November 18, 2021

22Nov

POLICY & POLITICS

 

North SJ Valley:

 

COVID Update:

 

Turlock students told to leave school board meeting because adults refused to wear masks

Modesto Bee

Carlson excused the board’s two student representatives — high school students who participate in meetings as nonvoting members. She also directed Dutcher Middle School Principal Scott Lucas to tell two student honorees they could not attend.

 

Merced project supported by City Council would add thousands of housing units to city

Merced Sun Star

Marking a move decades in the making, Merced City Council unanimously voted to support the preliminary annexation application for the Virginia Smith Trust development project moving forward, which would eventually integrate 654 acres of mixed-use property into the city.

 

Modesto council elections may be a year away, but 3 candidates have stepped forward

Modesto Bee

City Council members are elected by district (but the mayor is elected in a citywide vote), and Modesto is in the process of redrawing its council district boundaries ahead of the November 2022 election.

Stanislaus County leaders nix election process for Denair, south Modesto MACs

Modesto Bee

Stanislaus County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday evening to approve an appointment process for placing members on the South Modesto and Denair municipal advisory councils.

 

Ceres Walmart legal battle took years. Here’s how opposing sides feel about opening day

Modesto Bee

The City Council unanimously approved the Supercenter in 2011, but then a group called Citizens for Ceres sued Walmart and the city, arguing the report violated the California Environmental Quality Act.

See also:

 

Teens in Turlock are taking over restaurants after hours. Here’s why.

Modesto Bee

Restaurant kitchen pots are sizzling after business hours as rising food insecurity motivates Turlock teens to cook for their community.

 

Central SJ Valley:

 

COVID Update:

 

What happens now that Fresno County leaders picked a districts map, despite opposition?

Fresno Bee

The super majority of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted to support a new map that came from the latest redistricting process. Every 10 years, following the latest U.S. Census, the redistricting process draws up maps for voting districts across the state.

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Should this Fresno County place change its name? Supporters call for public hearings

Fresno Bee

Over a year after launching an effort to rename Squaw Valley, a group of about 15 protesters gathered in downtown Fresno on Tuesday to urge the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to change the name that many argue is racist and misogynistic.

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Judge shortage stops civil trials in Fresno federal courts. How long will it last?

Fresno Bee

A shortage of federal judges in the U.S. Eastern District of California has caused judicial officials to halt any new civil cases from moving forward in the Fresno courthouse.

 

EDITORIAL: Clovis council’s denial of apartment project shows why California has a housing crisis

Fresno Bee

A recent denial by the Clovis City Council of a proposed apartment complex shows all too clearly why California is trapped in a housing crisis.

 

New Tulare County map could do away with 'good old boy' network on Board of Supervisors

Visalia Times-Delta

After a months-long process that involved dozens of hours of public input, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors approved on Tuesday a final map that will set the political lines for elections and voting over the next decade.

 

Tulare leaders look to 'pump some blood' back into downtown with American Rescue Plan

Visalia Times Delta

On Tuesday, Tulare City Council revealed its initial roadmap for spending the $18 million the city is projected to receive through the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion bill passed by Congress in March to help in the economic recovery of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Assemblymember Salas delivers $2M for new community center in Avenal

Hanford Sentinel

Assemblymember Rudy Salas joined Avenal City officials, local law enforcement, Supervisor Richard Valle, CrisCom Company, and community members to present the City of Avenal with $2 million in direct investment to build a state of the art community center

 

TJ Cox endorses one of Valadao’s Democratic challengers in high-profile congressional race

Fresno Bee

Former Democratic Rep. TJ Cox has endorsed Democratic challenger Rudy Salas for the 21st Congressional District Cox previously represented. The seat has flip-flopped in the last two elections. In 2018, Cox beat longtime Republican incumbent David Valadao.

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South SJ Valley:

COVID Update:

 

Kern County supervisors vote to keep districts largely the same

Bakersfield Californian

The Kern County Board of Supervisors has locked in its new district boundaries for the next 10 years. In a 4-1 vote with Supervisor Leticia Perez dissenting, the board approved a map labeled Draft Plan A3 that makes only slight changes to the current boundaries.

See also:

 

Dewar's joins other local businesses in signing lease at new Bolthouse Properties center in southwest Bakersfield

Bakersfield Californian

Southwest Bakersfield will get new businesses as part of the first phase of a 15-acre commercial and retail center that broke ground Wednesday at the northwest corner of Stockdale Highway and Heath Road.

 

State:

 

COVID Update:

California redistricting: Which incumbents are in tough spots?

CalMatters

The state’s redistricting commission isn’t supposed to consider where current elected officials live. And the preliminary maps put some House members and state legislators into less politically friendly districts, or in the same district as another incumbent.

 

California on track to notch a $31 billion budget surplus. Will taxpayers see a rebate?

Sacramento Bee

California lawmakers should consider ways to return cash to taxpayers next year with the state on course to bring in an estimated $31 billion budget surplus, non-partisan analysts said in an economic outlook report Wednesday.

See also:

 

Governor Newsom Announces Initial Broadband Projects to Help Bridge Digital Divide

CA.gov

18 projects in tribal communities, counties and cities across the state mark the first step in creating open-access middle-mile network to provide missing broadband infrastructure.

 

California’s $1.2 billion Capitol renovation is underway. Activists are still trying to halt it

Sacramento Bee

Dozens of environmental and preservation activists on Wednesday protested the demolition of the California Capitol annex, a 69-year-old structure attached to the historic statehouse that lawmakers consider outdated and dangerous.

 

California Rep. Jackie Speier won’t run for re-election. What it means for Democrats

Sacramento Bee

Rep. Jackie Speier said Tuesday she would not run for re-election, a decision that ends the congressional career of one of the House’s leading women’s right champions.

 

California defends private prison ban in petition to federal appeals court

Sacramento Bee

California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Wednesday announced the state filed a petition to repeal a federal appeals court decision to block a law that would end the state’s use of private, for-profit detention facilities.

See also:

 

Caviar seller stayed with California treasurer and her staff on work trips, ex-staffer says

Sacramento Bee

A businessman preparing to buy a California caviar company stayed with state Treasurer Fiona Ma and her aides at a property they were renting for work trips, the lawyer for a former employee suing the treasurer said.

 

Whistleblower or flamethrower? California Medical Board member calls out his colleagues

Los Angeles Times

In an extraordinary move, Watkins last week filed a whistleblower complaint with the state auditor’s office urging the agency to investigate the inner workings of the board and its decisions, which are largely cloaked under the law

 

Commentary: More holistic approach needed to address backlog at our ports

CalMatters

California leaders need to implement these solutions to tackle short- and long-term issues at the state’s ports.

Commentary: Restricting check-cashing outlets would limit options

CalMatters

Without licensed financial services providers, consumers who cannot wait to access their check will resort to less regulated alternatives.

 

Federal:

 

COVID Update:

 

Biden's plan to stop surprise medical bills faces bipartisan pushback in Congress

VPR

A bipartisan group of 152 lawmakers have been assailing the Biden administration's plan to regulate the law and medical providers, warning of grim consequences for underserved patients.

 

Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to contempt of Congress charges

VPR
Steve Bannon, who once served as former President Donald Trump's chief political strategist, is pleading not guilty to federal charges for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

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Dems forge ahead on $1.75T bill over inflation fears

Politico

Anxiety over rising inflation is complicating Democrats’ ambitious push to pass nearly $2 trillion in expanded social programs this winter. Still, it hasn’t scared off key centrists in the House ahead of this week’s floor vote.

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Dems weigh pre-Christmas shutdown cliff to prod dug-in Republicans

Politico

Democrats are floating another short-term spending patch that kicks the next shutdown threat closer to the holidays, hoping to needle Republicans into talks over a sweeping government funding deal.

 

Pain at the pump drives Biden’s suffering in the polls

Politico

Consumer sentiment has plunged in recent weeks as inflation climbed to the highest levels in more than a generation. The gasoline price spike feeding Americans' inflation anxiety has the White House scrambling to show voters it's got a plan to ease their pain at the pump.

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Senators poised to begin debate on defense authorization bill

Roll Call

Lawmakers Wednesday evening sidestepped the biggest stumbling block in the way of Senate consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act and are set to debate the sprawling policy measure starting Thursday.

 

House Votes to Censure GOP Rep. Paul Gosar Over Violent Video

Wall Street Journal

The House voted 223-207 Wednesday to censure GOP Rep. Paul Gosar and remove him from his committee assignments over an animated video he posted last week that showed him killing Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and poised to attack President Biden.

 

Watchdog finds no money has flowed out of agency tasked by Trump admin to fight pandemic

The Hill

A government watchdog issued a report on Wednesday that found an agency tasked by the Trump administration with helping fight the pandemic has not allocated any of the $100 million it was given to help address COVID-19 supply chain issues.

 

A year out, political groups prepare for what could be the most expensive midterms ever

Roll Call

Super PACs — more than a decade old, with an infrastructure and stream of donors to rival the major political parties — and other outside organizations have already begun to invest heavily to influence the outcome of the 2022 elections.

 

Electric-Vehicle Spat Looms Over Biden’s Meeting With Canadian, Mexican Leaders

Wall Street Journal

When President Biden hosts counterparts from Canada and Mexico at the White House on Thursday, he will face visitors who have accused his administration of promoting electric vehicles and union jobs at the expense of trading relationships with neighboring countries.

 

Five Reasons Why the Latest Infrastructure Package Is Different

Wall Street Journal

The size of the new bipartisan infrastructure bill isn’t the only thing that separates this legislation from its predecessors. WSJ’s Gerald F. Seib explains the five key ways this bill takes a different approach to infrastructure.

See also:

 

Opinion: Has Kamala Harris been sidelined?

Washington Post

Everyone lately seems to have an opinion about Vice President Harris. Depending on which news source or social media site you visit, she’s either improving the United States’s global profile or embarrassing the country every time she boards Air Force 2.

 

Other:

 

What Facebook knew about its Latino-aimed disinformation problem

Los Angeles Times

Across the country, a pipeline of misleading media had been pumping lies and half-truths, in both English and Spanish, into local Latino communities. Sometimes the misinformation mirrored what the rest of the country was seeing: fear-mongering about mail-in ballots and antifa vigilantes, or conspiracy theories about the deep state and COVID-19.

 

How Common Are Ransomware Attacks? Lawmakers Want to Find Out.

Pew Trusts

This year, North Dakota enacted a law requiring government entities to report to the state all cyberattacks, including ransomware (in which computer systems are hijacked until agencies pay a ransom or restore them on their own).

 

Opinion: How the Kremlin has weaponized the Facebook files

Brookings

The Kremlin has seized on Haugen’s disclosures and the debate they have prompted as an opportunity to seed narratives that deepen political divisions within the United States, diminish the appeal of a democratic internet, and drive traffic from major social-media platforms to darker corners of the web.

Opinion: The demeaning of ‘woke’ — or when attention to injustice becomes too much

Roll Call

Remember the phrase “political correctness”? It’s not so in vogue these days, mostly because it has outlived its usefulness.

 

Opinion: Dems’ permanent pandemic mindset deepens midterm gap

AEI

In April, 64 percent of adults told Post pollsters they approved of how Biden was handling the coronavirus pandemic. Now it’s 47 percent, a 17-point drop. Democrats on the state and local levels have damaged the party’s once respected brand on coronavirus response.

 

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

 

Sunday, November 28, at 10 a.m on ABC30 – Maddy Report: ​​ "State Auditor Elaine Howle: A Retrospective" - Guest: Elaine Howle, CPA, California State Auditor. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

 

Sunday, November 21, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report - Valley Views Edition: ​​ "The Valley Experience with On-Line Government"- Guests: Danielle Bergstrom, Fresnoland: Fresnoland's Documenter's Program and Erica Manuel, CEO & President of the Institute for Local Government. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

 

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

 

Fresno County's agriculture production remains at the top, report shows

abc30

Farmworkers never left the fields during the ongoing pandemic. They helped Fresno County ag production hit nearly $8 billion last year.

See also:

Tech firm trying to solve problem of produce spoilage coming to Fresno

Business Journal

A food tech company fresh to the Central Valley is bringing a research center to Fresno, allowing the company to be closer to the crops its trying to preserve.

 

Fighting food waste, one apple at a time

Washington Post

Katherine Sizov is only two years out of college, but her high-tech sensors — which monitor ethylene, a gas key to the ripening of fruits and vegetables — are keeping watch over 15 percent of U.S. apples.

 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE​/​FIRE​/​​PUBLIC SAFETY

 

Crime:

 

Lawmakers seek to ban rap music as evidence in criminal cases

Times Union

A pair of state senators from New York City, citing the case of a Maryland man sentenced to prison for murder, have proposed legislation that would ban rap music lyrics from being used as evidence against defendants in criminal cases.

 

Manhattan DA Expected to Ask Judge to Exonerate Two Men Convicted in Killing of Malcolm X

Wall Street Journal

The Manhattan district attorney’s office on Thursday plans to ask a New York state judge to toss the convictions of two men found guilty of the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X.

 

Opinion: Want to reduce violence? Invest in place.

Brookings

While overall crime rates went down between 2019 and 2020, the number of murders increased by nearly 30%, largely driven by increases in firearm homicides.

 

Public Safety:

 

Clovis police are woefully understaffed. Here’s what City Council is doing about it

Fresno Bee

The Clovis City Council made moves this week to establish a citizens advisory committee to tackle questions and find some answers related to the short staffing of patrol officers.

 

California defends private prison ban in petition to federal appeals court

Sacramento Bee

California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Wednesday announced the state filed a petition to repeal a federal appeals court decision to block a law that would end the state’s use of private, for-profit detention facilities.

See also:

 

Fire:

 

Tehachapi agrees to KCFD contract increase but will explore creating its own fire department

Bakersfield Californian

Frustrated by increased costs, the city of Tehachapi plans to study alternatives to using the Kern County Fire Department in the future, including the potential of establishing a municipal fire department.

Hotter Summer Days Mean More Sierra Nevada Wildfires, Study Finds

New York Times

The research adds to a growing body of work finding that climate change is increasing fire risk in California and elsewhere in the West.

 

ECONOMY/JOBS

 

Economy:

 

Expect to see increased prices for Thanksgiving dinner items

abc30

As more families gather to celebrate the holidays, we'll likely see the cost of Thanksgiving dinner increase.

 

Charted: Americans' wealth

Axios

U.S. household net worth has soared to a nearly sixfold multiple of the country’s gross domestic product.

See also:

 

Supply-Chain Snarls Deliver Windfalls to Wall Street

Wall Street Journal

Global supply-chain bottlenecks are creating headaches for retailers, delays for consumers—and big gains for financial firms that invested in container ships before the pandemic upended the logistics business.

 

The California Rebuilding Fund is Helping Small Businesses Recover from the Pandemic

Little Hoover Commision

California’s small businesses need more than just capital. They also need financial and technical assistance to help them adapt to a new business climate—from navigating the loan process to adjusting to an increased reliance on e-commerce.

 

U.S. Should Restrict Investment in China Due to Security Concerns, Panel Says

Wall Street Journal

A commission of security and economic experts convened by Congress recommended that the U.S. take more aggressive steps to dial back commercial ties with China, warning of heightened national security risks.

 

Commentary: More holistic approach needed to address backlog at our ports

CalMatters

California leaders need to implement these solutions to tackle short- and long-term issues at the state’s ports.

 

Jobs:

 

California wants Spanish speakers for these state government jobs. How to apply

Fresno Bee

Here’s a list of the top jobs currently looking for Spanish-speaking applicants. Note: Many of these positions require that you pass a Spanish fluency exam.

 

Will California labor shortage lift warehouse union drive? Dollar General workers call for vote

Sacramento Bee

More than 40 workers at a Dollar General warehouse in West Sacramento could be among the first in the company to join a union, representing a significant milestone in organizing one of the biggest employers and industries in the country.

 

California’s Workplaces Today—and Tomorrow

Public Policy Institute of California

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the workplace since lockdowns sent many Californians home to work remotely in March 2020. A “next normal” of variety and flexibility has now taken root and will continue into 2022.

 

The government dramatically underestimated job growth this summer

Washington Post

In the most recent four months with revisions, June through September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported it underestimated job growth by a cumulative 626,000 jobs — that’s the largest underestimate of any other comparable period, going back to 1979.

See also:

 

Deere Workers Approve New Contract, Ending Strike

Wall Street Journal

Members of United Auto Workers returning to work with raises and bonuses. The workers ratified a new six-year contract Wednesday, ending a strike against the farm and construction machinery company that lasted over a month.

 

Nurse Salaries Rise as Demand for Their Services Soars During Covid-19 Pandemic

Wall Street Journal

Average annual salary for registered nurses, not including bonus pay such as overtime, increased about 4% this year to $81,376.

EDUCATION

 

K-12:

 

Turlock students told to leave school meeting as adults refused to wear masks

Modesto Bee

When adults refused to wear masks in board room for Turlock Unified School District in Stanislaus County, California, high school student representatives could not attend.

 

Opinion: Using classroom simulators to transform teacher preparation

Brookings

Given that nearly 200,000 new teachers enter the workforce each year, we need to ensure that teachers are ready to provide equitable and effective instruction from day one in the classroom.

 

Opinion: Education is progressive; schools are conservative

AEI

While education is progressive, school is inherently conservative. Schools are hyperlocal institutions that tend to valorize tradition, order and norms, which are all “conservative” virtues.

 

Higher Ed:

 

UC lecturers win raises, concessions in deal that averts two-day strike

CalMatters

The University of California and the UC lecturers union reached an agreement after years of negotiating, heading off a planned strike. In addition to raises, the lecturers secured job stability promises following a CalMatters investigation showing how tenuous their employment is.

See also:

 

Walters: Paying so much to earn so little

CalMatters

Why do California students take on immense debts for college educations that result in jobs that pay so little? Call it “diploma creep.”

 

ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY

 

Environment:

 

South Central residents in industry-heavy neighborhoods want safeguards

Fresno Bee

People who live in industry-heavy areas of South Central Fresno, such in tracts next to Amazon and Ulta distribution centers, as well as in South West Fresno, want more from the city to safeguard their health and quality of life.

See also:

 

Tesla, Toyota Accuse Biden’s EV Tax Credit of Putting Unions Over the Environment

Wall Street Journal

President Biden says he wants to save the planet and save union jobs. The electric-vehicle tax credit in his social spending package shows how those aims can sometimes conflict.

 

Energy:

 

PG&E delays work on restoring electrical service to Fresno-area radio tower. Here’s why

Fresno Bee

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will begin to work on restoring radio and communications towers in the mountains east of Fresno after making sure the area is safe for crews to work.

 

Big Winners From Natural-Gas Crunch: Coal Power Plants in Europe

Wall Street Journal

Coal power plants are running at full tilt in parts of Europe and enjoying a rare bout of massive profitability, a setback to efforts to cut carbon emissions.

 

Opinion: Biden’s Gas-Price Diversion

Wall Street Journal

President Biden is feeling political pressure to show that he’s doing something about rising energy costs even as his Administration’s policies are a big part of the problem.

See also:

 

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

 

Health:

 

Fauci says COVID booster shot may be 'standard' for full vaccination

abc30

With winter closing in and coronavirus case rates creeping up once again, White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning that the vaccines' waning immunity combined with the highly transmissible delta variant will make for a "double whammy" that will impact "even the vaccinated people."

See also:

 

What Does Endemic Mean and Will Covid-19 Become an Endemic Disease?

Wall Street Journal

Many public-health experts anticipate that the world will be dealing with Covid-19 for the foreseeable future. That doesn’t mean the pandemic won’t end.

 

Drug overdose deaths top 100,000 for first time

Axios

An estimated 100,306 people in the United States died from a drug overdose in a 12-month period ending April 2021, according to new provisional data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

See also:

 

Human Services:

 

Fresno County’s head of behavioral health is leaving. Here’s what she accomplished

Fresno Bee

The head of Fresno County’s Behavioral Health Department, who colleagues describe as a problem solver who advanced care for those with mental health issues, will leave for the private sector next month.

See also:

 

Local hospital systems join efforts to recruit physicians from outside the area

Bakersfield Californian

Under the banner of keeping more patients local instead of forcing them to travel long distances for medical care, Kern Medical and Adventist Health announced they will soon combine efforts to recruit specialized physicians who would then serve both health systems.

 

Kaiser workers walk out in solidarity on Thursday with striking engineers. ‘They’re not asking for the moon’

Mercury News

Kaiser Permanente employees walked out in sympathy on Thursday morning at Northern California medical centers with engineers, who have been striking for about two months over wage disputes.

 

‘The state needs to listen to Black women.’ Why doulas aren’t happy with California

Sacramento Bee

But now a group of doulas is facing a problem many in California have long endured: a byzantine health care bureaucracy that threatens to undermine access for people of color.

 

IMMIGRATION

 

GOP faces opportunity to take on immigration, if it wants

Roll Call

With Democratic efforts faltering, Republican lawmakers see a chance to expand upon gains the party has made with Latino voters.

 

LAND USE/HOUSING

 

Land Use:

 

Dewar's joins other local businesses in signing lease at new Bolthouse Properties center in southwest Bakersfield

Bakersfield Californian

Southwest Bakersfield will get new businesses as part of the first phase of a 15-acre commercial and retail center that broke ground Wednesday at the northwest corner of Stockdale Highway and Heath Road.

 

Housing:

 

Merced project supported by City Council would add thousands of housing units to city

Merced Sun Star

Marking a move decades in the making, Merced City Council unanimously voted to support the preliminary annexation application for the Virginia Smith Trust development project moving forward, which would eventually integrate 654 acres of mixed-use property into the city.

 

Fresno unveils affordable housing for formerly homeless residents with mental health needs

Fresno Bee

Created in partnership between Fresno Housing and the Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health, the 25-unit Village at Paragon will offer on-site services, such as case management and mental health services.

 

‘I have hope.’ Fresno judge appoints group to help mobile home park after deadly fire

Fresno Bee

The California Receivership Group — based in Santa Monica — was appointed by the Fresno County Superior Court on Nov. 10 to “abate the dangerous substandard and nuisance conditions” at the mobile home park, located on Sierra Avenue off of Blackstone Avenue.

 

EDITORIAL: Clovis council’s denial of apartment project shows why California has a housing crisis

Fresno Bee

A recent denial by the Clovis City Council of a proposed apartment complex shows all too clearly why California is trapped in a housing crisis.

 

PUBLIC FINANCES

 

California on track to notch a $31 billion budget surplus. Will taxpayers see a rebate?

Sacramento Bee

California lawmakers should consider ways to return cash to taxpayers next year with the state on course to bring in an estimated $31 billion budget surplus, non-partisan analysts said in an economic outlook report Wednesday.

See also:

 

Still waiting for a California stimulus check? Here’s when to expect yours

Sacramento Bee

If you haven’t gotten your Golden State Stimulus check, you may want to check your mailbox periodically over the next few weeks. Hundreds of thousands of Californians will get their $600 to $1,100 paper checks in the mailbox between now and January.

 

More than 500,000 California workers will get $500 pandemic bonuses. Here are the details

Sacramento Bee

More than 500,000 caregivers in California will each receive a $500 bonus from the state as soon as January, as it tries to retain workers in a sector long hampered by low wages and high turnover rates.

 

Commentary: Restricting check-cashing outlets would limit options

CalMatters

Without licensed financial services providers, consumers who cannot wait to access their check will resort to less regulated alternatives.

 

TRANSPORTATION

 

Another bridge is about to open over the Tuolumne River. This one has a special feature

Modesto Bee

The new Hickman Road bridge over the Tuolumne River will open Monday, Nov. 22, replacing one from 1964 that did not do well during floods.

 

New Funding for Wildlife Highway Crossings Should Help Animals and Drivers Alike

Pew Trusts

Effective implementation of infrastructure bill provision will be key to reducing collisions.

 

Investors shower love on Rivian and Lucid

Axios

EV automakers Lucid and Rivian are worth $212 billion between them despite the fact that neither company has seen any meaningful revenue. By contrast, GM and Ford are worth $173 billion, with expected revenue between them of $260 billion this year.

 

WATER

 

Major upgrades coming to water systems in Pixley

abc30

Water systems in many small communities across Central California are due for improvements to meet new standards and deal with the drought, including Pixley in Tulare County.

 

Rooted in Exclusion, California Towns Fight for the Right to Water

Capital & Main

What’s happening among unincorporated communities like Lanare, Matheny Tract and Tooleville may portend darker days ahead.

 

‘Backsliding.’ California mostly ignores Newsom’s plea to conserve water during drought

Sacramento Bee

Californians are still lagging behind Gov. Newsom’s drought-emergency plea to use less water. Urban residents reduced water consumption by just 3.9% in Sept., compared with a year earlier, according to data released by the State Water Resources Control Board.

 

“Xtra”

 

'Hamilton' coming to Fresno's Saroyan Theatre, tickets now on sale

abc30

One of the most popular Broadway musicals is coming to Fresno. Tickets to "Hamilton" are now on sale. The Saroyan Theatre in downtown Fresno will be hosting the award-winning musical with the touring cast for several nights.

 

Longtime Kern County educator-administrator Mark Richardson has died

Bakersfield Californian

He was a teacher, a football coach, a dean of students, an assistant principal at North High and a principal at Foothill before he rose to the position of superintendent at high school districts in both Taft and Santa Maria.

 

Longtime Fresno news anchor announces retirement

Business Journal

Ken Malloy of CBS 47 announced Wednesday his intention to retire after nearly 39 years in television news. He has worked in Fresno for the last 17 years.

 

State of the art: Artists to discuss L.A. art scene at BMoA symposium

Bakersfield Californian

On Thursday, the Bakersfield Museum of Art continues its celebration of its biggest art exhibition with an artist symposium featuring nine of the artists featured in the current show.

 

Near total lunar eclipse to cross Kern County sky Thursday night

Bakersfield Californian

Kern County residents who stay up late Thursday night will be in for a treat. A near-total lunar eclipse will cast the Earth’s shadow across the moon. Reaching 97 percent totality, the eclipse is likely to bring about the rare phenomenon known as the “blood moon.”

 

 

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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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