December 1, 2017

01Dec

TOP POLITICAL STORIES​​​​​​​ 

Local/Regional Politics:

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City manager used taxpayers’ money to attend baseball games, big-time concerts, DA says

Fresno Bee

At taxpayer’s expense, former Fowler City Manager David Lawrence Elias bought tickets to Fresno Grizzlies baseball games, went to Garth Brooks, Paul McCartney and Blake Shelton concerts, purchased airline tickets and wined and dined at such places as Harrah’s casino in Lake Tahoe, according to a criminal complaint filed in Fresno County Superior Court.

Tulare hospital administrators provide update on hospital reopening

Visalia Delta-Times

New Tulare hospital administrators are vowing to open the troubled hospital and its associated clinics and emergency room, but don’t have a firm date. The concurrent openings of the hospital and clinics, a board preference, would ensure the clinics retain their reimbursement status, said Larry Blitz, the interim Tulare Regional Medical Center CEO.

Modesto City Council members seek to extend terms in move to even-year elections

Modesto Bee

Here’s the question Modesto City Council members faced at a Tuesday workshop: Should they give themselves an extra year in office or reduce council terms for some by a year as the city moves from odd- to even-year elections? The answer: Most want the extra year. Council members voted 4-3 to direct staff to prepare a plan that extends council terms from four to five years for terms starting in 2015 and 2017. Council members would get only one extra year.

Cities Where Salaries Go Furthest in the U.S.: 2017

Indeed Hiring Lab

Fresno at 3, Bakersfield at 8 and Modesto at 12

Delta tunnels: Cost study coming, state says

Stockton Record

A long-awaited study on the costs and benefits of Gov. Jerry Brown’s Delta tunnels should be finished by next spring, a state official said Thursday after an independent audit concluded such a study should have already been done. The tunnels have been in the planning stage for 11 years, but state officials have never completed a comprehensive analysis of whether the project pencils out financially. Such a study could answer basic questions like whether the tunnels will benefit the state as a whole and whether they should be built at all.

Bottling day at Fresno State, home of nation’s first commercial winery on a college campus

ABC30

The demand for the campus crushed wines has spread far beyond the Gibson Farm Market. You can also find Fresno State wine at Costco, Save Mart, BevMo and Total Wine. “I just like it for the fact that you work hard and you have a product that you can give to people. You know there’s no better feeling than that,” said student Alex Romero. Alex is a junior who figures he will make wine in Paso Robles someday. Fresno State has long served as a wine pipeline for the industry. “When I graduated probably half the winemakers in Napa were from Fresno State,” said Tom.

State Politics:

How the Steinle Verdict Could Alter the Political Landscape

KQED News

Minutes after a San Francisco jury acquitted an undocumented immigrant of murder and manslaughter in the death of Kathryn Steinle, his defense attorney Matt Gonzalez suggested that President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions reflect upon the fact that everyone — including them — is entitled to the presumption of innocence until found guilty.

See also:

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government

Public Policy Institute of California

In California’s gubernatorial race, Democrats Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa lead among likely voters—but three in ten are undecided. In the US Senate race, Dianne Feinstein has a two-to-one edge over fellow Democrat Kevin de León. A majority of Californians oppose congressional tax proposals, and an overwhelming majority support allowing undocumented immigrants to stay in the US. Majorities see single-payer health insurance and a repeal of the recently enacted gas tax as important potential ballot measures.

See also:

Legislature Has Paid Nearly $2 Million in Sexual Harassment Cases Over 25 Years, Report Says

The California Report – KQED News

New research shows the California Legislature has paid out at least $1.9 million over the past 25 years to settle sexual harassment claims, all of that taxpayer money. The research comes from Tuple Legal, a firm founded in 2017 by attorney and former Democratic Capitol staffer Ryan Hughes. He arrived at the number by compiling information from case settlements, court filings and media reports. He found the Legislature paid out an additional $306,000 for cases that may or may not have involved sexual harassment.

See also:

Candidate Villaraigosa vows to get tough on unions, put focus on childrenSFGate.com

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday continued to distance himself from the Democratic left — and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom — with a pledge to take on unions and other interest groups if he is elected governor next year.

Local candidate for governor hopes to carry GOP flag

The San Diego Union-Tribune

I had coffee with John Cox, the Rancho Santa Fe businessman hoping to be the lone Republican in the 2018 general election for governor. Say what you will about the wealthy investor/lawyer/CPA from Chicago — multiple loser, including hapless Illinois bids for Congress and the U.S. Senate (as well as the White House); Reagan conservative without the matinee idol fizz; obsessed with his radical “Great Idea” — but you also have to appreciate this: He’s pumped $3 million into his Cal governor campaign and $2 million into his signature initiative.

Foes of California gas tax increase launch television ads seeking repeal initiative

Los Angeles Times

Republican opponents of a recent increase to the state gas tax have launched a television ad campaign aimed at getting California voters to sign petitions for an initiative that would repeal the new levies. The ads have started running on broadcast and cable television stations in the San Diego area and on YouTube. They are part of a $400,000 first-week launch for a drive to collect more than587,000 signatures to qualify a measure for the November 2018 ballot that would repeal the increase in gas taxes and vehicle fees approved by the Legislature in April.

See also:

Fitzgerald: Driving 91 to the statehouse

Stockton Record

Albert Mezzetti of Manteca, age 91, a former cop, former school principal, former U.S. Marine machine-gunner on Guadalcanal, declares he’s running for governor of California. He’ll be 92 on Jan. 7. “Fortunately God has been good to me,” Mezzetti wrote in the all-caps letter announcing his run. “I have all of my natural teeth, run three miles every day, all in perfect health and know that two plus two is four.”

How Much Do California’s Counties Spend on Incarceration and Responding to Crime?

California Budget & Policy Center

For decades, California took a “tough on crime” approach to criminal and juvenile justice. Harsh, one-size-fits-all sentencing policies such as the 1994 “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law emphasized punishment over rehabilitation and significantly lengthened prison sentences. These and other policies greatly increased the number of adults incarcerated by the state and contributed to the creation of a bloated and costly correctional system. This shift toward a “do the crime, do the time” philosophy also affected California youth involved with the juvenile justice system. In 2000, for example, the voters passed Proposition 21, which required more youth accused of crimes to be tried in adult court, among other changes.

Federal Politics:

Senate Republicans Secure Votes for Tax Overhaul

Roll Call

Senate Republicans appear to have the votes necessary to approve their tax code overhaul.

See also:

For California attorney general, suing Trump again and again is a team sport

CALmatters

For a man who has alternatively been called the face, the leader, and the speartipof the progressive “resistance” to the Trump administration, Xavier Becerra seems comfortable working outside the spotlight. When Gov. Jerry Brown tapped Becerra to replace U.S. Senate-bound Kamala Harris as California’s attorney general, the 59-year-old congressman came with more than two decades of experience cutting deals and building coalitions as a high-ranking, but (outside certain political circles) little-known representative

House Democrats Target Most California Republican Districts

Capital Public Radio

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has indicated the party will actively compete in 10 of the 14 California districts currently held by Republicans. In 2016, the DCCC listed four Republican-held districts as battlegrounds.

Tom Steyer has gathered more than 3 million signatures to impeach President Trump. So why are Democrats so annoyed?

Los Angeles Times

From its very founding, California has been a land of reinvention. The creed is practically written in the state Constitution: If you don’t like who you are, or your place in life, start over. Gold was the first lure. Since then, countless have sought fame. Others, acceptance. Tom Steyer has no end of wealth, a measure of fame and a seeming appetite for political office. That requires his own bit of reinvention.

The time to hack-proof the 2018 election is expiring — and Congress is way behind

POLITICO

Lawmakers are scrambling to push something — anything — through Congress that would help secure the nation’s voting systems ahead of the 2018 elections. But it might already be too late for some critical targets. By this point during the 2016 election cycle, Russian hackers had already been in the Democratic National Committee’s networks for at least three months.

Other:

Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds

The New Yorker

The vaunted human capacity for reason may have more to do with winning arguments than with thinking straight.

See also:

How to rig an election in three not-so-easy steps

Brookings

The 2016 presidential election will be remembered for many things, but one of the most unusual was the repeated claims, by leaders in both parties, that the election was “rigged.” We now know that many of these accusations were promoted by Russian hackers intent on aggravating divisions between and within the political parties and fomenting distrust in the democratic system.

Sunset Magazine Is Sold to a California Private Equity Firm

The New York Times

Sunset magazine, founded in 1898 as a way to lure travelers West and which went on to help generations live their best California lives, has a new owner.

Topics in More Detail…

EDITORIALS

Time for Change

Sierra Star

Just about a year ago, on Nov. 9, Americans awoke to the shock of Republican Donald J. Trump winning the Electoral College vote while Democrat Hillary Clinton took away the winning side of the popular vote by close to three million votes. What’s happened in the year since?

Will bad actors have a ‘monopoly’ on Sacramento’s legal weed industry?

Sacramento Bee

Even with a history of code violations, medical marijuana dispensaries have first dibs on a limited number of retail licenses.

Put the brakes on all these tax breaks

Los Angeles Times

When Los Angeles leaders gave a $270-million tax break to the developer of a 1,000-room luxury hotel at L.A. Live more than a decade ago, they argued that the incentive was vital to help the struggling convention center and to catalyze redevelopment in South Park. Now, downtown Los Angeles is booming…

There’s more to talk about than dumb tweets

Modesto Bee

Deficit-creating tax plan, North Korean missiles, gutted fraud bureau, Russian meddling are all taking a backseat to Trump’s support of British racists

Bad tax bill could get worse

San Francisco Chronicle

The apparent momentum for a tax cut in the Senate promises to benefit the wealthy and corporations at the expense of lower-income taxpayers and the government’s bottom line. That’s more than enough …

Justice not served in slaying trial of Kate Steinle

San Francisco Chronicle

No verdict in the trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate could deliver satisfactory justice for the killing of Kate Steinle, a 32-year-old woman who was shot on July 1, 2015, as she was strolling with her father …

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

Large U.S. farm study finds no cancer link to Monsanto weedkiller

Reuters

A large long-term study on the use of the big-selling weedkiller glyphosate by agricultural workers in the United States has found no firm link between exposure to the pesticide and cancer, scientists said on Thursday. Published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI), the study found there was no association between glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s popular herbicide RoundUp, “and any solid tumors or lymphoid malignancies overall, including non-Hogkin Lymphoma (NHL) and its subtypes”.

Berkeley photographer documents California’s farm workers movement

East Bay Times

In the summer of 1975, Mimi Plumb, then a 20-year-old art student who had grown up in Walnut Creek, set out on an adventure of a lifetime with her Leica M2R camera. Plumb headed to the Salinas Valley, where United Farm Workers organizers were mobilizing low-paid migrant workers who spent back-breaking hours in the the fields planting and harvesting crops under extremely harsh conditions, to fight for better wages and working conditions.

Wine in cans? Why not?

Santa Rosa Press Democrat

The wine business is slowly turning to aluminum cans in response to the consumer demands of millennials, a panel of industry leaders noted on Thursday.

Maggard’s mobile medical marijuana: County supervisors to consider delivery model

bakersfield.com

Kern County’s ban on the commercial cultivation, processing and distribution of cannabis went into effect on Monday.

DOJ may be cracking down on recreational marijuana

Sacramento Bee

Attorney General Jeff Sessions hinted Wednesday that the Justice Department may take a tougher stance on recreational marijuana in the near future, a change in policy that would have a significant impact on the five states that already allow the drug to be sold for more than medicinal purposes. California is scheduled to join that group on Jan. 1.

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

Crime:

Merced detective embezzled from union, investigator says

Merced Sun-Star

A longtime Merced police detective used police union funds to finance trips to Las Vegas, where he rented a limousine as part of a pattern of embezzlement and misappropriation of union money, according to allegations detailed by the California Attorney General in an affidavit for a search warrant. Former Merced Detective Joe Deliman is under investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office for allegedly embezzling “thousands” of dollars from the Merced Police Officers Union, according to an investigator’s affidavit for a search warrant.

Tulare Food Mart busted for selling alcohol to minors

Visalia Times-Delta

The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control revoked a Tulare store’s license to sell alcohol Thursday, officials said.

How Much Do California’s Counties Spend on Incarceration and Responding to Crime?

California Budget & Policy Center

For decades, California took a “tough on crime” approach to criminal and juvenile justice. Harsh, one-size-fits-all sentencing policies such as the 1994 “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law emphasized punishment over rehabilitation and significantly lengthened prison sentences. These and other policies greatly increased the number of adults incarcerated by the state and contributed to the creation of a bloated and costly correctional system. This shift toward a “do the crime, do the time” philosophy also affected California youth involved with the juvenile justice system. In 2000, for example, the voters passed Proposition 21, which required more youth accused of crimes to be tried in adult court, among other changes.

Gig Economy Gives Child Support Scofflaws a Place to Hide

Pew Charitable Trust | Stateline

The rise of the gig economy and a broad shift to contract work is making it easier for people to evade paying child support, causing headaches for parents and for state officials charged with tracking down the money. About 70 percent of child support payments are collected by withholding income from paychecks. It’s possible to capture the wages of an Uber driver, Airbnb renter or a contractor — but only if state officials know that a person owing child support is earning wages that can be garnished, and only if the employer cooperates.

Manson’s gone, but California may have just the villain to replace him

Sacramento Bee

It’s hard to find a villain who can bring Californians together. That’s why Charlie Manson’s death produced so many media remembrances. Manson represented the time, a half-century ago, when Californians shared more experiences – even fear of the Manson Family. Today, we’re too polarized to agree on who is the bad guy. Academically, we prefer to blame wrongdoing on systems, not individuals. Culturally, we’re so diverse that we don’t share the same references – never mind the same enemies.

Public Safety:

Sanctuary cities: Studies don’t show increase in crime

PolitiFact

Mayors across America are doubling down on their cities’ decisions to serve as a “sanctuary” for immigrants living in the country illegally, despite President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to cut federal funding.

Fire:

Wildfires: Utility blocked from charging customers for wildfire costs

San Jose Mercury News

In a closely watched decision that could impact whether PG&E customers are on the hook for billions in costs related to the Napa-Sonoma fires if the utility is found at fault, the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday denied a request from San Diego Gas & Electric to charge its ratepayers $379 million after investigators found its power lines sparked three huge fires in 2007.

See also:

California Today: Remembering the Victims of the Ghost Ship Fire

New York Times

On a brisk morning nearly one year ago, grim-faced firefighters emerged from the smoldering remains of an Oakland warehouse called the Ghost Ship. In the days that followed, they would recover the remains of 36 men and women, most of whom had been attending a party. The Dec. 2 blaze was America’s worst structural fire in more than a decade and was shocking for many reasons, not least the distressing realization that most of the victims were young and full of plans for the future.

ECONOMY / JOBS

Economy:

Trump’s First Major Trade Fight With China Could Be Over Solar Panels

The New York Times

With President Trump vowing to get tougher on trade, troubled American makers of everything from steel tubing and aluminum foil to washing machines have lined up to ask Washington for protection from foreign rivals.

Jobs:

EDUCATION

K-12:

With low pay, finding qualified early childhood teachers remains a challenge in some areas

Marketplace

Selma Sanchez spent the summer in a hiring frenzy. She’s the program director of the Child Development Consortium of Los Angeles, and at one of the preschool sites, almost all of the jobs needed to be filled. “In July we lost our director,” Sanchez said. “June and July – we lost three teachers.” Most of the staff went to work at a Head Start center that’s opened nearby. That federally-funded preschool program pays slightly better than the $20 per hour she can offer at her state-subsidized program.

Discipline Disparities and Discrimination in Schools

RAND

In the United States, black and poor students are suspended at much higher rates than their white and non-poor peers. This point is essentially undisputed, due in large part to data that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has compiled and made public through the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). While the existence of these disparities is not controversial, how to interpret the disparities is bitterly disputed. Just last week, for example, National Review ran anop-ed on discipline disparities with the subtitle, “Are America’s teachers a bunch of racists? Democrats seem to think so.”

Higher Ed:

California Needs More College Prep Courses

Public Policy Institute of California

Most California high school graduates are not ready for college. Despite the steady improvements over the past decade, less than half of graduating seniors in the class of 2016 completed the a–g requirements, the set of courses high school students must complete to be eligible for admission to the University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU). The completion rate is substantially lower among Latino (37%), African American (34%), economically disadvantaged (37%), and English Learner (10%) students.

It’s Her Time

Oakland Magazine

New UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ is facing some major challenges. And the university’s first female chancellor might just be the perfect person for the job.

Apprenticeships:

Skills: ILO Toolkit for Quality Apprenticeships

Vol. 1: Guide for Policy Makers

The toolkit provides state of the art information and guidance for the design and implementation of quality apprenticeship schemes across different contexts.

ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY

Moody’s Warns Cities to Address Climate Risks or Face Downgrades

Bloomberg

Coastal communities from Maine to California have been put on notice from one of the top credit rating agencies: Start preparing for climate change or risk losing access to cheap credit. In a report to its clients Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service Inc. explained how it incorporates climate change into its credit ratings for state and local bonds. If cities and states don’t deal with risks from surging seas or intense storms, they are at greater risk of default.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Kaweah Delta to break ground for ER expansion

Visalia Times-Delta

Kaweah Delta Medical Center’s has a solution to its overcrowding and long emergency department wait times: More space, comfort, medical staff and more timely and efficient care.

Interactive: Reducing Child Poverty in California

Public Policy Institute of California

This interactive tool allows you to explore how changes to housing costs, minimum wage, and the social safety net could affect child poverty statewide and in your county. We find lower housing costs and minimum wage increases could lower child poverty substantially—while helping Californians across the income spectrum. And though investments in California’s safety net would need to draw from the state budget, these approaches could also reduce child poverty considerably—while concentrating resources on vulnerable populations. See the PPIC reportReducing Child Poverty in California: A Look at Housing Costs, Wages, and the Safety Net for more information.

There’s a Cure for Hepatitis C. Why Are So Many People Still Dying from It?

KQED News

Between 2.7 million and 3.9 million Americans have hepatitis C, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The virus can remain dormant for years, and by the time symptoms arise, the organs may already be damaged. Except for flu, hepatitis C takes more lives than all other CDC-tracked infectious diseases combined — and that includes HIV, tuberculosis and other more prominent diseases. In 2015, 19,629 Americans died from hepatitis C, mostly from liver disease caused by the virus.

Whistleblower says Medicaid managed-care firm improperly denied care to thousands of Californians

Los Angeles Times

In early October, an executive at one of the nation’s largest physician-practice management firms handed her bosses the equivalent of a live grenade — a 20-page report that blew up the company and shook the world of managed care for poor patients across California.

Will GOP finally take down Obamacare with a tax bill?

POLITICO

After spending nearly a year on a failed effort to repeal Obamacare, Republicans on Capitol Hill are on the verge of repealing the law’s individual mandate as a footnote to their rewrite of the American tax system. At least two of the three Senate Republicans who blocked the repeal effort over the summer have no problem undoing the requirement that nearly all Americans carry insurance — a provision Democrats say is vital to keeping the Affordable Care Act afloat.

IMMIGRATION

Democrats want immigration fix in spending bill

Washington Times

Bumping up against another shutdown deadline, Congress will have to pass a short-term spending bill next week and push big decisions into next year, lawmakers said Thursday — though Democrats said they may still force a shutdown fight over new rights for illegal immigrants. A number of rank-and-file Democrats have said they will not approve any spending bill that doesn’t grant a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrant Dreamers, and have imposed an end-of-year deadline for approving such a bill.

Sanctuary cities: Studies don’t show increase in crime

PolitiFact

Mayors across America are doubling down on their cities’ decisions to serve as a “sanctuary” for immigrants living in the country illegally, despite President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to cut federal funding.

LAND USE/HOUSING 

The Great American Single-Family Home Problem

New York Times

Whatever the specifics, what is happening in Berkeley may be coming soon to a neighborhood near you. Around the country, many fast-growing metropolitan areas are facing a brutal shortage of affordable places to live, leading to gentrification, homelessness, even disease. As cities struggle to keep up with demand, they have remade their skylines with condominium and apartment towers — but single-family neighborhoods, where low-density living is treated as sacrosanct, have rarely been part of the equation.

PUBLIC FINANCES

Lawmakers Push for Transparency on Feasibility of Delta Tunnels

The California Report | KQED

State lawmakers opposed to Gov. Jerry Brown’s Delta tunnel plan are stepping up calls for greater transparency into the project’s finances, as the proposed water delivery system suffered a series of setbacks this fall. At a Thursday town hall in the Delta town of Walnut Grove, lawmakers representing the region called on the Brown administration to drop the tunnels plan in the absence of greater cost certainty.

These maps show why some California Republicans are nervous about changes to the tax code

Los Angeles Times

California taxpayers would be hit disproportionately hard under the Republican tax plan because of changes to two popular tax breaks. That’s one reason GOP lawmakers in the state’s House delegation were under so much scrutiny when most of them voted to pass the House version in November. Several members said they agreed to move the bill forward with the promise of a fix later.

Moody’s Warns Cities to Address Climate Risks or Face Downgrades

Bloomberg

Coastal communities from Maine to California have been put on notice from one of the top credit rating agencies: Start preparing for climate change or risk losing access to cheap credit. In a report to its clients Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service Inc. explained how it incorporates climate change into its credit ratings for state and local bonds. If cities and states don’t deal with risks from surging seas or intense storms, they are at greater risk of default.

TRANSPORTATION

High-speed rail: construction progress report

California High-Speed Rail Authority

2017 was a year of progress made on the California High-Speed Rail program. The video above shows where our 17 active construction sites stand right now and just how far we’ve come in the last year. The video to the right shows how high-speed rail is already changing lives for the people working on it. These workers come from various backgrounds and have different levels of experience but share the common goal of creat­ing the nation’s first high-speed rail line.

General Motors says self-driving taxi fleets coming in 2019

San Francisco Chronicle

Big fleets of robot taxis — with no backup drivers — from General Motors could hit the streets of San Francisco and other cities in less than two years, the company said Thursday. The cars initially will be able to offer rides at a cost of about $1.50 a mile, quickly getting to $1 a mile, whereas current ride-hailing services cost about $2 or $3 a mile, GM said.

WATER

Delta tunnels: Cost study coming, state says

Stockton Record

A long-awaited study on the costs and benefits of Gov. Jerry Brown’s Delta tunnels should be finished by next spring, a state official said Thursday after an independent audit concluded such a study should have already been done. The tunnels have been in the planning stage for 11 years, but state officials have never completed a comprehensive analysis of whether the project pencils out financially. Such a study could answer basic questions like whether the tunnels will benefit the state as a whole and whether they should be built at all.

See also:

“Xtra”

Around the Valley

Fresno Bee

Cookie contest, fundraisers.

Grab the family – Christmas Tree Lane about to open

Fresno Bee

Christmas Tree Lane, one of Fresno’s classic holiday events, opens on Saturday with a walk-only night.

Tioga and Glacier Point Roads Closed for the Season in Yosemite National Park

Sierra Star

The Tioga and Glacier Point Roads in Yosemite National Park are closed for the season, due to hazardous driving conditions.

31 Christmas and holiday things to do in Southern California …

OCRegister

Dust off your jingle bells and get ready for the parades, light displays and holiday happenings that only appear this time of the year. We picked some of the biggest and best attractions and events in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties worth checking out whether you have out-of-towners coming to visit or need an idea to get the kids out of the house. Our list is organized by county and then by date, starting with attractions that are already open for the season.

10 California festivals worth a road trip

San Jose Mercury News

In California, where there are nine festivals devoted to lavender alone, you’re never far from something that needs celebrating. But sometimes an event or theme or setting is so attractive, you might want to make a weekend or even a week of it. Here are 10 in 2018 worth a look.

Pruning demonstrations to yield results for gardeners

bakersfield.com

As much of the garden lies dormant in fall and winter, deciduous fruit trees demand more care. The University of California Cooperative Extension’s local office invites the public to its annual fruit tree pruning demonstrations on Dec. 12 and 13.

Christmas tree shortage– is the Grinch trying to steal Christmas?

Visalia Times Delta

If you plan on singing, “Oh Christmas, tree Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches” this year, you should probably hit the Christmas tree lots sooner rather than later.

Worth Noting: Adventist Health gives $3,000 to nonprofits

bakersfield.com

Adventist Health Bakersfield decided to start the holiday gift-giving a little early.