efforts by San Francisco and other Bay Area communities to win billions from the oil industry for climate change are being recognized by President-elect Joe Biden and may soon get federal support.

 

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

 

Health:

 

20,000 cases set California record; ICU capacity at all-time low

Fresno Bee

California reported more extremely concerning data on coronavirus activity from the current surge on Wednesday, especially with regard to hospital space for the most critically ill patients.

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How long do you have to quarantine after COVID-19 exposure? CDC announces new guidance

Fresno Bee

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced during a Wednesday media briefing that it continues to recommend a quarantine period of 14 days after exposure to someone with COVID-19 to reduce the spread of the disease.

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Come for Your Eye Exam, Leave With a Band-Aid on Your Arm

Capital Public Radio

With multiple COVID-19 vaccines rapidly heading toward approval, optometrists and dentists are pushing for the authority to immunize patients during routine eye exams and dental cleanings.

 

CDC director warns the next few months could be ‘the most difficult in the public health history of this nation’

CNBC

The next few months of the Covid-19 pandemic will be among “the most difficult in the public health history of this nation,” Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday.

 

Human Services:

 

Fresno aiming to increase COVID-19 testing as cases surge

abc30

With cases rising, car after car drove up to the test site in Downtown Fresno waiting to be tested for COVID-19. One of them was Darren Miller, who knows the devastation of the virus first hand after losing his mother, Bessie Ruth Miller.

 

Stanislaus County offering free flu vaccines at drive-thru clinic on Friday

Modesto Bee

With local hospitals full of COVID-19 patients, Stanislaus County Health Services Agency wants to minimize any additional burden of influenza by offering free drive-thru influenza vaccines on Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Johansen High School.

 

Hospitals likely to be first local recipients of COVID-19 vaccine

Bakersfield Californian

Kern public health officials are planning to give local hospitals and health-care systems a "prominent role" in administering the county's initial supply of COVID-19 vaccinations once they become available, likely bypassing pharmacies and doctors offices until doses become more plentiful.

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U.K. Approves Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine For Emergency Use

VPR

The U.K. has formally approved Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, becoming the first Western country to OK its use for the general public. The British regulatory agency, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority, or MHRA, announced early Wednesday the approval of the vaccine from Pfizer and the German company BioNTech for emergency use.

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WHO tightens mask guidelines

The Hill

The World Health Organization (WHO) is tightening its mask guidelines, telling people who live in areas where the coronavirus is still spreading to wear masks at all times in a variety of public places.

 

Covid-19 Disbelief Saddles Health-Care Workers With Another Challenge

Wall Street Journal

Dr. Michaela Schulte works overnight shifts at St. Luke’s Health System hospitals near Boise, Idaho, treating some of the hundreds of critically ill Covid-19 patients filling hospital beds in her state during the most severe period of the pandemic so far.

 

'Assume you became infected' with COVID after Thanksgiving gatherings: White House task force report

abc30

The White House Coronavirus Task Force is issuing its most urgent warning, advising that older adults avoid unmasked indoor gatherings and others assume they were infected after Thanksgiving celebrations, according to a report obtained this week by ABC News.

 

Commentary: How to address California’s health care workforce shortages

CalMatters

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on our health care system. Often it has revealed heroics showing that California’s health care workers put themselves on the frontlines for their community, the industry came together to meet new and evolving challenges, and forged partnerships to innovate in double time.

 

IMMIGRATION

 

Biden’s policies on immigration

Washington Post

When Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20, he is likely to take on the nation’s immigration policies almost immediately. It could be a difficult task: The new president will have to navigate between the expectations of supporters who demand a total repudiation of President Trump’s restrictive policies and the complex realities of a dysfunctional immigration system.

See also:

 

LAND USE/HOUSING

 

Land Use:

 

California Commits to Conserving 30% of its Land and Water by 2030. What Does That Mean?

Bay Nature

On October 7 California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the state to create a new California Biodiversity Collaborative and conserve 30 percent of its land and coastal waters by 2030.

 

Housing:

 

'These Are Deaths That Could Have Been Prevented,' Says Researcher Studying Evictions

VPR

Like much of the response to the coronavirus across the United States, the approach to housing during the pandemic has been an uneven patchwork. Forty-three states and Washington, D.C., put in eviction moratoriums starting in March and April, but 27 of them ended in the spring and summer.

 

Renegotiating rent can be tricky. Here’s what to keep in mind, and what to do if you can’t pay

Los Angeles Times

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lee Anne Lowery-Gorman had to permanently close her restaurant. In addition to being a struggling business owner, she is the landlord of a duplex in Hollywood. So when she learned that both her renters’ jobs were in limbo, she understood.

 

EDITORIAL: Getting homeless people off the street doesn’t mean forcing them into shelter they don’t want

Los Angeles Times

Providing shelter and housing for homeless people in Los Angeles has arguably been the city’s most complex task in the last decade. There is not only a shortage of shelter beds, but also of shelter sites where homeless people will want to stay long enough to get services and work with providers to find the right housing.

 

PUBLIC FINANCES

 

Millions Face Bitter Winter If Congress Fails To Extend Relief Programs

VPR

The pandemic rages on. More than 180,000 people tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday. States and cities are closing businesses. Nearly 800,000 people are applying for unemployment every week.

 

TRANSPORTATION

 

Say goodbye to emotional-support animals in airplane cabins

Los Angeles Times

The U.S. government has decided that when it comes to air travel, only dogs can be service animals, and companions used for emotional support don’t count.

 

Transit system service cuts proposed in Congress’s backyard elicit calls for more funding

Washington Post

From coast to coast, transit agencies are planning for layoffs and pared-down service as the coronavirus pandemic decimates budgets and a federal stimulus package remains stalled in Congress.

 

How bike-friendly ‘slow streets' are changing cities

BBC

Moving around Bogotá can be a bit of a Jekyll-or-Hyde experience. On one hand, the city is infamous for having the world’s worst traffic. Yet, on the other, its cycling infrastructure is considered an exemplary model of sustainable urban mobility, according to the Copenhagenize Index, which ranks bike-friendly cities.

 

WATER

 

One-day watering schedule starts in Visalia

abc30

The city of Visalia is asking residents to only water their lawns once a week. Those with even addresses can water using sprinklers on Sundays, while those with odd addresses can turn on Saturdays' sprinklers.

 

Winter’s dry start prompts low California water allocation

Modesto Bee

California's water managers on Tuesday preliminarily allocated just 10% of requested water supplies to agencies that together serve more than 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland.

 

Viewpoint: California must bypass water politics and work toward solutions for our thirsty state

Sacramento Bee

California’s water wars are epic. They’ve inspired Hollywood productions and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism. Water has been the source of both great wealth and great poverty in California.

 

Commentary: We can find common ground to solve challenging water issues

CalMatters

Despite a seemingly endless era of upheaval – a surging pandemic, contentious election cycle and racial strife – we still have the responsibility to address pressing issues that cannot wait for calmer times.​​ The future of California’s water is one​​ of those issues.

 

EDITORIAL: After COVID-19 ends, will Californians go thirsty?

Los Angeles Times

In the midst of drought yet again, and two decades into the 21st century, California continues to operate with a water infrastructure engineered and constructed for 20th century climate conditions and populations. 

 

“Xtra”

 

Drive-thru Teddy Bear Toss brings in 2,000 donations

Bakersfield Californian

The final tally from the Bakersfield Condors’ annual Teddy Bear Toss came in Wednesday and, as expected, donations took a big hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 incarnation of the annual event, which took place in a drive-thru format last weekend, brought in roughly 2,000 donated teddy bears and other stuffed animals, down considerably from years prior.

 

Bethany Clough: A new restaurant in Tower? Sort of. This Fresno dinner theater is doing takeout food

Fresno Bee

It’s been nearly nine months since Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater last served meals to guests while actors graced its stage. The show can’t go on because California coronavirus restrictions say theaters must be closed for now.

 

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Maddy Institute Updated List of San Joaquin Valley Elected Officials HERE.

 

The Kenneth L. Maddy Institute 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.

                                                     

This document is to be used for informational purposes only. Unless specifically noted, The Maddy Institute does not officially endorse or support views that may be expressed in the document. If you want to print a story, please do so now before the link expires.

 

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