Maddy Institute – July 28, 2021

29Jul

POLICY & POLITICS

Valley Air District runs incentive programs to reduce car emissions, promote new tech

Hanford Sentinel

Transportation makes up almost 40% of greenhouse gas emissions in California, and the San Joaquin Valley Air District is offering three incentive options to mitigate the massive role passenger vehicles play.

North SJ Valley:

Stanislaus State president to serve as WSCUC commissioner

Turlock Journal

The WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) announced the appointment of Stanislaus State President Ellen Junn (Maddy Board member) as one of the organization’s new commissioners.

Why Stanislaus school districts say there aren’t plans to require staff vaccinations

Modesto Bee

Which school districts in Stanislaus County are requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19? None, apparently.

● What Stanislaus County school districts are saying about plans for next month’s return Modesto Bee

Aiding underserved with housing, small business. That’s the goal of new Stanislaus effort

Fresno Bee

A two-pronged effort has begun in Stanislaus County to set disadvantaged residents on a path to homeownership and small-business success.

See also:

● New duplexes, housing proposed for Denair Turlock Journal

TID experiencing fourth-driest year in 90 years

Turlock Journal

With just one month left in the precipitation year and little rainfall to show for it, Turlock Irrigation District and its customers are currently experiencing the fourth-driest year on record.

Central SJ Valley:

COVID Update:

● New mask policy doesn't affect Tulare County Porterville Recorder

Fresno State will require COVID-19 vaccines for students, employees, CSU announces

Fresno Bee

Fresno State faculty, staff, and students who are on campus this fall will be required to have a COVID vaccination with limited exceptions under a California State University systemwide mandate announced Tuesday.

Clovis schools will review dress code after calls of sexism. Will students get a say?

Fresno Bee

Clovis Unified administrators say they are putting together a comprehensive plan to review the district’s dress code this fall after current and former students have spent months voicing their concerns that the rules are sexist and outdated.

Editorial: Bee editorials over city’s racist legacy in west Fresno get blasted on social media

Fresno Bee

The Bee’s Sunday editorial, headlined “Fresno’s great shame: City must apologize for its terrible legacy of racist policies,” certainly grabbed readers’ attention. As of Monday, it had nearly 400 comments on The Bee’s Facebook page.

Fresno's Eviction Protection Program officially begins

abc30

Fresno residents who are facing unlawful evictions can now turn to the city for free legal help. A new eviction protection program launched on Tuesday after council members recently approved the program unanimously.

Sequoia Brewing appeals judge's decision to allow sale of Tower Theatre

abc30

Sequoia Brewing Company has filed a writ asking an appellate court to reinstate a block on finalizing the sale of the Tower Theatre to Adventure Church until the brewery's lawsuit is resolved.

Changes coming to Fresno Yosemite International Airport amid increase in travelers

abc30

Summer travel is in full swing and after a year spent mostly at home, thousands of more people are choosing to fly to their destination. That has left Fresno Yosemite International Airport pretty busy these days. Not a bad problem to have.

South SJ Valley:

COVID Update:

● Jump in COVID-19 cases reported in Kern County Bakersfield Californian

● New location for community vaccine clinic Porterville Recorder

Bank of America provides $385K to 9 Kern County nonprofits for workforce development

KGET

The bank said the funding supports programs and services that help build pathways to employment, including providing education and resources to rebuild careers that may have been impacted by the pandemic.

Worth noting in business: Valley Republic posts record earnings despite jump in nonperforming loans, more

Bakersfield Californian

Valley Republic Bancorp posted record earnings of $4.55 million in the second quarter of this year, an increase of almost 24% from the same period a year earlier, even as the company is seeing more troubled loans and setting aside additional money to cover them if necessary.

State:

COVID Update:

● COVID is surging again in California. How CDC’s indoor mask guidance will affect the state Fresno Bee

● New CDC advice: Most vaccinated Californians should wear masks indoors CalMatters

● Newsom faces COVID quandary CalMatters

● COVID-19 roaring back, forcing Newsom to act CalMatters

● California unions on board with Gavin Newsom’s COVID vaccine rules for state workers Sacramento Bee

● In California, a Mix of Support and Resistance to New Vaccine Rules New York Times

Newsom calls out the unvaccinated, blasts Tucker Carlson for COVID-19 misinformation

Los Angeles Times

Newsom compared choosing to remain unvaccinated to drunk driving and denounced high-profile conservatives including Tucker Carlson in a rare public rebuke as COVID-19 spreads in California and adds political pressure on the governor ahead of the recall election.

Gov. Newsom pulls his kids out of summer camp after maskless photos surface

Fresno Bee

Gov. Gavin Newsom has pulled his children out of a summer camp after photos surfaced of his son sitting without a mask with other maskless children, a spokeswoman for his office said.

● Newsom pulls kids from summer camp with no mask requirement Los Angeles Times

A ‘wake up call’ for California Democrats: New poll shows voters split on recalling Newsom

Fresno Bee

With less than two months until decision day, Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing an almost evenly-split electorate in California’s recall election.

See also:

● New poll shows recall may be gaining momentum Porterville Recorder

● Walters: Early recall election could backfire on Newsom CalMatters

● Likely California voters now almost evenly split on Newsom recall, poll finds Los Angeles Times

● Larry Elder leads GOP field in race to replace Newsom in recall, poll finds Los Angeles Times

● Recall candidate Kevin Faulconer says no to mask mandates during San Francisco campaign stop Mercury News

● Is Gov. Newsom in trouble? New poll finds likely recall voters nearly split Mercury News

● Newsom’s biggest hurdle to beating recall CalMatters

● Newsom recall: GOP challengers see parents as ‘consumers’ CalMatters

● Polls show California recall gaining steam The Hill

● Editorial: Will the unvaccinated doom Gov. Newsom? Los Angeles Times

● Opinion: Could Larry Elder Really Replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom? Wall Street Journal

California’s Politically Invisible

PPIC

In September, Californians will be asked to vote on the recall of Governor Gavin Newsom. The recall election highlights the importance of voting to California democracy.

Calif is expanding health care coverage to undocumented adults. How to get it

Fresno Bee

California will offer public health care to undocumented Californians age 50 and older starting next year in a historic expansion.

● Gov. Newsom signs law to expand health care services in California

● abc30

● Governor Signs New Bill To Expand Medi-Cal Services To Low-Income Undocumented Californians VPR

● California expands Medi-Cal, offering relief to older immigrants without legal status Los Angeles Times

● Medi-Cal expansion: Some barriers for low-income residents removed CalMatters

California teachers’ pension fund reports record-high investment gains. Here’s what that means

Fresno Bee

CalSTRS on Monday reported a 27.2% return on its investments for the fiscal year that ended in June, a record high driven by a booming stock market and private equity gains, according to a news release.

California prison guards get COVID bonuses. Other unions still hope for hazard pay

Sacramento Bee

Correctional officers and maintenance staff work in the same prisons and spent more than a year exposed to a high risk of COVID-19 at their jobs. The officers are getting nearly $5,000 in pandemic bonuses through a new bargaining agreement with the state.

Cal/OSHA board members call for transparency around Calif’s workplace outbreaks

Mercury News

Members of California’s workplace safety board are questioning the state’s tight-lipped approach to releasing information about COVID-19 workplace outbreaks.

Federal:

COVID Update:

● CDC changes course on indoor masks in some parts of the US Fresno Bee

● Face masks recommended for those vaccinated against COVID — in these cases, CDC says Fresno Bee

● CDC reverses course on indoor masks in some parts of US abc30

● CDC Urges Vaccinated People To Mask Up Indoors In Places With High Virus Transmission VPR

● CDC To Possibly Reinstate Masking Guidelines For All Capital Public Radio

● CDC recommends masks indoors in U.S. where cases are surging Los Angeles Times

● Vaccinated people can transmit COVID virus, should mask up, says CDC Mercury News

● As COVID-19 cases rise, CDC urges masks indoors, including schools Roll Call

● Understanding the unvaccinated Axios

● The new mask logic Axios

● What you need to know about the CDC’s new mask guidance Washington Post

● Biden plans to require federal workers to be vaccinated or undergo repeated tests Washington Post

● CDC Urges Vaccinated People to Resume Wearing Masks Indoors in Some Areas Wall Street Journal

● As Infections Rise, C.D.C. Urges Some Vaccinated Americans to Wear Masks Again New York Times

● CDC calls for a return to masks for vaccinated Americans in certain places, schools abc News

● Opinion: Who Wants to Mask Up for Delta? Wall Street Journal

Editorial: The right’s new tone on COVID vaccines

Los Angeles Times

Take a look at a map of the U.S. overlaid with COVID-19 vaccine rates and a clear pattern emerges: The states with the smallest percentage of their eligible population inoculated also skew politically toward the Republican Party.

Officers Give Harrowing Testimony Of Experience Defending Capitol On Jan. 6

VPR

Four police officers testified Tuesday about the physical and verbal assaults they faced responding to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in a highly emotional hearing.

● ‘This is how I’m going to die’: Officers tell Jan. 6 stories Mercury News

● House GOP blames Pelosi — not Trump — for Jan. 6 The Hill

● Jan. 6 select committee to push forward with subpoenas Roll Call

● Officers detail violence they faced on Jan. 6 Roll Call

● Officers relive Jan. 6 terror Axios

● Republicans voice opposition to Jan. 6 investigation as police officers call for accountability Washington Post

● Justice Department Won’t Defend GOP Lawmaker Mo Brooks in Lawsuit Over Jan. 6 Riot Wall Street Journal

● Capitol Police Officer Describes Fighting ‘Hand to Hand, Inch by Inch’ in Jan. 6 Testimony Wall Street Journal

● Cheney, Kinzinger take aim at GOP’s Jan. 6 talking points National Journal

● 'Our Children are Watching': Read Liz Cheney's Full Opening Statement at Capitol Riot Hearing Newsweek

● 4 Takeaways From The Emotional 1st Select Committee Hearing On The Capitol Attack NPR

● Racism of rioters takes center stage in Jan. 6 hearing AP News

● Opinion: The Jan. 6 select committee is already exceeding all expectations Washington Post

Senate Reaches $2 Billion Bipartisan Deal for Capitol Security

Wall Street Journal

The Senate has reached a bipartisan deal on a $2 billion supplemental spending bill that would add funding for Capitol Police and the National Guard, security upgrades for Congress, and expedite the resettlement of Afghans who helped American troops.

Senators, White House in talks to finish infrastructure bill

AP News

Senators and the White House were locked in intense negotiations Monday to salvage a bipartisan infrastructure deal, with pressure mounting on all sides to wrap up talks and show progress on President Joe Biden’s top priority.

● Lawmakers Say Infrastructure Deal Within Reach Wall Street Journal

● Infrastructure Agreement on Major Issues Reached by Bipartisan Group, GOP Sen. Portman Says Wall Street Journal

● Opinion: If everything is infrastructure, common ground will be hard to find AEI

Biden’s job approval dips among Californians, but support for his spending agenda is strong

Los Angeles Times

President Biden’s job performance rating among Californians has dipped slightly in recent months, even as his infrastructure and domestic spending plans register as highly popular, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

Latino Voters Moved Toward Republicans. Now Biden Wants Them Back.

New York Times

Alejandra Gomez was surprised, but pleased, by a flurry of phone calls from the White House in the spring, offering updates on its efforts toward an immigration overhaul.

Opinion: How might political polarization and gridlock end?

Roll Call

There is widespread agreement that those who voted for Donald Trump remain supportive and enthusiastic about the former president. At the same time, anti-Trump voters are equally locked into their view that he and his allies remain a threat to democracy.

● Marjorie Taylor Greene, Other GOP Lawmakers Sue Pelosi Over Mask Penalties Wall Street Journal

● I’m a Parkland Shooting Survivor. QAnon Convinced My Dad It Was All a Hoax. Vice

Other:

Measuring internet poverty

Brookings

For the majority of the world, it is impossible to think of life without the internet. Think about life and work during COVID-19 when internet connectivity and digitalization were among the most necessary aspects of daily life.

How Tech Won the Pandemic and Now May Never Lose

New York Times

As the world reeled, Silicon Valley supplied the tools that made life and work possible. Now tech companies are awash in money — and questions about what it means to win amid so much loss.

See also:

· Opinion: The Revolution May Come for Mark Zuckerberg Wall Street Journal

Study: Only half of American households donate to charity

AP News

For the first time in nearly two decades, only half of U.S. households donated to a charity. The findings confirm a trend worrying experts: Donations to charitable causes are reaching record highs, but the giving is done by a smaller and smaller slice of the population.

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

Sunday, August 1, at 10 a.m on ABC30 – Maddy Report: "Nursing Homes: How COVID Revealed a Quality Care Problem"- Guest: Barbara Feder-Ostrov - CalMatters; Jocelyn Wiener - CalMatters. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, August 1, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report - Valley Views Edition: "Aging Better: What's the Plan?"- Guests: Kim McCoy Wade, Director - CA Department of Aging. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

Turlock’s Westside Ministries asks for community support as demand for free food rises

Modesto Bee

Westside Ministries of Turlock is asking for community support to fund its food literacy program, which allows it to provide food for the underserved.

Get ready to pay more for tomatoes, as California growers reel from extreme weather

Washington Post

Tomato sauce is feeling the squeeze and ketchup can’t catch up. California grows more than 90 percent of Americans’ canned tomatoes and a third of the world’s.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/FIRE/PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime:

Bakersfield Mattress Retailer Penalized $63,034 for Illegally Pocketing Customer Recycling Fees

Sierra Sun Times

Bakersfield retailer Valley Mattress will pay $63,034 in penalties and back payments for collecting customers’ recycling fees, then failing to submit them to California’s mattress recycling program.

Summer of Protest Prompted Spring Flurry of Policing Bills

PEW Trusts

When Washington state’s legislative session began earlier this year, racial justice advocates weren’t sure whether the police accountability measures they supported would get much traction.

Illegal cannabis growers are stealing water amid California’s drought, officials say

Washington Post

CA’s deepening drought is creating another big problem for authorities: water theft. Water thieves, many of them illegal marijuana growers, are tapping into fire hydrants and drilling unauthorized water wells, according to officials, threatening the water supply for residents.

Audit: California prison program illegally spent $1.3M

AP News

A California prison program that employs inmates illegally spent $1.3 million on goods and salaries, including $82,000 in artificial turf that has gone unused, as part of a pattern of “gross misconduct,” state auditors said Tuesday.

Public Safety:

‘Being in hell’: California’s indoor workers face dangers from increasing heat waves

Sacramento Bee

Cooks working next to a fryer without air conditioners in a 115-degree room. Workers pleading to use portable fans to cool down in a warehouse where the temperature can reach 120 degrees.

Opinion: Anti-Vaxxers and Anti-Maskers Are Deadly, Not Principled

Bloomberg

Rep. Clay Higgins, a Louisiana Republican, is a controversial former police officer and car dealer. The “Cajun John Wayne” is neither a virologist nor an epidemiologist, and he has disclosed that he contracted Covid-19 (or what he calls “the CCP biological attack weaponized virus”) for the second time.

Fire:

Winds stoke California’s largest fire as blazes scorch West

Fresno Bee

Erratic winds and the potential for dry lightning added to the challenges facing firefighters battling California’s largest wildfire, one of numerous blazes burning Monday across the U.S. West.

● Wildfire updates: Dixie Fire, at 200k acres, is Calif’s 14th largest fire of all time Fresno Bee

● As Dixie fire doubles in size, monsoon weather brings new threats Los Angeles Times

● Dixie Fire surpasses 200,000 acres; conditions expected to worsen Mercury News

What Does California Owe Its Incarcerated Firefighters?

The Atlantic

When I first met Alisha Tapia, in 2017, she was incarcerated in Puerta la Cruz, an all-female fire camp north of San Diego. Tapia was a swamper—a crew leader who relayed instructions from her captain and foreman to 12 other women on the fire line.

Satellite images of wildfires are saving lives. The Pentagon might let the program expire

Los Angeles Times

When a brush fire trapped more than 100 hikers and campers last year in the Sierra National Forest, California firefighters needed to know precisely where the blaze was — and they needed to know fast.

The Climate Change Link To More And Bigger Wildfires

VPR

Across the country people have been experiencing hazy skies from big wildfires in Western states. More than 3 million acres have already burned, and fire experts say this is just the beginning.

ECONOMY/JOBS

Economy:

Valley Republic posts record earnings despite jump in nonperforming loans, more

Bakersfield Californian

‘Is something around the corner?’ Small businesses reopen to find new challenges

CalMatters

California’s economy is no longer at its nadir. But small businesses are still working to get back to normal, and are struggling with hiring, childcare for their workforce and the uncertainty of future outbreaks.

New CDC indoor mask rule may threaten economic momentum and upend return-to-work plans

Washington Post

The federal government’s abrupt about-face on the need for indoor mask-wearing is clouding prospects for Americans to return to the office in large numbers, raising fears that the ultra-infectious delta variant could threaten the economic recovery.

Opinion: Covid Is the 21st Century’s Sputnik

Wall Street Journal

America’s leadership of business, science and culture seemed unassailable in 1957. With less than 6% of the world’s population, the U.S. produced close to 40% of global economic output, according to a United Nations survey.

Lysol. N95 Masks. UPS. For Some Pandemic Winners, the Boom Is Over.

Wall Street Journal

Some big companies that thrived at the height of Covid-19 are reporting slower growth, signaling that many consumers are reverting to pre-pandemic behavior.

Big Pharma Quietly Pushes Back on Global Tax Deal, Citing Covid-19 Role

Wall Street Journal

Big drug companies and their lobbyists have a message for Congress: Don’t raise taxes on the industry that brought you fast-tracked Covid-19 vaccines.

Fed Meeting Will Focus on Tapering Timeline

Wall Street Journal

Federal Reserve officials are set to resume deliberations Wednesday about how and when to begin paring their asset purchases amid an economic rebound clouded by supply-chain bottlenecks and rising Covid-19 cases.

See also:

● U.S. Stocks Wobble Ahead of Fed Update Wall Street Journal

Biden to Propose Buy American Rule for Government Procurements

Wall Street Journal

The Biden administration is proposing a rule that would accelerate federal procurement policy to require a higher level of American-made products.

Jobs:

Workers aren't coming back because of low vaccination rates, not cushy unemployment benefits

Insider

The labor market has a big puzzle at its center: Millions of Americans are unemployed, so why are so many workers not returning to work — or just quitting their jobs altogether?

$15 wage becoming a norm as employers struggle to fill jobs

Hanford Sentinel

The signs and banners are dotted along suburban commercial strips and hanging in shop windows and restaurants, evidence of a new desperation among America's service-industry employers: “Now Hiring, $15 an hour.”

Walmart will cover employees' full college tuition, book costs at some schools

abc30

Walmart will pay for full college tuition and book costs at some schools for its US workers, the latest effort by the largest private employer in the country to sweeten its benefits as it seeks to attract and retain talent in a tight job market.

EDUCATION

K-12:

Clovis schools will review dress code after calls of sexism. Will students get a say?

Fresno Bee

Why Stanislaus school districts say there aren’t plans to require staff vaccinations

Modesto Bee

Which school districts in Stanislaus County are requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19? None, apparently.

● What Stanislaus County school districts are saying about plans for next month’s return Modesto Bee

● San Diego parent group seeking to end school mask mandate sues state Los Angeles Times

Field trips, campus visitors are back. What else returns when Modesto City Schools open?

Modesto Bee

Field trips and campus visitors will resume at Modesto City Schools this fall, yet in a sign of the pandemic’s lingering impact, seating charts for contact tracing and daily cleaning for COVID-19 prevention will remain in place.

Face masks for all K-12 students, staff recommended for upcoming school year, CDC says

Fresno Bee

School-age students and staff heading back to class this fall should wear masks — even if they’ve been vaccinated — according to the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

California teachers’ pension fund reports record-high investment gains. Here’s what that means

Fresno Bee

Home schooling exploded among Black, Asian and Latino students. But it wasn’t just the pandemic.

Washington Post

When school buildings were shuttered last year, Torlecia Bates had not given much thought to home schooling her two children. Like a lot of parents, Bates, viewed remote schooling as a temporary inconvenience, and had plans of sending them back as soon as schools reopened.

How Policy Can Maximize Children’s Potential by Addressing Systemic Racism

EdNote

Policies that expand access to high-quality medical care and early childhood programs provide important benefits to children and families, such as improved literacy and numeracy skills and executive function at kindergarten entry and beyond.

Higher Ed:

Fresno State will require COVID-19 vaccines for students, employees, CSU announces

Fresno Bee

● CSU system will require COVID-19 vaccinations for students, employees in fall Bakersfield Californian

● CSU system, including Sac State, will require COVID vaccinations for all students, employees Sacramento Bee

● CSU to require COVID-19 vaccinations for students, faculty, staff on campus this fall Los Angeles Times

● California State University system will require COVID-19 vaccination for faculty, staff, students before returning to campus Mercury News

● California State University to require Covid-19 vaccines for fall 2021 term EdSource

Stanislaus State president to serve as WSCUC commissioner

Turlock Journal

The WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) announced the appointment of Stanislaus State President Ellen Junn (Maddy Board member) as one of the organization’s new commissioners.

California is failing to meet demand for UC admission. Why it’s a crisis

Los Angeles Times

There are not enough seats for qualified students at most campuses, a worsening capacity crisis that threatens to break the California promise of a UC education for them.

How States Can Support Successful Postsecondary and Workforce Advising

EdNote

We know that high-quality advising is a game changer for students as they navigate the complicated transition from high school to postsecondary education.

Lessons Learned From National Transfer Reform Efforts

EdNote

Through decades of higher education evolution, credit transfer has been top of mind for policy makers, institutional leaders and students.

ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY

Environment:

TID experiencing fourth-driest year in 90 years

Turlock Journal

With just one month left in the precipitation year and little rainfall to show for it, Turlock Irrigation District and its customers are currently experiencing the fourth-driest year on record.

Virtual Event: Statewide Survey: Californians and the Environment

PPIC

The July PPIC survey examines Californians’ perceptions of environmental issues facing the state, including the current drought, wildfires, and climate change.

Warming rivers in US West killing fish, imperiling industry

Bakersfield Californian

Fishermen who make their living off adult salmon, once they enter the Pacific Ocean, are sounding the alarm as blistering heat waves and extended drought in the U.S. West raise water temperatures and imperil fish from Idaho to California.

The Climate Change Link To More And Bigger Wildfires

VPR

Across the country people have been experiencing hazy skies from big wildfires in Western states. More than 3 million acres have already burned, and fire experts say this is just the beginning.

Beyond human endurance

Washington Post

Deadly heat waves have swept the globe and will continue to because of climate change. The trends are prompting doomsday questions: Will parts of the world soon become too hot to live in? How will we survive?

Opinion: A New National Climate Army

Wall Street Journal

As the U.S. recovers from a pandemic, with workers in services and manufacturing in short supply across the economy, here’s what no one sensible thinks America urgently needs: a huge new federal Civilian Climate Corps.

Energy:

California electric grid issues Flex Alert, urges conservation, as temperatures rise

Sacramento Bee

Another hot day, another plea for conservation by the managers of California’s electricity grid. The California Independent System Operator has issued a Flex Alert for Wednesday evening, citing high temperatures and a potential strain on the state’s power supplies.

San Francisco asks state PUC to name a price for PG&E's local power lines

San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco is redoubling its efforts to take over Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s power lines in the city, this time by asking state officials to determine a fair price.

Opinion: Iron-air batteries: Huge green-energy breakthrough, or just a lot of hype?

Washington Post

The most important news story of 1903 received modest coverage, and it wasn’t very accurate. Two brothers from Dayton, Ohio, conducted four machine-powered, heavier-than-air flights under human control on a single day in December.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Health:

Vaccinated and Confused? Answers About Masks, the Delta Variant and Breakthrough Infections

New York Times

The World Health Organization wants everybody to wear masks, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says vaccinated people often don’t need to wear them.

Is it a HIPAA violation to ask someone about their COVID vaccine status? What to know

Fresno Bee

As the United States faces the threat of the delta coronavirus variant, people are being asked to reveal whether they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 — leading many to question what that means for medical privacy.

See also:

· Employers have legal right to mandate COVID shots Bakersfield Californian

● Yes, Your Employer Can Require You to Be Vaccinated New York Times

Pfizer vaccine booster shot? Company says it ‘strongly’ protects against delta variant

Miami Herald

Drugmaker Pfizer said Wednesday that data suggest a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine provides a strong boost in protection against the highly contagious delta coronavirus variant.

Valley fever diagnoses delayed by lack of local medical resources, knowledge

Hanford Sentinel

Amanda Barbosa saw the first signs that something was wrong with her husband, Gemini, on a Wednesday evening when he called her coughing and saying he wasn’t feeling well.

How to support someone going through a mentally tough time

Washington Post

Biles’s very public decision offers an opportunity to learn about the right and wrong ways to support someone — whether they’re an Olympian or not — who is going through a difficult time mentally or emotionally. Here are some do’s and don’ts from mental health experts.

Human Services:

Calif is expanding health care coverage to undocumented adults. How to get it

Fresno Bee

California will offer public health care to undocumented Californians age 50 and older starting next year in a historic expansion.

● Gov. Newsom signs law to expand health care services in California

● abc30

● Governor Signs New Bill To Expand Medi-Cal Services To Low-Income Undocumented Californians VPR

● California expands Medi-Cal, offering relief to older immigrants without legal status Los Angeles Times

● Medi-Cal expansion: Some barriers for low-income residents removed CalMatters

New location for community vaccine clinic

Porterville Recorder

The Community Vaccination Clinic operated by Sierra View Medical Center and Imperial Ambulance is moving to a new location.

California needs public health responses to behavioral health needs

CalMatters

Our government can do better to promote public safety by prioritizing resources on expanding treatment and housing, not jails, for people with untreated behavioral health needs.

California, NYC to workers: Get vaccine or face weekly tests

AP News

California and New York City announced they would require all government employees to get the coronavirus vaccine or face weekly testing, and the Department of Veterans Affairs became the first major federal agency to require health care workers to receive the shot.

● California orders vaccine or testing for health care workers, state employees CalMatters

● Why Workplace Covid-19 Vaccine Mandates Aren’t Widespread—Yet Wall Street Journal

● Opinion: It’s Time to Start Requiring Covid Vaccines Wall Street Journal

● Opinion: To Mandate or Not to Mandate Vaccines Wall Street Journal

Opinion: Help seniors by simplifying Medicare’s complex system for deductibles and co-pays

AEI

Medicare has a confusing and outdated set of benefits, organized into insurance policies with separate cost-sharing requirements that do not exist in modern workplace health plans.

IMMIGRATION

Calif is expanding health care coverage to undocumented adults. How to get it

Fresno Bee

California will offer public health care to undocumented Californians age 50 and older starting next year in a historic expansion.

● California expands Medi-Cal, offering relief to older immigrants without legal status Los Angeles Times

A White House Plan Aims To Speed Up Consideration Of Many Asylum Claims

VPR

The White House is moving forward on a plan to have Department of Homeland Security asylum officers take over cases on the southern United States border, a change that would shift future asylum cases out of backlogged immigration courts.

U.S. Can Expedite Removal of Migrant Families, Biden Administration Says

New York Times

The Biden administration announced late Monday that it would begin swiftly removing migrant families that immigration officials determined did not qualify for asylum after an initial screening at the southwestern border.

LAND USE/HOUSING

Land Use:

Sequoia Brewing appeals judge's decision to allow sale of Tower Theatre

abc30

Sequoia Brewing Company has filed a writ asking an appellate court to reinstate a block on finalizing the sale of the Tower Theatre to Adventure Church until the brewery's lawsuit is resolved.

Ceres OKs $1 million agreement for shopping center. Here are businesses in the works.

Modesto Bee

Construction of the Ceres Gateway Center along Highway 99 may begin in the next few months after the City Council on Monday approved a $1 million agreement to build the shopping area.

Housing:

Aiding underserved with housing, small business. That’s the goal of new Stanislaus effort

Fresno Bee

A two-pronged effort has begun in Stanislaus County to set disadvantaged residents on a path to homeownership and small-business success.

See also:

● New duplexes, housing proposed for Denair Turlock Journal

Fresno's Eviction Protection Program officially begins

abc30

Why Are Key California Affordable Housing Bills Bottled Up?

Hanford Sentinel

Encouraging housing to be built in place of abandoned big box stores and strip malls. Making it easier to build student housing near community colleges. Establishing an authority in Los Angeles to finance affordable housing.

Twice as Many U.S. Renters Fell Behind on Payments During the Pandemic

PEW Trusts

Twanesha Harrison, 33, was barely making ends meet this year when a historic winter storm hit Texas in February and sent her over the edge.

State lawmakers work to strip old ‘whites only’ covenants

AP News

Fred Ware and his son were researching the history of the home he’s owned in the Hartford suburbs since 1950 when they discovered something far uglier than they expected.

Housing finance: Insights on the new normal (Week 29, 2021)

AEI

On July 16, FHFA announced the elimination of the 50- basis point Adverse Market Refinance Fee, for loan deliveries effective 8.1.21. FHFA stated its elimination will help families reduce their housing costs. However, Optimal Blue data tell a different story.

● U.S. Home-Price Growth Rose to Record in May Wall Street Journal

PUBLIC FINANCES

Legislative Review 2021

PEW Trusts

States collected more tax revenue over the past year than budget analysts expected when the pandemic hit.

Fiscal 50: State Trends and Analysis

PEW Trusts

Despite historic declines in the first half of 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, tax revenue was on the mend in most states by the end of the year.

Opinion: First Use the Spare Covid $1 Trillion

Wall Street Journal

Congress has spent so much money in the past year that the recipients are having a hard time using it. That’s the news from a Government Accountability Office report last week that more than $1 trillion of federal pandemic relief has yet to be spent.

Opinion: States use tax incentives to lure companies. Bipartisan support is growing to stop it.

Washington Post

Biden and Democrats in Congress have kicked off a national debate about raising corporate taxes. Yet an arguably more important conversation is happening outside D.C.: how to slash the nearly $95 billion in tax incentives that states and cities give to businesses every year.

TRANSPORTATION

Changes coming to Fresno Yosemite International Airport amid increase in travelers

abc30

Valley Air District runs incentive programs to reduce car emissions, promote new tech

Hanford Sentinel

U.S. lawmakers urge EPA to reinstate California vehicle emissions authority

Reuters

Nearly 140 Democratic U.S lawmakers on Tuesday urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to quickly reinstate California’s right to set regulations for vehicle emissions, which was taken away by the Trump administration.

Cities are turning to supercharged bus routes to more quickly and cheaply expand transit services

Washington Post

Cities looking to boost their transit options are giving special fast bus routes a fresh look — an effort buoyed by hundreds of millions of dollars in coronavirus relief funds that could get another boost if Congress passes an infrastructure package.

Can Biden’s Plan to Remove Urban Highways Improve the Health of American Cities?

NextCity

Mandela Parkway, a four-lane boulevard enhanced by a median with trees and a curving footpath, stretches along a 24-block section of West Oakland.

Airlines Struggle With Fuel Shortages at Some Smaller Western U.S. Airports

Wall Street Journal

Airlines are grappling with shortages of jet fuel at some smaller airports in the western U.S., where a travel boom is coinciding with high demand for that fuel to fight wildfires.

WATER

Will Delta water users sue — again — to stop California’s drought rules?

CalMatters

Suffering severe drought, the state’s water board is poised to prevent thousands of growers and others from pumping water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. The state lost a lawsuit with irrigation districts during the last drought.

Two of America’s largest reservoirs reach record lows amid lasting drought.

New York Times

The water level in Lake Powell has dropped to the lowest level since the U.S. government started filling the enormous reservoir on the Colorado River in the 1960s — another sign of the ravages of the Western drought.

Illegal cannabis growers are stealing water amid California’s drought, officials say

Washington Post

“Xtra”

Garth Stapley: A new downtown Modesto baseball stadium cannot gouge taxpayers

Modesto Bee

Rumors about a revived effort to build a new baseball stadium in downtown Modesto apparently are true. “We’re having conversations with the (Seattle) Mariners,” City Manager Joe Lopez confirmed in a recent sit-down interview.

Bethany Clough: The Hangar in Fresno’s River Park is gone, but this new restaurant is opening soon

Fresno Bee

The Hangar, the airplane-themed restaurant in River Park, has closed. But a new restaurant is already close to opening in its spot, a prime space near the theaters. If you’re a longtime Fresnan, the name might seem familiar.

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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.

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