December 6, 2017

06Dec

TOP POLITICAL STORIES

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Local/Regional Politics:

Former mayor of Sanger may be in trouble for possible conflict of interest on some of his votes

abc30

Joshua Mitchell insisted his resignation in June 2015 had nothing to do with investigations by the District Attorney’s Office and the state Fair Political Practices Commission, the FPPC. Mitchell told us it was just that his political enemies were threatening and harassing him. But we uncovered billing statements from one of the mayor’s landscaping companies detailing thousands of dollars in payments from Evergreen Communities– a developer building a Sanger subdivision.

Tulare chief demands investigation, police union split

Visalia Times Delta

As his paid administrative leaves drags on, Tulare police Chief Wes Hensley is gaining support from the community.

Retail-residential plan aims at blight, housing

Fresno Bee

Blackstone Avenue, the primary north-south artery through Fresno, has long been cited as an example of haphazard planning, an unsightly visual blight of signs and billboards, and a deteriorating commercial corridor in the central part of the city. Now, two new projects aim to make a dent in Blackstone’s blight. They are among the first “mixed-use” developments proposed along Blackstone Avenue since Fresno approved changes to its planning rules to encourage affordable apartments with commercial space along one of the city’s key public transportation routes.

Hotels set sights on Clovis

Clovis Roundup

As it stands, Clovis has the highest occupancy rate in the Valley, with its scare hotel rooms booked at or near 100 percent, making it difficult for visitors to find a place to stay close to Clovis attractions and amenities. Thankfully, hotel chains are taking notice and are now capitalizing on the opportunity to come to Clovis.

Rivera, running for re-election after all, wonders if part-time council is adequate

Bakersfield Californian

Bakersfield City Councilman Willie Rivera, whose current term ends next November, has had a change of heart about running for re-election in 2018. Rivera said earlier this year that he didn’t plan to run again for the Ward 1 seat, but he has changed his mind. Rivera, who has served on the council since 2013, said he made the decision in November for a few reasons.

Maggard’s mobile marijuana plan advances to subcommittee: Supervisors like cannabis delivery model

Bakersfield Californian

Kern County Supervisors said Tuesday they support the concept of allowing medical marijuana delivery businesses to be established in the unincorporated areas of the county. They voted to send the idea to a board subcommittee, which will hash out a host of questions raised Tuesday.

CHP to host seminar for potential public safety dispatchers

Hanford Sentinel

The California Highway Patrol is in need of people who want to make a difference and help the community by becoming public safety dispatchers.  The CHP will be hosting an informational seminar this month on how to become a CHP public safety dispatcher for Fresno, Merced and Bakersfield areas.

BPD to get gunfire locator technology for embattled neighborhood

Bakersfield Californian

A neighborhood in central and east Bakersfield that has suffered for years from a high rate of gang violence is set to receive technology that will help police pinpoint within moments locations where shots are fired.

‘Scam artist’ who exploited immigrants pleads guilty to 15 felony counts

Stockton Record

A woman operating an immigration law practice in Stockton for the past 14 years pled guilty to 15 felony counts of grand theft for defrauding immigrant clients seeking citizenship, according to a statement released Monday by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

See also:

Service union runs radio ads targeting three Republicans (includes Denham and Valadao) on tax bill

Los Angeles Times

Don’t Stop the Presses! When Local News Struggles, Democracy Withers

WIRED

For five months the paper has been reporting on the fallout of a fire that killed 36 people when it ripped through an Oakland warehouse known as the Ghost Ship. Illegally converted into artist residences, the building had a tangled layout that made it hard to escape. The Times’ coverage has painted the tragedy—Oakland’s deadliest fire—as symptomatic of the city’s lax fire-code enforcement and its affordable-housing crisis.

State Politics:

Backlash ripples through California politics after women denounce sexual harassment

CalMatters

With sexual harassment and assault allegations ricocheting through the state Capitol, two female lobbyists say they soon faced the consequences of speaking out—a state senator who suddenly wanted to avoid meeting with them.

See also:

John Chiang attacks Gavin Newsom’s book ‘Citizenville’ for drawing GOP praise

LA Times

State Treasurer John Chiang plans to launch a new attack against Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in the California governor’s race Tuesday by pointing out that a prominent Republican praised Newsom’s 2013 book “Citizenville.”

Mathews: The Gubernatorial Candidates Are Missing Three Big Agendas

Fox&Hounds

What are you going to do if it all goes off the rails? Politicians are advised not to advise hypotheticals, but the candidates for governor need to be pressed to explain how they would address some likely negative turns in California in the years ahead.

Federal Politics:

GOP Tax Plan: Live Coverage

Wall Street Journal

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) wants to nix the alternative minimum tax system in the Senate tax bill, amid arguments that it could hurt the California tech industry’s ability to invest in research and development, the Wall Street Journal reports. “That has to be eliminated because that would destroy R&D,” McCarthy said in a CNBC interview Monday.

See also:

Mimi Walters becomes third California GOP representative to advocate for DACA fix this year

Los Angeles Times

Orange County U.S. Rep. Mimi Walters on Tuesday joined Central Valley congressmen David Valadao and Jeff Denham in urging House Speaker Paul D. Ryan to address the legal status of people brought to the country illegally as children before the end of the year. “I feel strongly that we take care of the Dreamers in our country and that we try to get them situated as soon as we can,” Walters said. “I think there’s a lot of uncertainty out there for the Dreamers and I want to put that uncertainty at ease and at rest.”

See also:

Poll: Two-thirds of millennials prefer Democratic control of Congress

TheHill

A majority of millennial voters hope to see Democrats take control of both congressional chambers in next year’s midterm elections, according to a Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics poll. The survey, released Tuesday, found that 65 percent of likely voters between the ages of 18 and 29 said they would rather see Democrats control the House and the Senate. Thirty-three percent said they would rather see Republicans control the two chambers.

Could spending bills cause a government shutdown?

Brookings

Molly Reynolds, fellow in Governance Studies, discusses the three upcoming “must-pass” votes in Congress, which focus on government spending. Reynolds explains the political forces at play and describes the factors that will shape the spending bills as Congress tries to avoid another government shutdown.

Tom Steyer’s Trump impeachment push gains momentum

The Sacramento Bee

Tom Steyer, the billionaire liberal activist and megadonor, has spent years laboring to boost his profile.

Freshman Lawmakers Say Civility Pledge Challenging But Worth It

Roll Call

In January, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., authored a pledge asking freshman members of Congress to be civil toward each other. Nearly every freshman lawmaker signed it. Almost one year later, Heard on the Hill reporter Alex Gangitano spoke to Johnson, and the members of Congress who signed it, about how their first year went.

Other:

California Hall of Fame, Class of 2017

Sacramento Bee

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg signs autographs before entering the California Museum on Wednesday evening, December 5, 2017, as part of the 11th class of legendary Californians into the California Hall of Fame. Jose Luis Villegas

Govt Records: Instant messaging for posterity

AEI

The Waymo-Uber litigation, now pending in California, has resulted in surprising and embarrassing revelations about both parties. One revelation, however, should be neither surprising nor embarrassing — that Uber employees conduct business over instant-messaging (IM) applications that do not retain records. Such messaging applications serve an important social role, and the law should recognize them as a distinct category.

Teaching fact from fiction

BBC News

Nobody knows how big a problem fake news is, and many of those who talk about it have an incentive to inflate the threat. As I’ve written before , for many people, fake news is a useful enemy. For Donald Trump, fake news is synonymous with a hostile media. By attacking the “fake news media”, Trump can motivate his base, obstruct scrutiny of his policies, and potentially undermine his opponents. For ambitious politicians keen to flaunt their digital knowledge and boost their profile, the fake news phenomenon is a handy option.

Fitzgerald: Ain’t no green for those greens, man

Stockton Record

Concerned citizens swarmed Monday’s Council meeting to protest the proposal to close Stockton’s two public courses. As if suddenly money holes don’t matter anymore. Sorry, folks. If you want to keep the city’s two courses open, you have to show how to erase their combined annual loss of at least $600,000. And how to come up with the estimated $9.2 million needed to repair the things falling apart on them; then find another $10 million to upgrade them so they are competitive..

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING 

Sunday, December 10th, at 10 a.m. on ABC 30 – Maddy Report: State Auditor To UC: UCPath on the Wrong Path. Guest: State Auditor Elaine Howle. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, December 10th, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) –Maddy Report ​ – Valley Views Edition​: State Auditor Uncovers Government Waste.  Guest: State Auditor Elaine Howle. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, December 10th, at 7:30 a.m. on UniMas 61 (KTTF) – Informe Maddy – California Supreme Court: Special Taxes Are Special. Guests: LiamDillon with Los Angeles Times, Jesse Rojas with Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, and Alexei Koseff with Sacramento Bee. Host: Maddy Institute Program Coordinator, Maria Jeans.

Support the Maddy Daily HERE. Thank you!

Topics in More Detail…

EDITORIALS

Assembly must act swiftly on sexual misconduct allegations against Matt Dababneh

Fresno Bee

Lobbyist Pamela Lopez and Democratic activist Jessica Yas Barker risk everything by standing up to Assemblyman Matt Dababneh.

While Southern California battles its wildfires, we have to start preparing for our hotter, drier future

Los Angeles Times

Wildfires have been a part of the California ecosystem since long before modern settlement, let alone the exurban sprawl that brings housing and development into fire-prone areas. We tend to deal with the possibility of raging firestorms abstractly — local governments do a little planning, fire…

Editorial: Wildfire alert systems need upgrade

San Francisco Chronicle

Within hours of a legislative hearing on California’s haphazard emergency alert system, a scorching wildfire raced out of control in Ventura County, sending 27,000 fleeing. This fire-prone state needs a …

City and county play blame game. Families live with lead contamination.

Sacramento Bee

Sacramento city and county blame one another for lead contaminating Mangan Park yards near a city-owned gun range. That squabble must end. They need to clean the lead.

Editorial: Our shrinking national monuments

San Francisco Chronicle

President Trump signed two executive orders on Monday to diminish the scale of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah — in the case of Bears Ears, by 85 percent. On Tuesday, …

Editorial: Striking Oakland workers killing the goose

San Jose Mercury News

The city cannot afford union demands. Indeed, council members have already offered too much.

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

13 states launch new legal challenge to California egg law

AP

More than a dozen states banded together Monday to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to block a California law requiring any eggs sold there to come from hens that have space to stretch out in their cages.

Lawmakers say California’s proposed marijuana rules will hurt small family farms

Los Angeles Times

Two legislators called Tuesday for changes to regulations for growing marijuana in California to better protect small family farmers from being driven out of business by big corporate cultivators. Initial proposals to cap licensed marijuana farms at one to four acres were discarded by the state Department of Food and Agriculture, which has since proposed new rules without any cap, according to a letter of complaint to the agency by State Sen. Mike McGuire (D-San Rafael) and Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg). McGuire and Wood support a one-acre cap.

New Water Rules for Marijuana Growers

Public Policy Institute of California

Marijuana growers who plan on growing cannabis on private land next season will encounter new state requirements to address the crop’s impact on California’s creeks and streams. The success of the policy will be tested by the state’s ability to bring growers into the legal cannabis sector. Currently, an estimated 80% of the state’s cannabis crop is grown for the black market.

Why It’s Getting Easier for Marijuana Companies to Open Bank Accounts

Pew Charitable Trust | Stateline

Banks and credit unions are becoming more comfortable serving marijuana businesses. But the progress could be wiped out by President Trump’s Justice Department.

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

Crime:

BPD to get gunfire locator technology for embattled neighborhood

Bakersfield Californian

A neighborhood in central and east Bakersfield that has suffered for years from a high rate of gang violence is set to receive technology that will help police pinpoint within moments locations where shots are fired.

Fresno council to vote on bigger fines for illegal dumping

Fresno Bee

Litter and illegally dumped trash amounted to more than 1,348 tons of material that had to be cleaned up around Fresno over the past two years. Now, Fresno is increasing its surveillance ability and is poised to beef up penalties for people who are caught and cited for unlawful dumping in city streets, alleys and vacant lots.

Famed ‘Concussion’ pathologist alleges autopsy interference

Sacramento Bee

San Joaquin County’s chief medical examiner, known nationally as the doctor depicted in the movie “Concussion” about brain injuries among football players, resigned Tuesday over what he said was interference by the sheriff that has become so invasive that it borders on the unlicensed practice of medicine.

Defendant in Kathryn Steinle’s Death Indicted on Federal Gun Charges

The California Report – KQED News

Jose Ines Garcia Zarate is now wanted in two federal districts following his acquittal on murder and manslaughter counts in San Francisco last week.

Public Safety:

CHP to host seminar for potential public safety dispatchers

Hanford Sentinel

The California Highway Patrol is in need of people who want to make a difference and help the community by becoming public safety dispatchersThe CHP will be hosting an informational seminar this month on how to become a CHP public safety dispatcher for Fresno, Merced and Bakersfield areas.

Fire:

Rye fire spreads to 5,000 acres, triggers evacuations and gridlock in Santa Clarita

Los Angeles Times

A growing wildfire in Santa Clarita has burned 5,000 acres, forcing thousands to flee their homes and schools as an enormous cloud of smoke rose over the area. Authorities ordered evacuations of 1,300 homes in the Westridge area as well as schools on Valencia Boulevard in Stevenson Ranch. Students at West Ranch High School and Rancho Pico Junior High were being evacuated to College of the Canyons. As of 4 p.m., the Rye fire was 5% contained, Los Angeles County fire officials said.

See also:

ECONOMY / JOBS

Economy:

California Trade Report – Oct 2017

Center for Jobs and the Economy

VIDEO: Reviving the California Dream needs elevated solutions & leaders

California Economy Reporting

The California Economic Summit is leading a dynamic conversation on how to elevate the 18 million Californians who live in or near poverty. “We often think about it as a moral imperative, but in reality, it’s an economic imperative,” said Ryan Smith, executive director of Education Trust-West. For Eloy Ortiz Oakley, the respected chancellor of California’s 114 Community Colleges, it is a matter of addressing how to bridge the gap in what he calls the two Californias, the one that is prospering and the other that is struggling. “Not only must we help the student coming out of high school but we need to also provide retraining for the working adults who need new skills for today’s economy,” Oakley said.

Jobs:

Christmas Grinch avoided: State finding jobs for workers who feared layoffs

Sacramento Bee

State government won’t be the Grinch to a small group of workers it scared last week with notices that had some of them fearing for their jobs. The Department of General Services on Dec. 1 published a letter announcing its intent to close an office that let state workers use state-owned cars during the workday. The program has grown less popular, and was not used often enough for the state to continue running it, according to the notice.

EDUCATION

 

K-12:

Google comes to Downtown Elementary, and coding-savvy kids are ready for them

Bakersfield Californian

Some kids want to grow up to be police officers, or firefighters, or maybe even the president of the United States.  Luca Garone, a brainy fifth-grader at Downtown Elementary School in Bakersfield, wants to be a computer coder.

Lawyers sue California because too many children can’t read

Sacramento Bee

A group of prominent lawyers representing teachers and students from poor performing schools sued California on Tuesday, arguing that the state has done nothing about a high number of schoolchildren who do not know how to read.

See also:

Database on chronic absenteeism in California schools 2016-17

EdSource

For the first time, the California Department of Education has released data on chronic absenteeism in California schools.

More than 1 in 10 California students are ‘chronically absent”

EdSource

California education officials on Tuesday released school-level data that shows that last year more than 1 in 10 students were chronically absent, defined as missing at least 10 percent of school days for any reason. The data, which the state released for the first time, reveals that 1 in 4 foster children was chronically absent from California schools last year, as were about 1 in 5 homeless, Native American and African-American students. Chronic absenteeism among California’s students peaked in high school, at 15.4 percent. But the data showed kindergartners close behind, with 14 percent missing at least 10 percent of school days. The statewide average for all students was 10.8 percent.

Where they stand: leading Democratic candidates for California governor offer visions for education

EdSource

California voters interested in the future of education in California will make a pivotal decision when they go to the polls twice next year to elect a successor to Gov. Jerry Brown, whose record four terms are drawing to a close.

Higher Ed:

Stanford University executive leaves job after huge data breach

San Francisco Chronicle

The chief digital officer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business is out of a job days after campus officials revealed that the school had failed to disclose a huge data breach of personal information that came to light only after a student made it known.

States be aware: Cost savings for dual enrollment elude state ledgers

Brookings

Who doesn’t love a bargain? That’s part of what I’ve heard state lawmakers in Idaho and Washington say they think they’re getting with dual enrollment policies that let students earn college credit in high school. Dual enrollment is first and foremost a means to promote persistence and success in college. But a secondary agenda for many is simply the cost piece: Dual enrollment reduces the cost of higher education.

ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY

Environment:

Brown’s environmental mixed bag

Capitol Weekly

In recent years, Gov. Jerry Brown has signed groundbreaking legislation establishing the most ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in North America, and he has been praised globally for his environmentalism and his efforts to curb global warming.

Fires, droughts and hurricanes: What’s the link between climate change and natural disasters?

Los Angeles Times

One of the most destructive fire seasons in California history keeps getting worse, with three wildfires driven by Santa Ana winds burning brush and homes in the Southland. At the other extreme, four hurricanes — Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate — have made landfall in the U.S. this year, the first time in more than a decade that so many have done so. Extreme events have been hitting the the country from all sides. To what extent does climate change influence them? Here are a few ways researchers think that climate change’s effects could play out.

Thanks to climate change, the weather roasting California and freezing the East may thrive

Washington Post

The explosive brush fires raging in Southern California and the frigid weather about to grip the eastern U.S. are connected. They are the consequences of an extreme jet pattern that makes the West hot and dry, and simultaneously the East cold. And new research reveals climate change and shrinking sea ice may help this pattern of wild contrasts develop more frequently. The overarching weather pattern responsible for the contrasting extremes between the coasts is known as the North American Winter Dipole. It is fancy term to describe abnormally warm conditions in the West and cold conditions in the East. Under such a pattern, the jet stream, the super highway for storms that divides cold and warm air,  surges north in the western half of the nation, and crashes south in the eastern half.

Energy:

Biofuels, the Renewable Fuel Standard, and the Farm Bill

AEI

The main potential benefits to society from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) stemmed from potential reductions in greenhouse gas emissions due to increased biofuel and decreased fossil fuel use. The policy has failed to deliver these benefits.The RFS experience produces three lessons relevant to government policymaking in this and other areas. The lessons are: (1) incorporate uncertainty, (2) do not give the regulator too much discretion, and (3) do not mandate things that do not exist.

Proposal to go solar at old Oakland power plant

San Francisco Chronicle

An aging power plant running on jet fuel near Oakland’s Jack London Square could be replaced by batteries and solar panels, under a proposal city leaders and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. plan to announce Wednesday.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Lack Of Action From Congress Threatens Healthcare Of Millions Of California’s Kids

Valley Public Radio

When it comes to the health care safety net, there’s been a lot of uncertainty in the last few months. Republican lawmakers spent the better part of the year trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and funding has been on shaky ground for community health centers that treat low-income and uninsured patients. Now in the spotlight is the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which insures 2 million low-income kids in California–and is set to run out of federal funding within the next month.

See also:

How the tax bill opens wide a big back door to overhaul health care

The Conversation

The U.S. Senate on Dec. 2 passed its version of one of the most sweeping tax reform bills on a party-line vote of 51-49. After reconciliation with a House version, the bill is expected to be passed into law by the end of the year. The process and content of the legislation is largely reminiscent of the previous efforts by Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act: limited hearings, limited analysis, limited participation and limited transparency. By providing various concessions, Senate Republican leadership was able to convince its three holdoutsfrom the bill that would have gutted the Affordable Care Act from earlier this year: Republican Senators John McCain of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. “Tax reform” essentially morphed into the functional equivalent of this summer’s “skinny repeal” version of “repeal and replace.”

IMMIGRATION

Mimi Walters becomes third California GOP representative to advocate for DACA fix this year

Los Angeles Times

Orange County U.S. Rep. Mimi Walters on Tuesday joined Central Valley congressmen David Valadao and Jeff Denham in urging House Speaker Paul D. Ryan to address the legal status of people brought to the country illegally as children before the end of the year. “I feel strongly that we take care of the Dreamers in our country and that we try to get them situated as soon as we can,” Walters said. “I think there’s a lot of uncertainty out there for the Dreamers and I want to put that uncertainty at ease and at rest.”

See also:

Immigration enforcement under Trump: Fewer people caught at border, more arrested in U.S. interior

Los Angeles Times

After 10 months of ramped-up immigration enforcement under President Trumpand a sharp surge of arrests across the country, the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement promised Tuesday that the agency will become even more aggressive next year.

43% of Fortune 500 founded by immigrants or their children

Axios

About 43% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by an immigrant or a child of an immigrant, per a new study from the Center for American Entrepreneurship: That number is slightly higher within the high-tech companies on the list, at roughly 46%. The companies linked to immigrants are located in more than half of all states.

LAND USE/HOUSING

 

Land Use:

Hotels set sights on Clovis

Clovis Roundup

Clovis has the highest occupancy rate in the Valley, with its scare hotel rooms booked at or near 100 percent, making it difficult for visitors to find a place to stay close to Clovis attractions and amenities. Thankfully, hotel chains are taking notice and are now capitalizing on the opportunity to come to Clovis.

Housing:

Retail-residential plan aims at blight, housing

Fresno Bee

Blackstone Avenue, the primary north-south artery through Fresno, has long been cited as an example of haphazard planning, an unsightly visual blight of signs and billboards, and a deteriorating commercial corridor in the central part of the city. Now, two new projects aim to make a dent in Blackstone’s blight. They are among the first “mixed-use” developments proposed along Blackstone Avenue since Fresno approved changes to its planning rules to encourage affordable apartments with commercial space along one of the city’s key public transportation routes.

Southern California housing market is ‘overvalued,’ CoreLogic reports

OCRegister

After 5 1/2 years of steadily rising home prices, Southern California’s housing market is “overvalued,” real estate data firm CoreLogic reported Tuesday, Dec. 5. As of October, the Los Angeles County, Orange County and Inland Empire housing markets were among 37 top 100 U.S. metro areas where home prices were 10 percent or more above the long-term, sustainable level, according to the data firm’s latest Market Indicators Report.

PUBLIC FINANCES

 

For stories on federal tax reform, see, “Top Stories – Federal,” above

TRANSPORTATION

This Sacramento bridge closure will cut off a popular river crossing this winter and spring

Sacramento Bee

The historic Jibboom Street Bridge downtown will be closed for major repairs this winter and much of spring, county officials said this week. The span, which connects Sacramento’s central city with Discovery Park and south Natomas, will close on Sunday, Dec. 10, and is expected to remain inaccessible through May. The bridge, built in 1931, spans the American River a few yards east of its confluence with the Sacramento River, north of downtown.

WATER

Raises approved at MID despite pleas to let the public look at the contract

Modesto Bee

Despite pleas from the board and audience for more time to study a proposed five-year labor deal, a bare majority of Modesto Irrigation District leaders on Tuesday approved 16-percent employee raises over the next five years. New board member Stu Gilman, sworn into office 24 1/2 hours earlier, asked for a two-week extension so that he and members of the public could absorb the inch-thick printed proposal. Board member John Mensinger called that a reasonable request, and some members of the public agreed, but the three other board members said a delay would serve no purpose.

Oroville Dam: Spillway failure report delayed; coming soon

San Jose Mercury News

An independent forensic team has “essentially completed” its investigation into what caused the Oroville Dam spillway to collapse in February and its findings are expected to be made public sometime in the next few weeks. The forensic team’s final report was expected by the end of November, but as that deadline passed, the United States Society of Dams issued a short press release Tuesday explaining the vast amount of information to sift through and interviews to be conducted took longer than anticipated.

New Water Rules for Marijuana Growers

Public Policy Institute of California

Marijuana growers who plan on growing cannabis on private land next season will encounter new state requirements to address the crop’s impact on California’s creeks and streams. The success of the policy will be tested by the state’s ability to bring growers into the legal cannabis sector. Currently, an estimated 80% of the state’s cannabis crop is grown for the black market.

“Xtra”

Holiday Social and Holiday Artisan Fair

Merced County Arts Council, INC

Holidays at the MAC

Firefighters to compete in bartending competition to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy Association

bakersfield.com

Things are about to get heated at Firehouse Restaurant. The eatery, along with Bakersfield Professional Firefighters and Kern County Firefighters, is raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association by holding a unique competition.

Musician, fans ponder Fresno Hall of Fame

The Fresno Bee

Musicians love to philosophize on the state of their local scenes.

DID YOU KNOW: Thousands of animals saved through foster care this year

Bakersfield Californian

This year 1,256 animals have been saved through foster care, Kern County Animal Services said on Facebook Monday. “We are so proud of that number and it keeps growing every day,” said the post. Think foster care might be for you?

Go back in time to the prohibition era at 1933’s Inaugural Prohibition Night

Bakersfield Californian

It’s the 1920s and here you are a speakeasy: It’s the inaugural Prohibition Night party at the 1933 Club, where there will be booze, secret knocks, peek holes and passwords. “An era when Hidden Rooms & Underground Clubs were full of rebels, dressed to the nines and ready to sip till the sun came up,” the restaurant said on its event page on Facebook. “Get ready to dance the night away!”

Second half slump dooms CSUB in Fresno

Bakersfield Californian

Cal State Bakersfield forward Shon Briggs made a power dribble and shoulder shake move inside. He put up the layup that fell through the net with contact, sending the CSUB bench into a frenzy as the Roadrunners cut the Fresno State lead to 10. Briggs puffed out his chest as Fresno State’s Sam Bittner took the walk of shame to the bench after fouling out. He thought it would be turning point.