Maddy Institute

16Mar

TOP POLITICAL STORIES

Valley Politics:

Applications DUE TODAY, March 16, 2018 – TWO $56,000 Wonderful Public Service Graduate Fellowships

Through the generosity of The Wonderful Company, San Joaquin Valley students will have the opportunity to become the next generation of Valley leaders through The Wonderful Public Service Graduate Fellowship. This program helps students obtain an advanced degree from a top graduate program, return home, and apply what they have learned to help make the Valley a better place.

Costa: More ICE audits will have ‘severe and disproportionate’ impact on Valley business

The Fresno Bee

Rep. David Valadao family’s dairy slapped with lawsuits, revealing financial trouble

The Bakersfield Californian

Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, is named in two lawsuits against his family’s Triple V Dairy business for defaulting on nearly $9 million in agriculture loans and failing to pay an animal nutrition company for its goods.

Embattled high-speed rail route, schedule and cost still a moving target

Fresno Bee

The latest release of the every-other-year business plan by the California High-Speed Rail Authority represents yet another iteration of a project with moving targets for price, schedule and geography. The rail agency’s draft 2018 business plan issued last week offered a sobering look at a project that has been plagued with challenges and skepticism since before 2008, when the state’s voters approved Proposition 1A, a $9.95 billion high-speed-rail bond.

● Borenstein: Jerry Brown’s embarrassing bullet-train bragging to Trump The Mercury News

Fresno, Clovis Schools Approach National School Walkout Day Differently

Valley Public Radio

Fresno Unified School District students took part in national school walkout events today. Students across the nation participated in memory of the victims of last month’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and in protest of gun violence. Students at Fresno High School opted for a “lie in,” instead of a walkout.

Family of man fatally shot by police marches to Tulare City Hall

Fresno Bee

Carrying signs that read “Justice for Jontell” and “Treat the Ill, Not Kill the Ill,” about 100 marchers took to the streets of Tulare on Wednesday, showing their displeasure at the recent fatal police shooting of a 27-year-old man. The family of that man, Jontell Reedom led the marchers, most of whom were from the local African American community. Wednesday’s march startedat the location where the shooting took place Monday, near Cross Avenue and Cherry Street, and ended at City Hall.

Clovis PD shares 2017 crime statistics

Clovis Roundup

Public safety is the No. 1 priority in Clovis, but as the city continues to grow, fighting crime is becoming a challenge for the Clovis Police Department’s bare bones 100-officer team. At a recent city council meeting, Police Chief Matt Basgall presented a crime analysis report for 2017, which showed that overall violent crime in Clovis is down.

Valley farmers welcome rainstorms

ABC30

New nightlife option coming to Fulton Street

ABC30

Downtown Fresno’s Fulton Street is on the verge of welcoming its first outdoor patio. Construction began today at Los Panchos. Owners of the longtime Mexican restaurant say they’ve been excited to begin work on this project since the Fulton Street renovation began last fall. When construction is complete, the restaurant will have a bigger bar that will add to the nightlife options in the area.

Sheriff helicopter repair and cyber security are spending items for Stanislaus County

Modesto Bee

Supervisors reject $15 million ‘claim for damages’ from DA Linn and his wife

Sierra Star

The Madera County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously denied a $15 million ‘claim for damages’ from District Attorney David Linn and his wife, retired Sierra Star publisher and past president of the Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce, Betty Linn.

He took on the NFL. Now he’s after California’s ‘primitive’ sheriff-coroner system

Sacramento Bee

It has been months since the nationally renowned Dr. Bennet Omalu abruptly quit his job as chief medical examiner of San Joaquin County, sending shock waves through California’s close-knit community of forensic pathologists.

Central Unified parents launch effort to recall school board trustees

ABC30

A massive recall campaign is in the works at Lomac Winery. It’s all for this man, former Central Unified Superintendent Mark Sutton. He stopped by briefly to thank his supporters but offered no comment to Action News. “They didn’t expect him not to be here because he’s present and that’s what we need, somebody who is present,” said parent Georgette Lake.

BCSD board candidates discuss major education issues at forum

Bakersfield Californian

Candidates running for the open Bakersfield City School District board seat got to speak their minds about some of the major issues in education on Thursday.

Campus threats cause KHSD to beef up security

Bakersfield Californian

At least three high schools in Bakersfield saw additional security measures on their campuses Thursday after receiving threats Wednesday. One of those threats was deemed “not credible” by the Kern High School District Police Department, while the other two remained under investigation Thursday, a district spokeswoman said in an email.

Lawsuit against Kern County ambulance system submitted to judge

The Bakersfield Californian

On Thursday morning, Administrative Law Judge Samuel Reyes heard final arguments on a case that could dramatically change the face of Kern County’s ambulance system.

Judge rules in favor of Kern County in suit against county oil and gas permitting plan

The Bakersfield Californian

Kern County has won what is likely to be the first round in a legal battle over the high-profile oil and gas permitting system passed by Kern County Supervisors in November 2015.

Vidak authors measure to limit where sex offenders can live

Hanford Sentinel

State Senator Andy Vidak (R-Hanford) announced he is amending his Senate Bill 1143 to prevent sex offenders from secretly moving in next door to schools, parks and child care centers.

Abortion, free speech collide in Supreme Court dispute (case from Gilroy)

Informed Choices is what its president describes as a “life-affirming” pregnancy center on the edge of downtown Gilroy in northern California. Even as it advertises “free pregnancy services” and promises in signs on its door and inside to discuss all options with pregnant women, Informed Choices exists to steer women away from abortion.

State Politics:

Newsom should resign over sexual misconduct, Renteria says

The Sacramento Bee

California gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom’s past sexual misconduct disqualifies him from holding higher office, rival Democrat Amanda Renteria said Thursday, and he should resign from his position as lieutenant governor.

In governor’s race polls, Cox makes a case for November, Newsom agrees

San Francisco Chronicle

A new poll has Republican businessman John Cox less than a single percentage point behind Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in the race for governor, 45.1 percent to 44.6 percent. Of course, the internal poll was paid for by Cox. And the numbers come after the 496 people in the online survey were asked about the importance of a series of issues or proposals and given undisclosed “positive arguments likely to be made” by Cox and Newsom.

Liberal Groups Mount Push For Universal (Not Single-Payer) Healthcare In California

capradio.org

California isn’t moving to a single-payer health care system anytime soon. So a coalition of liberal advocacy groups is calling for policy actions this year to achieve statewide universal coverage under California’s current health care system. Many of the groups in the coalition support single-payer but acknowledge that barriers like state costs and Trump administration approval are insurmountable in the short term.

California healthcare proposal unveiled at Capitol aims to build on Obamacare gains

Los Angeles Times

Promising to build on the Affordable Care Act, a coalition of influential interest groups announced a new legislative push Thursday for a patchwork of measures that aim to make healthcare in California cheaper and more accessible.

California Senate leader Kevin de León appoints lawyer in the US illegally to statewide post

Los Angeles Times

An attorney and immigrant rights activist is the first person living in the U.S. illegally to be named to a statewide appointment in the nation’s most populous state, California’s Senate leader announced Wednesday. The Senate Rules Committee appointed Lizbeth Mateo to be an advisor on college access and financial aid.

New California bill would give big state funding boost to affordable housing

Los Angeles Times

A Bay Area legislator is unveiling new legislation to provide major state funding for cities and counties to finance low-income housing, transit and other infrastructure. Assembly Bill 3037 from Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) would re-create a version of a program known as redevelopment that set aside billions of dollars in property taxes each year for local economic development and affordable housing.

SB 827 helps solve Bay Area housing, traffic challenges

The Mercury News

California lawmakers will soon hold a hearing on state Sen. Scott Wiener’s Senate Bill 827, which would set significant limits on local land-use regulation near transit routes. It would override city zoning laws to allow mid-rise apartment buildings near major transit stations and bus routes that offer service at least every 15 minutes during rush hour.

California lawsuits accuse Uber and Lyft of discriminating against wheelchair users

Los Angeles Times

If a driver’s car isn’t wheelchair accessible, should Uber and Lyft then encourage them to drive a vehicle that is more accommodating?

California lawmakers propose cut to recreational cannabis taxes

Reuters

California lawmakers on Thursday launched a bipartisan bid to temporarily reduce taxes on the state’s emerging recreational cannabis industry in order to help legally run pot businesses compete financially with black market growers and sellers.

California Net Neutrality Bill Would Go Beyond Original Protections

WIRED

If broadband providers thought that they’d be subject to fewer regulations after the Federal Communications Commission voted in December to jettison its net neutrality protections, they could be disappointed. California state Senator Scott Wiener on Wednesday introduced a bill that would create a regime in some ways more strict than the Obama-era rules against blocking, throttling, or otherwise discriminating against content.

California, the New Cradle of States’ Rights

Bloomberg

To people in the rest of the U.S., California can seem like a foreign country. From Donald Trump’s perspective, the feeling may not be purely cultural. California is pursuing a range of policies designed to thwart the president’s initiatives. Those include blocking offshore drilling that Trump wants to enable; preventing the softening of Obama-era miles-per-gallon standards; and contradicting Trump’s immigration policies with sanctuary laws.

Fox: Firing Up a “New Way”

Fox & Hounds

How provocative and different will New Way California be? That’s the group founded by Assemblyman Chad Mayes and supported by former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in an effort to revive the California Republican Party.

Federal Politics:

Democrats brace for potential California disaster

Politico

In a state that’s central to the battle for control of the House, Democrats emerged from a filing deadline late Wednesday resigned to the possibility that no Democratic candidate will appear on the November ballot in several key House races.

Whalen: Why President Trump will come back to California

Fresno Bee

My guess is that Trump will return to California for one good reason: Every wise politician craves a foil. Trump has a lot of nemeses, real and perceived, in case you haven’t noticed. And in California, the line forms to the rear of Trump-loathing Democrats.

Trump’s trade and immigration policies could trip up California’s growing economy

CNBC

California’s economy is strong, but it could be tripped up by fallout from PresidentDonald Trump’s trade and immigration policies, according to economists. A state report last week by a nonpartisan legislative agency was a reminder that a major economic downturn could create another severe budget crisis for California, which if it were a country would rank as the sixth-largest economy in the world

Trump to roll out opioid plan Monday, including tougher punishment

NBC News

President Trump is set to roll out new plans to tackle the nation’s opioid crisis on Monday that are expected to call for tougher penalties, potentially including the death penalty for traffickers, a senior White House official tells NBC News.

See also:

● Death Penalty for Opioid Dealers? National Review

● House Republicans open to considering Trump’s death penalty for drug dealers.The Weekly Standard

Feinstein takes tougher tack on president’s pick for CIA director

San Francisco Chronicle

The road to confirmation as CIA director for Gina Haspel just got tougher, as California Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked the agency to declassify documents related to Haspel’s participation in the agency’s secret prison and torture programs.

Dianne Feinstein vs. driverless cars: Why California senator is squaring off against high-tech

Los Angeles Daily News

The senior U.S. senator from the country’s most tech-savvy state has for months blocked a bill championed by some of California’s biggest tech companies that would cut regulations and get self-driving cars onto roads sooner — and she made it clear Wednesday she’s not backing down.

Conservatives Mobilize Grass-Roots Activists To Promote Trump Judges

NPR

A conservative group funded by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch is turning its attention to a new front: promoting federal judges at the grass-roots level.

The rewritten mission statements of Trump’s federal agencies, annotated

Washington Post

In the first year of the Trump administration, a number of federal agencies have quietly undergone changes to their mission statements or have had significant changes proposed. While many of these edits have gone unnoticed by the public, they may point to meaningful shifts in those agencies’ purpose, priorities and value alignment.

Other:

How real news can stand up to fake news on Facebook (Opinion)

CNN

In 2016, more than a quarter of Americans read online stories that were “fake news” — or deliberately false information or propaganda disguised as actual news reporting, researchers found. The most successful fake election news on Facebook generated more engagement than the top stories from The New York Times, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, NBC News and others, another analysis showed.

Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet

The New Yorker

Which Web sites get the most traffic? According to the ranking service Alexa, the top three sites in the United States, as of this writing, are Google, YouTube, and Facebook. (Porn, somewhat hearteningly, doesn’t crack the top ten.) The rankings don’t reflect everything—the dark Web, the nouveau-riche recluses harvesting bitcoin—but, for the most part, people online go where you’d expect them to go.

AP: Widespread action on gun control in the states unlikely

The campaign for tighter gun laws that inspired unprecedented student walkouts across the country faces an uphill climb in a majority of states, an Associated Press review of gun legislation found. The AP survey of bill activity in state legislatures before and after the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, provides a reality check on the ambitions of the “Enough is Enough” movement. It suggests votes like the one in Florida, where Republican lawmakers defied the National Rifle Association to pass new gun regulations, are unlikely to be repeated in many other states, at least not this year.

● A gun control solution manufacturers can get behind Brookings

● Why Are White Men Stockpiling Guns? Scientific American

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

Sunday, March 18, at 10 a.m. on ABC 30 – Maddy Report: Governor’s Brown’s Last Budget: Caution Despite Surplus – Guests: Mac Taylor, California Legislative Office; John Myers with L.A. Times; and Dan Walters, Calmatters. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, March 18, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) –Maddy Report: “Proposed State Budget: Implications for the Valley” –Guests: Mike Dunbar, Modesto Bee & Merced Sun Star and Prof. Ivy Cargaly CSU Bakersfield. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, March 18, at 7:30 a.m. on UniMas 61 (KTTF) – Informe Maddy:2018: The Political Forecast – Guests: Alexei Koseff, Sacramento Bee and Jazmine Ulloa, LA Times. Host: Maddy Institute Program Coordinator, Maria Jeans.

Support the Maddy Daily HERE.

Thank you!

Topics in More Detail…

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

Valley farmers welcome rainstorms

ABC30

California considers lower taxes on pot to help new legal industry compete with black market

Los Angeles Times

CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY

For stories on ”gun control,” See: “Top Stories – Other Politics,” above

Crime:

Clovis PD shares 2017 crime statistics

Clovis Roundup

Did you ignore a summons for jury duty? There are consequences

89.3 KPCC

The Los Angeles Superior Court held hearings in Pomona on Thursday for people who skipped out on scheduled jury duty. The court, which serves Los Angeles County, called attention to the hearings as the percentage of citizens showing up to serve on juries has been declining in the past few years, a trend that has implications for the diversity of jury pools and, some say, the fairness of court trials

Public Safety:

Lawsuit against Kern County ambulance system submitted to judge

Bakersfield Californian

On Thursday morning, Administrative Law Judge Samuel Reyes heard final arguments on a case that could dramatically change the face of Kern County’s ambulance system. Attorneys for the County of Kern and the California Emergency Medical Services Authority will add more written briefs, arguing their side of the case, before Reyes issues his decision on a state challenge to the Kern system. It is unknown when a ruling will be available.

Sheriff helicopter repair and cyber security are spending items for Stanislaus County

The Modesto Bee

A Stanislaus County government refreshed by a surge in revenue upped appropriations by $19 million in midyear budget adjustments this month. In one of the spending items, county officials will take action to improve cybersecurity after a ransomware attack in December disabled hundreds of computers in county Behavioral Health and Recovery Services. County leaders had recognized the need for the security position last May and planned to include it in next year’s budget, but now there’s no time to waste in beefing up security.

Bill would give cities tools they need to crack down on speed

Los Angeles Times

There’s a not-so-silent killer on our streets — one responsible for 265 traffic-related deaths in Los Angeles County in 2016 alone. In Glendale, where I previously served as council member and mayor prior to the Assembly, traffic-related injuries and fatalities rose 25% in 2016.

Fire:

Ranchers sue utility over California’s largest wildfire

The Bakersfield Californian

Ranchers who lost cattle and property during California’s largest-ever wildfire sued a utility on Thursday for allegedly failing to maintain aging equipment and manage vegetation in areas where the blaze was sparked.

ECONOMY / JOBS

Chart of the day: US trade deficits vs. US household net worth – they’ve risen together over the last half century

AEI

The chart above shows the annual US trade deficit (inverted, right scale, data here) and the annual dollar value of US household net worth (left scale, data here), from 1970 to 2017. As can be seen in the chart, the steady increase in the US trade deficit over the last nearly half-century to a peak of $770 billion in 2006 before falling to an average of $500 billion during the last decade has been accompanied by a steady increase in the value of US household net worth, which has increased more than four-fold in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1970.

Can tariffs bring back Big Steel?

Marketplace

When Ed Schuty was 19, he walked into a steel mill and walked out with a job. It was 1978, and steel was still a sure thing in Pittsburgh. But within a few years, he and thousands of other workers in Southwestern Pennsylvania were scrambling for work. Schuty moved through jobs at factories and in retail. He even tended bar for a while, because steel, he said, “I didn’t think any of that was going up back up.”

The Protectionist’s Protectionist

The Weekly Standard

This is Peter Navarro’s moment. The gadfly economist, whose idée fixe is America’s capitulation to China on trade, joined the Trump administration on Day One, heading up the National Trade Council, a new office created by the new president. But for the first 13 months, Trump did little to advance his promised protectionist agenda, and Navarro had to keep quiet as free traders like Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and Gary Cohn, the chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC), held the reins.

EDUCATION

K-12

Central Unified parents launch effort to recall school board trustees

ABC30

A massive recall campaign is in the works at Lomac Winery. It’s all for this man, former Central Unified Superintendent Mark Sutton. He stopped by briefly to thank his supporters but offered no comment to Action News. “They didn’t expect him not to be here because he’s present and that’s what we need, somebody who is present,” said parent Georgette Lake.

YUSD interim superintendent brings 32 years of experience with him

Sierra Star

Mike Berg, with 32 years experience in education, has been named the interim superintendent for the Yosemite Unified School District. Berg, who will work part-time, was introduced at the district’s board of trustees meeting March 12, at Rivergold Elementary School.

BCSD board candidates discuss major education issues at forum

Bakersfield Californian

Candidates running for the open Bakersfield City School District board seat got to speak their minds about some of the major issues in education on Thursday. The Dolores Huerta Foundation organized a forum at Emerson Middle School for the candidates running for the Area 3 seat in the April 10 special election. The seat was vacated by Raymond Gonzales, who left in May 2017 due to health issues. Only two of the candidates — educator Vicki Lynn Billington and attorney Edgar Aguilasocho — agreed to participate in the forum. The other two candidates — Rupert Gregorio and Ralph Anthony — did not attend.

Campus threats cause KHSD to beef up security

Bakersfield Californian

Dozens of California districts with worst test scores excluded from extra state help

CALmatters

Dozens of California school systems with some of the state’s worst test scores and biggest academic achievement gaps won’t get any extra help this year under a support system launched recently by the state. The new dashboard system rates districts in several categories that impact student learning. But—mirroring a nationwide shift away from a narrow focus on tests—it offers special help to ones with sagging academics only if they also suspend a high number of students or graduate too few of them.

California state board of Ed OK’s charter for College Prep Middle

The San Diego Union-Tribune

The California State Board of Education of Thursday agreed to sponsor the charter of College Preparatory Middle School in La Mesa. The board voted 9-2 at its meeting in Sacramento to oversee the petition for the next five years of the fifth- through eighth-grade public charter school that operates out of the basement of the La Mesa Church of Christ on Jackson Drive.

Don’t swap state tests like Smarter Balanced for SAT or ACT, report cautions

EdSource

States should not abandon their high school math and reading assessments in favor of the college readiness tests SAT or ACT, a prominent national education nonprofit advised in a new report. A number of California school administrators are pushing the California Legislature to give them the option of making that switch.

Higher Ed:

While California leads the way in inmate education, COS Isn’t Interested

Visalia Times-Delta

With 35 prisons, 58 county jails and roughly 700,000 Californians in prison, jail, or under criminal justice supervision, there has been a push to provide inmates access to education. According to a report released Thursday by Corrections to College California, the state is leading the way in educating inmates. Law enforcement and community colleges are partnering to reduce recidivism through education, adding more programs that prepare inmates for life on the outside.

University of California to raise tuition for non-residents

The Sacramento Bee

The University of California’s governing board approved a tuition increase Thursday for out-of-state undergraduate students of 3.5 percent, or $978 a year, starting in the 2018-19 school year. The increase will bring tuition and fees for out-of-state undergraduates to nearly $42,000 next year, more than triple what California residents pay. The Board of Regents voted 12-3 in favor of the increase but also agreed to rescind it if they can lobby the Legislature for more money.

Here’s How a National Database Could Help Colleges Fight Sexual Assault

RAND

Before the recent revelations about sexual assault in Hollywood and other industries, the spotlight was on the nation’s colleges and universities: Over the past several years, those institutions have been challenged by lawmakers and a growing group of emboldened victims to improve their response to sexual crimes on campus.

ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY

Environment:

FEMA Drops ‘Climate Change’ From Its Strategic Plan

NPR

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the federal government’s first responder to floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters, has eliminated references to climate change from its strategic planning document for the next four years. That document, released by FEMA on Thursday, outlines plans for building preparedness and reducing the complexity of the agency.

Free the Public Utilities Commission so it can tackle climate change

Sacramento Bee

The vital role that the California Public Utilities Commission has played in advancing the state’s leadership in energy and environmental policy is in grave jeopardy. Ironically, the commission’s leadership and innovation is being shackled by new rules in the false name of reform and consumer protection.

Energy:

Judge rules in favor of Kern County in suit against county oil and gas permitting plan

The Bakersfield Californian

Kern County has won what is likely to be the first round in a legal battle over the high-profile oil and gas permitting system passed by Kern County Supervisors in November 2015. Kern County Superior Court Judge Eric Bradshaw ruled that the environmental impact report that Kern County drafted to back up its permitting system was adequately prepared.

California battles EPA over fuel economy

89.3 KPCC

California has been in the Trump administration’s crosshairs this week. On Tuesday, the same day President Trump was in town saying Governor Jerry Brown was doing a terrible job — the head of the EPA was on TV challenging California’s authority to set its own fuel economy standards.

Why gas-fired power plants are on the chopping block in SoCal

89.3 KPCC

This month, three local power plants fueled by natural gas announced they were closing, and plans for a fourth have been scrapped. Collectively, they are victims of an energy glut and changing energy policies that are moving the state away from fossil fuels.

Wind Energy’s Carbon Footprint

FactCheck.org

In observing that “every type of energy has consequences,” Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke claimed the “carbon footprint on wind [energy] is significant.” In fact, wind power’s carbon footprint is among the smallest of any energy source. Coal’s carbon footprint is almost 90 times larger than that of wind energy, and the footprint of natural gas is more than 40 times larger, according to the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Energy industry shows how information technology can boost productivity

AEI

America’s oil and gas boom has been one of the biggest economic stories of the past decade. The doubling of daily US oil output and the 50 percent increase in natural gas production have transformed energy markets and are altering the geostrategic landscape. Russia, for example, is desperately lashing out, while Saudi Arabia is showing signs of an ambitious political, economic, and cultural modernization

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICE

Liberal Groups Mount Push For Universal (Not Single-Payer) Healthcare In California

capradio.org

In a first, the FDA announces its intention to reduce the amount of nicotine allowed in cigarettes

Los Angeles Times

In a bid to drastically reduce the number of U.S. deaths attributed to smoking each year, the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday unveiled a tobacco regulation plan that is notable for its breadth and simplicity: strip cigarettes of their power over users by reducing their nicotine content to nonaddictive levels. Breaking ranks with an administration bent on scrapping federal regulations, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb described “one possible policy scenario” that would set a limit of 0.4 milligrams of nicotine per gram of tobacco. That’s about 97% lower than the nicotine levels in typical cigarettes.

The other opioid crisis: hospitals are running short of powerful painkillers

Los Angeles Times

Even as opioids flood American communities and fuel widespread addiction, hospitals are facing a dangerous shortage of the powerful painkillers needed by patients in acute pain, according to doctors, pharmacists and a coalition of health groups.

Restore Americans’ freedom to buy health insurance independent of Obamacare

AEI

Wile Americans can escape ObamaCare, they still can’t buy insurance in the individual market independent of ObamaCare because private insurers are prohibited from selling it. If this prohibition can be removed through the granting of state waivers by the Department of Health and Human Services, or by the passage of a new federal statute, ObamaCare will collapse into a high-risk insurance pool for the seriously ill rather than become a stepping stone to socialized medicine.

IMMIGRATION

Costa: More ICE audits will have ‘severe and disproportionate’ impact on Valley business

The Fresno Bee

Fresno congressman Jim Costa is urging federal immigration agents to cut back on workplace audits, saying they will have a “severe and disproportionate” impact on agricultural communities in the Valley. Immigration and Customs Enforcementleadership vowed last year to do “four to five times” more investigations of businesses that hire undocumented workers. In recent months, Fresno-area farming companies have received notices from ICE that their employee records will be audited, leading to dozens of workers to lose their jobs.

How California went from anti-immigration to ‘sanctuary state’

CALmatters

Amparo Cid traces her work as an attorney helping recent immigrants and their families in the Central Valley fight injustices and potential deportation to her experience as a child in 1994. That was when California voters passed Proposition 187, an initiative that denied undocumented immigrants access to publicly funded services. Back then, many California officials blamed the federal government for not doing more to keep people from crossing the border illegally. Today, the roles are reversed.

Dividing Immigrants Into Good and Evil Is a Dangerous Game

The Nation

The immigration debate seems to have gone crazy. President Obama’s widelypopular Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which offered some 750,000 young immigrants brought to the United States as children a temporary reprieve from deportation, is ending… except it isn’t… except it is… President Trump claims to support it but ordered its halt, while both Republicans and Democrats insist that they want to preserve it and blame each other for its impending demise.

LAND USE/HOUSING

Land Use:

Madera County’s newest neighborhood is being built with an emphasis on safety

ABC30

The rolling hills and mountains offer a scenic backdrop for what will be a 5,000 home development called Tesoro Viejo. Highway 41 provides easy access. Developer Bob McCaffrey envisions a slice of small-town America here. “Actually in 2003 when I visited the site and drove it with the original landowner I fell in love with it. I always refer to this as a ‘walk in the clouds.'”

By ordering new land-use plan, Trump could spark a fight in California deserts

Los Angeles Times

It looks like a barren no man’s land, but the vast desert outside Indio, Calif., has many suitors. Conservationists see its acres of creosote bush and cholla cactus as a rare habitat for tortoises, pronghorn antelope and an elusive variety of mule deer. Energy companies view its sunbaked plains and windswept ridgelines as prime perches for solar panels and wind turbines. Dirt tracks that wiggle across its sandy washes are testament to its popularity among off-road motorsports enthusiasts

Housing:

New California bill would give big state funding boost to affordable housing

Los Angeles Times

Who’s Greener? California Housing Plan Splits Would-Be Allies

New York Times

It’s an audacious proposal to get Californians out of their cars: a bill in the State Legislature that would allow eight-story buildings near major transit stops, even if local communities object. The idea is to foster taller, more compact residential neighborhoods that wean people from long, gas-guzzling commutes, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

US housing starts fall on weak multi-family segment

Reuters

U.S. homebuilding fell more than expected in February as a plunge in the construction of multi-family housing units offset a second straight monthly increase in single-family projects.

PUBLIC FINANCES

California considers lower taxes on pot to help new legal industry compete with black market

Los Angeles Times

Alarmed that California’s fledgling legal marijuana industry is being undercut by the black market, a group of lawmakers proposed Thursday to reduce state taxes for three years on growing and selling cannabis to allow licensed sellers to get on their feet. With many California license holders claiming they can’t compete because of high state and local taxes, the new legislation would cut the state excise tax from 15% to 11% and suspend a cultivation tax that charges $148 per pound.

Tax on millionaires yields big benefits for LA’s mental health services

89.3 KPCC

A statewide tax on the wealthy has significantly boosted mental health programs in California’s largest county, helping to reduce homelessness, incarceration and hospitalization, according to a report released Tuesday.

Compton mismanaged, overspent taxpayer funds, state audit finds

Los Angeles Times

Compton officials overpaid themselves, charged questionable trips on city-issued credit cards and failed to safeguard taxpayer money, resulting in a staffer stealing millions of dollars over years, according to a state audit.

A Case Against Cuts to Public Pensions

New York Times

While the California Legislature and leading candidates for governor have carefully avoided any substantive discussion on pensions, cities are struggling. Rising retiree costs have forced many cities and school districts to divert more of today’s budgets to cover the gap: In Los Angeles, retirement costs swallow about 20 percent of the city’s general fund budget, up from 5 percent in 2002.

TRANSPORTATION

Embattled high-speed rail route, schedule and cost still a moving target

Fresno Bee

· Is California high speed rail still a ‘train to nowhere’? San Francisco Chronicle

California’s aging driver fatalities are increasing

KPCC

Fatal crashes involving older drivers are increasing. According to a new report from the nonprofit transportation research group, TRIP, California has the largest number of licensed drivers over 65 and the third highest number of fatalities involving at least one of those drivers.

WATER

Valley farmers welcome rainstorms

ABC30

Rain in the valley and snow in the Sierra from the last few weeks is adding to the water supply local farmers count on to grow their crops. Light to moderate rainfall instead of heavy rain is actually a good thing for growers. “Farmers are able to do some cultural things that help to preserve those blooms, but nevertheless it is a very important time when it comes to the generation of this upcoming year’s crops,” said Ryan Jacobsen of the Fresno County Farm Bureau.

Why your water provider is fighting California’s ban on watering sidewalks

Fresno Bee

It seemed like the sort of thing any drought-wary Californian could support. The state’s water cops were poised last month to pass a set of rules prohibiting what most everyone agrees are wasteful water uses –like letting water from a hose without a nozzle flow into a storm drain.

As water use creeps up, debate on conservation rules grows

Modesto Bee

It seemed like the sort of thing any drought-wary Californian could support. The state’s water cops were poised last month to pass a set of rules prohibiting what most everyone agrees are wasteful water uses – like letting water from a hose without a nozzle flow into a storm drain.

California Makes Progress on Water Accounting

Public Policy Institute of California

California’s water accounting system—the balance sheet of where and when water is available and how it is being used—lacks common standards, suffers from major data gaps, and is in need of modernization. A 2016 law, the Open and Transparent Water Data Act (AB 1755), directed several state agencies to improve this system.

“Xtra”

It was chilly and dry for Modesto Farmers Market; will weekend events fare as well?

The Modesto Bee

The Modesto Certified Farmers Market lucked out Thursday. Opening two weeks earlier than it did last year, the Market operated in mostly dry — albeit cold — conditions throughout the morning as the late-winter rain that has been soaking the Northern San Joaquin Valley took a break.

Take me home! Dogs available for adoption

Bakersfield Californian

These two dogs at Kern County Animal Services are looking for their forever homes. Can you help?

EDITORIALS

Cheers and jeers: A chicken in every pot

Stockton Record

Friday was the deadline for candidates to submit paperwork and qualify for the June 5 primary election. There will be a mix of familiar faces along with the newcomers, and various community activists. Elections are supposed to be the time when the community voices its opinion on elected leaders vying for re-election and those who want to jump into office.

Prop. 71 fixes potential ballot measure confusion

Mercury News

For decades, California’s Constitution has dictated that voter-approved propositions go into effect the day following an election, unless otherwise specified. No one anticipated when Section 10, Article 2 of the Constitution was written that by 2018, more than half of California voters would vote by mail. Or that vote-by-mail ballots would be counted by election officials if they were cast by Election Day and received no later than three days after the election.

Execution is inhumane, no matter what method states use

Los Angeles Times

In the fall of 1607, a blacksmith named James Read was sentenced to hang for striking a representative of King James I in the Jamestown colony in Virginia. He was shot rather than hanged because of his higher social standing.

California’s battle with Weedmaps shows the growing pains of legalization

Los Angeles Times

Weedmaps may have positioned itself as Yelp for pot shoppers, but state regulators say there is a crucial difference: The bulk of the businesses in Weedmaps’ directory are illegal, even under state law. That’s undermining one of the primary goals of Proposition 64, which was to extinguish the black market in favor of a state-authorized, highly regulated cannabis marketplace.

Housing where it helps

San Francisco Chronicle

The depredations of California’s housing shortage haven’t made the inevitable solution — more housing — any less hated in some corners. Take San Franciscans’ reaction to state Sen. Scott Wiener’s bill to encourage high-density housing near mass transit, which had neighborhood groups lining up to decry it before a supervisors committee this week and was the target of a rally staged by mayoral candidate Jane Kim. She warned that the legislation by Wiener, D-San Francisco, would usher in “virtually unlimited construction of luxury high-rise condos … from the Embarcadero waterfront all the way to Ocean Beach.”

Is Trump’s low-key California trip a sign of things to come?

OCRegister

President Donald Trump’s first visit to California was uncharacteristically low-key. The trip, centered around a daylong swing through Los Angeles, didn’t involve any big rallies, and it triggered only relatively modest protests. But it did clue Californians and Americans in to what’s preoccupying their president right now.

On single-payer health care, nurses need to answer tough questions

The San Diego Union-Tribune

Progressives eager for bold ideas cheered last year when the California Senatepassed Senate Bill 562, committing the state to a single-payer health-care system for all residents without specifying how its estimated $400 billion annual tab would be covered, how needed federal help would be won or how state spending limits would be addressed.

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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.

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