TOP POLITICAL STORIES
Local/Regional:
Arpaio’s history is why some Republicans won’t attend Fresno GOP dinner
The Fresno Bee
Some Valley Republicans are voicing strong feelings about their party hosting “America’s toughest sheriff” Joe Arpaio of Arizona, and they’re staying away from the Sept. 29 fund-raising event.
Valadao: Congress may rebuild DACA legally following Trump decision
The pressure is on. President Donald Trump decided to wind down the protections that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals gave to people who were brought to the United States illegally by their family members while they were children.
Jeff Denham’s Half True claim top Democrats voted for border wall
PolitiFact California
On the day the Trump administration announced it will end the so-called Dreamer program in six months, California Congressman Jeff Denham floated the idea for a bill that could further secure the border and protect undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
Nunes vents anger at Sessions over subpoena, threatens to hold AG, FBI chief in contempt
CNNPolitics
House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes lashed out at Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week in a letter where he threatened Sessions with a public grilling if he doesn’t produce documents about the Russia dossier to the House intelligence committee.
Former congressman Mike Honda will work to unseat Republican incumbents in California
Los Angeles Times
Former congressman Mike Honda, who lost a bitter election last year to a fellow Democrat, will helm a political group looking to win more Democratic seats in California.
State:
The Suspense Files: California bills vanish almost without a trace
CALmatters
Shortly after last year’s presidential election, Democrats in the California Legislature drew headlines by introducing a flurry of bills attacking “fake news.” They called for more resources to teach media literacy, so public school students could better discern facts from the kind of bogus stories that proliferated online during the campaign.
GOP candidates for California governor tie campaigns to ballot measures
San Francisco Chronicle
Two long-shot Republican candidates for governor are looking to use ballot measures to pull them to victory next year, but it’s a strategy with a long, checkered history in California elections.
Walters: Jerry Brown jets off again, this time to Russia, but to what avail?
CALmatters
Californians are dealing with a late summer outbreak of devastating wildfires. Even the National Guard has been called out to fight them. On Tuesday, the Legislature began the final, furious days of its 2017 session with hundreds of bills still in limbo, including a package of housing measures that everyone considers vitally important to the state’s future. And where is the state’s governor during this uncertain period? He’s thousands of miles away, in Vladivostok, Russia, participating in a global economic conference.
National:
Feinstein faces growing storm on the left
POLITICO
Sen. Dianne Feinstein has dominated California politics for more than a quarter of a century. But facing blistering criticism that she’s out of touch with the progressive left following her recent comments about President Donald Trump and DACA, it’s increasingly looking like the Democratic lawmaker will face a major primary challenge if she runs for a fifth full term.
On the Dreamers, Trump believes nothing
The Sacramento Bee
One of the most cynical quotations in history is also one of the most widely attributed. Let’s ponder the version associated with Groucho Marx: “Sincerity is the key to success. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”
DACA Political Stalemate: GOP Is Partly to Blame
National Review
For years they have equivocated, prevaricated, and over-promised.
Other:
White Christians no longer majority in United States, especially California
Sacramento Bee
White Christians, once the dominant religious and ethnic combination in the United States, now make up less than 50 percent of Americans as young people turn away from traditional congregations and ethnic diversity increases in society and houses of worship. The trend is particularly pronounced in California.
Republicans trounce Democrats in California’s annual legislative softball game
Los Angeles Times
After losing two years in a row, Republicans won 14 to 6. The game raised $71,500 for the Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento, a local nonprofit.
EDITORIALS
We can’t afford to make these all union jobs
Modesto Bee
AB 1250 would deprives thousands of workers of jobs and crush many non-profits; we must stay off this disastrous road toward bankruptcy
California labor bill would devastate counties, non-profits
The Mercury News
The Legislature continues marching toward financial devastation of California counties. Looking out for their own political interests, Democratic lawmakers keep advancing legislation making it costlier and in many cases nearly impossible for counties to contract out for vital services.
Heavy lobbying aside, here are bills that might actually help kids and families
Sacramento Bee
School start times, expanded family leave, sanctions against sexual harassment, and restrictions on child marriage are worth an aye vote.
The real America
Sierra Star
Things got very ugly last month in America. It was sad to see and hear about the racists rantings, the violence, the hate-filled speech, and the anger that a few of our fellow citizens embrace. The fringe element of our society doesn’t define us; they misrepresent us.
Here’s a solution to the DACA crisis: Pass a Dream Act. And soon
Los Angeles Times
President Trump’s decision to end protections for immigrants who have been living illegally in the country since they were children was heartless, cynical and counterproductive. But there is one simple way for the damage to be undone: Congress should acknowledge its obligations to the 800,000 young immigrants whose status has been put in peril and pass legislation restoring their protection.
Alienation of Latinos puts GOP future at risk
SF Chronicle Editorial Board
Republicans’ problems with Latino voters did not begin with President Trump. The Republican National Committee recognized the criticality of broadening its appeal in its 100-page autopsy of Mitt Romney’s defeat in the 2012 presidential election. One of its recommendations was to champion immigration reform as part of a strategy to appeal to the growing Latino population.
|
|
AGRICULTURE/FOOD
The price of avocados is spiking – The Mercury News
The Mercury News
In a startling development that could put a real dent in the soft underbelly of the guacamole world, weak avocado harvests are causing prices to spike across the soon-to-be-dip-challenged United States.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime:
California Legislature approves arbitration measure spurred by the Wells Fargo scandal
Los Angeles Times
The California Legislature has approved a bill aimed at stopping banks from using arbitration clauses to shield themselves from lawsuits over sham accounts — a direct response to the Wells Fargo scandal.
Fire:
FEMA will help pay for Pier Fire in Tulare County
While firefighters work to contain a blaze that has caused millions of dollars in damage and could destroy hundreds of homes across Tulare County, officials are turning to FEMA for help.
See also:
· Progress made on Pier Fire: Growth slows, fire now is 20 percent contained Fresno Bee.
ECONOMY / JOBS
Economy:
Mexican company buys Netafim in $1.5B deal, including Fresno operations
The Business Journal
Mexican piping and chemical company Mexichem, SAB, has announced a $1.5 billion deal to buy the Israel-based irrigation company, Netafim, LTD, which includes its U.S. division based in Fresno.
Jobs:
Diversity in Kern’s clean energy workforce: UC Berkeley report
According to data obtained and analyzed by researchers at UC Berkeley’s Labor Center, the answer is that in recent years, a significant share of good, career-track jobs in the construction of renewable energy power plants in Kern County and statewide have in fact gone to low-income residents and people of color.
Caltrans to hold job fair in Bakersfield
The Bakersfield Californian
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will host a Maintenance Career Fair in Bakersfield Sept. 26 where people can learn about jobs available in the agency.
What’s a mechanic to do when electric cars bring less work?
Marketplace
Most informed drivers know they don’t have to change their engine oil every 3,000 miles, as the dealer might suggest. Conventional wisdom has put the rate of changes at 5,000 miles and for more recent vehicles, closer to 10,000 miles. Someday engine oil changes could be a forgotten practice as electric vehicles, which don’t require engine oil, take over the market. There are a whole lot of mechanical changes coming to vehicles, and that means big impacts to the industry that keeps those vehicles running.
How the opioid epidemic has affected the U.S. labor force, county-by-county
Brookings Institution
In 2016, Princeton economist Alan Krueger made headlines with a shocking finding that nearly half of prime age men (or men ages 25 to 54) who are not in the labor force take pain medication on a daily basis. Two-thirds of those men—or about 2 million—take prescription pain medication on a daily basis.
EDUCATION
K-12:
Some cash and a form: how some local parents got around the vaccination requirement
Modesto Bee
An Escalon clinic drew recent attention by offering medical exemptions to the state law that requires vaccinations for schoolchildren.
Kern High School District police establish traffic enforcement unit to slow motorists around schools
The effect was almost instantaneous.
Merced County cracking down on chronically truant students
The first of many countywide truancy sweep checks in Merced Co. arrested 10 parents of chronically truant students.
DACA students around the Valley saying they are facing an uncertain future
abc30
For 1,200 Fresno State DACA students, deportation is their biggest fear. Yenedit Valencia came to the US when she was seven.
Will Jerry Brown require public schools to provide free pads, tampons?
Sacramento Bee
California lawmakers are poised to send Gov. Jerry Brown a bill requiring public schools to stock bathrooms with free tampons and pads. Assembly Bill 10, introduced by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, cleared the the state Senate with a 37-0 vote on Wednesday.
If teenagers get more sleep, California could gain billions
Los Angeles Times
Sleep deprivation among teenagers should be regarded as a public health epidemic. Only about 60% of teenagers get the eight to 10 hours of sleep a night recommended by sleep scientists and pediatricians.
SUSD mourns death of superintendent’s wife
Stockton Record
Stockton Unified officials are mourning the passing of Lupita Davalos, the wife of Superintendent Eliseo Davalos, who died Monday after a battle with leukemia.
The Department of Justice Is Overseeing the Resegregation of American Schools
The Nation
A major investigation reveals that white parents are leading a secession movement with dire consequences for black children.
Higher Ed:
Oakhurst Community College location subject of Sept. 21 public meeting
Sierra Star
The decision on the location of where the new Oakhurst Community College Center will be built is getting close, and the public is being invited to a meeting scheduled for 6 p.m., Sept. 21 at the Oakhurst Community Center to hear details of four locations being considered.
Why CSU needs to put a campus in Stockton
The Sacramento Bee
In San Joaquin County, which we call home, only about 12.5 percent of residents over the age of 25 have bachelor’s degrees. Since studies show that by 2030 almost 40 percent of jobs will require at least a bachelor’s degree, this should be a wake-up call for our region and our state leaders.
New CSU Admissions Policy Could Increase Access
PPIC
Overcrowding at some California State University (CSU) campuses has had a serious effect on the system’s ability to increase the number of students graduating with bachelor’s degrees. This is an issue with broad implications for the state and for young Californians: PPIC research has shown that the CSU system will need to produce nearly half a million additional college graduates by the year 2030 to meet economic demand in California.
California Supreme Court to decide whether to lower bar exam passing score
San Francisco Chronicle
The Board of Trustees of the State Bar of California voted 6-5 Wednesday to send three recommendations on the passing score of the state’s bar exam to the California Supreme Court — including two options to lower the score. The court will have the final say on an intense debate about the score, which some argue is too high.
ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY
Environment:
Smoke From Major Wildfires Drifts Into San Joaquin Valley
Smoke from three major wildfires is making for unhealthy air in the foothills from Tulare County on up to Mariposa County and including Yosemite National Park. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District says so far air quality in the Valley is good to moderate but that could change later this week.
California passes bill to protect scientific data from federal censorship
The Mercury News
Soon after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, a page on climate change vanished from the White House website, sending a chill through the scientific community.
Climate change is making heat waves, hurricanes, fires worse, scientists say
The Sacramento Bee
Wildfires from the Oregon border to Los Angeles. Temperatures hitting 100 degrees in San Francisco, and higher in Sacramento, capping off the hottest summer in California history.
Facebook and real estate developer pitch state lawmakers on speedier environmental review cases
Los Angeles Times
Facebook executives and a New York developer are hoping that their major development projects could get built years sooner than planned under last-minute legislation at the state Capitol.
Energy:
Diversity in Kern’s clean energy workforce: UC Berkeley report
According to data obtained and analyzed by researchers at UC Berkeley’s Labor Center, the answer is that in recent years, a significant share of good, career-track jobs in the construction of renewable energy power plants in Kern County and statewide have in fact gone to low-income residents and people of color.
Opinion: Power board is being ruined in the dark
The Sacramento Bee
A proposal to move decisions about our energy and environmental future from California to Washington, D.C. is gaining traction in the state Capitol, all behind closed doors. The implications would be significant and deserve a thorough public vetting.
HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES
Some cash and a form: how some local parents got around the vaccination requirement
Modesto Bee
An Escalon clinic drew recent attention by offering medical exemptions to the state law that requires vaccinations for schoolchildren.
Pharmacists Are Now Poised To Ease Physician Shortage—If Only They Could Get Paid For It
Valley Public Radio
When we consider medical providers, what comes to mind may be doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. But what about pharmacists? A new law has allowed them to greatly expand their role to become providers—which could be good news for patients struggling to access doctors. But one major obstacle still stands in the way of pharmacists taking on patients. This latest installment of our series Struggling For Care begins with the story of a community pharmacist in Kern County looking toward the future.
Bringing Market Discipline to Health Care Is Complex, Difficult, and Necessary
AEI
The provision of medical care is inefficient, which makes health insurance needlessly expensive. Market discipline can eliminate waste, but only if consumers have an incentive to get their health services from cost-effective systems that deliver higher-quality care at a lower price. Policymakersmust change the tax treatment of job-based insurance, reform Medicare, and adjust health savings account rules to ensure consumers can reduce their costs by opting to get their care through efficient managed care arrangements.
IMMIGRATION
What’s next for DACA and the nearly 800,000 people protected by it
Los Angeles Times
The Trump administration announced Tuesd
What the DACA phaseout means for workers and employers
Los Angeles Times
Christopher Plascencia won a promotion last month to personal banker at Wells Fargo & Co.; now he’s worried the career advancement might become a hollow gain.
He’s an all-American boy, but will he ever be an American?
Visalia Times Delta
You can ask his mother, who works long hours in the fields of “the world’s salad bowl.” You can ask his teacher, a son of farm workers who must see in Jose some reflection of his own childhood. You can ask anyone who’s seen this kid do math.
Immigrant Tenant Protection Act passes California senate
The Mercury News
A state bill that bars landlords from harassing or discriminating against tenants based on their immigration status or perceived immigration status has moved one step closer to becoming law.
California bill would bolster protections for immigrant workers
The Sacramento Bee
Assembly Bill 450, the “Immigrant Worker Protection Act,” would bar immigration officials from conducting workplace raids without a warrant and prevent employers from disclosing employees’ privacy information, such as a social security number or their immigration status, without an order from the courts.
Mathews: Forget mass deportation. Give California its own residency program
Sacramento Bee
Re: An alternative to mass deportation of Californians
Immigration — Trump’s DACA Plan & Message Discipline
National Review
For many conservatives, President Trump’s decision to cancel DACA with a six-month delay has at least two benefits. For those on the right such as Marco Rubio who believe that DACA is unconstitutional, ending DACA helps restore constitutional norms. The six-month delay, meanwhile, gives Congress a deadline for a compromise deal on a DACA replacement.
National Review
Even in our divided politics, it should be a matter of consensus that the president of the United States can’t write laws on his own.
California vows to fight White House DACA decision, but how far can states go?
The Mercury News
Throughout California, the message to Dreamers in the wake of President Donald Trump’s plan to end deportation protection for young undocumented immigrants has been clear: We’ve got your backs.
Congressman Adam Schiff Tries to Thwart DACA Phase Out Through Funding
L.A. Weekly
Schiff said today that he planned to introduce legislation that would, according to a statement from his office, ‘prohibit any funds to be used for the deportation of individuals granted deferred action under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Los Angeles Times
The Trump administration’s dumping cold water on “Dreamers” was so wrongheaded, so self-defeating and so inhumane that it can’t possibly stand. Can it?
Ryan sees compromise on immigration after Trump forces issue
The Sacramento Bee
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday he sees the possibility for compromise after President Donald Trump gave Congress six months to resolve the status of young immigrants living in the country illegally.
Border security could be key to saving Dreamers
POLITICO
Democrats and Republicans scrambling to protect Dreamers before a March deadline will almost certainly have to swallow tougher immigration measures in return.
California will file separate lawsuit over end of DACA program, attorney general says
Los Angeles Times
California plans its own lawsuit against the federal government because it is disproportionately harmed by President Trump’s plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said Wednesday.
U.S. immigration levels continue to fuel most community demographic gains
Brookings Institution
In endorsing a newly proposed bill, President Trump claims that legal immigration levels should be cut in half and that greater priority should be placed on those with high skills. Both of these claims fly in the face of census statistics that show that current immigration levels are increasingly vital to the growth of much of America, and that recent arrivals are more highly skilled than ever before. Current immigration is especially important for areas that are losing domestic migrants to other parts of the country including nearly half of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas.
Laurene Powell Jobs taps Ronald Reagan in first political TV ad in support of ‘Dreamers’
Silicon Valley philanthropist and investor Laurene Powell Jobs is stepping into the political ring a day after President Donald Trump decided to end an Obama-era executive action that shielded young undocumented immigrants from deportation.
LAND USE/HOUSING
Addressing California’s Housing Affordability Crisis: Key Strategies in the Housing Package
California Budget & Policy Center
California stands out among the 50 states for its strong economy, moderate climate, diverse population — and high housing costs. Indeed, the increasing unaffordability of housing in California has been a central focus of state legislators this year, with over 100 housing-related bills proposed. Governor Brown has also repeatedly cited the housing crisis as a serious threat to the state’s long-term economic well-being.
How Local Housing Regulations Smother the US Economy
New York Times
If you live in a coastal city like New York, Boston or San Francisco, you know that the cost of housing has skyrocketed. This housing crisis did not happen by chance: Increasingly restrictive land-use regulations in the last half-century contributed to it.
PUBLIC FINANCES
CalPERS board election campaign contributions top $130,000
The Sacramento Bee
California public employee unions aren’t taking any chances with an obscure statewide election this fall that could have some serious consequences for their members. With control of the state’s $333 billion public pension fund at stake, they’re throwing their weight behind two candidates vying for seats on the CalPERS Board of Administration.
California would cover over-budget costs for 2028 Olympics bid under new bill
Los Angeles Times
State lawmakers will provide up to $270 million in guarantees under legislation unveiled last week should Los Angeles’ 2028 Olympic bid go over budget.
See also:
· L.A. Olympics organizers to state senator: Please take us out of your bill Los Angeles Times.
OCRegister
Local elected officials will be prohibited from using taxpayer funds to send out mass mailings to constituents just prior to an election under a bill approved Tuesday, Sept. 5 by the state Legislature. Critics of the practice, which already is banned at the federal level, contend it has allowed incumbents seeking re-election to make use of their office – and the public’s money – to gain exposure with voters.
TRANSPORTATION
Caltrans to hold job fair in Bakersfield
The Bakersfield Californian
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will host a Maintenance Career Fair in Bakersfield Sept. 26 where people can learn about jobs available in the agency.
Lyft to unleash self-driving cars on Bay Area roads
The Mercury News
Self-driving Lyfts are coming to the Bay Area, promising to give local residents a first-hand look at the technology that’s poised to dramatically change the nature of transportation.
WATER
Bakersfield City Council unanimously votes to pass an increase in water rates
Bakersfield Now
Wednesday night, The Bakersfield City Council unanimously voted to pass the 41% increase in water rates over the next two years.
Water: Setting the sights on Sites
Capitol Weekly
Sites Reservoir has been talked about for decades, but now that project officials — and backed by 70 major allies — have formally submitted an application for state bond money, the question arises: Will this $5 billion project actually come to pass?
Water lifting concrete slab seen as cause of Oroville Dam spillway failure
Chico Enterprise
Faulty design, construction and repairs of the main Oroville Dam spillway allowed water to seep under its floor and build up, lifting a concrete slab Feb. 7 into the water flowing down the chute, starting a chain of events that largely wrecked the structure.
Drought’s Over, Yet Californians Keep Saving Water
KQED
In Sacramento, Los Angeles, most of the San Francisco Bay Area and Orange County, urban residential water use is down between 20 and 26 percent since 2013, often used by water agencies as the benchmark year for pre-drought water consumption, according to the State Water Resources Control Board.
“Xtra”
City of Clovis appoints new Public Utilities Director
Clovis Roundup
City of Clovis manager Luke Serpa announced Wednesday the appointment of Scott Redelfs to the position of Public utilities Director, effective immediately. The move, which was confirmed at yesterday’s city council meeting, fills the vacancy left by Serpa, the former director who was appointed city manager earlier this summer.
Will Visalia finally get a community pool?
Visalia Times-Delta
With triple-digit heat lasting throughout much of the summer, a local swimming spot seems like a good idea. For one Visalia councilman, it’s been a labor of love getting an aquatics center to the floor for discussion. After years of debate, the proposed pool is one step closer to becoming reality.
Great things are happening in the Valley
Valley’s Cultural Coalition
Pass It On…….
California Today: Why College Football Is King in the San Joaquin Valley NYTimes.com
College football season has arrived, and fans donned in the color of their Fresno State Bulldogs ventured into triple digit heat to see the opening game. In all, more than 39,000 people filled the stadium to near capacity — no small feat in a city of just 520,000 people.