Political Stories – Top stories

After fierce arguments, appeals court to decide next step for Trump’s travel ban — A top Justice Department lawyer argued strongly Tuesday that President Trump’s executive order limiting travel temporarily from seven foreign nations was “plainly constitutional” and in the country’s national security interest, but an attorney for the state of Washington urged a panel of federal judges to view the order as a violation of the establishment clause that prevents favoring one religion over another and is plainly aimed at limiting Muslims from entering the United States. Sacramento Bee article; New York Times article

Spending in California’s 2016 election hit $680 million — Legislative candidates, ballot measure campaigns, and independent groups spent at least $680.8 million during California’s 2016 election cycle, according to recently filed state disclosures. Sacramento Bee article

Valley politics

Kumar’s recall election date yet to be set — The Tulare Regional Medical Center Board of Directors will have 14 days after their upcoming Feb. 22 meeting to announce the date for the recall election of Dr. Parmod Kumar. Visalia Times-Delta article

Statewide politics/Ballot Measures

Is John Chiang the ‘undervalued stock’ in California governor’s race? — John Chiang’s campaign for California governor may be gaining some steam. Campaign finance reports released last week showed that Chiang, California’s treasurer, raised $4.2 million in 2016, almost matching the money raked in that year by Democratic rival Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. LA Times article

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon endorses John Chiang for California governor — California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) has endorsed Democrat John Chiang in his 2018 bid for governor, praising Chiang for fighting for all Californians during his years in public office. LA Times article

John Chiang opens committee for affordable housing initiative — California Treasurer John Chiang, a Democratic candidate for governor, has opened a ballot measure committee for the 2018 statewide election, suggesting he plans to tether his campaign to a long-planned yet unspecified initiative on affordable housing. Details of the housing measure are murky, yet a Chiang spokeswoman said Tuesday that plans were moving forward on a 2018 proposal. Sacramento Bee article

California’s new AG comes to Bakersfield, talks Trump, more — California’s new attorney general, Xavier Becerra, promised his first official visit after taking office would be to the Great Central Valley. Becerra is making good on that promise, and on Tuesday he was in Bakersfield talking with farm workers and growers, police chiefs and news reporters. Bakersfield Californian article

Immigration

These California laws may help immigrants facing threat of deportation – Saidi recently met with elected officials, service providers and criminal justice advocates in the county who work to reintegrate people coming out of prisons and local jails. Saidi explained how recent state laws aimed at helping rehabilitated felons get their records cleared might be of particular help to immigrants targeted by the new executive order. KQED report

Court denies immigrants right to attorney in expedited deportations – A divided federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that unauthorized immigrants who are caught soon after their entry have no right to a lawyer in expedited removal proceedings, which are used to deport many thousands each year and could be greatly expanded under President Trump. San Francisco Chronicle article

California lawmaker wants to protect immigrants from having their personal information disclosed by state agencies – A state senator has introduced a bill that would prohibit state agencies, higher education institutions and public service providers in California from disclosing the personal information of any of their applicants. LA Times article

Bill to provide immigration law resources for public defenders across California is advanced by Assembly committee — Public defender’s offices across California are in need of immigration law training and resources, a demand that a state lawmaker says has been made more pressing under President Donald Trump and his threat of massive deportations. LA Times article

Why Silicon Valley wouldn’t work without immigrants – The protests that swept through Silicon Valley and Seattle in the last two weeks were not motivated by short-term financial gain. If you want to understand why tech employees went to the mat against Mr. Trump’s executive order barring immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries, you need to first understand the crucial role that America’s relatively open immigration policies play in the tech business. New York Times article

Fact Check: Trump’s claim that sanctuary cities ‘breed crime’ – It’s one thing to raise concerns about the impact of sanctuary policies, but Trump goes too far declaring that the cities “breed crime.” He not only makes a correlation, but also ascribes a causation, without facts to support either. We award Three Pinocchios. Washington Post article

Patsy Ouellette: Entering dangerous territory – The Bakersfield resident and eighth-grade teacher at Norris Middle School writes, “’President Trump’s plan to enlist local police and sheriff’s departments in immigration enforcement … leaves open the possibility that they would be required to inquire about immigration status of the people they encounter on the streets,’ reported the LA Times Jan. 27, (Calif. Set for Showdown on Immigration Enforcement.) Let’s think about this for a minute.” Ouellette op-ed in Bakersfield Californian

Other areas

America’s biggest worry isn’t terrorism or crime – American families aren’t as worried about terrorism or crime as they are about paying their health care bills, a new poll suggests. Health care costs have emerged as the No. 1 concern for American families, according to a new national Monmouth University poll. Health care costs outranked a variety of other concerns that registered in the single digits, including college tuition and taxes. McClatchy Newspapers article

California government transparency effort expanding to New York – A bipartisan group of political leaders from California, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, is backing the expansion of a pioneering online video platform that allows citizens and journalists easier access to information about their government. Politico article

What is Eric Holder doing for the state Legislature? No clue, but he’s doing it ‘well’ — California Democratic legislative leaders paraded former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder through the Capitol Tuesday on his first visit since his firm signed a $25,000-a-month contract to assist state lawmakers with legal challenges against the Trump administration. Sacramento Bee article; LA Times article; Politico article

Sacramento Bee: How about using science to inform gun safety decisions? – A UC Davis study linking alcohol abuse and gun violence is shocking – not for its findings, but because so few like it have been done, by design. Sacramento Bee editorial

Mayor Garcetti says President Obama is endorsing his reelection bid – Mayor Eric Garcetti hardly needed the support of former President Obama to strengthen his campaign for reelection, but he asked for it anyway during a party at the White House last month. On Tuesday, Garcetti declared himself the first candidate to win Obama’s endorsement since his presidency ended. LA Times article

Third anti-Islam incident in Sacramento region reported as tenderloins are left on Davis porch – A third incident against Muslims in less than two weeks in the Sacramento region occurred over the weekend in Davis. The latest incident occurred at the Russell Park Apartments, on-campus housing primarily for UC Davis graduate students. UC Davis officials said somebody left a package of pork tenderloins on a front doorstep of an apartment. Sacramento Bee article

DeVos confirmed as secretary of education as VP Pence breaks tie in Senate – The Senate confirmed Betsy DeVos as secretary of education on Tuesday, with Vice President Mike Pence casting a tiebreaking vote. It was the first time in the nation’s history that a Cabinet secretary’s confirmation required a vice president’s tiebreaking vote to succeed. McClatchy Newspapers article; New York Times article; LA Times article; Jack Ohman editorial cartoon in Sacramento Bee; Steve Lopez column in LA Times

As attorney general, Jeff Sessions will take center stage in some of the nation’s most acute controversies – If Sessions is confirmed Wednesday by the Senate, as expected, the nation’s 84th attorney general will be responsible for leading the legal defense of President Trump’s immigration restrictions, for halting and investigating terrorist attacks, and for probing hate crimes and egregious abuses by local and state law enforcement. He also is expected to play a key role in implementing Trump’s promised crackdown on illegal immigration by increasing deportations. LA Times article

California Rep. Tom McClintock pleads for civil discourse and says he’ll get bigger space for next town hall – Rep. Tom McClintock made a plea for civil discourse on the House floor Tuesday, days after he had to be escorted out of a town hall by local policebecause of a large protest. LA Times article

Dan Walters: State Bar settles one fight, is embroiled in another – The legislative skirmishing over the future of the State Bar appears to be nearing an amicable resolution.  Walters column in Sacramento Bee

California’s John Burton backs Keith Ellison for DNC chair — California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton waded Tuesday into the race for Democratic National Committee chairman, endorsing Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., over his rivals, including former Labor Secretary Tom Perez. Sacramento Bee article; LA Times article

Lawmakers aim to take California’s HIV-specific crimes off the book — State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced a bill Monday to repeal California laws he says unfairly target people with HIV. KQED report

Presidential Politics

Under-reported? UC Merced stabbings in 2015 covered extensively by Bee, other media — The White House on Monday night released a list of terrorist attacks. The 78 events, dating back to September 2014, were intended to support President Donald Trump’s statement earlier in the day that the “very dishonest press” often doesn’t report about such attacks.” The list also has an entry for Nov. 4, 2015, when a student named Faisal Mohammad stabbed four people at UC Merced, then was shot and killed by a campus police officer. The story received extensive coverage by The Fresno Bee, with three stories posted online the day of the attack.  Fresno Bee article; Merced Sun-Star article

Here’s our coverage of attacks Trump said were ignored – Here is the Trump administration’s list of what it calls underreported terrorist attacks. The Times covered most of the attacks cited, many with multiple articles. New York Times article

Trump and the Congressional Black Caucus: So far, not so good – No one expected President Donald Trump and Congress’ black lawmakers, most of whom are Democrats, to become fast friends. But it turns out they’re hardly even speaking. McClatchy Newspapers article

Marcos Breton: Upset with Trump? Well, maybe you should have voted – This is what happens when enough people from one political point of view don’t think voting is important. You get outrage and public demonstrations that come a few months too late. You get widespread dismay and despair over a president pushing an agenda that he openly promoted for months before being elected last November.  Breton column in Sacramento Bee

Tom Fife: Lefty whiners must understand, Trump is protecting YOU — Am I right about Iran? Time will tell. Obama did all he could to undermine the US there. Goofy anti-Trump people like Joe fail to understand Trump is actually fighting to save their lives. I’ll bet if Donald Trump could negotiate a treaty with terrorists to only attack whiney liberals and leave the rest of us alone, 97% of America would become pro-terrorist overnight. The clock is ticking on the radical left. When the dust settles and America decides to remove these thugs from the scene, nothing much will be left of them but feathers, and bones. Fife op-ed in Visalia Times-Delta

Joe Altschule: Do your job this way, you’d be fired — It’s no secret that Donald Trump isn’t a Constitutional scholar, or even a casual student of the US Constitution. Indeed, he has never shown any evidence that he has even read, is familiar with, or understands the importance of constitutional concepts, which are the bedrock of our way of life. Fife op-ed in Visalia Times-Delta

News Stories

Top Stories

PG&E job cuts arrive, along with higher bills — PG&E on Tuesday disclosed details about hundreds of job cuts that it plans for March, and it braced for complaints from some customers about rising monthly bills. The utility, which became a convicted felon in January when it was sentenced for crimes linked to a fatal pipeline explosion in San Bruno, filed announcements with state labor officials that it would eliminate about 265 jobs in the Bay Area and more outside of this region. San Jose Mercury News article

 ‘Atmospheric river’ slams California again as state decides whether to keep drought restrictions — The “atmospheric river” returned with a vengeance Tuesday to Northern California, where snow piled up in the Sierra Nevada and coastal riverbanks were overwhelmed, flooding rural towns. It’s at least the third major storm series to hit the region since the beginning of the year, building Sierra Nevada snowpack to heights not seen in years. Many of the state’s reservoirs are brimming and the earth around them is beginning to soak in the moisture. The rain has ended the drought in much of Northern California, but it leaves state water officials with a dilemma. LA Times article

Kern supervisors put Hart Park fee on hold – There will not be a $5 parking fee at Hart Park, at least for now. Kern County supervisors took to heart the organized, passionate opposition to the proposed fee from a host of speakers at their Tuesday meeting. They directed the County Administrative Office to put the fee proposal on hold and launch an aggressive plan for saving the northeast Bakersfield regional park, called a jewel of the county park system. Bakersfield Californian article

Jobs and the Economy

Retirement administrator gets raise from Fresno County supervisors – Fresno County supervisors want to examine how much they pay their top administrators in light of similarly placed officials in other counties who may earn more. The issue developed Tuesday when the Board of Supervisors approved a raise for the county’s retirement administrator. Donald Kendig’s salary is below several other retirement administrators in similarly sized and smaller counties. Supervisors voted 5-0 to raise his annual salary from $157,500 to $169,751 beginning next week, a pay hike of about 7.8 percent. Fresno Bee article

Lois Henry: Hart Park parking fee not a good idea? What else ya got? – It’s great that so many people turned out Tuesday to tell Kern County supervisors how much they love Hart Park and want to keep it free of a $5 daily parking fee. I don’t want the fee either. Public lands and public places ought to be free and open to the public. But the numbers are the numbers. And these numbers aren’t good. Henry column in Bakersfield Californian

Hanford council meeting draws criticism – A special Hanford City Council meeting on Friday that covered controversial zoning changes proposed for downtown is generating criticism. In interviews, downtown advocates interested in commenting on the controversial items raised questions about why the subject was scheduled for a special meeting on a Friday afternoon rather for a regular Tuesday night meeting. Hanford Sentinel article

Stanislaus board chairman dishes out praise for partnership, employees in State of the County address – Board of Supervisors Chairman Vito Chiesa delivered a State of the County address Tuesday that was more upbeat than his speech four years ago. Rather than talking about staff cuts and revenue shortfalls, Chiesa said the winter rain was filling reservoirs and bringing Stanislaus County back from the drought. County leaders expect to retire general fund debts in the coming year and continue work on community partnerships that improve quality of life. Modesto Bee article

CalPERS wants to keep investments in Dakota Access pipeline – CalPERS wants to hold on to its stake in companies that may be doing business with the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline despite a proposal from an assemblyman that would compel the retirement fund to divest from the project. Sacramento Bee article

Fire destroys Rebecchi’s Department store, a Firebaugh landmark — Firebaugh residents and lovers of San Joaquin Valley history were mourning Tuesday the loss of the historic Rebecchi’s Department Store, which caught fire and collapsed during firefighting efforts. Fresno Bee article

Morada water rate increase met with understanding, if not joy – San Joaquin County Public Works received just five protests to a proposed water rate increase in the Wilkinson Manor Maintenance District in Morada. As a result, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a rate adjustment on Tuesday, which increases fees by $750 for some residents. Stockton Record article

Phil Serna: Focus on all facets of care, service to deal with homelessness – The Sacramento County supervisor writes, “We should not ignore either by inaction or poor execution those adjacent elements in the continuum that together separate the extremes, and that serve a distinct purpose whether it’s low-barrier triage, transitional housing or housing choice vouchers. All of it must be on the table for our community to expect change from an unacceptable status quo.” Serna op-ed in Sacramento Bee

Walmart to pay $875,000 in settlement over alleged misleading environmentally friendly labels – Walmart will pay $875,000 in civil penalties as part of a settlement in a California consumer protection case alleging the retail chain sold plastic products that were misleadingly labeled as environmentally friendly. The action was filed in Napa County by 23 district attorney’s offices in California, including Fresno. Fresno Bee article

Modesto plant supplies squab, and it’s not your common pigeon — Chinese people launched the Year of the Rooster on Saturday, with help from a Modesto business that deals in a quite another kind of poultry. Squab Producers of California is at its busiest for Chinese New Year gatherings in San Francisco and other locales. The 34-employee plant just east of Crows Landing Road is the nation’s largest supplier of the young pigeons, raised on 65 farms from Fresno to Red Bluff. Modesto Bee article

Cameras catch BART janitor who made $270,000 in a year spending hours in Powell Street closet — Last November, a nonprofit called Transparent California reported that a BART janitor named Liang Zhao Zhang made $271,000 in a single year — over $162,000 of that in the form of overtime.  Now, a KTVU investigation into Zhang’s hours and pay revealed that he disappears into a storage closet at the Powell St. station, sometimes for hours a day. San Francisco Chronicle article

Agriculture/Water/Drought

New storms, new flood worries – Flood fears in the rural Delta were renewed Tuesday in the midst of yet another series of wet storms that have pushed Stockton past its average rainfall for an entire year. The city is on track for its wettest season since 1997-98. Stockton Record article

Coalition calls for end to California drought emergency – A coalition of state and local leaders is pressing California to lift restrictions on urban water use after the wettest winter for years. Water regulators in Sacramento on Wednesday will decide on a recommendation to extend the drought rules, uncertain if rain and snow will continue through spring. AP article

Susan Rohan: State should let emergency drought regulations expire – The mayor of Roseville writes, “Rather than cling to emergency powers in order to reinforce the fiction of a drought, the state should work with local water agencies to improve resiliency to future droughts, such as developing more water supplies, constructing water recycling systems and groundwater banking. Oh, and provide relief to a weary public and businesses that have responded heroically to the past drought emergency.” Rohan op-ed in Sacramento Bee

Clean water advocates have a solution that involves your water bill — The problem of contaminated drinking water in small communities such as Seville in Tulare County can be solved if the state establishes a safe drinking water fund similar to the Lifeline program for basic phone service, an advocacy group with roots in the Valley said Tuesday. Fresno Bee article

Earthen dam in Madera County in danger of failing after rain – An earthen dam on the Lewis Fork north of Yosemite Forks is in danger of failing, Madera County officials reported at 2:42 p.m. Tuesday. Fresno Bee article

Oroville Dam releases halted after erosion found — State engineers halted the release of water from Oroville Dam’s spillway Tuesday after significant concrete erosion was discovered in the bottom half of the spillway. With Lake Oroville still about 20 percent empty, the state Department of Water Resources said there was no danger to the public. Sacramento Bee article; KQED report; San Francisco Chronicle article

Berge Bulbulian, Fresno County grower who advocated for farmworkers, dies at 91 — Berge Bulbulian was a lifelong Fresno County farmer who was proud of his heritage and fought for social causes. Mr. Bulbulian died on Jan. 26 at the age of 91. Fresno Bee article

California water venture tied to Trump sees prospects rise after years of setbacks — Until Donald Trump won the presidency, prospects looked bleak for Cadiz, a California company that has struggled for years to secure federal permits to transform Mojave Desert groundwater into liquid gold. McClatchy Newspapers article

Criminal Justice/Prisons

Court weighs halting release of police video of shootings – A federal appeals court considered Monday whether to automatically halt lower court orders publicly releasing video of fatal shootings by police to prevent potential violence. AP article

Retired Modesto Police Chief Harden takes interim role with Sonora police — Former Modesto Police Chief Mike Harden was sworn in Monday night as interim police chief for the city of Sonora. Sonora Chief Mark Stinson retired in December. He’d been with the department since February 2005 and became chief in December 2008. Modesto Bee article

Judge sides with Placer County, rejects placement of sex predator near Lincoln — A Santa Clara Superior Court judge on Tuesday rejected the state’s plan to locate a sexually violent predator near Lincoln after Placer County officials and residents argued the placement would pose a danger to children in the area. Sacramento Bee article

5 inmates taken to hospital after California prison fights — Officials say five inmates have been taken to outside hospitals after two fights involving dozens of inmates at a prison in California’s Central Valley. The state corrections department said four inmates began fighting before 11 a.m. Tuesday in a maximum-security exercise yard at Kern Valley State Prison. AP article; Bakersfield Californian article

Bakersfield coffee shop raises awareness of human trafficking — A new coffee shop in Bakersfield offers more than just lattes and blended drinks – it also seeks to raise awareness about human trafficking. In fact, many of the people who work at the Rescue Grounds Coffee Company at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital are victims of human trafficking themselves. Bakersfield Californian article

Education

Kern County uncovers suspected fraud in Superintendent of Schools, college district accounts – Kern County Treasurer-Tax Collector Jordan Kaufman is launching an investigation into what appears to be long-term, widespread fraud involving accounts belonging to the Kern Community College District and the Kern County Superintendent of Schools office. Kaufman said Tuesday that an unknown individual or individuals have — over the past year or two — stolen an unknown amount of money from accounts maintained by the two districts. Bakersfield Californian article

Nan Austin: DeVos pick centers on choices, but without much information to make them – Betsy DeVos is best known for her ardent support of vouchers for private schools. But while her stumbles and evasions during confirmation hearings lost her votes, the wider miss is her assumption that parents can judge a school by its cover. Austin in Modesto Bee

Will new funding formula move schools toward education equity? – The new initiative suffers from a numbing moniker — the Local Control Funding Formula — but it represents nothing short of a revolution in how education is financed for more than 6.2 million students in the country’s biggest state. KQED report

Lawsuit targets key funding source for teachers unions – A conservative group has joined with eight California educators in a lawsuit filed this week that seeks to eliminate the right of unions to collect mandatory “agency fees” from teachers — even if they are not full members.  LA Times article

Madera schools superintendent says board wants him to leave — Madera Unified School District is preparing to part ways with Superintendent Edward González. González said Tuesday that he learned last week that the board of trustees wants him out. Fresno Bee article

After Trump video flap, OCC warns students against recording classes without permission – Almost two months after a secretly recorded video of an Orange Coast College professor’s post-election comments about President Trump touched off a nationwide firestorm, signs reminding students that in-class recordings are prohibited without instructors’ permission have been posted in Orange Coast classrooms for the spring semester, which started last week. LA Times article

Clovis Unified celebrates streak of clean audits — For the third consecutive school year, an audit of Clovis Unified School District’s (CUSD) financials has come up with zero findings. District officials said the accomplishment is rare, as most districts have a handful of minor findings in regard to associated student body (ASB) funds and average daily attendance (ADA). The Business Journal article

Energy/Environment

3 bear cubs, orphaned when a car hit their mom, are returned to Yosemite — Three black bear cubs who were orphaned last summer have been returned to Yosemite National Park, where they have been tucked into a den for the duration of their winter hibernation. Merced Sun-Star article

Health/Human Services 

Treat, educate and revive: The Valley’s three-pronged approach to opioid overdose prevention — Last week, we brought you a story about the San Joaquin Valley’s opioid epidemic, which manifests in inordinately high rates of painkiller prescriptions and hundreds of overdose deaths every year. This week, we explore three strategies that health officials and advocates are using to take aim at the problem. FM89’s Kerry Klein begins at a safe space for drug users. Valley Public Radio report

Contaminated cannabis? UC Davis researchers find mold, fungi in medical marijuana – In uneasy news for medical marijuana users, UC Davis researchers have identified potentially lethal bacteria and mold on samples from 20 Northern California pot dispensaries, leading them to warn patients with weakened immune systems to avoid smoking, vaping or inhaling aerosolized cannabis. Sacramento Bee article

 Valley Children’s expands partnership with Kaweah Delta NICU, pediatrics — Two of the valley’s largest hospitals are expanding their partnership to provide pediatric care in Tulare County. Valley Children’s Hospital and its associated physicians group will now provide medical staffing for Kaweah Delta’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Pediatrics Unit. Valley Public Radio report

Drought increases severity of West Nile epidemics — Drought increases the severity of West Nile epidemics, according to a new study by researchers at UC Santa Cruz. Capital Public Radio report

Land Use/Housing

New town on the rise along Highway 41 will change Madera County – An explosion of building is ramping up just north of Fresno in Madera County. This area of rolling hills on the way to Yosemite could become a city the size of Clovis. All this development could be good for the county’s finances, but as FM89’s Ezra David Romero reports people who already live there say it could change their way of life. Valley Public Radio report

Fresno’s plan to vastly expand walking/biking trails to get public hearing — A citywide plan to develop and improve sidewalks, walking and bike trails and bicycle lanes throughout Fresno is due to be considered Thursday by the Fresno City Council, two weeks after it was put off to allow more study. Fresno Bee article

Transportation

Expert: China could offer high-speed rail lessons for California — So what is the state of high-speed rail there, and what could California learn from the way the Chinese have built and operated their high-speed rail lines?  Valley Public Radio report

Other areas

Could Merced be on the way to adding welcome signs to highways?– Merced may someday welcome motorists with signs along highways running through town under a proposal endorsed by the City Council. The council voted unanimously Monday to set up a committee to research the costs, designs, funding and other aspects of the signs that would mark the entrances on highways 99, 140 and 59. Merced Sun-Star article

Michael Fitzgerald: Water towers: landmarks, but historic? – Few things in life are as simple as water towers, in terms of their function, if not their value as landmarks subject to historical preservation. The preservation part is trickier. Fitzgerald column in Stockton Record

Assistant city manager defends Stockton in lawsuit — Assistant City Manager Christian Clegg testified at length Tuesday as the city defended itself in a gender and pregnancy lawsuit filed in federal court by Jessica Glynn, former manager of Stockton’s Office of Violence Prevention. Stockton Record article

Oakland fire chief goes on leave two months after Ghost Ship warehouse fire — Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed, whose department has come under criticism for what many consider lax inspection at the Ghost Ship warehouse where 36 people died in December, has taken a leave from her position, city officials said Tuesday. LA Times article; San Francisco Chronicle article

 

You’re hired: Howard Chan becomes Sacramento’s city manager after interim role — Interim Sacramento City Manager Howard Chan on Tuesday was offered a permanent job as the city’s top executive. Chan’s appointment comes less than three months after he began a temporary contract in November following the retirement of former City Manager John Shirey. Chan oversees the city’s 6,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees and has power over day-to-day decisions. He reports to the City Council. Sacramento Bee article

Valley Editorial Roundup

Fresno Bee – Maybe the next time he holds a press conference – whenever that is – Trump can explain how unshackling Wall Street financiers will improve the lives of the workers he claims to put first.

Merced Sun-Star – A UC Davis study linking alcohol abuse and gun violence is shocking – not for its findings, but because so few like it have been done, by design.

Modesto Bee – A UC Davis study linking alcohol abuse and gun violence is shocking – not for its findings, but because so few like it have been done, by design.

Sacramento Bee –- Maybe the next time he holds a press conference – whenever that is – Trump can explain how unshackling Wall Street financiers will improve the lives of the workers he claims to put first; A UC Davis study linking alcohol abuse and gun violence is shocking – not for its findings, but because so few like it have been done, by design.