POLICY & POLITICS
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North SJ Valley:
COVID Update:
Advocates rally for advanced pesticide notifications to be posted online
Modesto Bee
Funding for a statewide system that alerts residents in advance of pesticide spraying has been approved, but advocates say there’s a faster way.
Turlock Black Lives Matter leader arrested. Supporters protest at Police Department
Modesto Bee
At least a couple dozen people gathered outside the Turlock Police Department on Sunday night to demonstrate in support of Turlock BLM co-founder Jaimee Ellison, who was arrested early that day for allegedly trying to free a man being taken into custody by police.
Central SJ Valley:
COVID Update:
A disadvantaged Valley town will see millions in investment, with high-speed rail agreement
Fresno Bee
For years, residents in the small town of Fairmead in Madera County fretted about the prospect of their community being split by California’s planned high-speed rail route.
Fresno City Council member dropped from Pismo’s restaurant lawsuit. There’s more to the story
Fresno Bee
A Fresno City Council member has been dismissed from a lawsuit filed by Pismo’s Coastal Grill restaurant owner David Fansler over the city’s enforcement of outdoor dining rules during the pandemic.
Planning Commission Approves $48 million Community Investment Program Proposal
Clovis RoundUp
The proposed 2021-22 Community Investment Program (CIP) was approved by the Clovis Planning Commission in a brief meeting Thursday, May 27.
Fresno Budget Proposes $1.4 Billion Spending Plan To Increase Public Safety, Homeless Initiatives
VPR
Dyer presented his administration’s $1.4 billion budget proposal at City Hall Wednesday. The City Council will review it during Thursday’s meeting. Spending includes a focus on public safety, homeless initiatives, public works and the creation of a citywide senior center.
South SJ Valley:
COVID Update:
Kern Public Health reports 20 new coronavirus cases Monday Bakersfield Californian
Kern Public Health: 22 new coronavirus cases reported Sunday Bakersfield Californian
Valley Strong agrees to merge with Stockton-based credit union
Bakersfield Californian
Valley Strong Credit Union announced Friday it has agreed to join with another financial institution, its second such arrangement this year, as it moves forward with previously disclosed expansion plans.
McCarthy introduces 7 students on way to US service academies
Bakersfield Californian
The seven young men and women from the 23rd Congressional District who will take off for U.S. service academies in the next month were introduced by Rep. Kevin McCarthy on Memorial Day.
State:
COVID Update:
Californians hit beaches, travel ahead of virus rules easing Fresno Bee
COVID: Two-thirds of eligible Californians have at least one vaccine dose Mercury News
Vax for cash: Newsom offers big bucks for Californians who get their shots
CalMatters
Facing a recall election, Gov. Newsom announces a $116.5 million COVID-19 vaccine incentive program, including a $15 million lottery with 10 winners. Californians who get a shot by June 15 and those already vaccinated can win the big prize.
See also:
Here’s who is eligible for California’s $1.5 million vaccine lottery prizes and a $50 gift card Sacramento Bee
California lawmakers push tighter social media rules — but find it a tough sell
Visalia Times Delta
California lawmaker Cristina Garcia was spending time with a friend when she asked her friend’s 8-year-old why she was refusing to eat.
Layoffs. Losses. Lawsuits. ‘Rules are being rewritten’ for California healthcare giant
Sacramento Bee
Sutter Health has been the pre-eminent hospital chain in Northern California for decades — respected but also feared. Critics say it has strong-armed insurance companies and major employers into contract terms that inflated healthcare prices across the region.
California Supreme Court to hear arguments challenging application of state's death penalty
San Francisco Chronicle
The California Supreme Court, which rarely overturns death penalty verdicts these days, takes up an issue Wednesday that could lead to reversals of hundreds of the state’s pending death sentences and perhaps all 704 of them.
California’s Novel Attempt at Land Reparations
New Yorker
More than a hundred years ago, on a stretch of CA coast now reminiscent of “Baywatch,” a young Black couple named Charles and Willa Bruce bought the first of two adjacent plots of beachfront property next to some barren dunes in Manhattan Beach, in LA County.
Warszawski: California Democrats sound desperate. Their midterm election emails capture the mood
Fresno Bee
California Democrats are in a distressed state. They’re frightened about next year’s midterms and bewildered by the latest Republican shenanigans. The mood is glum, occasionally bordering on despondent.
Column: Why Newsom may prefer early California recall election vote
Los Angeles Times
Late summer brings many splendors to California. Sultry nights. Pennant drives. Leaves flaming crimson and yellow in the Sierra. It might also bring just the second vote ever to oust a governor before his term is ended.
Walters: California’s Unemployment Insurance Fund is deep in debt
CalMatters
California is borrowing billions of dollars from the federal government to cover unemployment insurance benefits to jobless workers, but how it will be repaid remains uncertain.
Federal:
COVID Update:
$6 trillion Biden budget would launch spending spree
Roll Call
President Joe Biden unveiled a $6 trillion budget blueprint Friday that would set the government on a spending spree to make up for what White House officials described as a “decade of disinvestment.”
See also:
10 things to know about Biden’s budget for fiscal 2022 Roll Call
What’s in Biden’s $6 Trillion Budget Plan Wall Street Journal
First Biden Budget Retains Trump-Era Business Tax Break Wall Street Journal
Opinion: Biden Is the $6 Trillion Man Wall Street Journal
Biden Administration Extends Bipartisan Infrastructure Talks Into June
Wall Street Journal
Buttigieg said Biden and members of his team would continue negotiating privately this week and said the talks with Republican lawmakers were encouraging. But he identified the return of Congress on June 7 as when the talks would need to indicate an endpoint.
See also:
Why Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Calls for Highway Teardowns Wall Street Journal
USPS raises stamp price to 58 cents as part of DeJoy’s 10-year plan
Washington Post
The U.S. Postal Service is raising rates by as much as 6.9 percent this summer, sending the cost of a first-class stamp from 55 to 58 cents, as it leans into an expansive restructuring plan that codifies slower mail delivery and streamlines agency operations.
Barack Obama on How Joe Biden Is ‘Finishing the Job’
New York Times
“My entire politics is premised on the fact that we are these tiny organisms on this little speck floating in the middle of space,” Barack Obama told me, sitting in his office in Washington, D.C.
Other:
Poll: Media, federal government among least trusted institutions for voters
The Hill
The media and federal government are among the least-trusted major institutions as weighed by voters, a new Hill-HarrisX poll finds.
American Democracy Isn’t Dead Yet, but It’s Getting There
New Yorker
When Joe Biden was a Presidential candidate, he carried around a wonkish book of international comparative politics by two Harvard professors, “How Democracies Die,” from 2018, to explain the urgency of his campaign against Donald Trump.
Opinion: Why conservativism’s success depends on California’s failure
Sacramento Bee
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few years, you’ve probably noticed that conservatives hate California. In fact, it’s an obsession. Donald Trump’s disdain for the state is well known. But conservative anti-California animus goes beyond Trump.
Opinion: Republicans Aren’t Done Messing With Elections
New York Times
A new, more dangerous front has opened in the voting wars, and it’s going to be much harder to counteract than the now-familiar fight over voting rules.
MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING
Sunday, June 6, at 9 a.m on ABC30 – Maddy Report: "Medical School in the Valley"- Guests: Dr. Michael Peterson, Associate Dean - UCSF Fresno; Chancellor Juan Sanchez Munoz - UC Merced; CA State Asm. Adam Gray - (D-Merced); CA State Asm. Dr. Joaquin Arambula - (D-Fresno); Congressman Jim Costa (D-Fresno). Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.
Sunday, June 6, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report - Valley Views Edition: "Medical Education in the Valley: Current & Future Prognosis" - Guests: Dr. Thelma Hurd, Director of Medical Education - UC Merced; Janine Spencer, Assistant Chair, RN-BSN Program Coordinator - Fresno State; Dr. Florence T. Dunn, President - California Health Sciences University. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.
AGRICULTURE/FOOD
Foster Farms failed to remove Fresno worker after positive COVID test, son says
Fresno Bee
Singh got a text message just before 1 p.m. one day in early December, alerting him that his mother’s COVID-19 test results were available.
Farmers receive 0% allocation of Central Valley Project water, amid climate change concerns
abc30
The Central Valley Project announced that south-of-Delta customers will receive no allocation of water. The Bureau of Reclamation says the decision was necessary because the 2021 water year for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin is currently the driest since 1977.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/FIRE/PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime:
More US citizens apprehended for moving drugs over border
Fresno Bee
An increasing number of American citizens have been apprehended as they have tried to smuggle illegal drugs into the U.S. since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, an uptick that's come amid travel restrictions at the border with Mexico.
California Supreme Court to hear arguments challenging application of state's death penalty
San Francisco Chronicle
The California Supreme Court, which rarely overturns death penalty verdicts these days, takes up an issue Wednesday that could lead to reversals of hundreds of the state’s pending death sentences and perhaps all 704 of them.
Public Safety:
Advocates rally for advanced pesticide notifications to be posted online
Modesto Bee
Funding for a statewide system that alerts residents in advance of pesticide spraying has been approved, but advocates say there’s a faster way.
’Unprecedented surge’: California gun purchases spiked in the pandemic as unrest, violence rose
Sacramento Bee
Gun purchasing among Californians rose sharply during 2020, and the trend is likely related to the increase in gun violence currently happening across the Golden State.
See also:
Gov. Gavin Newsom pardons include two inmate firefighters who were facing deportation
Sacramento Bee
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced 14 pardons and 13 commutations on Friday, including pardons for two former inmate firefighters who were facing deportation.
Workplace shootings are all too common in California. The latest one fits a pattern
Los Angeles Times
He killed the people he wanted to kill. He targeted his co-workers. He had a list. That’s how witnesses and authorities describe the gunman who opened fire on a San Jose rail yard early Wednesday morning, killing nine men before apparently turning the gun on himself.
Fire:
Cal Fire: Residents can no longer burn debris in Valley and Sierra due to wildfire risks
Fresno Bee
Residents in the central San Joaquin Valley and surrounding Sierra Nevada are no longer allowed to burn landscape debris due to increased wildfire risks, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection recently announced.
Fire risk soars along with California temperatures
Fresno Bee
Public health officials are urging residents to stay hydrated, find shade, and take breaks to avoid heat exhaustion as temperatures soar across much of central and northern California.
Wildfire prompts evacuation near Kerckhoff Lake in Madera County. Here are areas affected
Fresno Bee
Evacuation orders were in place near Kerckhoff Lake in Madera County for a wildfire that as of early Monday had burned about 10 acres.
See also:
State Lawmakers to Attorney General: Probe PG&E Fire Victim Trust
Capital Public Radio
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers has asked for California Attorney General Rob Bonta to probe the spending and administration of the PG&E Fire Victim Trust.
See also:
California Drought Could Mean Peak Fire Season Months Earlier Than Usual
Capital Public Radio
Sissy Savoye’s tent is surrounded by charred trees and burn scars from last year’s massive North Complex Fire in Butte County. She’s been living on her best friend’s property after his home burned to the ground.
California Lacks Federal Firefighters as Dangerous Season Looms
PEW
Federal wildland firefighter jobs in California are sitting open even as the West heads into what’s likely to be a brutal fire season.
Opinion: To cut wildfire risk, we must invest in the original green technology: resilient forests
Sacramento Bee
As a 34-year employee of Cal Fire, I am deeply familiar with the consequences of state policy that for too long emphasized putting out all wildfires, rather than emphasizing the natural restorative role fire plays in California’s landscapes.
ECONOMY/JOBS
Economy:
Opinion: Network of research facilities for innovation have led to many startups
CalMatters
Matt Horton of the Milken Institute and Fred Walti of the Network for Global Innovation correctly point to the need for better distribution of resources to support innovation throughout California.
Opinion: Broadband for all can revive post-pandemic economy
CalMatters
Securing continuous funding to invest in broadband infrastructure in poorly served communities will create jobs and provide economic opportunities.
Jobs:
Yes, your employer can require you to get a COVID vaccine. Here are the updated rules
Modesto Bee
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Friday released new guidelines for employers on requiring or encouraging workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
See also:
Despite vaccines, California employers must still follow strict rules on masks in workplaces to protect all workers Mercury News
Employers Can Require Covid-19 Vaccine Under Federal Law, New Guidance States Wall Street Journal
Opinion: The labor market needs the ‘soft’ skills older workers have
AEI
Old dogs, it seems, don’t need new tricks. New research from David J. Deming at Harvard’s Wiener Center for Social Policy examines lifetime earning patterns and shows how the peak earning years have shifted dramatically up the age continuum over the past five decades.
EDUCATION
K-12:
Fresno schools to add extra 30 minutes of instruction time to school day next year
Fresno Bee
Fresno Unified schools will add an extra 30 minutes to each school day in the fall as teachers and students prepare to make up for any learning lost during the coronavirus shutdown.
Bakersfield Californian
Just hours after a grand jury released a report calling the board of the Fairfax School District "dysfunctional" and questioning its spending on legal services, the board held a special meeting to hire another law firm for the district.
Merced City School District to hold mail-in ballot election for vacant board seat
Merced Sun-Star
The Merced City School District is holding a special election to fill a vacant seat on Area 3 of its school board.
Schools face mental health crisis among students as pandemic trauma remains
Los Angeles Times
Before the pandemic, Jessica Bibbs-Fox’s eighth-graders would parade into her classroom bursting with energy. “Settle down,” she’d playfully shout over the clamor of voices.
Can California withstand a teacher retirement boom?
CalMatters
Earlier this year, the California State Teachers Retirement System issued an ominous statement: teacher retirements in California are projected to hit nearly record-breaking heights in 2021.
Digital Learning Considerations as States Implement the American Rescue Plan
EdNote
As vaccinations continue across the country — and especially with the news that 12- to 15-year-olds can now be vaccinated — the K-12 education system is gearing up for what’s next.
After Capitol Riot, Some States Turn to Civics Education
PEW
After waiting two hours for her chance to speak, high school student Samantha Oliver chimed in to the Delaware House Education Committee hearing last week with a succinct message: Young people should be active participants in our democracy.
What is critical race theory, and why do Republicans want to ban it in schools?
Washington Post
The latest front in the culture wars over how U.S. students should learn history and civics is the concept of critical race theory, an intellectual tool set for examining systemic racism.
See also:
Opinion: Why conservatives really fear critical race theory Washington Post
Higher Ed:
Commentary: New Fresno State president Jiménez-Sandoval talks future of university, sets goals
Fresno Bee
I am deeply honored to have been named the ninth president of CSU Fresno by the CSU Board of Trustees on May 19. Growing up in Fowler, the son of farmers who moved their family from Mexico when I was 10, I never imagined that this achievement would be possible.
ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY
Environment:
First 100+ temperatures of year mean spring’s over in Fresno area. Will heat be record-breaking?
Fresno Bee
Fresno is primed to feel the hottest weather so far this year over Memorial Day weekend. The three-day holiday weekend will likely see 2021’s first 100-degree-plus day and the start of a short heat wave for the region, according to the National Weather Service.
New Environmental Justice Measures Might Revive Cap-and-Trade
PEW
After years of failed attempts, Washington state lawmakers last month celebrated the narrow passage of a bill that places an economy-wide cap on carbon emissions and charges polluters for their contributions to climate change.
Pew Research Center
Majorities of Americans say the federal government, businesses and other actors are doing too little to reduce the effects of climate change and express support for a variety of policy approaches aimed at addressing the issue.
Study blames climate change for 37% of the world's heat deaths: "It is something we directly cause"
CBSNews
More than one-third of the world's heat deaths each year are due directly to global warming, according to the latest study to calculate the human cost of climate change.
Energy:
Battle heats up over over California consumer cost of solar
abc30
Battle is brewing over a proposed California law changing how much we pay for electricity and how much people save when they own solar. Solar panels harness the sun's energy at more than 56,000 homes and businesses in Fresno County alone, according to industry experts.
Battle Brews Over Banning Natural Gas to Homes
Wall Street Journal
A growing fight is unfolding across the U.S. as cities consider phasing out natural gas for home cooking and heating, citing concerns about climate change, and states push back against these bans.
HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES
Health:
California Coronavirus Updates: Vietnam Faces New Highly Transmissible COVID-19 Variant
Capital Public Radio
A new coronavirus variant that is highly transmissible and has features of two other strains has been detected in Vietnam.
Johnson & Johnson asks Supreme Court to void $2-billion talc verdict
Los Angeles Times
Johnson & Johnson is asking for Supreme Court review of a $2-billion verdict in favor of women who say they developed ovarian cancer from using the company’s talc products.
Covid-19 Prevention Measures Are Keeping Childhood Diseases Like Chickenpox at Bay
Wall Street Journal
The disinfecting and hand-washing that became common during the Covid-19 pandemic have also served as powerful tools against a host of childhood ailments such as chickenpox, stomach viruses and strep throat, recent data suggest.
Human Services:
Here’s one solution to lengthy waits for health care in our Central Valley
Modesto Bee
What is the longest you have had to wait to see your doctor? Not being able to see your doctor when you need to is a serious problem in California, especially in the Central Valley.
IMMIGRATION
Gov. Gavin Newsom pardons include two inmate firefighters who were facing deportation
Sacramento Bee
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced 14 pardons and 13 commutations on Friday, including pardons for two former inmate firefighters who were facing deportation.
LAND USE/HOUSING
Land Use:
Planning Commission Approves $48 million Community Investment Program Proposal
Clovis RoundUp
The proposed 2021-22 Community Investment Program (CIP) was approved by the Clovis Planning Commission in a brief meeting Thursday, May 27.
Cressman’s reopens after Creek Fire. New store is a symbol of hope in the mountains
Sierra Star
For most driving into the Creek Fire burn scar, the ashes of Cressman’s General Store was the first major sign of the immense loss ahead.
The Market Tectonics of California Real Estate
New York Times
Some residents have left the state, but many others have just moved out of big cities in search of more space and lower prices, creating hot spots in the suburbs and the once-sleepy exurbs.
LOIS HENRY: The sinking Central Valley town
Bakersfield Californian
In California’s San Joaquin Valley, the farming town of Corcoran has a multimillion-dollar problem. It is almost impossible to see, yet so vast it takes NASA scientists using satellite technology to fully grasp. Corcoran is sinking.
Housing:
California eyes shuttered malls, stores for new housing
Fresno Bee
California state lawmakers are grappling with a particularly 21st-century problem: What to do with the growing number of shopping malls and big box retail stores left empty by consumers shifting their purchases to the web.
Tahoe’s workforce is getting squeezed out of the housing market. There’s a plan to help
Sacramento Bee
The median home price in the north Tahoe and Truckee areas has risen 103% since last spring and now stands at more than $1.3 million, according to new data from Placer County’s Community Development Resource Agency.
House Hunters Are Leaving the City, and Builders Can’t Keep Up
New York Times
They had a down payment. They were prequalified for a mortgage. They were willing to move almost an hour’s drive eastward. But the number that really mattered was “32.”
Opinion: With relief in sight, the eviction moratorium can end
CalMatters
It’s been a hard year in the Golden State. Californians continue to mourn the loss of loved ones and struggle with unemployment, and some fear losing their businesses.
PUBLIC FINANCES
Council to look at budget: city population 59,571
Porterville Recorder
Despite the numerous challenges the city of Porterville has faced in the almost past two years, the city projects to actually have a small budget surplus for fiscal year 2021-2022.
Fresno Budget Proposes $1.4 Billion Spending Plan To Increase Public Safety, Homeless Initiatives
VPR
Dyer presented his administration’s $1.4 billion budget proposal at City Hall Wednesday. The City Council will review it during Thursday’s meeting. Spending includes a focus on public safety, homeless initiatives, public works and the creation of a citywide senior center.
Child care costs $17,000 a year for California parents. Would Biden plan help?
Sacramento Bee
Imagine paying less than half of what you now pay for child care. Or being among the thousands of parents who could send their 3- and 4-year-olds to free pre-kindergarten as the system expands.
AEI
COVID-19 relief legislation offers a unique setting to study how political representation shapes the distribution of federal assistance to state and local governments. We provide evidence of a substantial small-state bias: an additional Senator or Representative per million residents predicts an additional $670 dollars in aid per capita across the four relief packages.
Opinion: A Retroactive Tax Increase
Wall Street Journal
Biden really is a class warrior. Not only does he want to raise taxes on capital gains to a modern high of 43.4%, he wants to do it retroactively. The Administration leaked that its new high rate would apply to all gains on assets sold after the intro of its American Families Plan.
TRANSPORTATION
A disadvantaged Valley town will see millions in investment, with high-speed rail agreement
Fresno Bee
For years, residents in the small town of Fairmead in Madera County fretted about the prospect of their community being split by California’s planned high-speed rail route.
Kings County roads to get $4M facelift in coming year
Hanford Sentinel
Kings County roads will get a $4 million facelift in the coming year, following approval Tuesday from the Kings County Board of Supervisors.
Can you stop going to the DMV? How the department wants to eliminate visits
Sacramento Bee
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Department of Motor Vehicles was forced to close its doors and shift to a primarily digital approach.
Column: I was going to buy an all-electric car but chickened out. Here’s why
Los Angeles Times
I am not what you would call a car guy. My father always bought used cars, and the lug nut does not fall far from the wheel. I swear to you my dad even bought used tires, and for several years he drove a beat-up Rambler. Style and status were not part of the equation.
Opinion: Get Ready for $5 Gasoline if You Live in California—or if You Don’t
Wall Street Journal
Before the Colonial Pipeline shutdown, the national average gasoline price had exceeded $3 a gallon for only two weeks since 2014. Yet in California, gas prices in recent years have rarely dropped below $3.
WATER
26% of California classified in worst drought category
abc30
In just one week, California's drought has gone from bad to worse. The latest map released Thursday by the U.S. Drought Monitor illustrates the increase when compared to a map from the prior week.
Stanislaus homes with tainted wells start getting free bottled water. How to qualify
Modesto Bee
Free bottled water has begun to arrive at homes with nitrate-tainted wells in parts of Stanislaus and Merced counties. The ambitious effort, funded by farmers and other parties, launched the week of May 10 with free testing of residential wells.
California drought enters dangerous territory. What’s ahead for fish, farms and cities
Sacramento Bee
In just a few weeks, California’s water conditions have gone from bad to terrible. Sacramento residents have been asked to cut water usage 10%. Their counterparts on the Russian River are being told to reduce their consumption 20%.
The Next Great California Water War Is Starting Underground, In The Mojave Desert
Zocalo
Can CA regions regulate groundwater without destroying their businesses and communities? That’s the question being posed as regions and localities implement the SGMA, the historic 2014 state law that brought regulation to CA’s diminishing groundwater supplies.
How Much Will it Cost to Replace All Lead Water Pipes in the U.S.?
RouteFifty
The American Jobs Plan includes $45 billion to replace lead pipes and service lines across the U.S., and according to research by the Brookings Institution, that should be enough to cover the costs.
Urban water districts consider mandatory conservation as drought deepens
Politico
Urban water agencies are planning to impose mandatory conservation orders after federal water managers slashed deliveries this week amid a rapidly deepening drought.
2021 could be one of the driest years in a millennium, and there’s no relief in sight
PBS
Nearly half of the country — from the Pacific coast to the Great Plains and upper Midwest — is experiencing moderate to exceptional drought conditions. That's expected to get worse throughout the summer.
Lois Henry: Dry conditions could cut Friant water to zero in a replay of 2014-2015 drought
Bakersfield Californian
Farms and towns in the south San Joaquin Valley that rely on water from Millerton Lake north of Fresno are anxiously waiting to hear if they will be cut to zero again this year.
Joe Mathews: Can California regulate groundwater without destroying its own communities?
Bakersfield Californian
That’s the question being posed as regions implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the historic 2014 state law regulating California’s diminishing groundwater supplies.
“Xtra”
The wait’s over for fans of Fresno State first-of-the season sweet corn
Fresno Bee
Die-hard Fresno State corn fans lined up Monday morning by the hundreds — some at pre-dawn — for bags of sweet corn on the first day sale of the annual crop at the Gibson Farm Market. The first in line was Aaron Haynes who claimed his spot at 4:55 a.m.
Valley still sees high demand for boats, RVs
abc30
After being cooped up for a year because of COVID-19, Omar and Lisa Vallejo couldn't wait to jump in their RV and spend some time at Lake Success. They've been there for a couple of weeks.
Slimmed-down Stanislaus County Fair will start selling tickets to its loudest events
Modesto Bee
Ticket sales will start Wednesday, June 2, for the destruction derbies and other motor sports at the Stanislaus County Fair. It may be the clearest sign yet the fair is really back after skipping 2020 due to COVID-19.
Treasure Trove Of Fossils Found In Sierra Nevada Foothills
Capital Public Radio
Scientists are finding a treasure trove of fossils in the Sierra Nevada Foothills as the remains of prehistoric species dating back five to ten million years have been unearthed.
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Maddy Institute Updated List of San Joaquin Valley Elected Officials HERE.
The Kenneth L. Maddy Institute was established to honor the legacy of one of California’s most principled and effective legislative leaders of the last half of the 20th Century by engaging, preparing and inspiring a new generation of governmental leaders for the 21st Century. Its mission is to inspire citizen participation, elevate government performance, provide non-partisan analysis and assist in providing solutions for public policy issues important to the region, state and nation.
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