March 22, 2021

22Mar

TODAY at noon:

Maddy Associate Speaker Series Presents: “California's State Auditor Elaine Howle: The State Watchdog Reports”   
Join us for a discussion about some of the latest State Auditor's reports, including critical analysis of the State's efforts regarding COVID-related unemployment compensation benefits, affordable housing, and climate change. Click here to register with code MA0322.

 

POLICY & POLITICS

 

North SJ Valley:

 

COVID Update:

 

Local Schools Update:

 

Applications are now open for San Joaquin County and Stockton rental assistance programs

Stockton Record

San Joaquin County residents who have fallen behind on rent due to COVID-19 can now apply for financial assistance.

See also:

 

Turlock begins clearing homeless encampment. Here’s what one resident said about it

Modesto Bee

Unsheltered people living near 1400 West Main St., located between Planet Fitness and Evergreen Packaging, gathered their belongings while contractors cleaned up items left behind, such as tarps and water jugs.

 

Here’s why Modesto mayor Zwahlen looking into more citizen involvement with police

Modesto Bee

Zwahlen announced the launch of “an engagement process to consider the community’s interest in Modesto Police Department’s policies and practices”. That could take shape in the creation of a citizens’ review board, which several areas have implemented.

 

Editorial: Stanislaus DA has never charged cops who kill. Why this time is different

Modesto Bee

For the first time since she was elected nearly 15 years ago, Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager has decided to prosecute an officer for an on-duty killing. This is a big deal.

 

Central SJ Valley:

 

COVID Update:

 

Local Schools Update:

 

Fresno advocate asked city to help with homeless encampment. City Council disagreed on how

Fresno Bee

She pleaded through tears at Thursday’s Fresno City Council meeting for help from city leaders, saying that efforts to get freeway campers into shelters have pushed more people into the camp she manages.

See also:

 

Can this Fresno leader help small businesses hurt by the pandemic? Gavin Newsom thinks so

Fresno Bee

Tara Lynn Gray, who for the past four years led the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce as its president and chief executive officer, will have a new job following her appointment by Gov. Gavin Newsom to lead the state’s Office of the Small Business Advocate.

See also:

 

Should Fresno's public projects be covered by labor agreements? Study weighs in

Business Journal

A new study from the UC Merced Community and Labor Center has analyzed the impact that a municipal Project Labor Agreement (PLA) could have for the City of Fresno.

 

Visalia reopens playgrounds, park bathrooms and athletic fields

abc30

The City of Visalia has reopened all of its playgrounds, park bathrooms and athletic fields. The decision to reopen was made after the state announced earlier this week that Tulare County is now in the red tier, which is the lower substantial risk level in California's reopening plan.

 

Stop Asian Hate vigil in Fresno remembers eight Atlanta victims: ‘We can’t do it alone’

Fresno Bee

A vigil was held Saturday afternoon in central Fresno in honor of the eight lives lost in an Atlanta shooting this week. At least 100 people attended the vigil to stand in solidarity with Asian-Americans and condemn the rise in violence against Asian Americans across the country.

See also:

 

Judge Denies Injunction; Tower Theater Sale Can Move Forward

VPR
A Fresno County judge has denied an injunction to stop the sale of Fresno’s iconic Tower Theater to Adventure Church. The theater’s owner can now move forward with the sale, which has a March 31 deadline.

 

T-Mobile sets site for Kingsburg call center, 1,000 jobs. Where, when are they coming?

Fresno Bee

A long-awaited T-Mobile call center anticipated to bring 1,000 jobs to Kingsburg now has a confirmed site set for the Fresno County city.

 

Did Fresno City Councilmember try to dodge process server in David Fansler case?

Fresno Bee

Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias is fighting a claim that he tried to dodge a process server in the high-profile civil lawsuit filed by restaurateur David Fansler. Arias said the process server came to City Hall on Feb. 18 and dropped off the summons with someone who was not a member of his staff and not authorized to receive it on his behalf.

 

Warszawski: ‘A different outlet for pain.’ How Advance Peace aims to reduce gun violence in Fresno

Fresno Bee

Inside a small recording studio tucked within an office complex near the airport, illuminated by purple UV lights and the glow of computer screens, one of Fresno’s best-known rappers helps lay down a new track.

 

South SJ Valley:

 

COVID Update:

 

Community collaborative releases recommendations to improve the Bakersfield Police Department

Bakersfield Californian

A community panel tasked by the city of Bakersfield with developing a series of recommendations to improve the Bakersfield Police Department released its report to the public Friday.

See also:

 

Closures slated for bike path at Stockdale Highway

Bakersfield Californian

Multiple closures along the bike path at Stockdale Highway are planned for March 30 for the city's street division crews to complete improvements. The bike path will be realigned on the west side of Stockdale Highway, and the south side entrance to the bike path will be repaved, according to a city news release.

 

Housing affordability brings newcomers to Kern River Valley, for better or worse

Bakersfield Californian

Word is getting out about the "undiscovered gem" of life in the southern Sierra Nevada as people fleeing big cities during the pandemic add new life — and money — to the Lake Isabella area.

 

Bill Kristol on Kevin McCarthy's Crass Revisionism

The Bulwark

On today’s Bulwark podcast, Bill Kristol joins host Charlie Sykes to discuss Kevin McCarthy and the GOP’s crass revisionism of the January 6th insurrection, and why the GOP suddenly no longer likes tough talk from America’s President when it comes to Putin.

 

Robert Price: Old Town Kern’s historic train depot could face the wrecking ball

Bakersfield Californian

America has a fascination with trains, with history, and with food, not necessarily in that order. Little wonder, then, that literally hundreds of U.S. train stations have been transformed, in whole or in part, into places that celebrate some combination of those things.

 

State:

 

COVID Update:

 

Most Californians get 2 weeks of paid sick leave under new COVID law signed by Gavin Newsom

Fresno Bee

Millions of California workers will get up to two weeks of supplemental paid sick leave to take time off to get vaccinated, isolate themselves from potential exposure to the coronavirus, or deal with the effects of COVID-19, under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom Friday.

 

Effort to recall Newsom inches closer to triggering election, with 1.2 million signatures validated

Los Angeles Times

An effort to trigger a recall election to remove Gov. Gavin Newsom from office could qualify for the statewide ballot before next month’s deadline, according to a report released Friday by state elections officials.

See also:

 

As State Attorney General Job Morphs Post-Trump, Who Will Be Newsom’s Pick?

Capital Public Radio

The last time a California governor chose a new attorney general, Donald Trump had just been elected president. As Democrats geared up to make California the “Resistance State,” newly appointed state attorney general Xavier Becerra quickly went to work suing the Trump administration.

See also:

 

Former employee sues California Democrat and state Senate, alleging sexual harassment

Fresno Bee

A former legislative employee for California Sen. Bob Archuleta is suing him and the state Senate, alleging she experienced workplace discrimination and retaliation after she refused the lawmaker’s romantic gestures while working in his district office.

 

‘Bad taste.’ CalPERS board regrets pension mistakes, but votes to deny retiree appeals

Sacramento Bee

Leaders of California’s $445 billion public employee pension system were uncomfortable last week after they rejected a batch of appeals from retirees who believed they were owed more money than they’re getting every month.

 

California Lawmakers Push Bill To Decertify Police, End Qualified Immunity

Capital Public Radio

California lawmakers are eyeing new police reforms after having “mild successes” following the police killing of George Floyd and nationwide calls for increased police accountability last year.

 

California independent voters begin to fade

Los Angeles Times

It has been a touchstone of California politics over the past three decades that the fastest-growing group of the state’s voters was shunning partisan labels in favor of being identified as unaffiliated voters, engaged in politics but not parties.

 

Newsom's 'Zoom school' experience was in the past, office confirms

Politico

Gov. Gavin Newsom's four children returned to in-person instruction in late fall and are in classrooms now, his office confirmed this week in response to questions about his recent statements implying they are in distance learning.

 

Walters: How will California spend $150 billion windfall?

CalMatters

California will be a case study in how windfall money is spent since it will receive $150 billion in federal “stimulus” payments.

 

Walters: Feinstein has a target on her back

CalMatters

Whither Dianne Feinstein? California’s senior U.S. senator is once again in the center of a media maelstrom — or feeding frenzy — over whether she’ll serve out the remaining four years of her current term.

 

Federal:

 

COVID Update:

 

GOP, Trump warn voting reform bill could be 'absolutely devastating for Republicans'

abc30

In the aftermath of the GOP's assault on the integrity of the 2020 presidential election and amid a torrent of Republican measures aimed at restricting voting rights in the name of security, Democrats are pushing for a far-reaching solution to counter attempts at narrowing access to the ballot box.

 

Biden supports the COVID-19 hate crime bill: What would it do?

Los Angeles Times

Less than a week before eight people — including six Asian women — were killed in the Atlanta-area shootings congressional Democrats introduced legislation that would bolster the Department of Justice’s ability to address COVID-19 hate crimes.

See also:

 

Senators call on Biden to officially recognize Armenian genocide

The Hill

A bipartisan coalition of nearly 40 lawmakers led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) is urging President Biden to become the first U.S. president to officially recognize the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian genocide.

 

Democrats pushing to weaken the filibuster say it enables racism

Roll Call

It’s all but inevitable now that a confrontation is coming over the filibuster. And Democrats laid out their case in sharp relief this past week, arguing that the current 60-vote threshold for passage of most Senate legislation enables racism.

See also:

 

Lawmakers in both parties push to add judges to overworked federal courts

Roll Call

The debate about expanding the number of Supreme Court justices has hogged all the attention after a five-year run of contentious confirmation battles, but there are signs of traction this Congress for less politically charged proposals to add judges to the lower courts.

 

Corporate PAC donations to parties and candidates plummet after Capitol riot

Roll Call

The unusual inaction of the two PACs, among the biggest of their kind, is emblematic of a dramatic plunge in contributions by all corporate PACs following the deadly Jan. 6 riots on Capitol Hill.

 

President Biden to Hold First Formal News Conference on March 25

Wall Street Journal

The news conference will come more than two months into his presidency. Most of Mr. Biden’s recent predecessors held news conferences in January or February following their inauguration, and many held joint news conferences with visiting heads of state.

 

How Biden quietly created a huge social program

Washington Post

An unlikely coalition of Democrats across the ideological spectrum mounted an 11th-hour push in the final weekend before the American Rescue Plan for President Biden to go big on tackling child poverty.

 

House Votes to Avert Deep Medicare Cuts to Pay for $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Plan

New York Times

The House voted on Friday to avert an estimated $36 billion in cuts to Medicare next year and tens of billions more from farm subsidies and other social safety net programs, moving to stave off deep spending reductions that would otherwise be made to pay for the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill enacted last week.

 

As Republicans Shun Vaccines, Congress Toils to Return to Normal

New York Times

Even as Americans across the country hunt for a lifesaving shot in a bid to get back to a semblance of prepandemic normalcy, more than a quarter of members of Congress, just a phone call away from receiving a coronavirus vaccine, have turned it down.

 

Editorial: Property Rights at the Supreme Court (Valley case)

Wall Street Journal

The Supreme Court has sometimes treated property rights as the prodigal son of the Constitution, and on Monday the Justices have an opportunity to welcome it back with some rules on behavior.

 

Other:

 

How the Pandemic Changed Your Politics

New York Times

Yet the collective challenges didn’t translate into much political consensus. About the only thing we agree on? We’re ready for the pandemic to be over, even if we’re not quite sure how the country will recover.

 

For States’ COVID Contact Tracing Apps, Privacy Tops Utility

PEW

Over the past year, 24 states and Washington, D.C., have spent millions developing and promoting the Apple and Google-based apps or systems. The tech giants made the basic platform free, but states have spent anywhere from $9,600 in North Dakota to $3 million in Washington state on app development and marketing.

 

The Good News They Won’t Tell You About Race in America

Commentary

But facts are facts. In 2021 America, it is not, objectively speaking, extraordinarily hard for a person of any skin tone to “make it.”

See also:

 

Opinion: If you’re worried that journalists have learned nothing from the Trump years.

PressThink

Even after all that has happened from the escalator to the insurrection, you’re worried that the American press has learned nothing from the Trump years. You’re seeing it fall into old patterns. Your frustration is rising, your patience thinning.

 

Opinion: America Has Forgotten How to Forgive

The Atlantic

Yesterday afternoon, Condé Nast announced that Alexi McCammond, a 27-year-old former reporter for Axios, would not be taking over as editor of the magazine after all. She had been done in by her own social-media posts.

 

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

 

Saturday, March 27, at 1:30 a.m. on ABC30 – Maddy Report: "California's Post-Pandemic Economy: From Crisis to Opportunity" - Guest: Lenny Mendonca, former Chief Economic & Business Advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom and former head of GOBiz. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

 

Sunday, March 28, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report - Valley Views Edition: “Building a More Competitive and Inclusive Valley Economy"  - Guest: Don Howard, President & CEO - The James Irvine Foundation. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

 

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

 

Cesar Chavez’s Labor Organizing Legacy at Stake in Supreme Court Case

Wall Street Journal

One of labor leader César Chávez’s proudest achievements faces scrutiny Monday at the Supreme Court, where growers are challenging the rights that union organizers hold under California law to make their case to farmworkers in the fields.

See also:

 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/FIRE/PUBLIC SAFETY

 

Crime:

 

Slew of lawsuits follow police shootings after deadly 2020

Bakersfield Californian

After a year when deep resentment over police tactics boiled over like never before, a Montebello law firm has challenged the Kern County Sheriff’s Office and Bakersfield Police Department over multiple officer-involved shootings.

 

What Do Victims Want? New California Justice Reforms Expose Divide Among Crime Survivors

KQED
Under state law, people charged with crimes in juvenile court can only serve until their 25th birthday, and can also qualify before that for early release. The idea is that young people’s brains are still developing and they should be given a chance at reform rather than locked up for life.

 

Why is it so hard for America to designate domestic terrorism and hate crimes?

Brookings

It is not enough for people to only be convicted of murder. They should also be convicted of hate crimes or we will continue to see everyday, mundane acts of racism spill over into larger acts of domestic terrorism.

 

Warszawski: ‘A different outlet for pain.’ How Advance Peace aims to reduce gun violence in Fresno

Fresno Bee

Inside a small recording studio tucked within an office complex near the airport, illuminated by purple UV lights and the glow of computer screens, one of Fresno’s best-known rappers helps lay down a new track.

 

Public Safety:

 

COVID-19’s spread in Valley prisons rose sharply. One facility saw a 2,775% jump

Fresno Bee

Coronavirus cases among women inmates at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla exploded for a 28-fold increase between December and March, the largest percentage increase among all California state prisons and correctional facilities.

 

Gun waiting periods rare in US states but more may be coming

Fresno Bee

Not long before the deadly Atlanta-area shootings spread fear and anger through Asian American communities nationwide, police say the attacker made a legal purchase: a 9 mm handgun. Within hours, they say, he had killed eight people, seven of them women and six of Asian descent, in a rampage targeting massage businesses.

 

Fire:

 

Atty. Gen. Becerra joins lawsuits challenging housing projects in wildfire areas

Los Angeles Times

Suburban housing proposals in California are facing ever greater scrutiny over wildfire concerns, with Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra taking his most recent stand against development in high-fire areas on Wednesday.

 

ECONOMY/JOBS

 

Economy:

 

Opinion: The COVID-19 relief package may pose a difficult dilemma for the Fed

AEI

Many observers are highlighting dire risks with President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. Combined with a surge in private spending as the pandemic eases, it may push U.S. GDP well beyond the economy’s capacity.

 

Jobs:

 

T-Mobile sets site for Kingsburg call center, 1,000 jobs. Where, when are they coming?

Fresno Bee

A long-awaited T-Mobile call center anticipated to bring 1,000 jobs to Kingsburg now has a confirmed site set for the Fresno County city.

 

Movie theaters prepare for COVID re-opening. For some, that means they’re hiring

Fresno Bee

Movie theaters in the Modesto area are preparing for an eventual re-opening once local COVID-19 restrictions loosen again across Stanislaus County. Galaxy Theatres in Riverbank is hiring for at least three floor staff positions, according to their website and social media feeds.

 

Kings County Farm Bureau: How will COVID affect our workforce in the future?

Hanford Sentinel

Is it just me, or is our country not talking about the long-term effects the COVID-19 pandemic will have on our great nation? I am not referring to health impacts now and into the future, but the strain on our education system, workforce and economy.

 

Will workers return to re-imagined offices post-pandemic?

PBS
For about a year, many Americans have been forced to work from home due to COVID-19 safety concerns. Now, architects and designers are thinking about the future of the workspace for when workers return.

 

A policy manifesto for paying, protecting, and empowering essential workers

Brookings

It is long past time that we treat essential workers as truly essential. Lawmakers in Washington and around the country have the opportunity to turn their policy rhetoric into real change.

 

Can My Employer Ask if I Got a Coronavirus Shot?

Wall Street Journal

Employers can, in general, require vaccination as a condition of employment but must still accommodate religious beliefs or medical conditions that keep workers from getting shots.

 

Wanted: A public option for finding work in the gig economy

Brookings

This emergent service, which supports the core job training and matching missions of these agencies, comes without the high fees and pay controls that platform companies count on to produce big profits for their investors.

 

EDUCATION

 

K-12:

 

Do kids need COVID vaccines for school to return to normal? Here’s what experts say

Fresno Bee

There’s been a fierce focus on what the remaining and next school year will look like as the coronavirus and its variants continue to spread, and as millions of Americans get vaccinated against COVID-19 every day.

See also:

 

Valley school districts prepare for changes after CDC says 3-feet distance safe

abc30

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a major change to its COVID-19 safety guidelines in classrooms on Friday. Officials have reduced the required distance between students from 6 feet down to 3 feet.

See also:

 

Report: Merced County high school graduation rates at highest point in recent history

Merced Sun-Star

Despite many limitations placed on Merced County high schools during the COVID pandemic, there was a silver lining in a year otherwise marked by hurdles and challenges. Merced County high schools graduated 93.30% of its seniors in 2020 — a level that beat the state’s overall high school graduation rate of 90%.

 

California’s special-needs children still seek help after year adrift

CalMatters

One year after schools shuttered, the fears of many parents of California’s special-needs students have been realized.

 

Some Schools Have Been Open for Months. Here’s What They Learned.

Wall Street Journal

Parents, cities and teachers in many places continue to wrangle over how to reopen their schools safely. Meanwhile, teachers and administrators whose buildings have been open for many months have come to some hard-earned conclusions about how to make it all work.

 

Editorial: Full-time, in-person schooling: It’s where the science is heading

Los Angeles Times

Hybrid schooling — part-time on campus, part-time remote — has been introduced in a number of school districts as an ostensibly safer alternative to full-time in-person instruction.

 

Opinion: Why Common Core failed

Brookings

More than a decade after the 2010 release of Common Core State Standards in English language arts and mathematics, no convincing evidence exists that the standards had a significant, positive impact on student achievement.

 

Higher Ed:

 

Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval: Bulldog spirit has shined in the year since Fresno State paused in-person classes

Fresno Bee

I want to acknowledge Saturday, March 20, as the one-year anniversary of the day we had to pause in-person classes and services at Fresno State because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

UC Merced student awarded Rhodes Scholarship

abc30

A UC Merced student is being recognized internationally for her academics and research. When UC Merced grad student Selina Brinkmann first learned she had been awarded a Rhodes scholarship, she didn't believe it.

 

Pricey textbooks holding Fresno college students back. Could this fix the problem?

Fresno Bee

Janessa Martinez was eager to return to Fresno City College after five years out of school. But Martinez, who prefers ‘they/them’ pronouns, said they were crushed by the punishing cost of textbooks, and maxed out two credit cards to make it work.

See also:

 

A Year Without Student-Loan Payments

Wall Street Journal

For the more than 42 million borrowers with federal student loans, the Covid-19 pandemic brought unexpected relief: a break from payments.

See also:

 

Opinion: The Future of U.S. Higher Education: A Few Stars, Many Satellites

Wall Street Journal

The taxi system was unreliable, expensive and unpleasant, so along came Uber and overturned it. Higher education, even more antiquated than taxis, is due for a comparable shock—and the sooner, the better.

 

 

ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY

 

Environment:

 

Valley Air News

SJV Air Pollution Control District

The District concluded its 2020-2021 Check Before You Burn program on February 28, thanking Valley residents who acknowledge the health benefits of the rule and seek alternatives to wood burning.

 

California Has A New Idea For Homes At Risk From Rising Seas: Buy, Rent, Retreat

NPR

At a normal tide on a normal day on the Southern California coast, ankle-high waves glide over a narrow strip of gold sand. On one side sits the largest body of water in the world. On the other, a row of houses, propped on water-stained stilts.

See also:

 

Energy:

 

Reform drive focuses on rates paid to homeowners with rooftop solar

Bakersfield Californian

A major driver behind the expansion of rooftop solar power in California faces broad calls for reform after researchers concluded the state's "net energy metering" system has benefited the wealthiest ratepayers at other residential customers' expense.

 

Are California Oil Companies Complying With the Law? Even Regulators Often Don’t Know.

ProPublica

This oil and gas regulatory agency was given more resources to protect the public and environment. But with its “useless” record-keeping system and lax enforcement practices, it still struggles to hold delinquent companies accountable.

 

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

 

Health:

 

COVID-19 vaccine supply will remain flat through March, followed by a surge

Fresno Bee

State and local officials throughout the country who are anxious for more doses of COVID-19 vaccines were told this week that supply will remain stagnant for most of this month, but should surge in the last days of March through the beginning of April.

See also:

 

Coronavirus weekly need-to-know: CA variants, AstraZeneca vaccine, long-haulers & more

Fresno Bee

More than 29.7 million people in the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Saturday afternoon, March 20, according to Johns Hopkins University. That includes more than 541,000 people who have died nationwide.

See also:

 

Almost half of all health care workers in U.S. haven't had COVID-19 vaccine, survey shows

CBSNews

Every day, more Americans become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, yet nearly half of all frontline health care workers remain unvaccinated, even though they were given priority access to the first available doses.

See also:

 

Opinion: Where’s the Science Behind CDC’s 6-Foot Social-Distance Decree?

Wall Street Journal

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance on Friday about how far apart children ought to be while in school.

 

Human Services:

 

Hospitals ponder what changes may linger after pandemic

Bakersfield Californian

Now that hospitals are no longer overrun with COVID-19 patients, administrators are taking stock of some changes brought on by the pandemic.

 

Getting All U.S. Swabs on Deck

Bloomberg

The Covid-19 pandemic brought the business opportunity of a lifetime to a  family-owned company called Puritan Medical Products. Based in the tiny town of Guilford, Maine, Puritan is the sole Covid swab manufacturer in the U.S.

 

IMMIGRATION

 

Biden is on his heels amid a migrant surge at Mexico border

Bakersfield Californian

Within weeks of Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, the Biden administration had reversed many of the Trump-era immigration policies, including deporting children seeking asylum who arrived alone at the U.S.-Mexico border.

See also:

 

House passes ‘Dreamers’ bill as immigration debate intensifies — at the border and in Congress

Los Angeles Times

The long-raging debate over fixing the nation’s dysfunctional immigration system flared back to life this week, with Republicans seeking political advantage from a surge of children at the southwestern border as Democrats pressed forward with legislation that could create a path to citizenship for millions, including young “Dreamers.”

See also:

 

LAND USE/HOUSING

 

Land Use:

 

California panel votes to end off-roading at Oceano Dunes

Fresno Bee

The California Coastal Commission has voted to end off-highway vehicle use at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area within three years, a decision that follows decades of debate over environmental and cultural impacts.

See also:

 

New Landmark Square Development Receives Final Funding

Clovis Roundup

The Landmark Square Project (LSP) received its go-ahead for final funding in the form of lease revenue bonds, as the Clovis City Council authorized the issuance and sale of the bonds at the Monday, March 15 meeting.

 

Should Fresno's public projects be covered by labor agreements? Study weighs in

Business Journal

A new study from the UC Merced Community and Labor Center has analyzed the impact that a municipal Project Labor Agreement (PLA) could have for the City of Fresno.

 

Robert Price: Old Town Kern’s historic train depot could face the wrecking ball

Bakersfield Californian

America has a fascination with trains, with history, and with food, not necessarily in that order. Little wonder, then, that literally hundreds of U.S. train stations have been transformed, in whole or in part, into places that celebrate some combination of those things.

 

Opinion: If Black lives really matter, we must invest in Black neighborhoods

Washington Post

As a nation, we have made a choice to largely ignore what the evidence says about creating safe neighborhoods. We have declined to fund place-based interventions, such as parks and trees, that actually work to protect citizens.

 

Housing:

 

‘I know that I’m going to make it.’ New Fresno homeless center opens on Blackstone Ave.

Fresno Bee

Addressing the needs of Fresno’s homeless population, Crossroads Village held its grand opening Friday with the County of Fresno and developers RH Community Builders and UPholdings.

 

Housing affordability brings newcomers to Kern River Valley, for better or worse

Bakersfield Californian

Word is getting out about the "undiscovered gem" of life in the southern Sierra Nevada as people fleeing big cities during the pandemic add new life — and money — to the Lake Isabella area.

 

Turlock begins clearing homeless encampment. Here’s what one resident said about it

Modesto Bee

Unsheltered people living near 1400 West Main St., located between Planet Fitness and Evergreen Packaging, gathered their belongings while contractors cleaned up items left behind, such as tarps and water jugs.

 

Fresno advocate asked city to help with homeless encampment. City Council disagreed on how

Fresno Bee

She pleaded through tears at Thursday’s Fresno City Council meeting for help from city leaders, saying that efforts to get freeway campers into shelters have pushed more people into the camp she manages.

See also:

 

California’s Homeless Population Rose 7% To 161,000 Ahead Of The Pandemic, New Report Finds

Capital Public Radio

A new federal report shows California’s homeless population increased by nearly 7% early last year to an estimated 161,548, months before the pandemic and subsequent economic crisis spread across the state.

 

How California used COVID to create housing. A top Newsom adviser weighs in

Mercury News

As health officials scrambled last March with shelter-in-place orders to slow the spread of COVID-19, Jason Elliott was tackling another seemingly overwhelming problem: How do we keep the more than 100,000 Californians sleeping on our streets from dying of the virus?

 

CDC Likely To Extend Eviction Moratorium With Millions Of People Behind On Rent

VPR

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has taken a key step toward extending an order aimed at preventing evictions during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. The CDC order is currently set to expire in less than 2 weeks.

See also:

 

Opinion: Rents for the rich are plummeting. Rents for the poor are rising. Why?

Washington Post

Much has been written about the two-track, or “K-shaped,” economic recovery, in which higher-income households have generally been doing well financially, while lower- and moderate-income ones are foundering.

 

PUBLIC FINANCES

 

It’s tax time. Here’s how to get stimulus money you might have missed

Fresno Bee

Your income plunged last year. You had a baby. You think you didn’t get all the 2020 stimulus money that should have come your way. You can still get your money, and very soon.

See also:

 

High-Income Tax Avoidance Far Larger Than Thought, New Paper Estimates

Wall Street Journal

The top sliver of high-income Americans dodge significantly more in income taxes than the Internal Revenue Service’s methods had previously assumed, according to forthcoming estimates from IRS researchers and academic economists.

 

An Updated Analysis of Former Vice President Biden's Tax Proposals

Tax Policy Center

This brief updates estimates of the revenue and distributional effects of former vice president Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign tax proposals.

 

Opinion: Down the Biden Tax Threshold

Wall Street Journal

Mr. Biden campaigned on a pledge not to raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 a year. He reaffirmed that threshold last week in an ABC interview.

 

TRANSPORTATION

 

Another airline is adding service at Fresno airport. Where will it fly?

Fresno Bee

The travel industry is continuing to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic, and Fresno Yosemite International Airport is one of the beneficiaries of that recovery.

See also:

 

$29 flights? Southwest Airlines offering special fares for flights out of Fresno

Fresno Bee

Southwest Airlines hasn’t even started flying to and from Fresno Yosemite International Airport yet, but the company is already including the city in a new sale of special fares in California markets for travel through June.

 

WATER

 

Groundwater plans could cause up to 12,000 drinking water wells to run dry

SJVWater

If all goes according to plan — actually 26 groundwater sustainability plans — between 46,000 and nearly 130,000 Central Valley residents could be out of water by 2040, according to a new report released by the Water Foundation.

 

Well water throughout California contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’

CalMatters

In the weeks before the coronavirus began tearing through California, the city of Commerce made an expensive decision: It shut down part of its water supply.

 

California Considers World’s First Guidelines on Microplastics in Drinking Water

Capital Public Radio

They’re in your food. They’re in your drinks. They’re in the air. Microplastics are pretty much everywhere. And California may become the first place in the world to attempt limits on how much of it can be in your drinking water.

 

Water Infrastructure and Health in U.S. Cities

National Bureau of Economic Research

Between 1900 and 1930 typhoid fever and other waterborne diseases were largely eradicated from U.S. cities. This achievement required a mix of technological, scientific, economic, and bureaucratic innovations.

 

Op-Ed: California needs to repeat history by passing new clean water laws

Los Angeles Times

The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act, California’s state clean water law, passed in 1969 and became the model for the 1972 federal Clean Water Act. Nearly half a century after passage of the landmark federal law, it is time for both the state and the nation to assess progress and chart a new course.

 

“Xtra”

 

Fresno's Forestiere Underground Gardens reopens

abc30

A historic and popular landmark in Fresno has re-opened just in time for the first day of Spring. The Forestiere Underground Gardens re-opened for the first time since December.

 

Bethany Clough: A wine bar is finally coming to downtown Fresno. You might recognize the people behind it

Fresno Bee

Downtown Fresno is getting a wine bar. Natural wine bar St. Joaquin has signed a lease to open in the Peerless Building, the big 1935 brick building at the corner of Broadway and Amador streets.

 

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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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