TOP POLITICAL STORIES
Local/Regional Politics:
California ARB Poor air quality in the Valley. See also: · Storm could clear Fresno polluted air Fresno Bee
Is fireplace culture changing amid valley air woes? Bakersfield Californian When longtime Bakersfield resident Tim Stonelake wants to start a fire in his home hearth, he relies on just one kind of fuel: Natural gas. Same goes for regulatory affairs consultant Christine Zimmerman, who has avoided burning wood for years out of concern for her family’s health and the health of her neighbors. Eric Burrows has stopped wood burning as well. “We have a gas-ready, wood-burning fireplace,” Burrows said in a Facebook comment. “Never burned wood in it.”
This City Hall, brought to you by Amazon The Seattle Times A Seattle Times columnist questions Fresno’s Amazon proposal.
Henry R. Perea named interim city manager for Selma The Business Journal Former Fresno County Supervisors Henry R. Perea is the new city manager for Selma, but one official notes it’s only a temporary posting. “He’s an independent contractor,” said City Attorney Neal Costanzo, who was directed by the Selma City Council to help to negotiate the terms of Perea’s hiring following a vote to hire him during a special meeting Friday night.
Despite risks, county credit cards appear an effective tool for purchases Bakersfield Californian Between $6 million and $8 million a year in taxpayer funds flows from the coffers of the County of Kern and into the retail world through credit cards. Yet despite thousands of transactions, remarkably few were found to be fraudulent or subject to abuse, according to a review by The Californian. Scores of county employees have access to “P-cards,” the governmental cousin to your everyday credit card.
Tulare County DA serves search warrants at TRMC Visalia Delta-Times A federal judge scolded both sides of the aisle Thursday morning during another hearing where Tulare Local Healthcare District attorneys asked for an expedited end to the hospital’s management agreement.
Board regains control of Tulare hospital Visalia Times-Delta It had been more than a year since Tulare Local Healthcare District Board President Kevin Northcraft had taken steps beyond the hospital’s front desk. Hours before Thanksgiving Day, Northcraft and fellow board members were handed the keys to Tulare Regional Medical Center.
Kaweah Delta makes room for surge of patients Visalia Times Delta Kaweah Delta Medical Center has expanded its emergency department due to an increase in patients.
Arvin council postpones vote on restrictive oil and gas ordinance Bakersfield Californian The fate of Arvin’s controversial oil and gas ordinance will stay unknown for a little longer. At its Nov. 21 meeting, the Arvin City Council decided to hold off on a vote on the city’s new proposed oil and gas ordinance due to a staff oversight.
Sierra Star Five Mountain Area dentists will come together 8 a.m. to noon on Friday, Dec. 1, to provide free dental services for families who do not have dental insurance and can not afford to see a dentist. With the help of their hygienists, assistants and staff, Dr. Rodney Peter, Dr. Dennis Jones, Dr. Bob Brosi, Dr. Ryan Franklin, and Dr. Anna Marie Grady will offer free dental treatment.
As Valley Fever Numbers Increase, Workplace Safety A Concern Valley Public Radio New data from the California Department of Public Health show that cases of valley fever are on the rise across the state. The airborne fungal disease is also the subject of a new public awareness campaign in Kern County, featuring sheriff Donny Youngblood. And just yesterday Cal-OSHA issued new fines for six companies who allegedly failed to take steps to prevent exposing their workers to the disease at a solar plant under construction in Monterey County.
Why Has Fresno Yet To Begin Its New Rental Housing Inspection Program? Valley Public Radio Temperatures in the Central Valley are dropping at fall gives way to winter. But for many families that also means enduring another winter in substandard housing, a problem that the City of Fresno says it has been working to fix since the passage of a new rental inspection ordinance in February.
State Politics:
California DMV offices brace for more traffic as federal license requirements near Fresno Bee New federal standards mean California fliers who rely on their driver’s license to board domestic flights will no longer be able to do so beginning Oct. 1, 2020, unless they come equipped with the federally approved IDs and licenses or a different form of acceptable identification, such as a valid U.S. passport or military ID, the DMV said.
Jerry Brown defends pension reform law Sacramento Bee Gov. Jerry Brown got most of what he wanted when he carried a proposal to shore up the state’s underfunded public employee pension plans by trimming benefits for new workers. Five years later, he’s in court making an expansive case that government agencies should be able to adjust pension benefits for current workers, too. See also: · Real Pension Reform: A California Design Hoover Institution
Myers: How your data are shared and sold could be California’s marquee ballot battle in 2018 Los Angeles Times There are pretty strong odds that California voters soon will be hearing a lot about how consumer data are bought and sold — products purchased, medical information, even religious affiliations — and are asked to do something about it. The man behind the effort to start that conversation is a San Francisco real estate developer who started thinking a lot about the issue after a cocktail party conversation with a tech engineer.
Los Angeles Times Antonio Villaraigosa said when he left the Los Angeles mayor’s mansion in 2013, he had “no job, no house, no car.” A glimpse at the gubernatorial candidate’s tax returns illustrates how he made millions since then, that he’s still paying for personal foibles and that he remains connected with the Hollywood red carpets he once enjoyed walking. See also: · Political odd couple: GOP consultant advises Democrat’s bid for governorCALmatters · Villaraigosa taps Republican to help him in governor’s race San Francisco Chronicle · Can This Latino Lawmaker (Villaraigosa) Help Stop Trump’s White House?Newsweek
California’s Republican candidates for governor to debate in January LA Times The two top GOP candidates for governor will meet for their first debate in the Inland Empire just after New Year’s Day.
The art of the deal, Capitol style — Part II Capitol Weekly Cutting deals is part of the Capitol culture — it’s how laws are made. But does this deal-making come close to the legal line, or even cross it? Do legislative leaders or the governor act with a “corrupt intent” when negotiating with legislators over public policy issues? Let’s continue our review of California criminal statutes that might apply to the wheeling and dealing of the Legislature. To do that, we need to dive — again — back into the weeds.
California nets $860 million from carbon auction SFGate.com Auction results released by the California Air Resources Board showed that demand remains strong for pollution permits since California lawmakers renewed the state’s cap-and-trade program in July. The program requires polluters to obtain a permit for each ton of greenhouse gases they release. The number of available permits declines each year. See also: · California’s most recent cap-and-trade permit auction raises more than $800 million LA Times
Walters: State budget seems healthy, but it isn’t CALmatters Mac Taylor, the Legislature’s top adviser on the state budget, delivered somesuperficially good news this month to his bosses. With no economic downturn on the horizon, he said in his annual survey of the state’s fiscal situation, there should be no problem writing a balanced 2018-19 budget next year. In fact, he said, with revenues continuing to flow nicely, it could theoretically end 2018-19 with more than $19 billion in unspent reserves
National Park Fees, State Gas Taxes and the AG’s Policy Choices Fox and Hounds Daily California Attorney General Xavier Becerra wants to keep national park fees down so poor people can afford entry in their vehicles. However, the gas tax repeal effort, which critics say he disfavors based on the title and summaries he authored on repeal initiatives, might keep drivers from even reaching the parks because of the increased cost of gas. Becerra did not think it necessary to emphasize words “tax” and “fee” in his title of the initiative efforts to repeal gas taxes that are designed to maintain roads. However, the word “fee” is up front in a letter he co-signed with other state attorneys general protesting a Trump Administration proposed action raising national park fees for among other things road maintenance within the parks.
Walters: State Bar feeling heat from two new clashes CALmatters Bowing to pressure from critical legislators, the State Bar finally agreed to divide its two incompatible roles of licensing (and policing) attorneys and acting as a trade association for the profession. Critics said the agency was neglecting its obligation to weed out incompetent and/or shady lawyers as it pursued its other mission.
California Today: How Progressive Is the Golden State? The New York Times Is the Golden State really a progressive utopia? Hardly, according to new research from the Advancement Project California, a Los Angeles-based civil rights group. In studying seven key quality of life issues: crime and justice, democracy, economic opportunity, education, healthy built environment, health care access and housing, researchers found significant markers of disparity in counties throughout the state.
California high court to decide legality of farm worker law Associated Press An upcoming ruling by California’s highest court in a legal battle between the union launched by labor leader Cesar Chavez and one of the nation’s largest fruit farms could dramatically reduce the power of organized farm labor in the state.
First-Term Lawmaker to Lead Assembly Hearings on Harassment The New York Times Assemblywoman Laura Friedman had no idea a sexual harassment scandal was about to explode at the Legislature when she was elected last year or that she would help lead the response
Federal Politics: (For articles of “Federal Tax Reform,” See: “Topics: Public Finance,” below)
DACA fix fades as Congress focuses on budget, taxes Sacramento Bee With prospects dimming for a deal this year to prevent young undocumented immigrants from deportation, California business leaders and other sympathetic groups are planning a massive push over the next few weeks to force the issue to the top of Washington’s agenda. Activists see their December bid as their last, best shot to save some 800,000 immigrants, known as “Dreamers,” who are participating in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. DACA has enabled those young people – more than a quarter of whom live in California – to gain temporary legal status and protection from deportation. That protected status expires March 5, 2018, putting their worker permits in jeopardy and making them vulnerable to deportation. See also: · California business leaders urge Congress to reauthorize DACA without a government shutdown LA Times
California moves to block national park fee increases Sacramento Bee California moved Wednesday to block the Trump administration’s proposal to more than double entrance fees at popular national parks, including Yosemite and Joshua Tree National Parks, arguing the fee increases would limit public access for low-income people and communities of color.
Other:
PolitiFact statements about Fake news PolitiFact There’s an interesting discussion happening now about the spread of fake news on the Internet and what companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter, among others, should do to stop it. That’s a healthy conversation to have, and one we hope continues in the weeks and months ahead. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do something now. Here at PolitiFact, we’re beefing up our coverage of fake news to help our readers better sort out fact from fiction on their social media feeds. The claims can be about anything — politics, entertainment, a fishy-sounding medical cure. See also: · Gerald Haslam: ‘I don’t care about facts!’: We’re getting worse at facing reality Bakersfield Californian · This is what students think about ‘fake news’ and the media PBS NewsHour · Statements we say are Pants on Fire! PolitiFact
Test yourself with our new free game: PolitiTruthPolitiFact Think you can tell the difference between what’s true and what’s false? Do you really know what is fake news?
5 things you need to know about net neutrality Marketplace The Federal Communications Commission announced this week that it has a plan to repeal net neutrality — the idea that all data transmitted over the internet be treated equally, and internet service providers can’t slow down or charge different rates for different kinds of data. It affects everything that everyone does online. Marketplace Weekend spoke with Ashley Esqueda, senior editor at CNET TV, about the five things everyone should know about net neutrality. Here’s the lowdown See also: · Net neutrality explained: “Imagine internet is pizza …” Marketplace
Harvard Business School: The U.S. Political System Has Been ‘Hijacked’ The Intellectualist A new case study by Harvard Business School asserts that U.S. politicians have rigged the system to such a degree that the U.S. is becoming a failed democracy. The authors of the case-study use the word ‘hijacked’ to describe what the political parties have done to governance in the United States.
What does America’s Second Amendment really say? The Economist Who is right and who is wrong about the bearing of arms
U.S. migration still at historically low levels, census shows Brookings Institute Now eight years since the end of the Great Recession, and with the economy coming back, the U.S. Census Bureau’s new statistics about migration within the U.S. are surprising. The new data show a nation that continues to be heavily stuck in place. This illumination resonates from a census Current Population Survey historic time series that ends with moves occurring in 2016-2017 and shows the following three key points:
Make Conservatism Moderate Again AEI In 1964, Barry Goldwater addressed the Republican National Convention with a famous speech that argued “extremism in defense of liberty [was] no vice” and “moderation in pursuit of justice [was] no virtue.” Few understood him as making a prediction about the future of right-wing thinking and politics across the English-speaking world. Yet that speech foreboded perfectly the revolutionary zeal that has since spread through conservatism on both sides of the Atlantic, and which appears to have reached its apotheosis with the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s election.
Why Democrats Must Regain the Trust of Religious Voters The Atlantic Democrats ignored broad swaths of religious America in the 2016 election campaign and the nation has suffered because of it. Yet calls for a recommitment to faith outreach—particularly to white and other conservative or moderate religious voters—have been met in some corners of liberal punditry with a response as common as it is unwarranted.
The Public Official and the FPPC: Forging a New Partnership PublicCEO When a public official runs afoul of the laws and rules generally categorized as “ethics laws,” it contributes to the public perception that all public officials are unethical. But because local government is the level of government closest to the people, cities are perhaps best positioned to counter this perception. City councils lead the communities they serve; they can set the tone and foster a culture of ethical behavior for public servants.
Sacramento Bee This week, California should give thanks for Cheech. Richard Anthony Marin deserves our gratitude not just because his autobiography, “Cheech Is Not My Real Name … But Don’t Call Me Chong,” is the best California book of this year. We should thank Cheech now because his life embodies Thanksgiving itself: a big, robust meal that includes many different flavors but is ultimately for everyone. Support the Maddy Daily HERE. Thank you!
Topics in More Detail…
EDITORIALS
This holiday season, let’s thank José Arnulfo Arias, and the Reagan-era judge who gave him justice Fresno Bee When dairy worker José Arias asserted his rights, the dairy’s lawyer called the immigration. The law should protect Arias, but does it?
Dread political talk today? Give thanks instead that our democracy is holding strong Fresno Bee Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a day to be grateful that the Union was surviving. He’s still right.
It’s time for the Supreme Court to expand the definition of privacy Los Angeles Times Five years ago, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. told a university audience that the challenge for the Supreme Court for the next 50 years would be how to adapt old, established rules to new technology. On Wednesday the court will confront that challenge anew when lawyers for a Michigan man will…
How do we deal with allegedly misbehaving legislators like Raul Bocanegra? Los Angeles Times Should three state lawmakers under a cloud of sexual misconduct allegations — Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, Assemblyman Devon Mathis and state Sen. Tony Mendoza — resign from the Legislature?
Brown comes to taxpayers’ defense on pensions San Jose Mercury News In most-significant state Supreme Court pension case in decades, Gov. Jerry Brown has taken over legal defense of his retirement law changes.
Free flow of the Internet must be preserved San Francisco Chronicle Maybe you’re willing to pay extra to binge watch a Netflix series. Or maybe you like the way the Internet works now, letting you wander websites that sell shoes or dispense medical advice. Either way, …
A marijuana prohibition that makes sense San Francisco Chronicle There’s hardly a more receptive or captive audience for marketing an intoxicant than the beleaguered commuters crowded onto a rush-hour Muni bus (except perhaps the ones packed onto a rush-hour BART …
Industrial safety is a community concern San Francisco Chronicle Two Bay Area counties are home to oil refineries, but only one has an industrial safety ordinance directed at preventing accidents that could harm workers and pollute the air — Contra Costa County. …
AGRICULTURE/FOOD
South Valley Farm takes steps to become a nonprofit and educate community about farming ABC30 It is a beautiful fall day at McKellar family farms near Ivanhoe. Bob McKellar is a third generation farmer and recently turned part of his farm into a nonprofit. “So we have 98 percent of people who don’t know where their food comes from or how it’s grown or any of that,” said McKellar. The nonprofit gives a riding tour to groups of people of all ages to show them the growing process.
A time to harvest gratitude for farmers Fresno Bee Whenever this country mouse comes home to Central California, as I did recently to speak to citrus farmers, one thought comes to mind: “How is it that a nation like ours – founded not by politicians but by farmers – finds it so difficult to show the proper respect for farming?”
Rush of pot grows splits rural California before legal sales Fresno Bee The four young men had just started their marijuana harvest in rural Northern California when a dozen sheriff’s deputies swooped in with guns drawn, arrested them and spent the day chopping down 150 bushy plants with machetes. “I could do this every day if I had the personnel,” Calaveras County Sheriff Rick DiBasilio said during the operation near the Sierra Nevada foothills town of Copperopolis, about two hours east of San Francisco.
California releases long-awaited cannabis regulations, will allow huge farms SFGate.com There will be no cannabis cappuccinos or drone deliveries in California under the new pot rules state officials released Thursday that regulate everything from who can legally sell and deliver marijuana to how it must be packaged and transported.The rules released by three licensing agencies — the Department of Health, Department of Food and Agriculture and the Bureau of Cannabis Control — offer the first glimpse of the future in which pot is legal throughout California.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime:
California’s problems with money bail were created by the courts, bond agents say Sacramento Bee Will the California chief justice’s call to end the use of money bail tip the scales for advocates when the Legislature returns next year? A high-profile push to scrap California’s bail system, which critics contend has created an unequal system of justice based on wealth, fell short in the Assembly last session amid concerns about cost and the effect on public safety. But Gov. Jerry Brown announced he wouldcontinue to work on the issue with legislative proponents and Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.
Pace of executions in California may be up to Gov. Jerry Brown Los Angeles Times When the California Supreme Court upheld a voter initiative in August to speed up executions, some death penalty advocates assumed lethal injections would resume before the end of the year. Three months after the court’s action, both backers and opponents of the death penalty concede that executions might be more than a year away.
Cops shouldn’t have killed naked burglar, lawsuit against Modesto says Modesto Bee The parents of a homeless drug addict who died last year while being arrested by Modesto police have filed a wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit against the city, Police Chief Galen Carroll and five officers.
Fire:
A simple but seldom-used tactic to prevent wildfires: Turn off the power grid when winds pick up Los Angeles Times After last month’s deadly Northern California wildfires, atmospheric scientist Cliff Mass scanned old weather forecasts, searching for clues. In two high-resolution weather models for Oct. 8, he found ample warning of the crucial ingredient for the firestorm that swept across parts of eight counties, claiming 43 lives and incinerating more than 8,000 buildings.
ECONOMY / JOBS
Economy:
Beyond the food truck: Trendy and new mobile trailer businesses prove success in Bakersfield Morgan Burnard had dreamed of owning her own coffee shop for quite some time. She eventually turned that dream into a reality, but not in a way she might have envisioned
Salinas Area GO-Biz California Competes Tax Credit Workshop Tickets, Thu, Dec 14, 2017 at 2:00 PM Eventbrite Do you know the state of California is offering over $200 million in tax credits this year to incentivize businesses to create full-time jobs? The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development will be available in your community for a free one-hour workshop to explain how the California Competes Tax Credit program can help your business expand in the Golden State. This program is available to businesses of all sizes throughout California. Join the 775 California businesses that have been awarded $555.3 million in tax credits since Governor Brown created the California Competes Tax Credit program in 2014.
Why does the US make its people richer faster than other big, advanced economies? AEI While the United States is unable to produce a consistently high-performing men’s soccer team, we remain consistently able to make our citizens richer faster than other advanced economies. (Somehow this important point got lost in the 2016 presidential campaign.) To that, this handy and illustrative chart from the consistently high-performing Justin Fox of BloombergView, based on IMF data:
EDUCATION
K-12:
Investing Early: Taking Stock of Outcomes and Economic Returns from Early Childhood Programs RAND The past two decades have been characterized by a growing body of research from diverse disciplines — child development, psychology, neuroscience, and economics, among others — demonstrating the importance of establishing a strong foundation in the early years of life..
Listen: This is what students think about ‘fake news’ and the media in Podcasts PBS News Hour Listen to This is what students think about ‘fake news’ and the media from PBS NewsHour – Segments in Podcasts.
Fizz! Pop! Bang! Teachers find new science standards fun, but costly EdSource With their emphasis on hands-on experiments, California’s new science standards have turned classrooms into noisy, messy laboratories. That’s been popular with students and teachers who say it’s a more effective way to learn science than studying textbooks and memorizing facts, but the cost of all those underwater robots and exploding chemicals has left some teachers wondering how they can successfully implement the standards with ever-restricting budgets.
Higher Ed:
Borenstein: How UC President Napolitano undermined state audit San Jose Mercury News George Blumenthal, chancellor of UC Santa Cruz, was driving to work a year ago when he received a call from Janet Napolitano, president of the 10-campus university system. She was “furious,” Blumenthal later recalled. The state auditor was surveying the campuses to see if officials were satisfied with services provided by Napolitano’s office. Following survey instructions, UCSC officials had sent their answers directly back to the auditor. But Napolitano, who had previously described the survey as a “witch hunt,” had insisted that her office first screen each campus’s answers. UCSC had failed to comply.
Apprenticeships:
Education Programs That Pay People As They Learn The Atlantic Just before President Trump took office, Ammar Campa-Najjar wrote him a memo urging him to support apprenticeship. Apprenticeship is “a program that sounds like your show,” Campa-Najjar half-jokingly explained to Trump in the letter in a nod to the president’s reality-TV series. “You should just put your name on it, like everything else, and take credit for it.”
ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY
Environment:
California ARB Poor air quality in the Valley. See also: · Storm could clear Fresno polluted air Fresno Bee
Is fireplace culture changing amid valley air woes? Bakersfield Californian When longtime Bakersfield resident Tim Stonelake wants to start a fire in his home hearth, he relies on just one kind of fuel: Natural gas. Same goes for regulatory affairs consultant Christine Zimmerman, who has avoided burning wood for years out of concern for her family’s health and the health of her neighbors. Eric Burrows has stopped wood burning as well. “We have a gas-ready, wood-burning fireplace,” Burrows said in a Facebook comment. “Never burned wood in it.”
Wildlife agency blame Edison for fish die off in California Fresno Bee Trout have been dying at Mammoth Pool reservoir on the upper San Joaquin River due to a lack of oxygen, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is blaming the electric utility that owns the reservoir. Oxygen readings are in the killing zone because Southern California Edison released too much water from the lake, said Peter Tira, spokesman for the state agency.
Hard-to-find redwood grove no longer so elusive, and trees are suffering San Francisco Chronicle For years, the Grove of Titans was barely more than a myth. Incredibly old. Incredibly large. And incredibly hard to find.
What nation on Earth has reduced its carbon emissions more than any other, part II? AEI A few weeks ago, I had a post (“Q: What nation on Earth has reduced its carbon emissions more than any other?“) that featured a video of Dr. Patrick Michaels, director of the Center for the Study of Science at the Cato Institute, who suggested that the answer to the question was “the USA.” There was some discussion in the comment section about where there were other countries that had reduced CO2 emissions more than the US, e.g., Russian Federation.
Energy:
Arvin council postpones vote on restrictive oil and gas ordinance Bakersfield Californian The fate of Arvin’s controversial oil and gas ordinance will stay unknown for a little longer. At its Nov. 21 meeting, the Arvin City Council decided to hold off on a vote on the city’s new proposed oil and gas ordinance due to a staff oversight.
Wildlife agency blame Edison for fish die off in California Fresno Bee Trout have been dying at Mammoth Pool reservoir on the upper San Joaquin River due to a lack of oxygen, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is blaming the electric utility that owns the reservoir. Oxygen readings are in the killing zone because Southern California Edison released too much water from the lake, said Peter Tira, spokesman for the state agency.
Documents show undisclosed EPA health concerns on fracking chemicals Marketplace We’re about a decade into an oil and gas revolution known shorthand as fracking. It relies on shooting high-pressure water mixed with chemicals down into layers of rock to crack the stone and release oil and gas. Pretty much since the fracking boom began, people who live near these wells have worried about chemicals getting into their water and making them sick.
HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES
Sierra Star Five Mountain Area dentists will come together 8 a.m. to noon on Friday, Dec. 1, to provide free dental services for families who do not have dental insurance and can not afford to see a dentist. With the help of their hygienists, assistants and staff, Dr. Rodney Peter, Dr. Dennis Jones, Dr. Bob Brosi, Dr. Ryan Franklin, and Dr. Anna Marie Grady will offer free dental treatment.
‘Here It Goes’: Coming Out To Your Doctor In Rural America Valley Public Radio Finding the perfect doctor can be a feat for anyone. And a poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finds that 18 percent of all LGBTQ Americans refrain from seeing a physician for fear of discrimination. One of those people is 20-year-old Alex Galvan. The moment right before he told his doctor earlier this year that he is gay and sexually active felt like a nightmare. Galvan lives in rural Tulare County in California’s Central Valley. He wanted to start a regimen of medication that helps prevent HIV infection, an approach called “pre-exposure prophylaxis,” or PrEP.
California’s uninsured rate drops to new low VC Star California continued to realize gains in signing people up for health insurance in 2017, according to new statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control showing that the Golden State’s uninsured rate dropped to a new low of 6.8 percent in the first six months of the year. Moreover, the states that operate their own health insurance marketplaces had an uninsured rate of 8.3 percent, compared with 16.1 percent for those states in the federally facilitated exchange, the CDC statistics show.
Why It’s Hard to Control Drug Prices at the Ballot Box Pew Charitable Trusts | Stateline Voters in California and Ohio have rejected measures meant to limit state spending on prescription drugs. But advocates say they plan to keep trying.
SF report weighs health risks raised by legal pot San Francisco Chronicle The challenge, authors of the report noted, will be warning new users about the hazards of cannabis consumption – like the possibility of overdosing or driving under the influence – without straying into fear mongering.
IMMIGRATION
California businesses push for 2017 immigration fix in Congress, but hopes fade Sacramento Bee With prospects dimming for a deal this year to prevent young undocumented immigrants from deportation, California business leaders and other sympathetic groups are planning a massive push over the next few weeks to force the issue to the top of Washington’s agenda.
The Origins of America’s Jihadists RAND The U.S. homeland faces a multilayered threat from terrorist organizations. Homegrown jihadists account for most of the terrorist activity in the United States since 9/11..
LAND USE/HOUSING
Land Use:
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. See also: · Downtown Fresno development is now expanding to the North ABC30
Housing:
Why Has Fresno Yet To Begin Its New Rental Housing Inspection Program? Valley Public Radio Temperatures in the Central Valley are dropping at fall gives way to winter. But for many families that also means enduring another winter in substandard housing, a problem that the City of Fresno says it has been working to fix since the passage of a new rental inspection ordinance in February. A new California gold rush for homeowners, the poorhouse for renters Los Angeles Times California was always a model of stark contrasts in the realm of haves and have-nots. But as rents rise and wages stagnate, a majority of L.A.-area renters are paying more than one-third of their income on rent while thousands are paying 50% or more, with no end to these trends in sight. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of homeowners in Los Angeles and Orange counties have enjoyed super-low interest rates and seen their equity rise to all-time highs. Roughly one decade after thousands of people lost their homes in the housing crash, 96.4% of Californians with mortgages owe less than their homes are worth.
Gimme Shelter Podcast: Is rent control good or bad? CALmatters A simple question, a complicated answer. Ahead of a possible 2018 ballot initiative that could dramatically expand rent control, Matt and Liam explain who benefits and who loses under economists’ least favorite housing policy. First, a legendary avocado of the week (4:00) is awarded to a Sonoma County Supervisor’s comments on how to rebuild Santa Rosa. Then, Matt Matt-splains a groundbreaking new Stanford study on rent control in San Francisco (10:30) and tries not to bore Liam too much. Finally, an interview with Michael Weinstein of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the organization spearheading a 2018 ballot initiative to expand CA rent control.
The Problem With Expensive Real Estate Bloomberg The U.K. Office for National Statistics has recently begun to track the value of land as part of the national accounts — and it turns out that dirt is now just about the biggest thing going in Britain: I was tipped off to this development by Josh Ryan-Collins, an economist at University College London’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. Ryan-Collins has been making the case lately that we ought to paying much more attention to land and its economic role.
PUBLIC FINANCES
Despite risks, county credit cards appear an effective tool for purchases Between $6 million and $8 million a year in taxpayer funds flows from the coffers of the County of Kern and into the retail world through credit cards. Yet despite thousands of transactions, remarkably few were found to be fraudulent or subject to abuse, according to a review by The Californian. See also: · Kern County purchase card database a window into quirks of day-to-day government bakersfield.com
Jerry Brown defends pension reform law Sacramento Bee Gov. Jerry Brown got most of what he wanted when he carried a proposal to shore up the state’s underfunded public employee pension plans by trimming benefits for new workers. Five years later, he’s in court making an expansive case that government agencies should be able to adjust pension benefits for current workers, too. See also: · CalPERS Shelves Rate Increase Opposed by Cities PublicCEO · One city’s struggle with mounting CalPERS costs CALpensions · Real Pension Reform: A California Design Hoover Institution
Walters: California budget seems healthy, but isn’t Sacramento Bee Mac Taylor, the Legislature’s top adviser on the state budget, delivered somesuperficially good news this month to his bosses. With no economic downturn on the horizon, he said in his annual survey of the state’s fiscal situation, there should be no problem writing a balanced 2018-19 budget next year. In fact, he said, with revenues continuing to flow nicely, we could theoretically end 2018-19 with more than $19 billion in unspent reserves
Federal Tax Reform · Fiscal Conservatives in the Senate Refuse to Support Tax Bill if it Blows Up the Deficit National Review · Poll: Economists Unanimous That Debt Would Balloon Under GOP Tax PlanNPR · The Finance 202: There is something very strange about the GOP tax planThe Washington Post · 37 of 38 economists said the GOP tax plans would grow the debt. The 38th misread the question. The Washington Post · House Republicans plan to eliminate the $250 tax deduction for teachers The Washington Post · Republicans push hard on GOP tax plan, but voters just aren’t that into it Los Angeles Times · Tax Reform: How does America compare? POLITICO · Decoding Reconciliation: Why the Senate Only Needs 50 Votes on Tax BillRollCall · An Old Saw’s New Twist: Death (of the Deficit Hawks) and Taxes RollCall · The Republican Plan Is the Opposite of Tax Reform New York Magazine · It’s a Turkey: Trump’s Tax Reform Is Good for Corporations, Bad for Federal Debt The Weekly Standard · Will a Corporate Tax Cut Lift Worker Pay? A Union Wants It in Writing The New York Times · Poll: Plurality supports House tax plan, but many expect to pay more POLITICO · Why, Exactly, Are Democrats Opposed to Trump’s Tax Reform Bill? The Weekly Standard · Republicans say corporate tax cuts will boost workers’ wages, but CEOs might have other plans Los Angeles Times · Republicans could alter tax bill to earn support of holdouts UPI.com · McManus: Forget ‘bad deals,’ it’s the GOP tax plan that’ll make the trade deficit even worse Los Angeles Times · Republicans push hard on GOP tax plan, but voters just aren’t that into it Los Angeles Times
TRANSPORTATION
California drivers disagree on when, how to merge on freeways Sacramento Bee We asked Bee readers last week about a common but controversial freeway moment: When faced with a sign saying, “Lane ends ahead, merge left,” should you merge immediately or scoot ahead, passing other cars, until your lane ends? No surprise. We got no consensus. Drivers are adamant on both sides. Pat Longest says she gets in her lane early, and is angered by those who zoom by in the other lane. They’re rude, she says. You can read her lips as you pass by. “I say it out loud.”
WATER
Rising reservoirs: Less room for error this winter on San Joaquin River Stockton Record It was our saving grace: Last winter, a mostly empty New Melones Lake swallowed up torrents of water that otherwise would have had to be dumped into a lower watershed that already was flooding.
Multibillion-dollar water measures heading to state ballot San Francisco Chronicle With a five-year drought and then a winter of floods having exposed the limits of California’s vast network of reservoirs, dams and canals, voters are likely to have the chance next year to decide whether to pay for major upgrades to the state’s waterworks. Two multibillion-dollar bonds are expected to go before voters that promise to boost water supplies, offer flood protection and restore rivers and streams. One measure, sponsored by the Legislature, also would fund new parks and hiking trails. The second, a privately backed initiative, would go further to improve the infrastructure that moves water to cities and farms.
The Sierra ‘Snow Line’ Seems To Be Moving Uphill — Rapidly KQED Science If you make the winter run to Tahoe on a regular basis, it might seem like you’ve had to go farther up the hill to find snow in recent years. Some scientists say it’s not your imagination. Researchers have been keeping their eyes on the “snow line,” the point of elevation where rain turns to snow (or vice versa) during winter storms in the northern Sierra. What they found is that warming temperatures have pushed that level uphill by 1,200-to-1,500 feet in recent years.
“Xtra”
Come one, come all to Stockton holiday festivities Stockton Record The Annual tree-lighting ceremony on Saturday will kick off a series of city-sponsored holiday happenings featuring food and entertainment. Here’s a look at the upcoming fun, all of it at no cost:
Christmas Town returns to Riverlakes, possibly for the last time Bakersfield Californian Santa Claus is always coming to town, but wouldn’t it be nice if he could save himself the holiday travel and have everyone come to his town instead? Maybe the man in red — and his reindeer — could use a break. Luckily for Bakersfield, it’s easy to visit Santa at his cottage in Christmas Town, and you won’t even need a sleigh to get there.
Gifts of food and redemption: Nonprofits celebrate as season of giving kicks in Bakersfield Californian On Friday, the shopping frenzy begins. But, as Thanksgiving transitions into Christmas, Bakersfield’s people, faith communities, businesses and nonprofits kick a different kind of ritual into high gear. Every Boy Scout troop, school, church, office, business, motorcycle club and many, many families share what they have with the elderly, homeless, mentally ill, hungry and lost. There will be holiday meals, toy drives, canned food campaigns, festive fundraisers and charitable cash contributions galore.
Bakersfield starts new tradition Christmas tree lighting The City of Bakersfield helped kick off the holiday season with a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony on Saturday.
Tulare Christmas Tree Auction – Nov 28, 2017 Tulare Chamber of Commerce, CA Name: Tulare Christmas Tree Auction Date: November 28, 2017 Time: 5:30 PM – 10:00 PM PST
La Comida Guild Home Tours Thursday, November 30, 2017 Evening Preview & Gala at The Fort Begins at 4:30 p.m. with shopping at our boutique including a champagne reception and host bar, hors d’oeuvres, sit-down dinner and an exclusive tour of five beautiful Fresno area homes. Friday, December 1, 2017 Home Tour, Tea & Boutique Tea & Boutique open from 8:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. where you can view for purchase our wonderful, one of a kind items. Homes are open for viewing in a self-guided tour from 9:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. |
November 27, 2017
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