Maddy Institute – July 13, 2020

13Jul

POLICY & POLITICS

North SJ Valley:

Stanislaus County reaches high mark in number of hospitalized

Modesto Bee

Stanislaus County reported that 172 people are hospitalized with the coronavirus, up by five from the day before, according to data released Saturday. That is the high mark four months into the pandemic.

See also:

● County COVID-19 death rate jumps by 5 Turlock Journal

● Stanislaus County medical centers are stressed by explosion of coronavirus cases. Modesto Bee

Modesto restaurants expanding outdoor dining while city still mulls policies to help

Modesto Bee

While it might seem as simple as throwing out some chairs and popping open an umbrella, expanding outdoor seating in Stanislaus County comes with risk and legal complications for area restaurants.

County looks to house 100 homeless in 100 days

Turlock Journal

Stanislaus County is embarking on an ambitious program to find permanent housing for 100 homeless individuals most impacted by COVID-19 in the next 100 days.

EDITORIAL: Admitting inaccurate coronavirus numbers isn’t enough. Stanislaus must correct problem

Modesto Bee

Stanislaus County officials must provide accurate local information on the coronavirus pandemic, an ongoing and worsening crisis affecting every life. The county admits that the website numbers they update daily have not reflected reality in recent days.

EDITORIAL: Good judgment, unforced errors; grading Stanislaus leadership in the coronavirus crisis

Modesto Bee

Four months after Stanislaus County detected its first COVID-19 infection, it’s time to reflect on local leadership. Our leaders of course are affected by higher-ups in Sac and Washington, who send conflicting messages and directives. Rarely has the country been more politically divided, at a time when we desperately need to unite.

Central SJ Valley:

Fresno Co adds 279 COVID-19 cases, tops Valley at 7,906, as meat plants see outbreaks

Fresno Bee

Fresno County reported 279 more positive cases Friday of the coronavirus though officials did not report any new deaths. At 7,906 cases, Fresno County continues to lead the central San Joaquin Valley in confirmed cases of the pandemic virus. The number of deaths on Friday stayed at 87 after reporting multiple deaths in previous daily updates this week.

● COVID-19 update: Increase of cases continues at high rate Porterville Recorder

Feared COVID-19 hospital ‘surge’ is here, Fresno-area leaders say. Tests in short supply

Fresno Bee

Hospitals are nearly full on top of being short-staffed, and the supply of coronavirus tests is not meeting the high demand, health officials said Friday as they painted a bleak picture of current status of the pandemic in the central San Joaquin Valley.

● Some Valley hospitals reusing decontaminated N95 masks ABC30 Fresno

10,000 active Valley cases; Restaurants + PPP loans; Fresno schools deadline Fresno Bee

The central San Joaquin Valley now has more than 10,000 active cases of coronavirus and is adding more than 500 new cases each day, according to health officials in the six-county region.

Coronavirus outbreak at Fresno-area company has critics calling for more transparency

Fresno Bee

In California, there are no clear, enforceable rules for private companies — or public health officials — to report COVID-19 outbreaks at workplaces. That’s a potentially life-threatening problem for vulnerable essential workers, advocates told The Fresno Bee.

Warszawski: Pismo’s owner thumbs nose at government while accepting millions in public money.

Fresno Bee

Fresno’s Hypocrite of the Week also happens to be its best-known restaurateur. Looky there, David Fansler. You’ve been found out.

Valley Voices: Will Tulare County add democracy to its long, sad list of COVID-19 victims?

Fresno Bee

Democracy for millions before the pandemic was difficult. Now it appears to be coming undone in many corners of California. We’ve seen our fair share of division in the past few years, but public health, data and science shouldn’t be the wedges.

Transit Transition Complete: Porterville joins JPA for Tulare County Regional Transit Agency

Porterville Recorder

At the regular meeting of the Porterville City Council on Tuesday evening, the Council was asked to consider joining a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) in conjunction with the creation of the Tulare County Regional Transit Authority (TCRTA).

South SJ Valley:

On the rise: cases, deaths, hospitalizations and demand for tests

Bakersfield Californian

Four months after the first COVID-19 case was detected in Kern County, the virus is building momentum, straining hospitals, creating high demand for testing and claiming an average of one death a day now. “There are a lot of us at the point of just being physically and emotionally exhausted,” said Mary Lynn Briggs, an ICU nurse who works at both Mercy Downtown and Mercy Southwest hospitals.

See Also:

● COVID-19 in Kern County: A look at who has died Bakersfield Californian

● County announces 163 new COVID-19 cases Bakersfield Californian

● As Case Counts Rise, Hospitals Approach Capacity – COVID-19 Update For July 6-10 VPR

Federal PPP loan program supports more than 100,000 jobs in Kern

Bakersfield Californian

As resilient a company as Hall Ambulance Service Inc. would seem, there was a time shortly after California’s stay-at-home order took effect when call volume dropped to a third below normal and it looked like layoffs were around the corner.

Federal PPP loan program supports more than 100,000 jobs in Kern

Bakersfield Californian

The $669 billion Paycheck Protection Program, the federal government’s primary tool for keeping people employed and businesses alive through the pandemic, has preserved an estimated 104,566 jobs across Kern County, according to an analysis of federal data by Bakersfield’s Valley Republic Bank.

State:

California reaches 300,000 total cases and 6,850 fatalities

Sac Bee

California has recorded its two deadliest days of the coronavirus pandemic back-to-back, and on Friday the state officially surpassed 300,000 cases. One-day increases of 140 deaths and about 7,800 new cases brought the state’s all-time infection total to more than 304,000 and its death toll to 6,851, according to its COVID-19 data dashboardupdated Friday morning.

● Why Isn’t California Criticized Like Florida on Covid-19? Bloomberg

● Florida Smashes U.S. State Record Of Daily New Cases: More Than 15,200 VPR

There’s not one reason California’s covid-19 cases are soaring—there are many

MIT Technology Review

Some Californians are ignoring public health orders. Some can’t afford to follow them.

Union vote highlights coronavirus crisis for California’s home day care providers

LA Times

After close to two decades of organizing and legislative struggle, tens of thousands of babysitters, early childhood educators and home day care proprietors will vote this month on whether to unionize, a move many hope will reinvigorate California’s ailing child care system in a moment of unprecedented crisis for millions of working families.

California, After Riding a Boom, Braces for Hard Times

NY Times

Early hopes for a quick rebound from the pandemic have yielded to worries about its long-term impact on state finances and the governor’s ambitious agenda.

· Clovis restaurants cited by state officials for allowing indoor dining Fresno Bee

· Borenstein: Dining crackdown epitomizes Newsom’s chaotic COVID-19 plan Mercury News.

Coronavirus outbreak reported at Foster Farms’ Livingston complex

Modesto Bee

An outbreak of coronavirus has been confirmed at Foster Farms’ Livingston complex — the second Merced County outbreak connected to the Valley poultry company. The Merced County Department of Health on June 29 confirmed 13 individuals tested positive.

Extended help for Pima cotton growers urged

Porterville Recorder

Democratic members of Congress in California and Arizona are calling for U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue to extend coronavirus relief programs to cotton growers in California and throughout the Southwestern United States.

Income eligibility guidelines for free and reduced-price school meals announced

Bakersfield Californian

The Kern County Superintendent of Schools office and all of Kern County’s 47 public school districts are announcing their policy for providing free and reduced-price meals for children served under the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program.

About 14 million children in the US are not getting enough to eat

Brookingsmcc

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, food insecurity has remained persistently elevated at record levels. Though food insecurity among households with children decreased from April to June, it is still far above its Great Recession peak. In fact, new data show that an unprecedented number of children in the United States are experiencing food insecurity and did not have sufficient food as of late June.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/FIRE/PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime:

Someone might call claiming to be a coronavirus contact tracer. Be vigilant, says Cal OES

Fresno Bee

The latest worry for Californians this year comes in a relatively innocuous form. You might get a call from someone claiming to be a coronavirus contact tracer, notifying you of a potential exposure to the highly-contagious virus — not a great start, admittedly, but it gets worse: then they ask you for money.

Calif Has No Clear Use-Of-Force Standard For Security Guards. Regulators Say That Leaves Their Hands Tied.

Capital Public Radio

Just over a year ago, 39-year-old Mario Matthews walked into the Golden 1 Center in downtown Sac around 3:30 a.m. as the arena cleaning crew was at work. Security personnel entered the arena from the Downtown Commons plaza and gave chase, restraining him on the ground in a hallway leading to the visitor’s locker room. It was later determined he had methamphetamine in his system.

Inside Calif courts, lawyers fume that mask wearing is mixed during pandemic

LA Times

Christine Kroger, a deputy public defender in San Joaquin County, did an “inventory” last week to see how many people were wearing face coverings in the county’s courthouse. She toured every Superior Court department that was open.

Public Safety:

Family and friends voice concern over conditions at Fresno Co jail because of coronavirus

Fresno Bee

A press conference was held on Friday, July 10, 2020 as family and friends describe what inmates and staff are going through as positive coronavirus continue to spike inside Fresno County jail.

Calif To Release Thousands Of Inmates Early As Coronavirus Rips Through Prison System

Capital Public Radio

Up to 8,000 California inmates could be granted early release in the coming weeks under guidelines approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom Friday. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) announced the move as it grapples with COVID-19 outbreaks that have infected thousands of inmates and staff.

● California Forum: Gov. Newsom must release more people from prisons to protect Californians and save lives Sac Bee

● California to release 8,000 prisoners in hopes of easing coronavirus crisis LA Times

● Calif prison workers forced to transfer to San Quentin as coronavirus outbreak rages Fresno Bee

Funding—or Defunding—the Police

RAND

With calls to reduce spending on police, a question becomes by how much? There are a lot of high-level budget numbers being discussed that can be difficult to put into perspective. Perhaps a more useful number is spending per crime.

How to reform police monitoring of social media

Brookings

How does law enforcement monitor social media? What are the legal issues that arise from this type of surveillance? Rachel Levinson-Waldman and Ángel Díaz explain recent trends in social media surveillance and argue for a regulatory framework that balances public safety and the right to privacy, free expression, and equal protection under the law.

Judge Orders Halt As Federal Executions Are Set To Resume This Week

VPR

A federal judge in Washington has blocked federal executions scheduled for this week, citing concerns that the lethal injection protocol involved is “very likely to cause extreme pain and needless suffering.” Judge Tanya Chutkan said the last-minute ruling only hours before executions were set to resume for the first time in 17 years was “unfortunate,” but she blamed the Justice Department for racing ahead before legal challenges had been fully aired. The federal government is likely to appeal her ruling.

Fire:

Fire in eastern Madera County has burned 100 acres and is 10 percent contained

Fresno Bee

A wildfire near Kerckhoff Lake in eastern Madera County that has burned about 100 acres and destroyed one home was 10 percent contained Sunday morning, according to Cal Fire officials. The Power Fire broke out shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday near Road 222 and Road 235, south of North Fork in Madera County.

ECONOMY/JOBS

Economy:

Fresno venues enduring pandemic, but for how long? And what’s being done to help?

Fresno Bee

Laurence Abbate tries to be optimistic about the future of the Tower Theatre, but it’s not easy. The 81-year-old theater — and Tower District namesake — has been dark since early March, when state and local governments shut down live entertainment venues to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Modesto restaurants expanding outdoor dining while city still mulls policies to help

Modesto Bee

While it might seem as simple as throwing out some chairs and popping open an umbrella, expanding outdoor seating in Stanislaus County comes with risk and legal complications for area restaurants.

Five Real-Time Charts Show Signs U.S. Economic Recovery Is Faltering

Bloomberg

The U.S. recovery from the coronavirus-induced recession is leveling off and showing signs of faltering only two months into the rebound, a series of real-time economic indicators show.

Opinion: Face masks as pro-growth economic policy

American Enterprise Institute – AEI

I recently ran across a 2010 talk given by neuroscientist and NY Times bestselling author Dave Eagleman to The Long Now Foundation. Provocatively titled “Six Easy Steps to Avert the Collapse of Civilization,” Eagleman presented what he viewed as the six requirements for a durable civilization. Among them: “Don’t lose things” such as knowledge. Both plumbing and inoculation were invented and then lost for a long time before being rediscovered. Another one: “Get more brains involved in solving problems” such as by crowdsourcing problems. Or, as I see it, by making sure as many people as possible globally have internet access.

Jobs:

Federal PPP loan program supports more than 100,000 jobs in Kern

Bakersfield Californian

As Calif jobs become available again, what will change with unemployment benefits?

Sac Bee

When California’s economy reopens, what happens to your unemployment benefits? Here are some answers to your questions.

Unemployment payment delays still plague state agencies and workers say they are pushed to the brink

Washington Post

The pandemic’s toll on workers who have been furloughed or laid off like Herdez is measured in numbers that splash across headlines: 1.4 million new weekly unemployment claims and 18 million people are already receiving continuous unemployment insurance. Tens of thousands of workers at Levi’s, Wells Fargo and United Airlines learned this past week they could be furloughed or laid off in coming months, sending those workers to seek jobless benefits as well.

Allowing the $600 unemployment benefit to expire could devastate the US economy

Brookings

“For many Americans, it’s not the extra $600 a week that’s keeping them home—it’s a lack of child care, health risks and other facets of daily life that COVID-19 has upended.” Annelies Goger, Tracy Hadden Loh, and Michael Gaynor argue that failing to extend federal supplements to state unemployment benefits would be an “act of sabotage” that will destabilize the U.S. economy and society.

Valley Voices: Latino workers are being overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. What will be done?

Fresno Bee

During mid-May President Trump announced the reopening of the economy after closure due to the rapid spread of the COVID infections in the country. This coincided with the announcement that the vast majority of positive infections and deaths were in communities of color, including a rapidly increasing number of Latinos.

EDUCATION

K-12:

CDC says full reopening of schools places Americans at ‘highest risk’ of spread of coronavirus

Daily Mail

A full reopening of schools, colleges and universities this fall would pose the ‘highest risk’ for the spread of the coronavirus, according to an internal document from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fresno teachers scramble to make distance learning work

Fresno Bee

Thousands of Fresno Unified School District teachers whose work life changed drastically on March 13, 2020, when the district shut down schools to help slow the spread of COVID-19, moved classes exclusively online. School work was not mandatory.

Should students wear masks? If so, when and for how long? Here’s what experts say

abc30

As educators around the country hatch plans to bring kids back to school amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, the debate around how to do that safely is becoming more complex and confusing by the day. Should students wear masks? When and for how long?

Northeast Fresno church helping kids prepare for upcoming school year

abc30

People’s Church in northeast Fresno is helping kids prepare to start the school year off right. Community members were asked to drop off new backpacks, supplies, and clothes during a drive-through event at the church on Cedar and Herndon on Saturday.

Tulare Joint Union High School District offers parents, students options for a fall return

Visalia Times Delta

Tulare Joint Union High School District campuses will reopen for in-person learning in August, district officials announced Friday. After “thoroughly” reviewing the California Department of Education guidelines for reopening, district officials say they are ready to meet the safety requirements handed down by the state.

● California teachers fight back against pressure to reopen schools Politico

Kern schools considering hybrid reopening this fall

KGET 17

With the recent surge in COVID cases across California, there’s been a growing debate about whether students will be back in the classroom this fall, and the biggest school boards in Kern County still must decide what to do.

Some California Schools Delay In-Person Classes As Coronavirus Surges

Capital Public Radio

In the first week of June, a food services employee in the El Centro Elementary School District in Imperial County tested positive for coronavirus. By early July, about a dozen nutrition and transportation workers had been infected.

Three Steps States Could Take to Make Sure Learning Is More Equitable Should Schools Close Again in the Fall

RAND

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has just released guidance (PDF) for the “Phased Reopening of Pre-K to 12 Public Schools,” as have many states. The guidance includes a requirement for schools to submit a health and safety plan, and outlines conditions necessary to resume in-person instruction. After months of processing advice from education stakeholders, the plan is not a done deal; even PDE admits that the guidance “will evolve as further research, data, and resources become available.”

Media Use and Literacy in Schools

RAND

Civic Development in the Era of Truth Decay

Higher Ed:

Open dorms, online classes: How UC campuses are opening this fall

Fresno Bee

University of California campuses will offer mostly online instruction this fall, but each school has the power to set its own rules and at least two of them are already revising early plans to account for new coronavirus outbreaks.

● Fresno State loses football date with Pac-12 team, but there is some good news for BulldogsFresno Bee

Clovis Community College celebrating high enrollment for summer sessions

abc30

Clovis Community College is celebrating high enrollment numbers for its summer session. Enrollment was up 45 percent compared to last summer. Officials say that’s a huge success since all classes were only offered online.

California junior college fall sports will be moved to the spring, state officials say

Modesto Bee

The California Community College Athletic Association on Thursday approved its contingency plan to move all fall sports to the spring. The CCCAA was supposed to announced plans on July 17, but it was moved up because officials said they believe the spike in coronavirus cases isn’t going to diminish.

Urgent deadline approaches for international college students fighting to stay in U.S.

LA Times

With an urgent deadline approaching Wednesday, the collective force of California’s three public systems of higher education, which educate nearly 3 million students, have joined the legal fight to stop federal immigration authorities from banning international students from the U.S. if they take only online courses this fall.

ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY

Environment:

Yosemite National Park update: Here’s what’s happening with reservations, COVID-19 concerns

Fresno Bee

Yosemite National Park is seeing larger-than-expected day-use visitation since reopening a month ago, but the popular national park in California won’t be increasing or decreasing its number of entry passes for now.

Editorial: California condors pass another milestone on the road to recovery

LA Times

For a long time, the California condor seemed to be flying toward extinction. Remember when none of these scavengers remained in the wild in the late 1980s, the entire species dependent on a couple of dozen birds captured and shipped to a breeding program at the LA and San Diego zoos? Goofy-looking condor puppets were created to feed the chicks and sometimes to raise them, that’s how desperate things got.

Energy:

The More Electric Uber & Lyft Cars There Are, More The Climate Benefits, Research Suggest

Capital Public Radio

If an electric car is used for ride-hailing services instead of a gas-powered car it could have three times the climate benefits of a personally owned electric car. That’s because these cars are really efficient, among other reasons UC Davis researchers recently found.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Health:

Fresno Co adds 279 COVID-19 cases, tops Valley at 7,906, as meat plants see outbreaks

Fresno Bee

● COVID-19 update: Increase of cases continues at high rate Porterville Recorder

● COVID-19 in Kern County: A look at who has died Bakersfield Californian

● County announces 163 new COVID-19 cases Bakersfield Californian

● As Case Counts Rise, Hospitals Approach Capacity – COVID-19 Update For July 6-10 VPR

CDC: Covid-19 death toll is twice as high among people of color under age 65 as for white Americans

Washington Post

The coronavirus proved substantially deadlier to people of color under the age of 65 than to their white counterparts in the early days of the pandemic, an in-depth analysis released Friday found.

Why COVID-19 Is Disproportionately Affecting Black & Latinx People In The Valley

VPR
Earlier this week, the NY Times published an analysis of national data that found that Black and Latinx Americans are three times as likely to catch COVID-19 compared to whites.

Calif Lawmaker Makes ‘Oversimplified, Untrue’ Claim About COVID-19 & Lack Of Risk To Children

Capital Public Radio

A California state lawmaker claimed there is “no science or data to suggest that kids are at risk from COVID.” Medical experts say that’s just plain wrong. There are studies that have examined children and found they are at risk of COVID-19, albeit less risk than adults.

What We Know About Children and Covid-19

WSJ

Infections are up, likely reflecting increased testing, but many questions remain.

Fact Check: Social media image about mask efficacy right in sentiment, but percentages don’t have any backup

Politifact

Let’s be clear, there’s a lot of anti-mask misinfo going around out there. General inefficacy, fungal lung infections, outdated photos. Sometimes these claims are from politicians.

Scans Reveal Heart Damage in Over Half of COVID-19 Patients in Study

Newsweek

A study on heart scans of COVID-19 patients has revealed more than half had some form of damage.

Why extreme heat is so alarming for the fight against Covid-19

VOX

I’m actually really worried about indoor transmission.

Fact Check: Navarro Doesn’t Give Full Picture on Hydroxychloroquine

FactCheck.org

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has promoted the “astonishing” results of an observational study that found hydroxychloroquine was associated with lower mortality for patients hospitalized for COVID-19. But the study has limitations, and multiple randomized controlled trials have found the drug is not beneficial to hospitalized patients.

Human Services:

Feared COVID-19 hospital ‘surge’ is here, Fresno-area leaders say. Tests in short supply

Fresno Bee

● Stanislaus County medical centers are stressed by explosion of coronavirus cases. Modesto Bee

● Some Valley hospitals reusing decontaminated N95 masks ABC30 Fresno

California now allows nursing home visits, but few happen

Fresno Bee

For months, families have pined to see their loved ones who live in California’s skilled nursing facilities, which have been shut down to outside visitors to keep the coronavirus from spreading.

‘They wanted to live.’ Inside a Calif nursing home as COVID-19 swept through its doors

Fresno Bee

Donna Scully said a last goodbye to her mother on March 19, as California closed its doors in hopes of slowing the spread of the new coronavirus. Scully didn’t know that at her mother’s funeral that day she would also say a final farewell to her father.

On the rise: cases, deaths, hospitalizations and demand for tests

Bakersfield Californian

The inside story of how California failed mass coronavirus testing

LA Times

The disease investigators arrived at the apartment in street clothes, carrying their gowns, gloves and face shields in Whole Foods bags. They didn’t knock on the door. Instead, they called the resident — a man in his 50s, then California’s first known coronavirus case — by phone. When he answered, he was instructed to move to the farthest corner of the apartment so the team could go inside and suit up.

● Long delays in getting test results hobble coronavirus response Washington Post

● ‘An American Failure’: New Surge in Coronavirus Cases Strains U.S. Testing Capacity WSJ

● Long delays in getting test results hobble coronavirus response Washington Post

● COVID-19 tests are supposed to be free, but these people got bills for thousands of dollars CBS News

Fact Check: Why your phone has ‘COVID-19 exposure logging’

Politifact

You may have noticed there are new settings on your phone for tracking COVID-19. What’s that all about?

FDA expands list of hand sanitizers that contain toxic substance methanol

TheHill

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the number of hand sanitizers it recommends U.S. residents avoid due to the potential presence of a toxic substance.

IMMIGRATION

Immigrant detainee tests positive for coronavirus at Mesa Verde

Bakersfield Californian

An incoming detainee at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield tested positive for coronavirus, according to lawyers involved in a class-action lawsuit against the government agency.

Immigration and our national crisis of confidence

National Review

With millions of men and women around the world hoping to come to this country, we can approach immigration from a position of confidence and strength. We have something the world wants, and we need to think about how to ensure it benefits us Americans, too.

74% favor legal status for those brought to US illegally as children as Supreme Court weighs DACA

Pew Research Center

About three-quarters of U.S. adults say they favor granting permanent legal status to immigrants who came illegally to the United States when they were children, with the strongest support coming from Democrats and Hispanics, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 4-10, 2020.

California Accuses ICE of Forcing Students to Choose Health or Education

Newsweek

California is the first state to sue the Trump administration over a new rule barring international students at universities and colleges with online-only courses during the pandemic from staying in the country.

LAND USE/HOUSING

Land Use:

Clovis planning director retires after helping city grow

Fresno Bee

Although Dwight Kroll’s physical handprint is not on the buildings or sidewalks of Clovis, his ideas are enshrined in much of what people see in the city today.

Housing:

‘Sorry, it’s already been rented’: Bakersfield apartments effectively full

Bakersfield Californian

Not to sound discouraging but good luck finding an apartment in Bakersfield these days. A new survey of local rental units found the city’s vacancy rate dipped this spring to below 1.5 percent, a level not seen in decades if ever. It’s so bad one guy looking for an apartment in town for his family recently offered Realtor and manager Scott Knoeb a $1,000 finders fee.

PUBLIC FINANCES

More stimulus checks could be coming — but they might be sent to fewer people this time

Fresno Bee

Americans should expect another aid package to help with the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic by the end of July, Congressional leaders have said, but it’s still unclear if that package will include stimulus checks and increased payments to the unemployed.

TRANSPORTATION

Transit Transition Complete: Porterville joins JPA for Tulare County Regional Transit Agency

Porterville Recorder

WATER

California water lobbyist among dozens of Trump veterans to cash out on K St.

Politico

On a February morning in 2018, representatives of several California water agencies arrived at a meeting at the Interior Department’s austere Washington headquarters to discuss a long-sought goal: weakening the Endangered Species Act so more water could be diverted for farming.

State Water Board Approves 2020-21 Funds to improve access to healthy drinking water

California Water News Daily

The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) has announced the approval of their 2020-21 Fund Expenditure Plan which will prioritize $130 million to projects that support the 10-year commitment to provide access to safe and affordable drinking water to vulnerable communities in California.

“Xtra”

Modesto Children’s Museum offering free STEAM activity kits for kids to use at home

Modesto Bee

The Modesto Children’s Museum is offering free STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) activity kits to children in Stanislaus County this summer. The kits are available on a first-come basis, and families can sign up on the museum’s website, www.modestochildrensmuseum.org.