14Sep

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IN THIS ISSUE:​

  • Top Political Stories
  • Editorials
  • Agriculture/Food
  • Criminal Justice/Public Safety
  • Economy/ Jobs
  • Education
  • Environment/Energy
  • Health/Human Services
  • Immigration
  • Land Use/Housing
  • Public Finances
  • Transportation
  • Water
  • “Xtra”​

 

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TOP POLITICAL STORIES​​​​​​​

 Local/Regional:

Valadao co-sponsors DREAM Act

Fresno Bee

David Valadao, the Hanford Republican representing California’s 21st Congressional District, announced his support Wednesday for the House’s latest attempt to pass a Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act that could allow millions of undocumented people to avoid deportation and eventually become American citizens.

See also:

Westlands Solar Park files notice it will downsize plan

Hanford Sentinel

Westlands Solar Park owners are working with Westlands Water District on a revised environmental impact report for its mega-solar project. Filed Aug. 31, the new plan would modestly reduce the size of the project from 24,000 acres to 21,000 acres. Power production would be reduced from 2400 MW to 2000. Most of the huge solar farm would be located in Kings County, roughly around the Avenal Cutoff and Laurel Avenue.

State:

California Legislature’s final days of work this year have changed, thanks to voters

Los Angeles Times

For years, California’s most powerful interest groups relied on what they could pull off once night fell on the state Capitol in the final hours of every legislative year.

LA County crime-inspired measure would ban openly carrying rifles in unincorporated areas of California

Los Angeles Times

Californians would be prohibited from openly carrying long guns in public, unincorporated areas of the state under a bill approved Wednesday by the Legislature and sent to the governor for consideration.

California passes prescription drug pricing transparency bill

SFGATE

State legislators have passed a bill aimed at creating greater transparency around prescription drug pricing by requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide advance notice and more detailed explanations for raising the price of a drug.

California Today: A Finance Man in the Race for Governor

New York Times

John Chiang, California’s bespectacled treasurer, is a finance man. His two decades in public office have been all taxes, budgets, bonds and pensions. It’s a resume that Mr. Chiang, a Democrat, hopes will persuade voters that he is the governor California needs as it wrestles with a housing crisis and gaping income equality.

John Chiang’s claim on California’s affordable housing doesn’t add up

PolitiFact California

State Treasurer John Chiang has made boosting California’s supply of affordable housing a key talking point during his run for governor. Chiang, one of several Democratic candidates in the 2018 race, claimed at a recent campaign event in Santa Monica that he’s helped greatly expand that supply. “Since I’ve been the state treasurer, we’ve increased the building, construction of affordable housing by 80 percent,” Chiang said in a Facebook live video on August 13, 2017, joined by Congressman Ted Lieu.

Daylight saving time survives another year in the California Legislature

Sacramento Bee

Californians will continue the annual “spring forward” and “fall back” of their clocks for at least a while longer.

National:

‘Chuck and Nancy’ make deal with Trump on DACA, border security

Fresno Bee

The top House and Senate Democrats said Wednesday they had reached agreement with President Donald Trump to protect thousands of younger immigrants from deportation and fund some border security enhancements – not including Trump’s long-sought border wall

See also: 

California’s Resistance to Trump? So far, semi-successes and a few fizzles

CALmatters

Democrats who rule California’s Legislature passed a winter resolution urging the newly elected Republican president not to pursue mass deportations, and denouncing “bigoted, racist, or misinformed descriptions of the immigrant community.” They went on, in the ensuing months, to tout the introduction of dozens of bills meant to preempt Trump’s administration from whittling down health care, cracking down on immigrants and canceling out environmental safeguards. A hashtag went viral: #stateofresistance.

California Democrats want Nancy Pelosi out as House leader

The Sacramento Bee

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who won an eighth term leading the Democratic caucus last fall, should be replaced regardless of whether her party regains control of Congress’ lower chamber in next year’s elections, according to a new poll.

Dianne Feinstein’s support slips in California poll – but don’t count her out in 2018 

The Sacramento Bee

Her job approval rating has dropped to 50 percent, down from 59 percent less than six months ago, according to a survey by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies.

Trump fighter Kamala Harris edging Feinstein in popularity

The Mercury News

For decades, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been California’s most popular national politician. But a new poll shows that newbie Kamala Harris, who has become an outspoken leader of the Trump “resistance” in her first eight months in office, is starting to eclipse the grand dame.

California could flip the House, and these 13 races will make the difference

Los Angeles Times

The stakes are high in the 2018 midterm elections: control of the U.S. House. For Democrats to reclaim power, they must forge a path through California. The party considers nine districts here to be battlegrounds and can’t win the House without winning at least a few of them.

California’s Resistance to Trump? So far, semi-successes and a few fizzles CALmatters

The 2017 legislative session now wrapping up began with a rhetorical punch in the face to Donald Trump. Democrats who rule California’s Legislature passed a winter resolution urging the newly elected Republican president not to pursue mass deportations, and denouncing “bigoted, racist, or misinformed descriptions of the immigrant community.” They went on, in the ensuing months, to tout the introduction of dozens of bills meant to preempt Trump’s administration from whittling down health care, cracking down on immigrants and canceling out environmental safeguards. A hashtag went viral: #stateofresistance.

Expanding Family Leave, Drug Price Transparency, School For Children Of Deportees 

Capital Public Radio

California lawmakers are continuing their push through hundreds of bills before the legislative session ends Friday.

Other:

Trust-busting in the Silicon Valley

Fox and Hounds Daily

The ghost of Teddy Roosevelt and his trust-busting big stick hovers over Silicon Valley as calls for countering the concentrated power of dominate Internet companies grow louder.

‘Jordan’s Law’ just got a ‘step closer’ to fighting social media-motivated attacks 

Los Angeles Daily News

A revised state bill that aims to deter social media-motivated attacks passed the Assembly Wednesday and is now headed to the governor’s desk for review. “Jordan’s Law” was introduced by Assemblyman Matt Dababneh following the punch on then 14-year-old Jordan Peisner in December outside a Wendy’s in West Hills by a teen he didn’t know. The brutal attack was caught on Snapchat and went viral.

Smoking pot or tobacco at California beaches could soon be illegal under bills headed to Gov. Brown 

Sacramento Bee

California parks and beaches would be off-limits to those smoking tobacco or marijuana, or using electronic cigarettes, under legislation sent to Gov. Jerry Brown by state lawmakers Wednesday.

A bill that would set new rules for online dating contracts in California heads to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk 

Los Angeles Times

The bill, proposed by Assemblyman Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco), would set new specific contract requirements for Internet dating services. The bill’s new requirements include allowing online-dating customers to cancel contracts by email and have access to electronic copies of contracts.

EDITORIALS

A family affair? Talk about putting the ‘eek’ in Board of Equalization

Fresno Bee

State government cannot be run like some big city machine or yore in which patronage jobs are handed out to family members and loyalists.


Legislators wouldn’t penalize Tesla for operating in California. Would they?

Fresno Bee

Tesla employs 10,000 Californians, unlike other automakers that have no factories here. So why get into the middle of their labor dispute?

UC Berkeley is sending mixed messages about freedom of speech

Los Angeles Times

Last month, UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ issued a powerful statement reminding the university community that the 1st Amendment protects “even speech that most of us would find hateful, abhorrent and odious” and that “public expression of many sharply divergent points of view is fundamental…

 

Even Auntie Maxine knows, we’ll need more than outrage to prevent another Equifax

Sacramento Bee

Equifax exposed the personal information of 143 million people. “Someone has to be held accountable,” Rep. Maxine Waters says.

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

In Nebraska, immigrants work hard-to-fill jobs in meatpacking industry Marketplace

Chuck Folken has never been much of a coffee guy. A big, burly man with a graying mustache, he starts every morning with a huge mug of orange soda. “Tastes good. Keeps me up. Gets me going,” Folken said.

In the age of Trump, how do you build a legal marijuana industry from the ground up?

LA Times

Election night 2016 was such a shocker nationally that maybe you’ve forgotten that, oh yes, California voted to legalize recreational marijuana. And come January, if you’re at least 21, cannabis can be officially taxed and sold to you, just like, oh, the cheese doodles you’ll be wanting to eat after you light up. It is a massive undertaking, turning an illegal underground industry into a legal and legit one – a business that could put $50 million a year in tax money into the city’s purse.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime:

Recognize burglars in this video? Fresno County detectives want to hear from you

Fresno Bee

Fresno County Sheriff’s detectives want tips from the public to identify three men who broke into a home in Squaw Valley. The break-in was caught on surveillance video.

Two inmates get into a fight in the yard at Corcoran prison. One is now dead.

Fresno Bee

An inmate at Corcoran State Prison in Corcoran is dead after being chased and stabbed by another inmate, the prison said Wednesday.

California lawmakers vote to give judges discretion over longer sentences in gun crimes

Los Angeles Times

State lawmakers on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow judges to decide against imposing prison-sentence enhancements of 10 or more years in cases where firearms are used to commit a felony.

California attorney disbarred after drug-planting conviction

San Francisco Chronicle

A Southern California attorney convicted along with his then-wife of planting drugs in the car of a PTA volunteer has been disbarred.

Rookie drivers under 21 should face new restrictions, California lawmakers say

Sacramento Bee

For decades, eager teenagers have endured six months of patience and practice with a learner’s permit before they could take their driving tests, and then another year of restrictions on their licenses once they passed.

Breaking the Cycle of Incarceration by Keeping Mothers and Children Together

Pew Charitable Trusts | Stateline

When Stephanie Petitt was arrested for violating probation for prior drug and robbery convictions, she learned two things: She was 16 weeks pregnant, and she would probably deliver her baby while incarcerated at an Oklahoma prison.

Berkeley prepares for Ben Shapiro speech with pepper spray, concrete barriers and lots of police

Washington Post

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro is set to speak on campus Thursday evening, and authorities and administrators are desperate to avoid a repeat of the violent, destructive clashes that have erupted at similar events in recent months.

Fire:

Mission Fire listed as 100% contained

The Fresno Bee

A fire that burned for more than a week northeast of North Fork was declared 100 percent contained Wednesday night, Cal Fire stated.

ECONOMY / JOBS

Economy:

Inequality Persists Despite U.S. Progress on Incomes and Poverty

Bloomberg

Steady U.S. economic growth helped household incomes climb to a record and reduced poverty last year, according to Census Bureau data released Tuesday. Yet inequality remained evident across income levels, race and gender, indicating there’s work to be done to improve the lot of all Americans.

Jobs:

New parents at California’s small businesses would get 12 weeks of leave under bill headed to Gov. Jerry Brown 

Sacramento Bee

Employees at many small businesses across California could not be denied up to 12 weeks away from work to care for a new child under legislation sent Wednesday to Gov. Jerry Brown.

Jeff Sessions says Dreamers are stealing American jobs. Wrong.

Slate

On Tuesday, the labor department came out with its latest figures on job openings in the U.S.  At the end of July, there were a record 6.17 million open positions, up from 5.97 million at the end of July 2016. It is ironic that this measure of employers’ inability to fill posts came out exactly a week after Attorney General Jeff Sessions used the alleged scarcity of jobs to justify rescinding the protection afforded to the 800,000 Dreamers—undocumented immigrants who arrived here as small children, who the government has allowed to remain and work here. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy was bad, he said, because “it also denied jobs to hundreds of thousands of Americans by allowing those same jobs to go to illegal aliens.”

UFW member dues to pay for lawsuit settlement

visaliatimesdelta.com

A judge has ordered that United Farm Workers of America member dues be used to pay for the $1.2 million judgement in the civil action suit against the UFW from its own employees.

EDUCATION

K-12:

Fresno Unified hires Bob Nelson as superintendent

The Fresno Bee

Bob Nelson knows it’s a tough time to take on the role of Fresno Unified superintendent.

Fresno Unified opens DACA resource center

Fresno Bee

Fresno Unified trustees and Edison High School students gathered Wednesday morning at Manchester Center to open a new Dream Resource Center for students affected by President Donald Trump’s decision to end DACA – a program that protected young immigrants from deportation if they came to the U.S. legally as children.

Legislature moves to undo KHSD decision to allow concealed guns on campus

Bakersfield Californian

A bill heading to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, if signed, would undo two Kern High School District decisions last year to allow concealed carry weapon permit holders to bring firearms onto public campuses. AB 424, authored by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, was written in direct response to the actions of five school districts, including KHSD, that took advantage of a provision of Senate Bill 707. That bill, passed in 2015, bans firearms on school campuses but exempts CCW permit holders who receive permission from a district superintendent.

A state-sponsored STEM school for LA’s poorest kids is a slap in the face to LAUSD — but it’s necessary

Los Angeles Times

It’s almost always the role of local school districts in California to create new public schools. Even charter schools start by seeking permission from their local school boards to operate. So a bill in Sacramento that would order the state to create a charter-like school specializing in the so-called STEM fields of science, tech, engineering and math can’t help raising eyebrows.

Three crucial debates to follow at September’s California State Board of Education meeting 

Los Angeles Times

How should California define underperforming schools and intervene in school districts that clearly need extra help?

California gets waiver from administering old science tests, but only for last year

EdSource

In a partial victory for California, the U.S. Department of Education has granted the state a retroactive waiver from administering outdated science tests, instead allowing it to give students pilot tests based on new science standards.

New system of support contributes to student success

EdSource

Change has come at an exponential pace for California’s educators. Four years ago, we welcomed a new funding system that engages stakeholders, promotes transparency and channels more resources toward students with the greatest challenges.

State adopts plan required by federal education law; here’s what’s in it

EdSource

The State Board of Education adopted the state’s compliance plan for the federal Every Student Succeeds Act on Wednesday, with, as expected, few changes to the draft published last month.

Higher Ed:

Fresno State ranks 3rd in U.S. News for graduation rate performance

Fresno State News

The U.S. News and World Report’s 2017 Best College rankings issued today again placed Fresno State among the top three best public universities in graduation rate performance nationwide. Fresno State scored third highest among public national universities and was No. 4 overall this year. Last year, the University ranked No. 1 among public national universities and No. 3 among all national universities.

Cal State chancellor ‘cautiously optimistic’ that Congress will protect ‘Dreamers’

Los Angeles Times

California State University Chancellor Timothy P. White, who flew to Washington, D.C., this week to speak out against President Trump’s decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program,  said he was “cautiously optimistic” that Congress will find a way to preserve the program that protects nearly 800,000 young immigrants.

University of California hints at tuition increase, starts review of overturned admissions

EdSource

The University of California Board of Regents is debating possible tuition hikes for 2018-19 and changes to how incoming students prove they’ve earned the grades and test scores they reported in their applications.

Higher Education in California

Public Policy Institute of California

Higher education enhances Californians’ lives and contributes to the state’s economic growth. But population and education trends suggest that California is facing a large shortfall of college graduates. Addressing this short­fall will require strong gains for groups that have been historically under­represented in higher education.

First year of California community colleges could be free under bill headed to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk 

Sacramento Bee

Hoping to entice more students into California’s community college system, lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill to make students’ first year free. The Assembly gave final approval to a measure by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) that waives fees for first-time full-time students.

ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY

Environment:

California bill aims to make it harder for megaprojects to sidestep state environmental law

LA Times

Two years ago, the Los Angeles Rams did something unheard of in California development politics: In just six weeks, the team went from unveiling plans for an 80,000-seat stadium to earning final approval from the Inglewood City Council. 

California Could Set 100% Renewable Energy Goal 

KPBS

California lawmakers are running out of time to decide whether the state’s energy diet will be greener by 2045. And renewable energy advocates are pushing for the measure which could significantly change the kind of energy consumed in the state.

EPA delays rules limiting wastewater from coal power plants

Washington Post

The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it’s postponing portions of an Obama-era rule to curb water pollution from coal-fired power plants while it considers whether to rewrite the measure.

Energy: 

The Latest: Lawmaker backs off regional energy grid plan

Bakersfield Californian

A proposal to merge California’s energy grid with others in the West is not advancing this year. Democratic Assemblyman Chris Holden of Pasadena says there’s “still more to discuss,” including the role of the Legislature in reviewing the plan.

Power grid expansion plan withdrawn amid political backlash 

AP

The late-session plan to restructure management of the California power grid skidded to a halt Wednesday in the wake of growing opposition from interest groups and a spate of negative publicity.

Electric Vehicles In The Central Valley Could Get A Big Boost Thanks To The VW Settlement

Valley Public Radio

A major scandal rocked the auto industry two years ago when it was discovered that the car company Volkswagen had been systematically cheating on diesel emissions tests. That scandal might soon turn into a big boon for electric cars in the Central Valley.

California clean energy proposals face demise as opposition fails to yield

LA Times

California has grown accustomed to setting benchmark after benchmark on environmental policies, but ambitious efforts to spread renewable energy around the state and the region could grind to a halt this week.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

New Census figures show continued health coverage gains in California

California budget and policy center

The US Census Bureau yesterday released new national and state-level figures on health care coverage. A new post from Director of Research Scott Graves looks at these data, which show that the share of Californians without health insurance declined to 7.3 percent in 2016, down from 8.6 percent the previous year. California’s uninsured rate has now dropped by more than half since 2013, the year before the state fully implemented federal health care reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 

CBO to Release Updated Report on Federal Subsidies for Health Care on September 14

Congressional Budget Office

On Thursday, September 14 at 2 p.m. ET, CBO will release Federal Subsidies for Health Insurance Coverage for People Under Age 65: 2017 to 2027. The previous edition of this report was published in March 2016. Since then, CBO has—at various times—updated certain aspects of those projections, but has not produced a comprehensive set of estimates like those in this report.

 

These are the 3 latest Senate plans to reform health care

PBS NewsHour

Senators on Wednesday rolled out competing plans for the nation’s health care system, with a group of GOP senators making a last, long-shot effort to undo Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders proposing universal government-run coverage.

 

Bipartisan effort to stabilize health insurance markets is coming down to the wire 

Los Angeles Times

Despite broad support from consumer advocates, state officials and healthcare leaders across the country, a bipartisan effort in Congress to stabilize health insurance markets and control rising premiums is being threatened by resurgent political fighting over the Affordable Care Act.

See also:

Bernie Sanders’ ‘Medicare For All’ Bill: Here’s What It Would Do

NPR

The Capitol Hill health care fight sure seemed dead. After Republican proposals to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, failed to pass a Republican-controlled Congress, lawmakers looked poised to move on to other topics, like a tax overhaul. But this week, proposals from both the left and the right are grabbing headlines. (Meanwhile, some members are also wrangling over how they can stabilize Obamacare.)

See also:

Valley fever bill, a shadow of its former self, heading to governor’s desk

Bakersfield Californian

The California legislature approved a bill Wednesday that would require the state public health department to develop public outreach programs for valley fever, an insidious respiratory disease endemic to Kern County, if signed by the governor.

Stanislaus County residents will pay far more for Covered CA than others in state

Modesto Bee

For a single adult, who has just turned 40 and is now more at risk of a whopping medical bill, the cost for the most popular Covered California health insurance plan next year will be $462 a month in a pricing region that includes in Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties.

Is California Doing Enough To Protect Patients From Bad Doctors? 

KPBS

In 2011, Marian Hollingsworth needed to get a colonoscopy. Her primary care doctor referred her to a gastroenterologist, who performed the procedure. It went well.  Kenny Goldberg KPBS

Bill to shed more light on prescription drug prices heads to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk 

Los Angeles Times

Powered by increasing scrutiny of costly prescription drugs, a measure that would require sweeping new disclosure on how medicines are priced cleared its final legislative hurdle Wednesday

See also:

To fight deadly hepatitis outbreak, San Diego begins power-washing streets with bleach

Washington Post

San Diego has started sanitizing its streets and sidewalks to try to combat a hepatitis A outbreak spreading among the city’s homeless population.

IMMIGRATION

Valadao co-sponsors DREAM Act

Fresno Bee

David Valadao, the Hanford Republican representing California’s 21st Congressional District, announced his support Wednesday for the House’s latest attempt to pass a Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act that could allow millions of undocumented people to avoid deportation and eventually become American citizens.

See also:

California Assembly approves resolution denouncing Trump’s decision on DACA

Los Angeles Times

After some intense exchanges on the house floor, the California Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution that condemned President Trump for his decision to rescind protections for people who were brought into the country illegally as children.

Children of deported parents could stay in California schools under plan on Brown’s desk — Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, who introduced the bill, cites reports that show many U.S.-born children who move to Mexico to join their parents are not able to speak Spanish well enough to integrate into society or succeed in school. Lara, the son of undocumented parents, said he’s also heard reports of parents who make the difficult decision to leave their children in the U.S..

Skelton: A good compromise will result in California becoming a ‘sanctuary state’

Los Angeles Times

California is about to become a so-called sanctuary state. What does that mean?

It means California will refuse to help federal agents deport people who came here illegally but are staying out of trouble and contributing positively to the state.

 

PPIC Polling and the Immigration Debate

Public Policy Institute of California

One of the most important issues for Californians in the first year of the Trump administration is changing federal immigration policy. Immigrants are a significant presence in California, and even more so in Los Angeles County. Los Angeles, the state’s most populous county, is home to more than 10 million people, including more immigrants than any other California county. Twenty-seven percent of California’s population is foreign born—about twice the US percentage—while 35% of Los Angeles County population is foreign born. Moreover, about 2.6 million undocumented immigrants—about a quarter of the total number in the US—live in California. More than 800,000 of these undocumented immigrants live in Los Angeles. Major shifts in federal immigration policy that are under way thus have profound impacts on California and Los Angeles.

LAND USE/HOUSING

Land Use:

Realty Concepts grand opening in 3-story Old Town Clovis building

Fresno Bee

The new Realty Concepts office and retail building in Old Town Clovis is changing the landscape of the popular shopping and dining district. Gone is a lot that sat empty for a decade. In its place is a large three-story building that will bring about 100 jobs to the city, give a local restaurant room to expand and set the stage for community events and revitalization in the “SoFi” area – south of Fifth Street.

Report: Cities must plan now to benefit from high-speed rail

San Jose Mercury News

Without state and local intervention, San Joaquin Valley cities with high-speed rail stations will become bedroom communities, sending out waves of tech workers on express trains to the Bay Area and Los Angeles, a report released Wednesday by nonprofit think-tank SPUR argues.

California bill aims to make it harder for megaprojects to sidestep state environmental law

LA Times

Two years ago, the Los Angeles Rams did something unheard of in California development politics: In just six weeks, the team went from unveiling plans for an 80,000-seat stadium to earning final approval from the Inglewood City Council.

Housing:

California city declares emergency at homeless riverbed camp

Bakersfield Californian

A Southern California city on Wednesday declared an emergency over a growing number of homeless people living on the streets, and especially along a popular riverbed trail.

Local home prices still struggling to recover from housing crash

bakersfield.com

There’s no question that when the real estate bubble burst in 2007 and home prices throughout much of the nation crashed, millions of family homes lost billions of dollars in value.

Key California housing legislation still lacks votes

Los Angeles Times

With less than three days left before state lawmakers adjourn for the year, supporters of legislation to address California’s housing affordability crisis still lack the votes to pass a key bill.

See also:

Should California look to Massachusetts to fix its housing crisis?

CALmatters

Just ask the California Legislature. After months of trying to put together a package of bills aimed at plugging the 100,000 unit affordable housing gap, lawmakers are still scrambling to finalize a deal before adjourning for the year on Friday.

Now this is ridiculous: $782000 over asking for a house in Sunnyvale

San Jose Mercury News

A house in Sunnyvale just sold for close to $800,000 over its listing price. Your eyes do not deceive you: The four-bed, two-bath house — less than 2,000 square feet — listed for $1,688,000 and sold for $2,470,000.

PUBLIC FINANCES

Walters: Inventor Hyatt fought state tax collectors and won

CALmatters

Sometimes, if you are stubborn enough, you can fight city hall, or a state bureaucracy, and emerge as a winner. It took nearly a quarter-century, but Gilbert Hyatt is a winner in his long-running battle with California tax collectors over whether he was a Californian or a Nevadan when he began collecting multi-million-dollar royalties for his high-tech inventions.

TRANSPORTATION

Fresno State launches institute funded by Measure C to study transportation problems

Fresno Bee

Fresno State announced the opening this fall of a new Transportation Institute financed with nearly $3 million in Measure C funds to train students and do research on regional transportation issues.

Report: Cities must plan now to benefit from high-speed rail

San Jose Mercury News

Without state and local intervention, San Joaquin Valley cities with high-speed rail stations will become bedroom communities, sending out waves of tech workers on express trains to the Bay Area and Los Angeles, a report released Wednesday by nonprofit think-tank SPUR argues.

California motorists paying for Harvey’s wrath 

Sacramento Bee

California motorists are paying an average $3.15 a gallon for unleaded regular gasoline, the highest statewide average in two years and currently the highest in the nation, according to AAA. Mark Glover in the Sacramento Bee

Would you buy an electric car if you could use the carpool lane alone? 

Sacramento Bee

Assembly Bill 544, which was sent to the governor’s desk on Wednesday, would extend through 2025 a decal program that allows low-emission cars into high-occupancy vehicle lanes, even when the driver is riding solo. It passed the Assembly on a 51-10 vote.

Tesla to show electric semi truck that Elon Musk calls a beast

Forbes

Tesla is on the verge of entering a new market, moving beyond its bread and butter business of high-end electric sedans and crossovers into the world of heavy-duty trucks in a shift Elon Musk has been promising for some time.

Renewable diesel use in California moves to fast track

San Francisco Chronicle

Renewable diesel sounds like a contradiction in terms. But planners for the Capitol Corridor trains, which run between the Bay Area and the Sacramento region, see it as a way to slash climate-warming emissions.

WATER

Will anti-water pumping legislation be brought back from the dead?

Sacramento Bee

Late last week, we suggested watching this space for possible revival of Assembly Bill 1000, legislation to halt a controversial water-pumping project in the Mojave Desert that’s being pushed by the politically connected firm Cadiz, Inc.

 “Xtra”

ARTober, a month-long celebration of arts and culture in Oakhurst

Visit Yosemite Madera County

Visit Yosemite Madera County is excited to partner with the art community of Oakhurst to present ‘ARTober in Oakhurst,’ (October) a month dedicated to celebrating arts and culture throughout Oakhurst. ARTober encourages collaboration and participation from artists, musicians, writers, venues, foodies, etc. to showcase all things arts and culture in Oakhurst. The events are designed to encourage people to explore and appreciate arts in Oakhurst; Oakhurst is a vibrant city of arts and among the largest artist communities, per capita, in California.

Brews in the Zoo? Sounds like a beary good idea

Bakersfield Californian

Bears and beers in the same place? Don’t worry, no animals will imbibe but the guests will at the Brews in the Zoo Oct. 7 at California Living Museum.

LA gets Olympics for 2028; it’ll be Paris in 2024

bakersfield.com

This was one of those rare Olympic moments where everyone walked away a winner. Paris for 2024. Los Angeles for 2028. And the International Olympic Committee for transforming an unruly bidding process to lock down its future by choosing not one, but two Summer Olympics hosts at the same time.

See also:

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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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