October 28, 2019

28Oct

POLICY & POLITICS

 

North SJ Valley:

 

Modesto’s mayoral candidates are older white men. Is that bad? Experts weigh in

Modesto Bee

Twenty-five candidates have run for mayor since 1979 and nearly all have been men, often older white men. At least two candidates were Latinos and at least one was a black man. Four candidates were women, and it’s been 16 years since the last woman ran for mayor.

 

Facing a big budget shortfall, Stanislaus Consolidated to close a fire station Monday

Modesto Bee

Citing a budget shortfall, Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District is closing a fire station on Yosemite Boulevard near the Fruit Yard restaurant and amphitheater, just west of the Yosemite and Geer Road intersection, east of Modesto.

 

Central SJ Valley:

 

‘Hazardous’ air in Fresno as wildfire smoke blows into Central Valley. Blackouts loom

Fresno Bee

Wildfire smoke from Sonoma County blew into the central San Joaquin Valley on Sunday, triggering health alerts while authorities also scrambled to stay on top of Pacific, Gas & Electric Co.’s fluctuating blackout plans.

 

Does video of teen’s death by police ‘speak for itself?’ Fresno council divided

Fresno Bee

Members of the Fresno City Council expressed divergent opinions this week following the recent release of video showing a Fresno police officer killing an unarmed 16-year-old who attempted to evade arrest.

See also:

 

McEwen: The No. 1 Issue in the Fresno Mayoral Race Is Fresno PD

GV Wire

There are many issues and candidate qualities to access in the Fresno mayoral race pitting former police chief Jerry Dyer against Fresno County prosecutor Andrew Janz. But the No. 1 determinant of who wins will be how a majority of voters view the Fresno Police Department and who they want selecting the next police chief.

 

Madera County housing boom could spur at least one new city

Business Journal

In fact, development groups involved with the 1,600-acre Tesoro Viejo development have erected a little more than 70 of the 5,190 homes planned to be built there, and they’ve already built a Madera County fire station and a county sheriff’s sub station on site.

 

South SJ Valley:

 

Why this California Democrat (Cong. TJ Cox) is having trouble raising money in his own district

Fresno Bee

Freshman Democratic Rep. TJ Cox has collected less than 1 percent of his donations for his re-election campaign from donors within the southern San Joaquin Valley district he’s running to represent.

 

Kern County Fair: Gross Mismanagement Led to the Misuse of State Resources and Multiple Violations of State Laws

California State Auditor

We found that the association’s chief executive officer and maintenance supervisor grossly mismanaged state resources and neglected their duties to ensure that employees comply with state laws governing supervision and time and attendance reporting.

See also:

 

As costs and criticism pile up, Kern officials stick with plan to jail homeless offenders

Bakersfield Californian

Kern County’s plan to reduce homelessness by jailing low-level offenders has raised concern among mental health experts who say the tactic will do more harm than good.

 

Kern Supervisors slated to approve emergency homeless shelter near downtown Bakersfield

Bakersfield Californian

Listed on their special meeting agenda for Tuesday, supervisors will vote on approving the 150-bed structure designed to quickly alleviate the large numbers of homeless individuals living on the streets of Bakersfield.

See also:

 

Network: Reported child abuse cases in Kern County higher than state average

Bakersfield Californian

According to the report, the state as a whole averaged a rate of 52.9 children per 1,000 who were referred to CPS with child abuse and neglect allegations, whereas Kern County averaged 58.4 children per 1,000.

 

Price: Cottonwood still fighting stigma of gangs, poverty and despair

Bakersfield Californian

For the thousands of sharecropper families that came west to postwar California — black, white and Latino — that was a central part of the dream: No more poverty, no more subjugation, no more backbreaking labor.

 

State:

 

Newsom announces $75 million program to help California cities prepare for PG&E blackouts

Sacramento Bee

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $75 million program on Friday to help local governments deal with the precautionary power shut offs that are likely to grow more frequent as the troubled PG&E utility attempts to limit its liability during fire conditions.

See also:

 

Walters: Slanting ballot measure titles

CalMatters

With Democrats dominating the attorney general’s office, a pattern emerged. Ballot measures sponsored by those on the political left, such as unions, would receive titles and summaries that enhanced chances of passage, while initiatives from the political right, such as anti-tax groups, would be cast in a negative light.

 

California to start first-in-the-nation training to help transgender voters

San Francisco Chronicle

In most cases, California voters are not required to show identification to a polling-place worker. Still, many transgender and gender-nonconforming voters may be registered under a name that does not match their gender presentation.

 

Federal:

 

In impeachment inquiry, Republican lawmakers ask questions about whistleblower, loyalty to Trump and conspiracy theories (Cong Nunes noted in story)

Washington Post

Republican lawmakers have used the congressional impeachment inquiry to gather information on a CIA employee who filed a whistleblower complaint, press witnesses on their loyalty to President Trump and advance conspiratorial claims that Ukraine was involved in the 2016 election, according to current and former officials involved in the proceedings.

 

'It's a fine target': Census bureau to fight misinformation

AP News

Worried about internet trolls and foreign powers spreading false news, census officials are preparing to battle misinformation campaigns for the first time in the count’s 230-year history.

 

Elections 2020:

 

DNC selects California for sixth Democratic presidential debate

Sacramento Bee

The debate, which will be held on a Thursday at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and co-hosted by PBS NewsHour and POLITICO, could prove to be the most consequential one to date.

See also:

 

A ‘straight frickin’ arrow’ or not? Some say California Democratic fundraiser walks a fine line

Sacramento Bee

When Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara became embroiled in a deluge of questions and criticism this year for breaking a campaign promise not to accept industry donations, he promised Californians he’d make it up to them. To start, he fired his longtime fundraiser, Dan Weitzman.

 

How Joe Biden would strengthen unions

Politico

Biden’s proposal would, among other things, give employees more leverage to organize in the workplace, raise the hourly minimum wage to $15 and make it harder for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees.

 

Bernie Sanders, 78, declares his age is an asset

Washington Post

Sen. Bernie Sanders has begun framing his advanced age as an asset in the presidential race, an effort to counter concerns about his health with a pitch for voters to consider his decades of activism as they compare him with younger candidates.

 

The progressive Indian grandfather who inspired Kamala Harris

Sacramento Bee

For a girl from Berkeley, about 5 years old, the setting must have been intoxicating: a bungalow surrounded by greenery in a newly independent African capital, where children ran outside to wave at the president's car as he drove past.

See also:

 

Opinion: Elizabeth Warren has an elitism problem in the 2020 election

Los Angeles Times

Many people do not like us. The main factor in Trump’s win wasn’t economic anxiety. It wasn’t sexism. It wasn’t racism. It was that he was anti-elitist, and people loved to cheer the downfall of anyone in the media, science, academia or government.

 

Take campaign plans with a grain of salt

Roll Call

There’s a silver lining for suburban voters who backed President Donald Trump in 2016 and who’ve grown weary of his antics but can’t stomach the assault on their pocketbooks they see coming from the Democrats.

 

Why public opinion polls don’t include the same number of Republicans and Democrats

Pew Research Center

The goal of a national political survey isn’t to artificially even the playing field. It’s to represent groups in their actual proportions within the country. And a wide range of evidence shows that there are more Democrats than Republicans in the United States today.

 

Other:

 

Tech Firms Ramp Up Lobbying as Antitrust Scrutiny Grows

Wall Street Journal

Facebook increased spending by nearly 25%, to $12.3 million, through the first nine months of the year over the same period in 2018, according to disclosures of lobbyists’ compensation filed with the federal government.

 

Mark Zuckerberg Claims Revenue from Facebook's Political Ads Are Too Small to Justify Fact-Checking

Newsweek

The 35-year-old tech mogul said his stance was two-fold: It's important to give people a voice, and the revenue from political ads was too small to justify the controversy surrounding the matter.

See also:

 

Americans hate all the partisanship, but they’re also more partisan than they were

Washington Post

These divisions represent one of the great political challenges of these times, though there appears to be no immediate answer. People talk longingly about restoring civility or returning to an earlier time. Little suggests that could happen soon.

 

The Patriot Act Goes Too Far

Wall Street Journal

To keep America safe, does the Federal Bureau of Investigation really need almost unfettered access to Americans’ health records, DNA test results, and even private conversations overheard by digital assistants like Alexa and Siri?

See also:

 

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

 

Sunday, November 3, at 10 a.m. on ABC30 – Maddy Report: pre-empted

 

Sunday, November 3, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report - Valley Views Edition: “California Facts, Valley Economic Opportunities” – Guests: Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin; Pete Weber, co-chair of CalFwd and Director of the Fresno Bridge Academy and Carolyn Chu, Legislative Analyst Office. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

 

Sunday, November 3, at 7:30 a.m. on UniMas 61 (KTTF) – El Informe Maddy: “Climate Change Legislation” – Invitado: Alvar Escriva-Bou, Public Policy​​ Institute of California. Presentado Por: Coordinadora del Programa del Maddy Institute, Maria Jeans.

 

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

 

After 126 years of milking cows, Hanford dairy is leaving the business. Owner explains why

Fresno Bee

Giacomazzi Dairy, known as the oldest dairy west of the Rockies, will no longer be known for its cows. The Hanford dairy auctioned off all of its cattle on Friday after 126 years in business. The bidding took place online and at its dairy on 6th Avenue just east of the city.

 

Cannabis farmers in Western states report large crop yields, only minor challenges

Marijuana Business Daily

Cannabis growers in California, Oregon and Washington state say they are enjoying a robust outdoor harvest, with strong crop yields, high-quality flower and market prices well above last year’s depressed levels.

 

Hemp expo coming to Fresno

Business Journal

Hemp growers and manufacturers of hemp-based products, along with people interested in getting into these businesses, are invited to attend California Hemp Expo Nov. 5 in Fresno.

 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY

 

Crime:

 

Does video of teen’s death by police ‘speak for itself?’ Fresno council divided

Fresno Bee

Members of the Fresno City Council expressed divergent opinions this week following the recent release of video showing a Fresno police officer killing an unarmed 16-year-old who attempted to evade arrest.

See also:

 

Public Safety:

 

Network: Reported child abuse cases in Kern County higher than state average

Bakersfield Californian

According to the report, the state as a whole averaged a rate of 52.9 children per 1,000 who were referred to CPS with child abuse and neglect allegations, whereas Kern County averaged 58.4 children per 1,000.

 

Facing a big budget shortfall, Stanislaus Consolidated to close a fire station Monday

Modesto Bee

Citing a budget shortfall, Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District is closing a fire station on Yosemite Boulevard near the Fruit Yard restaurant and amphitheater, just west of the Yosemite and Geer Road intersection, east of Modesto.

 

Local Governments Try to Regulate Guns With High Tax

Wall Street Journal

Tacoma, Wash., could soon become one of a handful of U.S. cities to levy high taxes on gun sales, opening a new front in the battle over how much power local governments have to regulate firearms.

 

Fire:

 

‘Hazardous’ air in Fresno as wildfire smoke blows into Central Valley. Blackouts loom

Fresno Bee

Wildfire smoke from Sonoma County blew into the central San Joaquin Valley on Sunday, triggering health alerts while authorities also scrambled to stay on top of Pacific, Gas & Electric Co.’s fluctuating blackout plans.

See also:

 

Newsom announces $75 million program to help California cities prepare for PG&E blackouts

Sacramento Bee

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $75 million program on Friday to help local governments deal with the precautionary power shut offs that are likely to grow more frequent as the troubled PG&E utility attempts to limit its liability during fire conditions.

See also:

 

California pursues a holy grail: high-tech data to predict how wildfire will spread

CalMatters

But real-time data from sophisticated cameras and supercomputers has potential downsides: too many alarm bells, more blackouts and less boots-on-the-ground input.

 

ECONOMY / JOBS

 

Economy:

 

International trade is important to California. But it needs to be done right

Sacramento Bee

Across the United States, anxious voters look for ways to withdraw from the rest of the world. But as isolationist sentiments grow elsewhere, California’s political and policy leaders recognize the economic benefits of increased international trade.

See also:

 

So much for a cashless society: Currency is popular again, especially the $100 bill

Los Angeles Times

Sweden has almost eliminated its use for payments. In America, home of the almighty dollar, almost a third of the population gets through a typical week without using a single banknote.

 

Majority of Americans Say Parents Are Doing Too Much for Their Young Adult Children

Pew Research

The share of young adults who could be considered “financially independent” from their parents by their early 20s – an assessment based on their annual income – has gone down somewhat in recent decades.

 

Video: Poverty and Opportunity in California

Public Policy Institute of California

In many inland regions, the prevalence of unemployment or low-wage work is a key driver of economic hardship, while elsewhere—especially in coastal areas—the high cost of housing and other necessities plays a major part.

 

Opinion: Economic Incentives Don’t Always Do What We Want Them To

New York Times

Financial incentives are nowhere near as powerful as they are usually assumed to be. We see it among the rich. No one seriously believes that salary caps lead top athletes to work less hard in the United States than they do in Europe, where there is no cap.

 

Jobs:

 

Column: Freelancers fear California’s new gig worker law will wipe them out

Los Angeles Times

AB 5 specifically exempts about a dozen work categories from its provisions, such as doctors, accountants, fishermen, stockbrokers and travel agents. But not journalists.

See also:

 

Do Robots Or Trade Cost Jobs?

KVPR

NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben talks about whether automation and robots, or bad trade policies pose a bigger threat to jobs in America.

 

Recognizing labor’s local role amid national strikes: A metro-level look at union membership

Brookings

Unions have traditionally helped workers navigate challenging economic headwinds through collective bargaining, training efforts, and other workforce development activities, but their regional role is not always well measured or understood.

See also:

 

EDUCATION

 

K-12:

 

New residency program in partnership with CSUB hopes to help recruit teachers

Bakersfield Californian

The California Center on Teaching Careers – a statewide agency spearheaded by the Tulare County Office of Education – in partnership with Cal State Bakersfield received two federal grants from the United States Department of Education totaling more than $9.4 million to recruit teachers and mental health professionals into classrooms.

 

Fresno Bee To Fill Reporting Gap With Privately Funded 'Education Lab'

KVPR

The Fresno Bee has served the Valley for nearly a hundred years, but like so many newspapers across the country, it has lost revenue along with dozens of reporters in the past decade. Now, the paper is trying a different approach to serve and inform its public.

 

California rural schools struggling to hire teachers could get help from $9.4 million in grants

EdSource

The U.S. Department of Education awarded the five-year grants to the California Center on Teaching Careers, an organization started in 2016 to help solve the persistent teacher shortage. The center is run by the Tulare County Office of Education, in partnership with California State University Bakersfield.

 

Buttonwillow test scores improve for math, language arts

Bakersfield Californian

Students in the Buttonwillow Union School District had some of the highest increases in the state with regard to improving the percentage of students who moved into the range of meeting a proficiency standard in recently-released data from state assessments.

 

Whose Advice Are You Taking? The Fight Over College Counseling at Elite High Schools

Wall Street Journal

High-school counselors, many of whom have experience working in college admissions offices, carefully curate relationships with university gatekeepers and are concerned about teens submitting applications riddled with falsehoods, or at least embellishments, if they can’t maintain a close watch over the process.

 

California just pushed back school start times — you weren't dreaming. Now what?

CalMatters

California school bells will soon ring later, the better to let adolescents get desperately needed shuteye. How will that work? Adults are still working it out.

 

Charter Schools Are an Opportunity for Impact Investors

Wall Street Journal

With more than three million students in charter schools nationwide, and an estimated five million families who would send their child to a charter if a spot were available, why aren’t many more of them opening?

 

Straight up conversation: How to energize stifling school cultures

AEI

Rick talks with Keara Mascareñaz, managing partner at Education Elements, who's helped about 1,000 school and district teams work to change their organizational culture.

 

BC, other KCCD classified employees continue months-long fight for contract

Bakersfield Californian

Kern Community College District classified employees from Bakersfield, Cerro Coso and Porterville colleges are fighting for what they say are fair wages after their contract ended 15 months ago, but they feel as though they're getting nowhere.

 

California Teachers Association posts membership decline of about 15,000

EdSource

The decline appears to be largely the result of the “disaffiliation” this past spring of the California Faculty Association from the CTA.

 

Higher Ed:

 

Northern California Community College Changes Transgender Health Policy After Employee Pushback

Capital Public Radio

The Yuba Community College District now includes transgender services in its health benefits after an employee notified the American Civil Liberties Union about what he called a discriminatory practice.

 

ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY

 

Environment:

 

BHS virtual enterprise team finds solution for dirty water bottles

Bakersfield Californian

Ultraviolet-C light on the bottle kills bacteria's DNA and RNA so that it can't reproduce. You're left with a squeaky clean water bottle, which is a big help for adventure seekers who might be out exploring Mother Nature for a few days, leaving them without soap and water.

 

America’s Air Quality Worsens, Ending Years of Gains, Study Says

New York Times

The research identified recent increases in driving and the burning of natural gas as likely contributors to the uptick in unhealthy air, even as coal use and related pollution have declined. In the West, wildfires contributed to the rise in particulate matter.

See also:

 

Will Fed’s Lawsuit Targeting California’s Key Climate Change Policy Cost Polluters And Taxpayers?

Capital Public Radio

The federal government’s latest assault on California’s climate policies could make it more expensive for greenhouse gas polluters like oil refineries and heavy industry to cut their emissions.

See also:

 

In The Studio: How Climate Change Affects The Earth's Most Massive Trees

KVPR

With the recent purchase of the Alder Creek property in the Southern Sierra Nevada, 99 percent of giant sequoias are under protective ownership. But that doesn’t mean they’re safe.

See also:

 

Dems in Congress demand update on Interior wild horse plans

Fresno Bee

Congressional Democrats are demanding the Interior Department produce an overdue report on plans to manage wild horses roaming federal lands in the West after the head of its public lands agency told reporters it will take $5 billion and 15 years to get overpopulated herds under control.

 

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

 

Health:

 

Nationwide recall of Xanax that has the ‘potential presence of a foreign substance’

Fresno Bee

One lot of Alprazolam, the prescription anti-anxiety drug sold as name brand Xanax, has been recalled nationwide because of “the potential presence of a foreign substance.”

 

Social Determinants of Health: Exploring the key drivers of health, well-being, and prosperity

CAFWD

One of the most important social determinants of health involves patterns of inclusion or exclusion based on race, ethnicity, gender, and immigration status that lead to and reinforce other social determinants.

 

Intraparty Disputes Dim Outlook for Drug-Price Legislation

Wall Street Journal

Congressional lawmakers who pledged to lower drug prices are confronting the prospect that intraparty divides and possible impeachment proceedings may prevent them from getting anything major done this year.

 

Philadelphia demonstrates the power of play for child and city development

Brookings

Experiments are underway to explore how to maximize “the 80 percent” of time that children spend outside of school by infusing deliberate learning opportunities into everyday spaces where families regularly gather, such as bus stops, laundromats, and supermarkets.

 

Opinion: Opioids saved my life. Quitting them took five excruciating years

Los Angeles Times

Acute withdrawal — when you still have drugs in your system but less than you are used to — started with nervous jitters, insomnia and stomach distress. Not too bad, I thought.

 

What Does It Mean to Be ‘Cali Sober’?

New York Magazine

The term “Cali sober” here refers to people who don’t drink but do smoke weed, though internet definitions vary slightly.

 

Human Services:

 

California woman is unable to get insurance – so she took her health into her own hands

Fresno Bee

An estimated 13 million residents, or nearly half of California adults, suffer from prediabetes, like Garcia, or undiagnosed diabetes, according to a 2016 study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

 

Planned PG&E Blackouts Force Some Residents Reliant On Medical Equipment Into ‘Life Or Death Scenarios’

Capital Public Radio

He is just one of more than 9,000 registered medical customers with PG&E who could face life or death due to this round of blackouts. Earlier this month he was forced to spend much of the blackout at a local hospital, but for this round of outages he's better prepared.

 

IMMIGRATION

 

‘I feel like nothing’: How a false birth certificate upended a Modesto man’s life

Modesto Bee

All because Eva Hernandez Chacon, who raised him as her son, gave him the birth certificate of her child who died at just 8 days old. When authorities discovered that fact more than 60 years later, it wasn’t long before they came knocking at his door.

 

LAND USE/HOUSING

 

Land Use:

 

Airbnb rentals are growing, especially in Fresno. See how we stack up

Business Journal

In the third quarter of this year, the number of Airbnbs in Fresno totaled 441, a 119.4% percent increase from the 201 here the same quarter in 2017.

 

What to expect as Prime Shine locations in Modesto, valley convert to Mister Car Wash

Modesto Bee

If you’ve been through a Central Valley car wash of late, you might have noticed some big changes. Namely, that all the Prime Shine locations are turning into Mister Car Wash sites instead.

 

Housing:

 

As costs and criticism pile up, Kern officials stick with plan to jail homeless offenders

Bakersfield Californian

Kern County’s plan to reduce homelessness by jailing low-level offenders has raised concern among mental health experts who say the tactic will do more harm than good.

 

Kern Supervisors slated to approve emergency homeless shelter near downtown Bakersfield

Bakersfield Californian

Listed on their special meeting agenda for Tuesday, supervisors will vote on approving the 150-bed structure designed to quickly alleviate the large numbers of homeless individuals living on the streets of Bakersfield.

See also:

 

Madera County housing boom could spur at least one new city

Business Journal

In fact, development groups involved with the 1,600-acre Tesoro Viejo development have erected a little more than 70 of the 5,190 homes planned to be built there, and they’ve already built a Madera County fire station and a county sheriff’s sub station on site.

 

‘A tragic example.’ Baby’s death shows Fresno’s homeless with children need more help

Fresno Bee

There are far fewer homeless shelter beds and low-income housing units in Fresno than are needed to meet the need, and among those already limited resources, there are even fewer spaces available for homeless families with children, especially large families and those with fathers or teenage boys.

 

Lawsuit Alleges City Of Clovis Has 'No Willingness' To Follow Affordable Housing Law

KVPR

A lawsuit filed in Fresno County Superior Court Wednesday alleged that the city isn’t in compliance with state housing law, and is discriminating against low-income people by not planning for high density housing.

 

Ahead Of Renter Protection Law, Reports Of An Eviction Rush

Capital Public Radio

If Espinoza’s Sept. 16 eviction notice had arrived after Dec. 31, his landlord would owe him a month’s rent in relocation assistance. And evicting the entire apartment complex would be a much more expensive proposition.

 

Lenders Support, Advocates Slam Trump Housing Plan

Pew Trusts

A Trump administration plan to shift the full burden of proof onto plaintiffs suing over housing discrimination drew tens of thousands of responses from individuals, housing advocates, mayors, public housing authorities, state officials, builders and bankers.

 

PUBLIC FINANCES

 

Is your city ready for California’s next recession?

CalMatters

The California economy may be flush, but recession is on the horizon. Now data from the state auditor shows pensions, questionable management and other fiscal risks have put at least 18 Golden State cities on shaky ground.

 

As California Economy Booms, Cities Struggle With Pensions

US News

While California's economy is booming, a new analysis shows pension obligations continue to weigh on the state's cities as nearly three quarters of them don't have enough money to pay the future health benefits for retired workers.

 

Waters: Are the wealthy fleeing California taxes?

CalMatters

Here is an indisputable fact about California taxation: More than two-thirds of state general fund revenues come from personal income taxes and about half of those taxes are paid by the 1% of taxpayers atop the income scale.

 

Two years in, Trump tax cuts not on course to pay for themselves

Washington Post

After two years, President Trump's tax cuts are not on track to pay for themselves, the latest Treasury data released Friday suggest. Total federal government revenues ended up lower in 2019 than was projected before the passage of the GOP tax overhaul in 2017.

 

The U.S. deficit hit $984 billion in 2019, soaring during Trump era

Washington Post

The U.S. government’s budget deficit ballooned to nearly $1 trillion in 2019, the Treasury Department announced Friday, as the United States’ fiscal imbalance widened for a fourth consecutive year despite a sustained run of economic growth. The deficit grew $205 billion, or 26 percent, in the past year.

 

TRANSPORTATION

 

Mathews: How Taiwan’s High-Speed Trains Expose California’s Lack of Nerve

Zócalo Public Square

We may be the world’s high-tech capital, but we say that high-speed rail is just too technically challenging for us. We may have one of the planet’s richest economies, but nevertheless maintain that high-speed rail is too expensive.

 

More Americans keep dying while walking. Even more carnage lies ahead

McClatchy DC

The nation’s pedestrian death toll keeps climbing unforgivingly. The number reached its highest level since 1990 last year and state after state is projected to see more carnage increase in 2019.

 

Stuebbe: What we can do about air travelers' first impression of Bakersfield

Bakersfield Californian

As passengers flew into the valley, high in the air, the fields were evident but near the ground at our airport, a completely different image meets the eye. What they saw was dry, barren dirt. Dusty, weedy and very uninviting.

 

Walters: Why are our gas costs so high?

CalMatters

For the umpteenth time, California politicians are complaining about the high prices that the state’s motorists pay for gasoline and suggesting that it’s because of nefarious behavior by big bad oil companies.

See also:

 

WATER

 

Farmland owners look to solar as groundwater restrictions loom

Bakersfield Californian

New solar energy installations may be headed to the valley portion of Kern County as investors, government officials and advocacy groups weigh options for reusing land that will have to be taken out of production as a result of state restrictions on groundwater pumping.

 

Trump plan could bring growers more water. But will it harm California’s rare salmon?

CalMatters

The Trump administration this week declared that its plan to pump more water from the Bay-Delta will not jeopardize endangered species. But it comes just three months after other federal scientists said it would.

 

Central Coast project would raise water bills, endanger aquifer, opponents say

CalMatters

A costly desalination plant would provide water to affluent regions but could burden low-income farm communities. The utility says it's necessary to meet growing water needs.

 

“Xtra”

 

What to do with nearly 300 pumpkins? Friends create howling fun Halloween attraction

Modesto Bee

Inflatables can be impressive. Animatronics, pretty awesome. But when it comes to Halloween displays, the jack-o’-lantern still slays. And in these parts, we’ve heard of no one doing old-school cool like friends Gina Bruederle and Tami Munns of Oakdale.

 

Central Valley Students Tell Stories Of Intersectional Feminism In 'Calafia' Magazine

KVPR

Listen to the interview above to hear from two of the board’s members, 17-year-old Racel Livinal of Merced and 18-year-old Maria Torres from Fresno, along with editor Michael Lozano.

 

Anna Smith: The author who found 'Dignity' right here among Bakersfield's poor

Bakersfield Californian

Arnade describes Bakersfield as, statistically, the most back row city in the country due to extremely low education levels. When compared with similarly sized cities, ours consistently falls near the bottom of lists ranking percentage of residents with a college degree.

 

You’ve heard of registries for brides and babies? These two help Modesto homeless

Modesto Bee

Online gift registries will help furnish the apartments being created for homeless people in a former Modesto motel.

 

What Monkeys Can Teach Us About Being Human

NPR

"There's no way to study what makes humans special if you only study humans. You actually have to turn to all the other critters in the animal kingdom," she says.

 

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Maddy Institute Updated List of San Joaquin Valley Elected Officials HERE.

 

The Kenneth L. Maddy Institute at California State University, Fresno 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.

                                                     

This document is to be used for informational purposes only. Unless specifically noted, The Maddy Institute at California State University, Fresno does not officially endorse or support views that may be expressed in the document. If you want to print a story, please do so now before the link expires.

 

 

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