February 19, 2018

19Feb


POLICY & POLITICS

Deadline extended: March 16, 2019

Wonderful Public Service Graduate Fellowship

The Maddy Institute

Applications for two $56,000 Fellowships

North SJ Valley:

Federal commission accepts MID, TID plan for river flows. Will state water board agree?

Modesto Bee

A federal environmental analysis recommends relicensing the Don Pedro hydroelectric project and accepts a Modesto and Turlock irrigation district plan for well-timed flows to boost salmon in the Tuolumne River.

These Merced County schools are among the lowest performing in the state. What’s being done?

Merced Sun-Star

Six schools in Merced County have been identified as part of the state’s bottom 5 percent of schools when it comes to low student performance or graduation rates, according to the state educators.

See also:

Central SJ Valley:

Swearengin: Inland California: the backbone of our state

Sacramento Bee

California is home to nearly 40 million people. The world may know us best for Hollywood, Silicon Valley and the Golden Gate Bridge, but equally important is the backbone of our state, Inland California.

Supporters of Trump’s border wall gather in Fresno, are ‘ready for the backlash’

Fresno Bee

The Central Valley Tea Party held a rally in north Fresno, California, on Saturday to show support for President Donald Trump after his national emergency declaration to build a border wall between US, Mexico.

See also:

Linn drops his lawsuit against the county

Madera Tribune

Former Madera County District Attorney David Linn, voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against the county and all individually named defendants, including the members of the Board of Supervisors, on Jan. 29

See also:

USCIS Presented 150 Young People With Citizenship Proof at Clovis Veterans Memorial District

The Maddy Institute

On Friday, February 15th, Maddy Institute’s Citizenship Academy, in conjunction with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, hosted a Special Ceremony at Clovis Veterans Memorial District.  Keynote speaker for this event was Clovis City Councilmember Vong Mouanoutoua.

See also:

EDITORIAL: Nasreen Johnson is the best choice for north Fresno on county Board of Supervisors

Fresno Bee

In choosing their next county supervisor, the voters of Fresno County’s District 2 have the chance to pick someone who has a practical vision for dealing with homeless people, backs law enforcement and wants to expand services to the ever-growing population of seniors. That person is Nasreen Johnson.

South SJ Valley:

City plans to use Measure N funds on retirement system for cost savings

Bakersfield Californian

The city of Bakersfield plans to use $12 million in revenue from its recent sales tax increase to help pay for its ailing pension system, a move long expected but objected to by some local residents.

When presidents visited Kern County, what do you remember?

Bakersfield Californian

Every sitting president in the past 30 years has made a stop in Kern County — sometimes to campaign, other times to use the occasion to take some sort of official action.

See also:

EDITORIAL: City Council created this mess; now fix it

Bakersfield Californian

When Bakersfield officials urged city residents to vote last November for a 1 percent increase in the city’s sales tax rate to help pay for essential municipal services, they promised to provide public oversight to ensure the approximately $50 million raised each year would be properly and equitably spent.

State:

Gavin Newsom Calls For ‘Master Plan On Aging’ In California

Capital Public Radio

Advocates for seniors say the state doesn’t need new programs, but instead must make existing ones work together more effectively.

Walters: Newsom’s activist agenda fits historic trend

CALmatters

There has been, by happenstance, a cyclical pattern in the mindsets of California governors in the post-World War II era and Gavin Newsom fits it to a tee.

Federal:

Trump proclaims ‘twilight’ of socialism in the Americas during Miami speech on Venezuela

Fresno Bee

During a speech at Florida International University Monday, President Donald Trump cast looming regime change in Venezuela as the end of leftism in The Americas, and warned that military leaders who don’t abandon Nicolás Maduro will “lose everything.”

See also:

California joins 15 other states to sue Trump over emergency wall declaration

Fresno Bee

California and 15 other states file lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

See also:

Sen. Bernie Sanders says he’s running for president in 2020

Sacramento Bee

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose insurgent 2016 presidential campaign reshaped Democratic politics, announced Tuesday that he is running for president in 2020.

See also:

Deputy AG Rosenstein expected to depart in March

Fresno Bee

A Justice Department official says Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to leave his position in the middle of next month.

See also:

Belles of the ball: Dem freshmen courted by 2020 hopefuls

Modesto Bee

Democrats hoping to unseat President Donald Trump in 2020 are courting the party’s famous freshmen.

See also:

Gov. Gavin Newsom endorses Kamala Harris for president

Sacramento Bee

The Democrat said in an MSNBC interview Friday: “I think the American people could not do better” than Harris. He added later in a tweet: “Kamala Harris is a fearless fighter. A voice for the voiceless and vulnerable.”

See also:

See gifts given to California state leaders, aides

Sacramento Bee

Corporations and interest groups have given California leaders and their aides tens of thousands of gifts worth more than $7 million since 2000, including more than $400,000 in gifts given during 2018, according to a Bee review of state data.

Graham vows to investigate ‘administrative coup’ against Trump

Los Angeles Times

The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Sunday he intended to investigate whether top officials of the FBI and the Justice Department discussed “an administrative coup” to oust President Trump in 2017.

Ginsburg expected to return to Supreme Court bench Tuesday

Los Angeles Times

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is expected to sit for a U.S. Supreme Court argument Tuesday for the first time since she underwent surgery in December to remove cancerous masses from one of her lungs.

Mulvaney told Trump officials their ‘highest priority’ will be deregulation

The Hill

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney recently told top Trump administration officials during a meeting that their “highest priority” would be deregulation in the coming year, Axios reported Sunday.

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Top Trump appointees promoted selling nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia over objections from national security officials, House Democratic report says

Washington Post

Several current and former Trump administration appointees promoted sales of nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia despite repeated objections from members of the National Security Council and other senior White House officials.

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Other:

Brookings survey finds 51% prefer digital access to government services over phone calls or personal visits to agency offices

Brookings

Fifty-one percent of Americans prefer to access public services through digital technologies or mobile apps, according to a national survey undertaken by researchers at the Brookings Institution.

Challenges Ahead for AI Regulation

State Net Capitol Journal

Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize the way we live and work, as well as drive economic growth for at least the next decade. At the same time, it threatens to disrupt the job market, increase inequality, diminish privacy, and, as some see it, end human beings’ existence.

See also:

Opinion: The American Dream Is Alive and Well

New York Times

But Americans, it turns out, have something else in mind when they talk about the American dream. And they believe that they are living it.

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

Sunday, February 24, at 10 a.m. on ABC 30 – Maddy Report: preempted

Sunday, February 24, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report – Valley Views Edition: Valley Views Edition: “Information Illiteracy, Fake news and Real (California) Facts”  – Guests: Senator Bill Dodd (D); Renée Ousley-Swank, President Elect – CA School Library Association; John Myers, Sacramento Bureau Chief – LA Times; Dan Walters, Reporter of the Sacramento Bee; and Mac Taylor – California Legislative Analyst, LAO. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, February 24, at 7:30 a.m. on UniMas 61 (KTTF) – El Informe Maddy: “‘Follow the Money!’ A Primer on the Calif Budget Process” – Guest: Edgar Cabral, Analista Oficina de Analisis Legislativo. Host: Maddy Institute Program Coordinator, Maria Jeans.

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Thank you!

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AGRICULTURE/FOOD

We can breed honeybees to be cleaner — and it may help save the species, study says

Fresno Bee

Honeybees have a gene that promotes cleanliness — like removing dead or sick bees from a colony — and breeding for that could be the key to preventing colony collapse disorder, a study from Genome Biology and Evolution says.

See also:

Lodi bans Roundup from city playgrounds amid safety concerns

Stockton Record

Lodi city playgrounds are no longer being sprayed with a common weed killer because of the continued concern about its safety.

World Ag Expo comes to a close

Porterville Recorder

With more than 1,500 exhibits, scheduled shows throughout the day, and plenty of places to stop and eat, there was no shortage of exciting things to do for the thousands of visitors who came through the entrance.

California’s black market for pot is stifling legal sales. Now the governor wants to step up enforcement

Los Angeles Times

Before he was elected governor, Gavin Newsom was instrumental in legalizing marijuana for recreational use in California. Now, as he settles into office, he faces the challenge of fixing a system that has been slow to bloom.

Warren: U.S. rubber-stamped deal; Bayer-Monsanto now controls 25% market share

PolitiFact

“By rubber-stamping the Bayer-Monsanto merger, the Justice Department is handing control over one quarter of the world’s seeds and pesticides market to one ginormous agribusiness,” the Massachusetts senator posted on Facebook Feb. 4.

Farmworker vs Robot

Washington Post

Designing a robot with a gentle touch is among the biggest technical obstacles to automating the American farm. Reasonably priced fruits and vegetables are at risk without it, growers say, because of a dwindling pool of workers.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime:

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Public Safety:

Fresno Police mourn death of beloved K9 Flurk

abc30

Flurk, a Belgian Malinois, served the department for five years as an award-winning narcotic detection dog together with his human partner, Officer Jim Young.

Should California Buy Disaster Insurance?

Capital Public Radio

Napa Democratic Sen. Bill Dodd, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and Treasurer Fiona Ma say it’s time to look at purchasing disaster insurance for the state.

California struggles to seize guns from people who shouldn’t have them

San Francisco Chronicle

California has struggled to enforce a unique state law that allows officials to seize guns from people with criminal convictions or mental health problems.

Walters: Felony murder law repealed? Maybe not

CALmatters

The rationale for repealing felony murder, offered by the bill’s author, Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Berkeley Democrat, and criminal justice reform groups is that it unfairly penalized criminal accomplices, many of them women, who didn’t intend that anyone die.

EDITORIAL: It’s time for Xavier Becerra to show some courage on police misconduct disclosure

Los Angeles Times

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra is setting a bad example for this state’s guardians of public safety.

Fire:

Paradise hospital workers get last paychecks after Camp Fire wiped out over 1,200 jobs

Sacramento Bee

Adventist Health issued the final paychecks earlier this month to health workers whose positions were eliminated indefinitely after the Camp Fire severely damaged Paradise’s Feather River Hospital.

What Could Be Worse Than The Next Big Fire? The Next Big Fire Caused By PG&E

Capital Public Radio

Customers will likely pay more and victims will get less should PG&E be liable for another major wildfire while the company is in bankruptcy.

See also:

Tiny Homes For Homeless Get The Go-Ahead In The Wake of California’s Worst Wildfire

Capital Public Radio

California’s deadliest wildfire worsened an already bad housing crisis in rural Butte County. But the fire has jump-started a local effort to build a tiny home community for area homeless.

ECONOMY / JOBS

Economy:

West Shaw store of Payless begins liquidation sale, all shoes are 20 percent off

abc30

The Payless store on West Shaw Avenue in Fresno has already begun its going-out-of-business sale, as the retailer prepares to file for bankruptcy later this month.

See also:

First SEED funds sent to participants

Stockton Record

After a year and a half of anticipation and scrutiny, the country’s first city-led guaranteed income pilot doled out its first round of monthly stipends last week. Some 100 residents throughout Stockton received a debit card containing $500 in funds from the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration.

See also:

Republicans Need to Save Capitalism

Wall Street Journal

Democrats have gone left, so they’re not going to do it. The GOP needs a renewed seriousness.

As dollar stores move into cities, residents see a steep downside

Washington Post

Tulsa is one of several cities grappling with uncomfortable questions from the rise of dollar stores in urban America. These stores have gained attention as success stories in the country’s most economically distressed places — largely rural counties with few retail options.

Jobs:

Women surfers inspire lawmakers to take on equal pay issue

Sacramento Bee

Inspired by big-wave women surfers securing the same prize money as men, California lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require equal purses for all athletes competing on state property used for recreation.

See also:

This new California law is supposed to protect immigrant home cooks. It may help tech giants instead

Los Angeles Times

California Assembly Bill 626 decriminalizes the sale of home-cooked food. The law, which took effect Jan. 1, allows home cooks to earn up to $50,000 in annual revenue and sell up to 60 “meals” a week after obtaining a permit, paying a fee and agreeing to inspections.

With fitness trackers in the workplace, bosses can monitor your every step — and possibly more

Washington Post

Devices worn on employees’ bodies are an increasingly valuable source of workforce health intelligence for employers and insurance companies. It’s fueling a boom in the use of wrist-borne health and fitness monitors such as those made by Fitbit, Garmin and Apple.

EDITORIAL: An Arizona Occupational Welcome

Wall Street Journal

Republicans are now giving overtaxed Californians and New Yorkers another reason to move to the state by making it easier to work and start businesses.

EDUCATION

K-12:

Valley Life parents say administrators knew boy was violent

Visalia Times-Delta

A Valley Life Charter School student was arrested twice in one day after threatening to harm students, according to police. In the weeks since the arrest, parents have voiced their frustrations with what they say is a lack of information to ensure student safety.  

These Merced County schools are among the lowest performing in the state. What’s being done?

Merced Sun-Star

Six schools in Merced County have been identified as part of the state’s bottom 5 percent of schools when it comes to low student performance or graduation rates, according to the state educators.

How to understand your child’s CAASPP individual student score report

Merced Sun-Star

This video from the California Department of Education shows how to understand your student’s California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress test results for the year 2017-18.

California students may not be ready for new science test

EdSource

Next month California students will start to be tested on the state’s new science standards for the first time, but with little instruction in the subject in elementary school and few aligned textbooks they aren’t likely to be ready.

How Educators and Employers Can Align Efforts to Fill Middle-Skills STEM Jobs

RAND

As the demand for workers with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills grows ever higher, employers face stiff competition for qualified employees—and with retirements, the pool of employees grows ever smaller.

Higher Ed:

Deadline extended: March 16, 2019-   Wonderful Public Service Graduate Fellowship

The Maddy Institute

Applications for two $56,000 Fellowships Due Friday, March 15th, 2019. Through the generosity of The Wonderful Company, San Joaquin Valley students will have the opportunity to become the next generation of Valley leaders through The Wonderful Public Service Graduate Fellowship. The Maddy Institute will award two $56,000 Fellowships to Valley students who are accepted into a nationally ranked, qualified graduate program in the fall of 2019.

Dreaming of building a Tulare County university

Visalia Times Delta

A newly formed nonprofit group wants to bring a four-year university to Tulare County by 2030, but two existing public higher education institutions serving local college students seem cool to the idea.

Bakersfield College, CSUB partnering to share resources for BC Southwest

Bakersfield Californian

The transition from community college to university is expected to be more seamless than ever for some local students now that Bakersfield College and Cal State Bakersfield have agreed to share more of their resources.

Bakersfield College looking to hire first armed officer

Bakersfield Californian

The college’s Public Safety department is looking to contract with the Bakersfield Police Department for a $150,000 one-year pilot agreement for an armed officer. If the contract is approved, the officer could be in place this summer or fall at the latest.

Does Sacramento State have a hazing problem in its Greek life? The school says no

Sacramento Bee

News of a Sacramento State fraternity allegedly hazing its prospective members and abusing active members spread across the country last week.

Ruling affirming rights of students accused of sexual misconduct roils California colleges

Sacramento Bee

Colleges and universities across California are scrambling to revise the way they handle sexual misconduct cases after a state appellate court ruled that “fundamental fairness” requires that accused students have a right to a hearing and to cross-examine their accusers.

Even at Top Colleges, Graduation Gaps Persist for Poor Students

Wall Street Journal

Elite colleges nationwide have increased the number of low-income students they enroll in recent years, but getting those students to graduate has been more challenging.

Kaiser Permanente’s New Medical School Will Waive Tuition for Its First 5 Classes

New York Times

By eliminating the financial burden of a medical education, the school hopes that more students will chose family medicine and other vital but lower-paid specialties.

Federal Watchdog Issues Scathing Report On Ed Department’s Handling Of Student Loans

NPR

A critical new report from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General finds the department’s student loan unit failed to adequately supervise the companies it pays to manage the nation’s trillion-dollar portfolio of federal student loans.

Apprenticeships:

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ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY

Environment:

Another tornado confirmed to have touched down near Coarsegold

abc30

An EF0 tornado has been confirmed to have touched down near Coarsegold Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Hanford.

Abundant rain could make this a big year for wildflowers — but a ‘super bloom’? Possibly

Bakersfield Californian

There’s a certain irony that pops up when people start talking about hopes for a wildflower “super bloom” come springtime. It’s just this: A very wet year isn’t enough, by itself, to make it happen.

Oilfield wastewater disposal operation near Bakersfield closes under pressure from regulators, environmentalists

Bakersfield Californian

A controversial oilfield wastewater disposal operation east of Bakersfield has been shut down amid a years-long regulatory crackdown and opposition by environmental activist organizations.

How fast can California switch from diesel-burning freight trucks to electric big rigs?

San Diego Union-Tribune

In a warehouse in Escondido on a February afternoon, mechanics installed electric motors, drivetrains and batteries in a row of white Peterbuilt freight trucks. They’re known as “yard goats,” said Joshua Goldman, vice president of sales and marketing for TransPower, one of a handful of companies in California developing electric powertrains for heavy-duty vehicles.

$1,973 LEDs and the Green New Deal

Wall Street Journal

The Green New Deal that Democrats unveiled last week has a grand ambition to eliminate fossil fuels in 10 years, retrofit every building in America, and guarantee high-paying jobs in the bargain.

See also:

Energy:

California’s ‘smart’ energy future glows on the horizon. How do we get there?

Sacramento Bee

California faces a future where the state has shed fossil fuels and relies on electricity. The advanced electric system will involve appliances with the prefix “smart.”

A loan program was set up to boost energy efficiency. Instead, it’s being used to build ‘granny flats’

Los Angeles Times

Homeowners contacted by The Times say those companies used PACE, or Property Assessed Clean Energy, loans to fund questionable projects that included ineligible work on “granny flat” accessory units and encouraged them to provide false information on loan documents or in phone calls with lenders.

Crank Up the A/C, Crank Up the Cost: States Consider ‘Surge Pricing’ for Power

PEW Charitable Trusts

Starting in March, the state’s utility regulator will require major utilities to increase prices during the hours when electricity is in high demand and lower prices the rest of the time — a change that’s expected to affect some 6 million households.

Protecting clean car standards is a moral, health and economic imperative

CALmatters

In California, transportation is the number one source of health-harming smog and climate change emissions. Eight of the top 10 U.S. cities with the worst ozone are located in California. Low-income people are disproportionately impacted by this pollution.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Health:

Flu widespread, but cases cut in half in Visalia

Visalia Times Delta

With flu season still in full swing, as many as 17.8 million people — including 2 million more within the last week — have fallen sick with influenza since October in what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls a “low-severity” season, officials said.

See also:

The epidemic of throat cancer sweeping the industrialized world

Mercury News

Over the past three decades, a dramatic increase in a new form of throat cancer has been observed throughout the industrialized world. The good news is that it’s potentially preventable — if parents get their children vaccinated.

E-cigarette regulation: Teens and trade-offs

AEI

New evidence has pointed to a significant and unwanted rise in teenage vaping. Policymakers must decide how to best structure balanced policy that curtails youth access while ensuring adult choice.

Human Services:

Last of Valley Children’s founders, Carolyn Peck, dies. Described as hospital’s ‘compass’

Fresno Bee

Carolyn Peck, the last of the founders of Valley Children’s Hospital, has died, the hospital announced Monday on social media.

See also:

Camarena Health opens new center for kids in Madera

abc30

Camarena Health officially opened its first health center for kids in Madera on Friday. Health officials, along with Madera city and county officials, were at the ribbon-cutting. It’s the first standalone pediatric health center for Camarena Health.

The unanswered questions of Medicare for All

AEI

Foremost among these is whether the public would support shifting more than $32 trillion in M4A’s first 10 years from private health spending, over which consumers retain some discretion, to federal health spending, over which consumers do not.

IMMIGRATION

Fresno establishes ‘long overdue’ immigration committee — but it has no funding

Fresno Bee

Fresno immigrant advocates believe a “long overdue” new advisory committee will make a dent on issues affecting the local immigrant community — despite having no funding attached.

Fractures, trauma, amputations: What medics see when they rescue migrants at the border

Los Angeles Times

Emergency responders are the first on the scene in any life-threatening situation: car accidents, drug overdoses, heart attacks, shootings. In the southern United States, the list of routine trauma scenarios includes border-related injuries.

Trump’s wall will not prevent America’s diversity boom

Brookings

We are a country that is in the midst of what I have termed a “Diversity Explosion” that is occurring just in time to counter an aging mostly white population—a boom that will keep the nation invigorated and connected with an increasingly global economy.

LAND USE/HOUSING

Land Use:

New shopping center planned across the street from The Park at River Walk

Bakersfield Californian

A new shopping center is planned for the corner of Stockdale Highway and Buena Vista Road. The 10-acre project would bring restaurants, retail outlets, a gas station and a bank to the empty lot that sits across the street from The Park at River Walk.

Countering the geographical impacts of automation: Computers, AI, and place disparities

Brookings

AI and its positive and negative impacts will not be distributed evenly, and will likely contribute to the nation’s troubling geographical divides.

Housing:

Those who sleep in parks, on streets will be cleaning them up

Modesto Bee

Soon people who sleep in parks, on sidewalks and along rivers will be cleaning them up as Bay Area-based nonprofit that provides volunteer work for the homeless comes to Modesto.

Gavin Newsom’s housing lawsuit put 47 California cities on notice. Is yours on the list?

Sacramento Bee

The roster of out-of-compliance cities includes fairly wealthy ones on the coast. It also has dozens of communities in the Central Valley, Sierra Nevada, Mojave Desert and eastern Los Angeles County that generally are known as affordable places to live in California.

Home sales have dropped sharply in Sacramento. See how that’s affecting prices in your neighborhood

Sacramento Bee

Sacramento County total home sales fell 22.5 percent year-over-year in December, the lowest for the month since 2007.

Stretching the boundaries of the Bay Area

Mercury News

As thousands in search of cheaper housing descend on far-flung cities such as Stockton, Lathrop, Tracy and Merced to the east, they’re changing the northern part of the vast Central Valley from a region with a distinct identity to a vast suburb of the Bay Area.

PUBLIC FINANCES

Average tax refunds fall for second straight week, creating political flashpoint

abc30

The average refund in the second week of the filing season was $1,949, down 8.7 percent from $2,135 a year earlier.

See also:

Government shutdown highlights the need for financial literacy

Sacramento Bee

The partial federal government shutdown showed us more than President Donald Trump’s willingness to deprive citizens of services, damage national treasures and place ordinary families under financial stress over a border wall that isn’t a cost-effective way to stem illegal immigration.

California’s Supreme Court Has Thrown Cities—And Citizens—Into Chaos Over Local Taxes

Capital Public Radio

San Francisco, Oakland, and Fresno are getting sued—all because the California Supreme Court has yet to answer a simple question: How many votes does it take for a new tax to become law?

Worry About Debt? Not So Fast, Some Economists Say

Wall Street Journal

As the national debt swells, some economists are making a once-heretical argument: The U.S. needn’t be so worried about all of its red ink.

New White House, Congressional Spending Fights on the Horizon

Wall Street Journal

Lawmakers must once again raise the federal borrowing limit by late summer or early fall, and reach a new budget deal by the end of September.

See also:

Bill Gates Says Taxing Capital Gains Is the Best Way to Tap ‘Big Fortunes’

Bloomberg

Bill Gates is concerned about the high budget deficits being run by the U.S., and said if taxes are ultimately increased to make up the shortfall, then it’s appropriate for wealthy people to pay much higher taxes.

TRANSPORTATION

Tired of Fresno’s coin-fed parking meters? Upgrades are on the way

Fresno Bee

The City Council of Fresno, California, has taken steps to upgrade its coin-operated parking meters in downtown with smart technology and a study is being considered to see if a parking authority should be formed.

See also:

No, Gov. Gavin Newsom didn’t kill high-speed rail. But what’s his Plan B?

Fresno Bee

It’s been a dream for years in California’s sprawling Central Valley. Last week, with the words “let’s get real,” Gov. Gavin Newsom canceled that dream for now – and perhaps forever.

See also:

New bill could eliminate speed limit on I-5, Hwy 99

abc30

A new bill proposed by a Southern California senator could eliminate the speed limit on lanes of Interstate-5 and Highway 99.

More snowfall wreaks havoc on roadways during holiday weekend

abc30

It’s one of the busiest weekends during snow season. CHP responded to more than a dozen car accidents Sunday, but those are just the ones that were reported.

Gas tax hiring spree continues at Caltrans. It has hundreds of new openings

Sacramento Bee

Caltrans will consider hiring nearly anyone for 333 maintenance jobs it is trying to fill. The department is on a spree to hire enough workers to improve road upkeep as called for in a 2017 gas tax bill that in November survived an initiative that would have repealed it.

WATER

This week: More rain. More snow. More freezing temperatures. Here’s what you need to know

Fresno Bee

The central San Joaquin Valley will get a brief respite from the wet weather before freezing conditions give way to more rain on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Hanford.

See also:

Federal commission accepts MID, TID plan for river flows. Will state water board agree?

Modesto Bee

A federal environmental analysis recommends relicensing the Don Pedro hydroelectric project and accepts a Modesto and Turlock irrigation district plan for well-timed flows to boost salmon in the Tuolumne River.

Newsom can confront climate change by restoring rivers, habitat

CALmatters

Close to the geographic heart of California, a California Conservation Corps crew experienced climate change ground zero last July.

Brown was obsessed with twin-tunnel vision. Newsom has a more realistic view

Los Angeles Times

A potential grand compromise to settle a decades-long water fight has been obvious for years but blown off. Now Gov. Gavin Newsom is forcing all combatants to consider it seriously. California’s water future hinges on the ultimate deal.

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“Xtra”

Youth Art Month to begin with drawing exhibit

Madera Tribune

The Madera County Arts Council will kick off Youth Art Month Saturday, March 2.. The event will begin at 9 a.m. and run to noon, followed by an awards ceremony and a reception that will conclude at 3 p.m. The theme is, “What Does Music Look Like to You?”

Take your shot at a nature photo contest featuring the Valley and Sierra

Modesto Bee

Photographers have until March 31 to enter a contest featuring wildlife and landscapes in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada. The Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, based in Twain Harte, is once again sponsoring the annual photo contest.

Downtown Stockton Alliance introduces historical tour of city

Stockton Record

Capt. Charles M. Weber would have celebrated his birthday Sunday, if only he’d lived to be 205 years old. Sadly, he’s been gone since 1881, but even so, the Downtown Stockton Alliance gave him a very special birthday gift this weekend.

Obama shares reading list for Black History Month (on Presidents’ Day)

San Francisco Chronicle

It’s Presidents’ Day, and former President Barack Obama used the holiday to do something he love as president: share a reading list.

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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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