POLICY & POLITICS
North SJ Valley:
Nonprofits will run Stanislaus County health clinics in Ceres, Turlock and Hughson
Modesto Bee
The county Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the plan Tuesday and will outsource operation of the Ceres, Turlock and Hughson health clinics to nonprofit providers before the end of the year.
Merced County supervisor district draws third candidate
Merced Sun-Star
Another challenger has announced intent to run for the District 2 seat of the Merced County Board of Supervisors.
Central SJ Valley:
Ready for a rematch? California Republican ousted in blue wave files to run in 2020 (David Valadao)
Fresno Bee
After months of speculation, former Rep. David Valadao has filed to run against Rep. TJ Cox – again. The move sets up a rematch between Valadao, a Republican from Hanford, and Cox, D-Fresno. Cox won against then-incumbent Valadao by less than 1,000 votes in 2018.
See also:
● David Valadao files statement of candidacy for 2020 election for 21st District abc30
● Valadao pulls candidacy papers, making official his rematch with TJ Cox Bakersfield Californian
Devin Nunes’ fundraising is off the charts for 2020. Who’s giving to the congressman?
Fresno Bee
Rep. Devin Nunes revved up his fundraising in the second quarter of this year, hauling in far more money than any other incumbent in a district on the opposing party’s top target list for 2020.
California cities want to stop paying Amazon for warehouses. Why isn’t Fresno on board?
Fresno Bee
Most California cities support a proposed law that would prohibit government agencies from kicking back sales tax revenue to warehouse retailers such as Amazon, agreeing the deals collectively reduce revenue for local services. Except Fresno.
‘Not in a million years.’ School board member won’t resign after cheerleader incident
Fresno Bee
Despite repeated calls to resign from board members and the community, Fresno Unified trustee Terry Slatic refused to step down Thursday.
See also:
● FUSD Board: Ban Slatic from Bullard Campus KMJ
Visalia looks to revise parks ordinance, avoid litigation surrounding homeless camps
Visalia Times Delta
In the 2019 Point in Time Count, Kings/Tulare Homeless Alliance staff found that more than 1,000 people were experiencing homelessness in the bi-county region — an 11% increase.
Wheaton: Visalia Unified School District has boardroom problem, not a classroom problem
Visalia Times Delta
Even now, after all that has gone on with the administrative shuffling, firing, and flight, I still like to talk about the great people who work in our educational system and the solid foundation that makes Visalia schools better than most.
37 San Joaquin Valley organizations led by Latinos just got a million-dollar boost
Fresno Bee
One million dollars will be dispersed among the organizations throughout the year to help spur groups led by Latinos. The funding comes from a partnership between the Latino Community Foundation and the James Irvine Foundation.
South SJ Valley:
Tandy’s final State of the City luncheon highlights law enforcement, homelessness
Bakersfield Californian
City Manager Alan Tandy, delivering his final State of the City address Thursday at the site of his first major achievement in Bakersfield, trumpeted progress on recent construction projects and promised to invest new sales tax revenues on law enforcement without neglecting the growing problem of local homelessness.
Kern proposes $218 million, 20-year deal to service Tejon Indians’ hotel-casino south of Bakersfield
Bakersfield Californian
Kern County has proposed a 20-year, $218 million deal with the Tejon Indians to provide fire, law enforcement and other services at the $600 million casino and hotel the tribe and Hard Rock International plan to open half an hour south of Bakersfield.
‘Low rate’ flow resumes at Chevron oilfield leak near McKittrick
Bakersfield Californian
Resumption of the flow came five days after the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources ordered Chevron to “take all measures” to prevent the leak from starting again.
See also:
● After 800,000-gallon spill, Chevron site is still leaking oil Los Angeles Times
CSUB receives $2.8 million grant to address valley’s health care shortage
Bakersfield Californian
The Family Nurse Practitioner Program at Cal State Bakersfield has received a $2.8 million grant to increase health care providers in underserved and rural parts of the Central Valley.
Assemblymember Salas, Bakersfield College Celebrate Receiving $2M From State Budget
YouTube CA Assembly
Video
State:
California misspent $330 million that should have helped homeowners, court holds
Fresno Bee
California must use money it obtained from banks through a lawsuit over unfair mortgage practices to help homeowners after the state’s highest court rejected arguments from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration that it could use the money for other purposes.
California insurance commissioner won’t disclose calendars after accepting industry donations
Sacramento Bee
An advocacy group is demanding that California’s insurance commissioner release records about his business meetings following a report that he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from insurance leaders and their spouses.
California candidates can use foreign language birth names on ballots under new law
Sacramento Bee
Candidates with birth names in foreign languages will be able to use those names on California ballots under a law Gov. Gavin Newsom approved Friday.
A Conversation with Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon
Public Policy Institute of California
Join us as Anthony Rendon, speaker of the California State Assembly, talks with PPIC’s Mark Baldassareabout some of the key challenges and opportunities facing California and how state policymakers can work to address them.
Federal:
Trump disavows ‘send her back’ cry, Omar stands defiant
Fresno Bee
President Donald Trump on Thursday chided his supporters who chanted “send her back” when he questioned the loyalty of a Somali-born congresswoman, joining widespread criticism of the campaign crowd’s cry after Republicans warned about political blowback from the angry scene.
See also:
● Trump says he disagrees with ‘send her back’ chants, despite fanning flames for days abc30
● Rabbi in Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s district compares Trump rally to ‘Nazi Germany’ abc30
● Trump seeks to disavow ‘send her back’ chant as Democrats call for more securityLos Angeles Times
● Trump’s attacks on Ilhan Omar and other congresswomen are ‘despicable,’ Joe Biden says in L.A. Los Angeles Times
● EDITORIAL: Hate is unleashed at Trump’s rally San Francisco Chronicle
● EDITORIAL: Trump Has Regrets Wall Street Journal
Trump officials pressing to slash refugee admissions to zero next year
Politico
The Trump administration is considering a virtual shutdown of refugee admissions next year — cutting the number to nearly zero — according to three people familiar with the plan.
Trump administration planning changes to U.S. citizenship test
The Washington Post
If you were to take the test to become a U.S. citizen tomorrow, you might be asked to name one of five U.S. territories, or two of the rights contained in the Declaration of Independence, or to provide the correct number of amendments to the Constitution.
Trump to nominate Eugene Scalia for labor secretary
Fresno Bee
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will nominate lawyer Eugene Scalia, the son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, to be his new labor secretary.
See also:
● Trump to nominate Eugene Scalia as new secretary of labor abc30
● Trump to nominate late Justice Antonin Scalia’s son for Labor secretary Los Angeles Times
Elections 2020:
Trump’s California Funders—Where They Are And What They’re Giving
Capital Public Radio
New campaign finance statistics show that President Donald Trump raised $3.2 million—more money from the California donor class than all of his Democratic challengers, but two.
Democrats’ Ratings of Party’s 2020 Field: Better Than in 2016, Similar to 2008
Pew Research Center
Early attention to presidential campaign hits a 30-year high.
The Democratic Scramble For California’s Cash: A Deeper Dive In 5 Charts
Capital Public Radio
While California Sen. Kamala Harris has harvested more than $7.5 million here this year in her bid for the presidency, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, outraised her in her own state in the year’s second quarter.
See also:
● California’s Democratic seat-flippers are raking in campaign cash San Francisco Chronicle
Bulletpoint: Does Kamala Harris Need A Win Before California?
fivethirtyeight
Sen. Kamala Harris holds the lead in two new polls of California, her home state, although in both cases by narrow margins. That’s the good news for her. The bad news is that it’s not clear which state she could win before California.
See also:
● Kamala Harris can deliver a punch — we’ll soon see if she can take one The Hill
● Fox: Harris Gains in Poll Fox & Hounds
2020 debates: Biden-Harris rematch and progressive faceoff
Fresno Bee
The second set of summer Democratic presidential debates will feature a rematch with a twist, plus the first showdown of leading progressives as the party wrestles with its philosophical identity and looks ahead to a 2020 fight against President Donald Trump.
See also:
● Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders to square off at debate, and Kamala Harris and Joe Biden get a rematch Los Angeles Times
Elizabeth Warren pitches private equity regulations, taking aim at ‘legalized looting’
Los Angeles Times
White House hopeful Elizabeth Warren is proposing new regulations on the private equity industry, pitching constraints designed to end what she decries as “legalized looting” by investment firms that take over troubled companies.
Voting by Phone Is Easy. But Is It Secure?
Pew Trusts
For the first time in a presidential election, voters in two upcoming Democratic caucuses will be able to vote using their phones.
Other:
Editorial: We went to the moon
Los Angeles Times
A decade before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took their first steps on the lunar surface, a popular children’s book was published with a title that sounded like a promise:
It’s official: Majority of Americans think women are just as competent as men, if not more so
Los Angeles Times
“It’s a pretty dramatic shift,” said Alice Eagly, a social psychologist at Northwestern University in Illinois who led the work. “If you think women are still seen as less capable than men, then forget it. That is not the case.”
Opinion: Political pluralism is in America’s DNA
AEI
By the belief in and commitment to our founders’ noble ideals of every person’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we become Americans in the fullest sense.
Opinion: Democrats Do Intimidation
Wall Street Journal
They use their House majority to threaten nonprofits and private companies.
Opinion: America Needs to Rediscover Tact
Wall Street Journal
In our politics, holding back and minimizing pain has given way to rubbing people’s noses in defeat.
Gannett Closes In on Deal to Combine With GateHouse Media
Wall Street Journal
A cash-and-stock deal could be announced in next few weeks, as the companies grapple with brutal environment for local newspapers.
MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING
Sunday, July 21, at 10 a.m. on ABC30 – Maddy Report: “Reducing Recidivism: Do Prisoner Rehabilitation Programs Actually Work?” – Guest: Jonathan Peterson, California Legislative Office. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.
Sunday, July 21, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) –Maddy Report – Valley Views Edition: “Project Rebound: Breaking the Cycle of Crime” – Guests: CSU Fresno Prof. Emma Hughes, Project Rebound Director Jennifer Leahy, and Project Rebound Rebound Arnold Trevino. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.
Sunday, July 21, at 7:30 a.m. on UniMas 61 (KTTF) – El Informe Maddy: “State Auditors Nurses: What Would California Do With A Nurse Ratched” – Guests: Margarita Fernandez, PIO State Auditor’s Office. Host: Maddy Institute Program Coordinator, Maria Jeans.
AGRICULTURE/FOOD
Valley air quality improving, but one group says pesticides used by farmers cause concerns
abc30
The results of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation 2018 study released this week show pesticides used in parts of the Central Coast and the Central Valley are below health screening levels for the most part, but there are still some concerns.
California could get $1.8 billion in food stamp funding. It just needs people to sign up
Sacramento Bee
California, a state with the nation’s highest poverty rate, consistently ranks near the bottom when it comes to enrolling low-income people in CalFresh, the state’s name for the federal food stamp program.
See also:
● California’s struggle to get food stamps to the hungry CALmatters
Rabbi isn’t happy with first-ever cannabis cafe, approved by West Hollywood
Los Angeles Times
The commission also approved a cannabis consumption license for Pleasure Med, owned by West Hollywood adult retailer Pleasure Chest. The business will be a high-end retailer and cannabis delivery service with a lounge area. A wave of other businesses is expected to follow.
Many USDA workers to quit as research agencies move to Kansas City: ‘The brain drain we all feared’
Washington Post
Two research agencies at the Agriculture Department will uproot from Washington, D.C., to Kansas City in the fall. But many staffers have decided to give up their jobs rather than move, prompting concerns of hollowed-out offices unable to adequately fund or inform agricultural science.
See also:
● USDA official says agencies can find new staff after they move to Kansas City Roll Call
Interest is high among those who want to open cannabis stores in Turlock
Modesto Bee
Turlock said it has received 32 responses from people interested in opening one of the four cannabis dispensaries the city will allow under a pilot program.
More pregnant women are using pot, new study shows. Do they know the risks?
Merced Sun-Star
A growing number of women in Northern California are using marijuana before and during pregnancy, a group of researchers at Kaiser Permanente have found and said it coincides with broader acceptance of cannabis use and decreased understanding of potential harms.
Kaiser surveyed women during 367,400 prenatal screenings between 2009 and 2017 at facilities throughout Northern California and published the findings Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Opinion: It’s my farm but it’s everybody’s Constitution
Pacific Legal Foundation
When you live in a small community, your neighbors and elected officials are often one and the same. The best way to keep tabs on both is to stay involved and ask tough questions. And if the two worlds collide, make a federal case out of it.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime:
41 inmates riot at Pleasant Valley State Prison, causing injuries
Fresno Bee
The incident started around 9:40 a.m., when three inmates attacked a fourth, according to the release. The attack morphed into a riot, which continued to escalate even after correctional officers deployed chemical agents.
See also:
● Rifle fired, three injured after riot breaks out among 41 inmates at Pleasant Valley State Prison Fresno Bee
● Riot at Pleasant Valley State Prison ends in gunfire and at least 3 injured abc30
Gun-running Long Beach customs agent had 41 machine guns stashed at home
Los Angeles Times
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection watch commander at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has admitted to running an illegal gun operation, authorities said.
California Supreme Court allows defense to obtain private Facebook postings in gang trial
Los Angeles Times
In an unprecedented move, the California Supreme Court has allowed the defense in a gang-related murder trial in San Francisco to obtain private postings from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Becerra backs change in murder law that’s widely opposed by state prosecutors
San Diego Union-Tribune
Ever since changes to California’s felony murder law went into effect this year, making thousands of inmates serving life sentences potentially eligible for reduced prions terms or even freedom, prosecutors have dug in and fought to overturn it.
U.S. Justice Department Set to Free 3,000 Prisoners as Criminal-Justice Overhaul Takes Hold
Wall Street Journal
U.S. is implementing First Step Act with releases, revamped policies.
Public Safety:
‘The Big One’ doesn’t scare Californians. Residents won’t move due to recent earthquakes
Sacramento Bee
The Big One might be coming, but most Californians aren’t going anywhere. A new poll from Quinnipiac University found that 92 percent of Californians have no plans to relocate from the Golden State due to recent earthquake activity.
California’s attempt to reduce police shootings, explained
CALmatters
Civil rights advocates have long sought increased accountability for law enforcement in California, particularly in recent years, as police shootings and the Black Lives Matter movement have roiled cities nationwide. But even in a Democrat-controlled Capitol, those efforts — to make police misconduct records public, to require the release of body camera footage, to create an independent body to investigate police shootings — have historically failed amid objections from law enforcement organizations and their influential unions.
See also:
● Force of Law CALmatters
Fire:
Hostile takeover of PG&E? Billion-dollar hedge funds duel over bankrupt utility
Fresno Bee
Two groups of multibillion-dollar hedge funds are fighting over control of PG&E Corp. in a battle with huge implications for California’s largest electric utility and the thousands of wildfire victims who hold claims against the bankrupt company.
Tiny California fire agency overcharged $700,000 for wildfire work. Are others doing it?
Fresno Bee
A fire department south of Lake Tahoe has overbilled government agencies by more than $700,000 in the last three years, according to a report released Thursday by the California State Auditor’s office.
‘Sticker shock’ for California wildfire areas: Insurance rates doubled, policies dropped
Fresno Bee
Stung by $24 billion in losses, insurers are imposing rate hikes or dumping customers altogether, leaving homeowners to seek replacement policies that can be two or three times as expensive.
ECONOMY / JOBS
Economy:
California cities want to stop paying Amazon for warehouses. Why isn’t Fresno on board?
Fresno Bee
Most California cities support a proposed law that would prohibit government agencies from kicking back sales tax revenue to warehouse retailers such as Amazon, agreeing the deals collectively reduce revenue for local services. Except Fresno.
Column: Why is Trump’s consumer protection agency helping to promote H&R Block’s credit card?
Los Angeles Times
The process by which government regulators getting cozy with the businesses they’re supposed to regulate is a time-worn and familiar problem. There’s even a name for it — “regulatory capture.”
Jobs:
Washington Post
Unionized campaign organizers working for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential effort are battling with its management, arguing that the compensation and treatment they are receiving does not meet the standards Sanders espouses in his rhetoric, according to internal communications.
Washington Post
President Trump announced Thursday that he plans to nominate Eugene Scalia, the son of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, as his next Labor secretary — succeeding Alexander Acosta, who announced his resignation last week amid an uproar over an old plea deal he struck with a wealthy financier facing a new round of sex trafficking charges.
See also:
● Trump to Nominate Eugene Scalia to Serve as Labor Secretary Wall Street Journal
Nonlawyers could offer legal advice and partly own law firms under these California proposals
American Bar Association Journal
The State Bar of California is asking for public comment on proposals that would allow legal technicians to offer legal advice and nonlawyers to hold a financial interest in law firms.
EDITORIAL: It’s long past time to raise the national minimum wage
Los Angeles Times
It’s been a decade since workers earning the federal minimum wage got a raise. That’s the longest stretch of time that the country’s lowest paid workers have gone without an increase since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938.
See also:
EDUCATION
K-12:
Wheaton: Visalia Unified School District has boardroom problem, not a classroom problem
Visalia Times Delta
Even now, after all that has gone on with the administrative shuffling, firing, and flight, I still like to talk about the great people who work in our educational system and the solid foundation that makes Visalia schools better than most.
‘Not in a million years.’ School board member won’t resign after cheerleader incident
Fresno Bee
Despite repeated calls to resign from board members and the community, Fresno Unified trustee Terry Slatic refused to step down Thursday.
See also:
● FUSD Board: Ban Slatic from Bullard Campus KMJ
California school leaders float $11B tax hike on companies, top earners
Politico
California education leaders are floating a 2020 initiative that would tax top earners and corporations to raise an additional $11 billion annually for schools, building off recent polls showing strong voter support to boost K-12 spending, POLITICO has learned.
Higher Ed:
His identity bothered some people. It inspired him to help Valley residents go to college
Fresno Bee
The program he started this year is called Central Valley Scholars. They are providing free workshops and online mentors to help Valley residents apply for college, financial aid and scholarships. Their first college workshop is in Mendota on Saturday.
See also:
● College mentor and scholarship founder shares his story of homophobic bias Fresno Bee
Incoming UC students could see a tuition hike under new proposal
Los Angeles Times
UC could increase tuition for students, but would do so only for each incoming class and would hold those costs flat for up to six years, under a plan presented Thursday.
See also:
· ‘I’m Drowning’: Those Hit Hardest By Student Loan Debt Never Finished College NPR
CSUB receives $2.8 million grant to address valley’s health care shortage
Bakersfield Californian
The Family Nurse Practitioner Program at Cal State Bakersfield has received a $2.8 million grant to increase health care providers in underserved and rural parts of the Central Valley.
Training California’s Students for Well-Paying Jobs
PPIC
Completion of career education credentials at California community colleges has risen substantially, but some credentials create much larger earnings gains than do others.
Merced, West Hills community colleges need funding support
Fresno Bee
The West Hills Community College District has grown its enrollment by 19 percent in the last five years. At Merced College, half of its 16,000 students are the first in their families to get higher education, and nearly 75 percent of those enrolled are on some form of financial aid.
Assemblymember Salas, Bakersfield College Celebrate Receiving $2M From State Budget
YouTube CA Assembly
Video
ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY
Environment:
This is the deadliest year at the Oceano Dunes. What is State Parks going to do?
Fresno Bee
More people have died in off-roading crashes at the Oceano Dunes in 2019 than any other year in at least the past decade — and the busy summer season is only partway through.
EPA Defends Pesticide Linked To Brain Damage In Children
Capital Public Radio
The agency’s defense of continued use of the widely used bug-killer chlorpyrifos could set the stage for a pivotal federal court decision on whether to overrule the EPA and force the agency to ban it.
Energy:
‘Low rate’ flow resumes at Chevron oilfield leak near McKittrick
Bakersfield Californian
Resumption of the flow came five days after the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources ordered Chevron to “take all measures” to prevent the leak from starting again.
See also:
● After 800,000-gallon spill, Chevron site is still leaking oil Los Angeles Times
California’s new Public Utilities Commission president must lead us to a gas-free future
CALmatters
Everywhere you turn in California, clean energy technologies are winning out over gas.
HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES
Health:
Nonprofits will run Stanislaus County health clinics in Ceres, Turlock and Hughson
Modesto Bee
The county Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the plan Tuesday and will outsource operation of the Ceres, Turlock and Hughson health clinics to nonprofit providers before the end of the year.
CSUB receives $2.8 million grant to address valley’s health care shortage
Bakersfield Californian
The Family Nurse Practitioner Program at Cal State Bakersfield has received a $2.8 million grant to increase health care providers in underserved and rural parts of the Central Valley.
Not sure when to ask for a valley fever test? It may not be accurate anyway.
Bakersfield Californian
Following a press conference held last month on the topic of valley fever, Russell Judd, the CEO of Kern Medical, said something about the disease that struck a chord for many who live in the southern valley.
Can adopting healthy lifestyle ward off Alzheimer’s? UC Davis gets $6 million to study it
Fresno Bee
The Alzheimer’s Association gave $6 million to the University of California, Davis, to fund its participation in a landmark study that will look at whether older adults can ward off deterioration in their memory and thinking by adopting particular lifestyle changes.
More eye meds recalled on sterility concerns that hit Walmart, Walgreens, CVS brands
Fresno Bee
The sterility uncertainty at an Altaire Pharmaceuticals facility that spurred the recalls of numerous prescription and over-the-counter ophthalmic ointments swept up several more brands this week, including staple Clear Eyes.
U.S. Overdose Deaths Dipped In 2018, But Some States Saw ‘Devastating’ Increases
Valley Public Radio
Good news came out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wednesday: Preliminary data shows reported drug overdoses declined 4.2% in 2018, after rising precipitously for decades.
Cures for Cancer Could Grow on Trees
Wall Street Journlal
Poorly designed regulation blocks investment in ‘pharming’—plant-based medications and vaccines.
Human Services:
Parents using marijuana are more likely to discipline, abuse children, study says
Fresno Bee
Research from Ohio State University shows that parents who use cannabis “administered more discipline techniques of all kinds to their children on average than did non-users,” according to a statement from the university.
More pregnant women are using pot, new study shows. Do they know the risks?
Merced Sun-Star
A growing number of women in Northern California are using marijuana before and during pregnancy, a group of researchers at Kaiser Permanente have found and said it coincides with broader acceptance of cannabis use and decreased understanding of potential harms.
Kaiser surveyed women during 367,400 prenatal screenings between 2009 and 2017 at facilities throughout Northern California and published the findings Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Forty years of lies stigmatizing “teenage pregnancy” are enough
CALmatters
The ensuing 40-year squabble pitting sex education (which at best has marginal effects on pregnancy rates) versus “abstinence-only” preaching (which is completely worthless) suppressed crucial realities surrounding what interest mislabel “teen pregnancy.”
When climbing the ‘opioid ladder’ leads to heroin
Business Journal
As he took a shower one evening, former Clovis High School student Zack W. began to feel ill.
See also:
● See how many opioid pills were sold in your town Washington Post
IMMIGRATION
Border patrol agents changing diapers. Local Democrat describes life in migrant detention
Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Rep. Doris Matsui confirmed some of the worst accounts of the border patrol centers housing migrants.
Bakersfield Activist Detained After Reading Poem Critical Of ICE – Judge Strikes Down Lawsuit
Valley Public Radio
A federal judge in San Francisco struck down a First Amendment lawsuit this week that argued Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained a 22-year-old Bakersfield activist and farmworker as a way to retaliate against him.
Acting Head Of Customs and Border Protection Says New Asylum Rule In ‘Pilot’ Phase
Valley Public Radio
Mark Morgan, acting head of Customs and Border Protection, said Thursday that the Trump administration’s new asylum rule, unveiled earlier this week, is being rolled out as a small “pilot” and that officials expect it to be blocked in court.
See also:
● Asylum seekers deterred by border rules return home Desert Sun
● Senators roll out pilot program to speed asylum claims Roll Call
A whole generation of migrant kids is languishing at the U.S.-Mexico border
Los Angeles Times
For the two dozen migrant children living inside a small church on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, most days go like this: Breakfast at 8 a.m., dinner at 6 p.m., and hours of nothing in between.
See also:
● How migrant detention became American policy The Washington Post
Trump officials pressing to slash refugee admissions to zero next year
Politico
The Trump administration is considering a virtual shutdown of refugee admissions next year — cutting the number to nearly zero — according to three people familiar with the plan.
Trump administration planning changes to U.S. citizenship test
The Washington Post
If you were to take the test to become a U.S. citizen tomorrow, you might be asked to name one of five U.S. territories, or two of the rights contained in the Declaration of Independence, or to provide the correct number of amendments to the Constitution.
LAND USE/HOUSING
Land Use:
Get a glimpse inside the huge new Clovis Costco store.
Fresno Bee
Hundreds of delighted shoppers turn out early Thursday morning for the opening of the new Clovis Costco on Clovis Avenue south of Shaw, which replaced the old Costco on Ashlan Avenue.
See also:
● Dozens line up early to get first peek at new Clovis Costco abc30
Clovis City Planner Bryan Araki to retire after 33 years
Clovis RoundUp
All good things must come to an end, and for the city of Clovis, city planner Bryan Araki’s last day on the job was one to remember.
Housing:
Visalia looks to revise parks ordinance, avoid litigation surrounding homeless camps
Visalia Times Delta
In the 2019 Point in Time Count, Kings/Tulare Homeless Alliance staff found that more than 1,000 people were experiencing homelessness in the bi-county region — an 11% increase.
CALmatters
On this episode of “Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast,” CalMatters’ Matt Levin and the Los Angeles Times’ Liam Dillon explore how “the big one” could exacerbate California’s housing shortage.
See also:
· Politifact CA: Has Gavin Newsom made progress on his pledge to boost California’s housing supply? Politifact CA
· Can Housing Conditions Influence Voter Preferences? Anderson UCLA
San Joaquin Valley Housing Collaborative
Tickets on Sale.
PUBLIC FINANCES
California school leaders float $11B tax hike on companies, top earners
Politico
California education leaders are floating a 2020 initiative that would tax top earners and corporations to raise an additional $11 billion annually for schools, building off recent polls showing strong voter support to boost K-12 spending, POLITICO has learned.
Budget Decider: Making choices that impact millions
CALmatters
California lawmakers have passed a $215 billion budget filled with progressive eye-catchers. But what if you had the awesome power to tax and spend, charting a new course for California?
TRANSPORTATION
Construction and utility projects around Fresno causing traffic tie-ups
abc30
The city has repair projects in just about every quadrant of Fresno. But it’s not just city construction that is causing the traffic tie-ups. Several utility companies are also doing work. In addition to those projects, Fresno’s water division is making upgrades citywide.
Madera neighborhood nearly inaccessible due to High-Speed Rail construction
abc30
Emotions ran high Thursday night at a High-Speed Rail meeting in Madera.
Portland to Vancouver in two hours – by high-speed rail
SFGate
New report backs a high-speed corridor in the Pacific Northwes
By Air, Land and Sea, Travel is Electrifying
New York Times
The roar of a jet engine, the vroom of a car, the vibration of a moving ship
WATER
San Francisco Chronicle
While California contemplates new dams for its thirsty future, it’s also thinking about taking out old ones. Along with advancing plans to demolish three dams atop the Klamath River, there’s a movement to rethink and possibly take out a water and power dam in the Mendocino County back country.
“Xtra”
Hidden Adventures: Yosemite Zipline and Adventure Ranch
abc30
Bryan Imrie started the company, Yosemite Ziplines and Adventure Ranch, with his wife just over seven years ago, and the zipline tour features six different lines totaling 4,000 feet of cable.