November 13, 2016

13Nov

Political Stories

Top stories

In wake of Trump presidency, Fresno’s undocumented anxiously brace for the future — Aracely watched the presidential election unfold on her college campus in Fresno through tears. The 19-year-old, who is a recipient of a federal program that protects undocumented young people from being deported, knows her future is uncertain in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump. Fresno Bee article 

Dan Walters: California’s tax revolt may have run its course — There’s little doubt that in 2018, or more likely 2020, another effort will be mounted to change or even repeal Proposition 13. It will be a very expensive battle pitting unions against business – and the ultimate test of whether California’s tax revolt has run its course. Walters column in Sacramento Bee

Fresno, Valley voters didn’t want pot, but they got it.  Here’s what will change — Central San Joaquin Valley voters rejected marijuana legalization, but the new laws are here anyway. And with them came new rights for residents, as well as new headaches for law enforcement. Fresno Bee article

State budget

Prop 55 extends tax on rich, but won’t fix boom-bust cycle — Though Californians voted to continue taxing the rich to bolster public schools and fund health insurance for the poor, keeping the status quo does not mend state government’s underlying fiscal frailty. In some ways, the passage of Proposition 55 could subject California’s budget to greater volatility.  AP article

Valley politics

Fresno’s new boss: Lee Brand won’t be the same as the old boss — Fresno Mayor-elect Lee Brand earned his predecessor’s important endorsement as part of a hard-fought election campaign. But while he pledges to follow through on a number of Ashley Swearengin’s major initiatives, it would be a mistake to expect Brand to be a carbon copy of the woman who has held the office for almost eight years. Fresno Bee article 

Fresno County election updates show mixed results for local tax, bond measures — Updated vote totals released Saturday by the Fresno County Elections Office show races involving local tax and bond measures are still tight, with measures in Kerman and Parlier continuing to come up short of the two-thirds voter approval needed for passage. Fresno Bee article 

Stockton council elections to change — It wasn’t until Tuesday’s election — 22 years after South Africa ended apartheid and on the same night American voters elected Donald Trump as president — that citywide voting finally passed quietly into the Stockton night. Nearly 60 percent of Stockton voters approved Measure N last week. That outcome means that beginning in 2018, residents of council districts will have sole discretion over who represents them at City Hall. Stockton Record article

Latest Results:

Statewide politics/Ballot Measures

John Myers: Californians have a long, love-hate relationship with ballot propositions — Support for the initiative process notwithstanding, voters have said some improvements would help, like more disclosure of who funds the campaigns that this year set a new record. Polls also show support for helping citizen groups without big bank accounts get their ideas on the ballot. Myers in LA Times

Robin Abcarian: Now what? A dispensary owner, a scientist, a defense expert and a city manager reflect on the new pot law — Santa Monica is among hundreds of California cities that must determine how, or even whether, to implement legalization. Though medical marijuana was approved by state voters 20 years ago, only a few cities — San Francisco, Oakland and West Hollywood — have developed rational approaches to regulation. Cities will have to figure out how to mesh rules for medical pot, if they have them, with rules for recreational pot, if they want them. Abcarian column in LA Times

Immigration

Beneficiaries of Obama’s immigration relief worry about future under Trump – Now Terrones and hundreds of thousands of immigrants confront the possibility having their immigration relief stripped away and returning to the more unsettled rhythms of their former lives when President-elect Donald Trump takes the reins of the White House on Jan. 20. LA Times article

With Trump’s election, border groups ‘double down’ efforts – President-elect Donald Trump’s call for stepped-up deportations, construction of a continuous wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and changing the terms of trade with Mexico raised alarm among many striving for closer ties between Tijuana and San Diego. But those who champion the bilateral relationship say their growing collaboration will not wither away under a Trump administration, even amid much uncertainty as to how these proposals will be carried out. San Diego Union-Tribune article

Other areas

Mike Klocke: Bidding adieu to Election 2016 — Election 2016 is in the books, and here are some things left on the cutting room floor. Klocke column in Stockton Record

Donald W. Blount: Elections: Be wary, be hopeful — As with all elections, there are winners and losers. The winners jump with joy, while the losers tuck their tails and slink off in defeat. Blount column in Stockton Record

Presidential Politics

Thousands rally, march in nationwide anti-Trump protests – Tens of thousands of people marched in streets across the United States on Saturday, staging the fourth day of protests of Donald Trump’s surprise victory as president. AP article; LA Times article

The election may be over, but the political divide is evident at Fresno protest rally – Waving protest signs and chanting “Impeach Trump” and “Trump is not my president,” about 200 people came together Saturday in northwest Fresno for a protest of Donald J. Trump’s election as president. Fresno Bee article

Protestors taken anti-Trump message to his doorstep, and plan next steps – Beyond the commotion in the streets, liberal activists are preparing legislative challenges and getting ready to support social services they assume will be gutted. New York Times article

Trump’s election reopens wounds from bloody San Jose rally — In many ways, what happened that summer night on the corner of San Carlos Street and Almaden Boulevard — when San Jose became the center of the rage and divisiveness of the 2016 presidential race — has defined both the bitter divide and the inconceivable challenge to put it behind us.  San Jose Mercury News article 

Jeff Jardine: Modesto’s anti-Trump protest, Veterans Day event shared common free speech bond – The greatest argument for free speech is any argument against it. Protesters have the right to criticize Trump (or any other candidate) and to protest his presidency as long as they do so peacefully. And those who criticize the protesters in social media and on modbee.com have the same right. They even have the right to criticize the concept of free speech or protest – but not the right to prevent it. The other young protesters could have learned something by attending the Veterans Day event and perhaps listening a bit to those veterans who fought or served. Jardine column in Modesto Bee

Marcos Breton: This is how a Trump hater made peace with a Trump presidency – I’m going to give my new president a chance. I hope to do better on that front than Obama’s opponents did for him. As Americans, we get to criticize and protest our leaders if we don’t agree with them. Trump is the president, not a king, and he has to answer to the people. We can support him or oppose him as we choose – all day, every day. God bless America. Breton column in Sacramento Bee

Steve Lopez: He voted for Trump. I can’t understand why. We met in search of common ground — For a time, in the heat of the campaign, Jon Gindick shut me down. He liked Donald Trump. I didn’t. Lopez column in LA Times

Christopher Meyers: Where are the grownups? – The professor of philosophy and director of CSU Bakersfield’s Kegley Institute of Ethics writes, “Many of us need to accept an uncomfortable truth: We did not treat the presidential campaign with sufficient gravity. Given how it all unfolded, it was just too easy to view it as mere entertainment, to revel in the evening news’ daily absurdity recap and to chuckle over how not even Beau Willimon of “House of Cards” could come up with stories this outrageous.” Meyers op-ed in Bakersfield Californian

Silicon Valley searches for the Trump playbook – As the White House prepares to usher in a new president, the technology industry finds itself staring into the unknown. Donald Trump’s campaign had no position on supporting the start-up community. No plan for dealing with artificial intelligence. No policies governing open data. And that doesn’t even get to the heart of the industry’s concerns about his social policy agenda. LA Times article

Hillary Clinton says the FBI’s late mail review was one factor in her loss — A somber Hillary Clinton blamed her presidential election loss on a variety of factors Saturday, including FBI Director James B. Comey‘s announcement last month that newfound emails possibly linked to her private server were being reviewed.  LA Times article

News Stories

Top Stories

Valley fever cases spike. Is it the weather? — As recently as August, health officials in Kern County told the Center for Health Journalism Collaborative, a consortium of news outlets brought together by the USC Center for Health Journalism, that the number of cases this year would be lower than in 2015. Health officials did not warn the public of a looming epidemic until September. Now officials say that as many as 2,000 people in Kern alone could contract valley fever by 2017. Bakersfield Californian article 

No more paper or plastic freebies as plastic bag ban goes into effect in Modesto — One of life’s great quandaries has finally been settled in California. With the passage of Proposition 67, “paper or plastic?” will no longer be the biggest question facing people at grocery checkouts. The single-use plastic bag ban went into effect locally the day after the proposition passed, surprising some shoppers with its speed. Modesto Bee article

Jobs and the Economy

California economy faces uncertainty under Trump presidency – Economists say while Donald Trump’s promises to restrict free trade will be difficult to deliver on, his protectionist policies would likely hurt California more than other states since much of its economy is driven by international trade. KQED report

Sacramento may ask pot growers to give 1 percent to neighborhoods — Continuing a nearly yearlong debate, the Sacramento City Council on Tuesday will once again consider how marijuana could legally be grown in Sacramento, and who would profit. The fight for what is expected to be millions of dollars in annual public revenue has pitted council members against one another, and left the growth of the local industry in question, even as voters last week legalized recreational marijuana in California. Sacramento Bee article 

Sacramento nonprofits make connections while honing 3-minute pitches — Nonprofit leaders rarely receive constructive criticism of their requests for donations. They either get funded or they don’t. The philanthropists at Social Venture Partners of Sacramento have changed that with their Fast Pitch program. Sacramento Bee article

Agriculture/Water/Drought

Is Sites Reservoir a savior for the Sacramento Valley – or a Delta tunnels project in disguise? — An hour north of Sacramento, in a ghost town tucked into a remote mountain valley, California is poised to build a massive new reservoir – a water project of a size that hasn’t been undertaken since Jerry Brown’s first stint as governor in the 1970s. Sacramento Bee article

Education

Bakersfield City School District may ban ‘racist’ mascots – When the Washington Redskins’ name came under fire a few years ago after some considered it racist, it spurred a national conversation about whether such mascots are appropriate — and now the Bakersfield City School District will consider adopting an anti-discrimination policy barring such mascots Monday. Which begs the question: Will the Frank West and Wayside elementary school Warriors be keeping their Native American mascots? Bakersfield Californian article

Lois Henry: Trustee upset by harsh press: Someone call a waaambulance — Talk about classy — NOT. I’m surprised exiting Kern High School District Trustee Chad Vegas didn’t blame the newspaper for weeds in campus lawns along with all the other district problems he dumped at our feet in remarks he made during his final board meeting on Nov. 7. Bakersfield Californian article

Local and state voters willing to spend big on schools — Presidential elections are a good time to pass school bonds. In fact, it was hard last week to find a school or education funding plan that California voters on the state or local level weren’t willing to pay for. In liberal Los Angeles County, voters approved 28 of 29 school-funding measures. Kern County, a conservative bastion that voted 56% for Republican President-elect Donald Trump, approved 11 of 12 school bonds.  LA Times article

Cal State Fullerton’s Project Rebound aims to make life after prison successful – An effort to help former inmates gain access to higher education is coming to Cal State Fullerton, the first initiative of its kind in Orange County. LA Times article

Health/Human Services

If Obamacare is repealed, California has the most to lose – putting the insured on edge — California led the way with Obamacare, signing up more people for health insurance than any other state.  Now with a possibility that President-elect Donald Trump will repeal the law, as he has promised, the stakes are higher here than anywhere else. LA Times article

Land Use/Housing

Habitat for Humanity home comes with sense of déjà vu for Modesto family — It would make sense if members of the Aceves family felt a sense of déjà vu as they gathered Thursday afternoon for a dedication ceremony for their new Habitat for Humanity home in east Modesto.  The family of six received a Habitat home several years ago in the airport neighborhood. They are getting a second Habitat home because Gallo Glass Co. bought their first one along with five other Habitat homes in their neighborhood so it can expand storage capacity at its facility. Modesto Bee article

Other areas 

Michael Fitzgerald: Seeking answers, ‘Baby Tracie’ goes public – Twenty-nine years ago, a Tracy pizza guy heard a tiny cry coming from a trash bin. Digging, he discovered a naked newborn girl. A shivering, 3-pound preemie, perhaps two hours old. Baby Tracie, as the foundling became known, made headlines. But when she got out of the hospital, and she was adopted, what became of her remained unknown. Until now. Fitzgerald column in Stockton Record

David Mas Masumoto: My father’s Cubbies — My father understood there are more losers than winners in baseball and in life. The Cubs taught him that. And now I comprehend the twisted circumstances that made him a Cubs fan. Masumoto column in Fresno Bee

Valley Editorial Roundup

Fresno Bee – Thumbs up, thumbs down; Forget #Calexit. Just defend California against Trump.