Jeff Denham beat back a recall. Can he survive a blue wave, too?
Sacramento Bee
Eight primary challengers think this is the year to make a run at U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, and they’re drawing widespread enthusiasm from San Joaquin Valley Democrats for their campaigns.
Los Angeles Times
Central Valley Rep. Jeff Denham is being more open about his desire to lead the powerful House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Paul Ryan backed Nunes in spat with Justice Department over Russia documents, sources say
CNN
House Speaker Paul Ryan backed his fellow congressional Republican, House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, during a meeting over the Russia investigation Wednesday, capping off a months-long dispute between the committee and the Justice Department, multiple sources with the knowledge of the situation told CNN.
Sessions’ weed decision puts spotlight on U.S. Attorney for eastern California
Sacramento Bee
Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to let federal prosecutors choose whether to more aggressively enforce marijuana laws means the new U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California will have authority similar to what he held during a previous term in the office.
Kern County voters may get to overturn, or confirm, marijuana ban
The Bakersfield Californian
The battle over marijuana in Kern County is far from over. Now the fight goes to Kern County voters, who could be asked to overturn the ban on commercial cannabis instituted by county supervisors in 2017.
Pot ban: County’s vote to reject commercial marijuana ‘just the beginning’
Bakersfield Californian
Kern County banned commercial cannabis Tuesday. Four of the five county supervisors said they did not want to be party to the permitting and regulation of an industry that wields such a destructive impact on the communities they represent.
The Bakersfield Californian
Now that 2018 is here and cannabis is officially legal in California, the City of Arvin is going full-steam ahead with its plan to license indoor commercial cannabis cultivation. But trouble could be on the horizon.
Turlock mayor and city attorney bullied city manager into early retirement, he says
Modesto Bee
In a stunning formal claim against City Hall, former City Manager Gary Hampton accused Mayor Gary Soiseth, Councilman Matthew Jacob and City Attorney Phaedra Norton of “unethical activities” regarding the selection of Hampton’s successor, including an alleged high-level “cover up” when Hampton refused to join their supposed conspiracy.
Two women dead from flu virus infections in Tulare County
Fresno Bee
The deadly influenza viruses sweeping across California have claimed their first two victims of this flu season in the central San Joaquin Valley.
Camarena Health will open Coarsegold office Feb. 1
Sierra Star
The residents of Coarsegold got some good news Friday with Camarena Health announcing they will open an office in town Feb. 1.
Student died from apparent overdose after visiting Fresno State fraternity
Abc30
An investigation is underway at a Fresno State fraternity after police said a student died after visiting Delta Sigma Phi. He has been identified as 19-year-old Omar Nemeth of Fresno. Police said by the time they received the medical call for help the young man had already been taken to St. Agnes Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Bad air in Kern causing discomfort
KBAK
Wednesday marked the 11th consecutive day Kern County saw air in the unhealthy range. The air has been bad since before Christmas, and residents have been suffering.
State Politics:
Burning questions California’s gubernatorial, Senate candidates must answer
San Francisco Chronicle
We spoke to campaign operatives, nonpartisan analysts and pollsters to get a consensus on what burning question each candidate faced. We granted them anonymity, so they could say what’s really on their mind instead of recycling their usual tired talking points
Republican candidates for California governor spar in their first debate
Los Angeles Times
The top two Republicans running for governor met for their first debate Thursday, clashing over their records, who was the true conservative and which one of them could bring change to Sacramento.
Whalen: Brown and Legislature on collision course on spending
Sacramento Bee
Two political figures could be on the hot seat in California in 2018. One’s a no-brainer: Donald Trump, the first president since Dwight Eisenhower to bypass the Golden State in his first year. Not that there’s California Love awaiting Trump if and when he does visit.
California Legislature’s 2018 Priorities: Addressing Sexual Harassment, Housing, Federal Tax Law
California legislative leaders have finally agreed to address perhaps the most overarching goal of activists pushing to end sexual harassment at the state Capitol: Create a uniform process to handle complaints and investigations. As the Legislature reconvened Wednesday for the 2018 session, Senate and Assembly leaders announced a joint committee that will hold hearings starting later this month.
See also:
· Rent control, property taxes and taller apartment buildings: California considers major housing bills in 2018 The Mercury News
California lawmakers now have two net neutrality bills before them
San Francisco Chronicle
The state Senate now has two net neutrality bills to consider. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León on Thursday introduced his own bill to force Internet service companies operating within the state to adhere to net neutrality rules that were overturned nationally last month by the Federal Communications Commission. But the commission warned late Thursday that it plans to exert its full authority to override any state’s attempt to create its own net neutrality laws.
See also:
· California’s first stab at net neutrality law is more like a pinprick Fast Company
· It ain’t over: Net neutrality advocates are preparing a massive new war against Trump’s FCC Recode
California Assembly leader not saying whether he’ll release sexual harassment records
CALmatters
Taking a different tone from his counterpart in the state Senate, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon on Wednesday would not yet commit to releasing information reporters requested about sexual harassment investigations held by his house.
Ballot Breakdown: These initiative ideas are headed your way
CALmatters
Direct democracy can be an exhausting business. This year civically engaged Californians will be expected to have informed opinions about affordable housingand park funding, how best to divvy up cap-and-trade money, how to spend the state’s new gas tax money, and when new voter-approved laws ought to be enacted. And those are just the measures on the ballot so far.
See also:
· Sign Here: ‘Tis Initiative Season Fox and Hounds Daily
Federal Politics:
‘California Resistance’ Takes Aim at New GOP Tax Law
The California Report | KQED News
As the state Legislature reconvenes in Sacramento, lawmakers are wasting no time picking up right where they left off — finding new and creative ways to slam President Trump and block his policy agenda as it relates to California.
See also:
· Legislation would allow Californians to donate money to the state in effort to blunt effects of GOP tax bill Los Angeles Times
· New California bill could serve as national boilerplate for skirting Trump’s tax law Washington Post
California moves to protect legal cannabis from Sessions
Sacramento Bee
California signaled its intent Thursday to defend the state’s voter-approved law legalizing recreational marijuana, hours after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo clearing the way for a federal crackdown on weed.
See also:
· Lawmaker will revive proposal to make California a sanctuary state for marijuana industry Los Angeles Times
· California prepares for legal and political battles after Sessions takes tougher enforcement stand on marijuana Los Angeles Times
· Trump administration targets recreational pot, placing thousands of marijuana businesses in California at risk Los Angeles Times
· California Defiant in Face of Federal Move to Get Tough on Marijuana New York Times
· Pew poll: 61 percent back legalization of pot TheHill
California leaders vow to fight Trump expansion of offshore oil drilling
Sacramento Bee
The Trump administration is proposing a massive expansion in offshore oil drilling, reversing decades of federal policy and triggering immediate howls of protest from California Gov. Jerry Brown and scores of environmentalists.
See also:
· California officials blast Trump’s oil-drilling proposal as dangerous and unneeded San Jose Mercury
· Gov. Jerry Brown: Trump’s plan to expand offshore drilling is ‘reckless, short-sighted’ Los Angeles Times
· Trump aims to open California, Florida, Atlantic waters for oil drilling Politico
Trump Administration Postpones an Obama Fair-Housing Rule
New York Times
Undermining another Obama-era initiative, the Trump administration plans to delay enforcement of a federal housing rule that requires communities to address patterns of racial residential segregation.
Trump’s move to make skimpier health plans more available threatens to undermine Obamacare
Los Angeles Times
The Trump administration moved Thursday to further loosen regulations on health insurance plans, taking a modest step toward the president’s oft-stated goal of rolling back requirements imposed by the Affordable Care Act that many Republicans blame for high premiums.
See also:
· Trump administration rolls out health plan rules that could weaken Obamacare POLITICO
· The Health 202: There are plenty of health-care issues at stake in the government spending fight Washington Post
Wall Street and Washington have never been further apart
Washington Post
President Trump wants you to ignore the mess spilling out from behind the White House curtain and focus instead on the surging stock market. Investors on Thursday were happy to oblige, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average past 25,000 as the historic rally extended its run.
Other:
Bay Area dodges (another) bullet when a powerful quake fails to do much damage
The Mercury News
After nearly 8 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area were shaken — and some awakened — early Thursday when a magnitude 4.4 earthquake centered 8 miles below Berkeley rocked the region, authorities pointed out that the outcome could have been much more dramatic had the shaking that accompanied it been stronger.
Sacramento seeing influx of people from pricey coastal cities
Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento region is experiencing more growth from domestic migration – people moving to the area from other parts of California and the United States – than during any other time since the housing boom, according to new estimates from the California Department of Finance.
Berkeley-based Pacifica Radio faces financial crisis
The Mercury News
The Pacifica Foundation, a Berkeley-based community radio network that includes the progressive radio station KPFA, is in financial crisis because of mounting debt — and is now teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
Tom Steyer teases ‘major announcement’ about his political future next week
After months of publicly mulling a run for office in 2018, Democratic megadonor Tom Steyer will finally announce his decision next week, his political group said Thursday.
MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING
Sunday, January 7, at 10 a.m. on ABC 30 – Maddy Report: 2018: The Political Forecast – Guests: John Myers with the LA Times and Dan Walters with CalMatters. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.
Sunday, January 7, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report: “State Politics: The Year Past & the Year Ahead”– Guests: John Myers with the LA Times and Dan Walters with CalMatters. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.
Sunday, January 7, at 7:30 a.m. on UniMas 61 (KTTF) – 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.
Support the Maddy Daily HERE. Thank you!
Topics in More Detail…
EDITORIALS
How far can California go to get around that awful Republican tax law?
Fresno Bee
For years, corporations have relied on their accountants to sift through the federal tax code, and find exemptions and loopholes to exploit for financial gain. And for just as many years, Democrats have been claimed to irked by the practice.
California response to Trump’s tax law worth trying
The Mercury News
California lawmakers are trying to find a workaround to the new federal tax law’s onerous provision reducing a commonly used tax deduction. It’s questionable whether their idea — to treat the state like a giant charity — will withstand IRS, congressional and court scrutiny. But it’s worth a try.
Trump, Jeff Sessions ought to butt out of state issues, and focus on what matters
Sacramento Bee
For years, corporations have relied on their accountants to sift through the federal tax code, and find exemptions and loopholes to exploit for financial gain. And for just as many years, Democrats have been claimed to irked by the practice.
Only Congress can keep Jeff Sessions’ reefer madness in check
Los Angeles Times
Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions’ decision to withdraw an Obama-era directive discouraging the enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states that have legalized pot shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with Sessions’ views on drug laws.
Goodbye and good riddance to Trump’s fraudulent voter fraud commission
Los Angeles Times
Good riddance to the failed Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. President Trump disbanded the panel late Wednesday, less than eight months after bringing it to life and with little to show for its efforts other than a spate of lawsuits. The dissolution was an appropriately ignoble ending to a partisan commission that was built on a faulty premise and bungled just about everything it did.
When the resistance should resist
San Francisco Chronicle
Resistance remains all the rage in California, where the gas tax increase is quite a bit more popular than President Trump. But sometimes, in the famous words of a fictional alien collective cybernetic organism, resistance is futile.
AGRICULTURE/FOOD
For stories on federal response to ”recreational marijuana,” See: “Top Stories – Federal Politics,” above
Stockton Record
Farms and ranches occupy more than 1,000 square miles of San Joaquin County, and nearly 40,000 square miles statewide, but how many of us experience agriculture up close?
Should you stay away from romaine lettuce?
The Mercury News
Step away from romaine. In sad news for those of us looking to make January a month of fresh greens, in response to the indulgence of the holidays,Consumer Reports is now advising that we avoid eating romaine lettuce after an E. coli outbreak has been linked to at least two deaths.
Bad start to the year for berry farms as more layoffs hit
Los Angeles Times
More than 400 berry workers have been laid off in Northern California as the industry struggles with labor and other cost issues. Dole Food Co., which has been backing out of its strawberry operations in Ventura and Santa Cruz counties, will lay off another 140 raspberry workers as of Jan. 16, while Cal Pacific Specialty Foods laid off an estimated 323 workers in late November, after selling its berry processing facilities in nearby Monterey County.
To Be Blunt, California’s Marijuana Industry Is Stoking High Anxiety
Zócalo Public Square
California’s 2018 transition to legal marijuana contains a mind-bending paradox: Ending prohibitions on marijuana is going to require an awful lot of aggressive law enforcement. When January 1 rolls around, California will not merely be permitting adults 21 and older to buy marijuana for recreational purposes. The state and its cities also will be scrambling to create a new and wickedly complicated regime to regulate and tax cannabis.
Today: Is Legal Pot Going Up in Smoke?
Los Angeles Times
The high didn’t last long. On Day 4 of legal recreational marijuana in California, U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions ended an Obama-era policy that made way for marijuana sales here and in five other states, drawing criticism from Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime:
Deputies round up Exeter man in ’21st century cattle rustling’ across the West
Fresno Bee
An Exeter man is in custody in connection with what Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux calls “21st century cattle rustling” in a case with ties ranging from California to Texas, Wyoming and Colorado.
See also:
· ’21st Century cow rustler’ held on $1.5 million fraud charge Visalia Times-Delta
Woman accused of conning small California town asks judge to replace her lawyer – again
Sacramento Bee
Two weeks after apparently fainting in court when a judge declared she could not be released from jail, accused movie studio con artist Carissa Carpenter is asking to speak to a federal judge Friday to replace her court-appointed attorney with a new lawyer, a move that would put her on her fourth attorney since her October 2014 indictment, court records show.
Federal jury convicts defendants in mortgage fraud scheme involving Modesto homes
Modesto Bee
A federal jury has convicted three people of participating in a mortgage fraud scheme involving 14 Northern California homes, including properties in Modesto, Patterson and Stockton.
Marijuana Decriminalization: Congress Must Act
National Review
his morning, Twitter sparked to life with the news that Attorney General Jeff Sessions intends to rescind multiple memoranda which effectively made it Justice Department policy not to enforce federal bans on the sale and distribution of marijuana in states that have legalized the drug, so long as those states properly regulated its sale and distribution.
Public Safety:
California cases show Trump is ending police reforms that worked
Sacramento Bee
Seven years ago in Los Angeles County’s Antelope Valley, as sheriff’s deputies increasingly targeted African Americans in Section 8 housing, the Rev. V. Jesse Smith began to fear that a concerted move was underway to push poor black people out of the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster.
Base Prison Reform on What Works
AEI
Each year, the U.S. spends nearly $40 billion on prisons. Yet the return on investment is not good as nearly 80 percent of released prisoners are rearrestedwithin five years.
Fire:
More California homeowners struggle to get fire insurance
Sacramento Bee
California’s top insurance regulator said Thursday that insurers are increasingly refusing to offer homeowner’s policies in areas prone to wildfire — a problem that’s likely to get worse as companies respond to last year’s devastating blazes.
Wildfires Threaten to Make Home Insurance Unaffordable
Bloomberg
More frequent and intense wildfires are making it harder for homeowners to find and keep insurance in California, a state regulator warned Thursday.
ECONOMY / JOBS
Economy:
Eight charts on inequality in the US
Financial Times
Los Angeles Times
Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions ended an Obama-era federal policy that provided legal shelter for marijuana sales in California and five other states that have allowed recreational pot, placing at risk thousands of marijuana businesses operating legally under state laws.
Dow closes above 25,000 for the first time
Los Angeles Times
The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 25,000-point mark Thursday, just five weeks after its first close above 24,000. The Dow broke past five 1,000-point barriers in 2017 on its way to a 25% gain for the year, as an eight-year rally since the Great Recession continued to confound skeptics.
Wall Street and Washington have never been further apart
Washington Post
President Trump wants you to ignore the mess spilling out from behind the White House curtain and focus instead on the surging stock market. Investors on Thursday were happy to oblige, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average past 25,000 as the historic rally extended its run.
Jobs:
US added 148000 jobs in December, in lagging finish to year of strong growth
Washington Post
The U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in December after a year of steady hiring, missing expectations for a larger surge of growth, the government reported Friday.
Sears Holdings Corp. closes more than 100 Kmart and Sears stores in latest cuts
Los Angeles Times
More than 100 Sears and Kmart stores, including five Kmarts and six Sears stores in California, will be closing between early March and early April, Sears Holdings Corp. announced Thursday.
Bad start to the year for berry farms as more layoffs hit
Los Angeles Times
More than 400 berry workers have been laid off in Northern California as the industry struggles with labor and other cost issues. Dole Food Co., which has been backing out of its strawberry operations in Ventura and Santa Cruz counties, will lay off another 140 raspberry workers as of Jan. 16, while Cal Pacific Specialty Foods laid off an estimated 323 workers in late November, after selling its berry processing facilities in nearby Monterey County.
California Today: Raises Come With Increase in Minimum Wage
The New York Times
This week, nearly 20 percent of the state’s work force received a raise: the minimum wage inched up to $11 for most employers, giving roughly 2.5 million people more money in their weekly paychecks, according to economists at the University of California, Berkeley.
Newest Gender Pay Suit Says Google Violated State Law
KQED
Four women have filed a new version of a wage discrimination lawsuit against Google. They claim the web giant not only pays women less than men but also uses previous salary information to determine pay, which is a violation of California state law.
EDUCATION
K-12:
Sundale superintendent recognized for leadership
Visalia Times-Delta
Association of California School Administrators recently named a Tulare educator as the recipient of the 2017 Marcus Foster Memorial Award for Administrator Excellence. Sundale Union School District Superintendent Terri Rufert was presented with the award and a $5,000 grant of which Rufert will give to a high school senior.
A focus on writing in every class is key to success in this rural California district
Ed Source
Over the past three years, the school, which serves about 1,670 students, has seen its scores soar on these tests aligned to the Common Core standards, which high school juniors take each spring.
Higher Ed:
Fox and Hounds Daily
The numbers tell the story. California’s high schools are turning out more college eligible students than ever before and our community colleges, the University of California and the California State University system are making headway to accommodate increased demand. The only lagging indicator is State funding for UC and CSU.
ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY
Environment:
2017 was second hottest year on record, after sizzling 2016: report
Reuters
Last year was the second hottest worldwide on record, just behind a sweltering 2016, with signs of climate change ranging from wildfires to a thaw of Arctic ice, a European Union monitoring center said on Thursday.
Climate change is forcing conservationists to pick winners and losers. How to decide?
Sacramento Bee
For trout in the rivers above Oroville Dam, survival is a slough. They have been navigating around dams in waters sullied by a century of logging, ranching and road building. Now they face streams shared with invasive species hitchhiking around the world at a pace accelerated by climate change. How’s a fish to endure?
Energy:
Will consumer choice in electricity get a major delay in California?
OCRegister
The California Public Utilities Commission giveth, but the same benighted agency much more often taketh away. At least from consumers. In December, this five-member commission for the first time in many years stood up for utility customers by refusing to let the San Diego Gas & Electric Co. dun its customers for the costs of negligence in the leadup to massively destructive fires in 2007. At almost the same time, though, commissioners scheduled a vote that could allow the state’s three big privately-owned utilities to continue their regional monopolies almost unabated for at least another year.
California leaders vow to fight Trump expansion of offshore oil drilling
Sacramento Bee
The Trump administration is proposing a massive expansion in offshore oil drilling, reversing decades of federal policy and triggering immediate howls of protest from California Gov. Jerry Brown and scores of environmentalists.
See also:
· California officials blast Trump’s oil-drilling proposal as dangerous and unneeded San Jose Mercury
· Gov. Jerry Brown: Trump’s plan to expand offshore drilling is ‘reckless, short-sighted’ Los Angeles Times
· Trump aims to open California, Florida, Atlantic waters for oil drilling Politico
HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES
Camarena Health will open Coarsegold office Feb. 1
Sierra Star
The residents of Coarsegold got some good news Friday with Camarena Health announcing they will open an office in town Feb. 1.
The Flu:
Influenza takes a toll in Stanislaus County. Does the vaccine protect residents? Modesto Bee
The most dominant flu virus this season is called H3N2, and it’s been widely reported the seasonal flu vaccine offers little protection against it. Health officials hope the vaccine is at least 30 percent effective as the flu season worsens in the Central Valley.
Two women dead from flu virus infections in Tulare County
Fresno Bee
The deadly influenza viruses sweeping across California have claimed their first two victims of this flu season in the central San Joaquin Valley.
See also:
· Vicious influenza strain sweeps Bay Area, deaths up in state The Mercury News
· Vicious flu spike in Southern California has caused extreme fevers, some deaths OCRegister
Trump’s move to make skimpier health plans more available threatens to undermine Obamacare
Los Angeles Times
The Trump administration moved Thursday to further loosen regulations on health insurance plans, taking a modest step toward the president’s oft-stated goal of rolling back requirements imposed by the Affordable Care Act that many Republicans blame for high premiums.
See also:
· Trump administration rolls out health plan rules that could weaken Obamacare POLITICO
· The Health 202: There are plenty of health-care issues at stake in the government spending fight Washington Post
Open Enrollment Periods and Plan Choices
NBER
A change in the enrollment rules of Medicare Part C and Part D that allowed beneficiaries to switch plans mid-year saw a 7-16% increase in beneficiaries switching to a five-star rated plan
Trump poised to take action on Medicaid work requirements
TheHill
The Trump administration is preparing to release guidelines soon for requiring Medicaid recipients to work, according to sources familiar with the plans, a major shift in the 50-year-old program.
California bills aim to tackle opioid addiction by curbing excessive prescriptions
Los Angeles Times
Looking to combat the opioid abuse epidemic, a Silicon Valley legislator has introduced a slate of bills meant to clamp down on access to highly addictive prescription drugs. Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) authored three measures meant to provide a better understanding of patients’ access to these medications, building on an existing state database tracking prescriptions in California.
OCRegister
Excessive playing of video games is no longer just annoying to your parents or roommate. As of this year, it can be considered a mental disorder. The World Health Organization is including “gaming disorder” in its latest International Classification of Diseases, used worldwide to diagnose health problems, provide health care and allocate resources.
IMMIGRATION
Why would we want to exclude Dreamers from America?
San Francisco Chronicle
I was just a child when my parents emigrated with me from Argentina six decades ago. Yet even as an inquisitive youngster, it never crossed my mind to ask if we had proper documentation to enter the United States. My parents, like so many before them, were filled with the hope of a better life in America for themselves and their children, and they were willing to sacrifice much and overcome even more to secure those opportunities.
LAND USE/HOUSING
The Mercury News
The state’s housing crisis is back on the agenda as California lawmakers return to work after a months-long recess. Proposals floated on the first week of the year would bring major changes to laws governing property taxes, rent control, and local zoning rules.
Trump Administration Postpones an Obama Fair-Housing Rule
New York Times
Undermining another Obama-era initiative, the Trump administration plans to delay enforcement of a federal housing rule that requires communities to address patterns of racial residential segregation.
PUBLIC FINANCES
For stories on California’s response to federal “tax reform” See: “Top Stories – Federal Politics,” above
The retirees next door get a sweet Prop. 13 tax break. Why make it sweeter? Please.
Sacramento Bee
To: California Association of Realtors. Re: Death and Taxes. Yes, all Californians eventually will die. But why can’t our property tax discounts live forever? That’s the question raised by your glorious new ballot initiative to make our state’s Proposition 13 property tax savings even more generous.
Los Angeles Times
The last time the Supreme Court took a hard look at how to impose sales taxes on home shopping, it was the era of mail-order catalogs — “before Amazon was even selling books out of Jeff Bezos’ garage,” lawyers recently told the justices.
TRANSPORTATION
When’s the last time California started a year with gas prices this high?
Modesto Bee
California and the rest of the nation are starting 2018 with the highest gasoline prices to begin a new year since 2014, both AAA and GasBuddy have reported.
WATER
Final verdict on Oroville Dam: ‘Long-term systemic failure’ at the state
Sacramento Bee
Citing a “long-term systemic failure” at the California Department of Water Resources, independent forensic investigators released their final report Friday on the nearly-catastrophic emergency last February at Oroville Dam.
See also:
· Report: Systemic failures caused crisis at California dam Washington Post
· Flood Prevention 101: Stay Out of the Floodplain Public Policy Institute of California
Dry December produces below-average snowpack
Sierra Star
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) manual snow survey east of Sacramento in the Sierra Nevada found little snowpack, which was predictable after a dry December throughout California. Measurements at Phillips Station revealed a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 0.4 inches, 3 percent of the average SWE of 11.3 inches in early January at Phillips as measured there since 1964. SWE is the depth of water that theoretically would result if the entire snowpack melted instantaneously.
See also:
· California’s first snow survey shows very little snow in Sierra Sacramento Bee
Real winter weather arrives this week, are you ready?
The Mercury News
It’s been a dry fall and winter, but don’t put away the galoshes and umbrellas just yet; rain arrived Wednesday and more is predicted to be on its way this week. While it remains to be seen just how much of it will pour onto the Bay Area, it doesn’t hurt to start preparing now.
Rain sweeps across the Bay Area, with more on the way
The Mercury News
The first in a series of storms Wednesday delivered much-needed rain to the Bay Area, though there’s still a long way to go to make up this winter’s early precipitation deficits.
“Xtra”
Chris Janson and Cam set to perform at 104th Clovis Rodeo
Clovis Roundup
Rising country stars Chris Janson and Cam are bringing their talents to Clovis this April as the headlining acts for the 104th Clovis Rodeo.
Madera senior on cusp of an Eagle honor
Madera Tribune
With the only one hurdle left, Madera High School senior Daniel Chadwick looks to obtain his Eagle Scout badge after he recreated a tribute to American servicemen and women.
Stockton Record
A superficially ho-hum press release announced that San Joaquin County Surveyor Warren Smith has been named California’s 2017 Surveyor of the Year.