July 6, 2017

06Jul

TOP POLITICAL STORIES​​​​​​​

 

City of Fresno seeks qualified director of public works

The City of Fresno is seeking a service and solution oriented person that understands public works systems, long range vision for a vibrant community and who possesses excellent leadership skills. Public Works has a staff of 315 employees and a FY 2018 proposed budget of $158,035,700 for all activities. The hiring range for this position is up to $183,900 annually. Filing Deadline: July 14, 2017.

 

California denies Trump commission request for voter data

Fresno Bee

When a commission created by President Donald Trump to investigate voter fraud asked all 50 states last week to share the name, party affiliation, last four digits of social security number, voting history and other personal information for each of the country’s 200 million registered voters, the outcry was swift, widespread and bipartisan.  See also: Why California denied the Trump administration’s request for voter data Sacramento Bee

 

Kevin Faulconer’s ‘No’ will hurt the state’s GOP

The Mercury News

For months, California’s Republican leaders had, with fingers crossed, hoped that the state’s top GOP officeholder, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, would change his mind.

 

Former Republican assemblyman joins California governor race

San Francisco Chronicles

Former Republican Assemblyman David Hadley announced plans Wednesday to run for governor of California, joining a growing field of candidates vying for the seat in 2018.

 

California candidate for lieutenant governor uses Arabic and Urdu ads to ‘reach every community we can’ 

Los Angeles Times

Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Asif Mahmood has launched a social media campaign in Arabic and Urdu hoping to tap into what he sees as a potentially influential pool of voters in California’s Muslim and South Asian communities.

 

Dianne Feinstein has had a Hall of Fame career. Now what?

Sacramento Bee

Willie Mays is a Bay Area hero widely revered for his stellar 21-year career with the Giants. But he was traded at 41 to the New York Mets, where he played his last two seasons as a second-stringer, batting just .211 in his final year, 90 points below his career average.

 

Kamala Harris works to forge relationship with Central Valley

Los Angeles Times

The drought may be over in the minds of urban Californians, quite literally washed away by huge accumulations of rain last year that filled reservoirs and left the state’s mountains covered with snow even now.  See also,  Senator Harris Makes First Central Valley Stop Since Taking Office VPR

 

Senator, Un(Interrupted): Kamala Harris’s Rise Among Democrats New York Times

The casting call came early — the first of many unwelcome interruptions for Kamala Harris since November — consuming the Los Angeles nightclub where she was supposed to be celebrating an uncomplicated Senate victory.

 

Rep. Jeff Denham gets a seventh challenger in bid for Central Valley’s 10th District

Los Angeles Times

Democratic engineer TJ Cox will challenge Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) in the 10th Congressional District, making him the seventh person to sign up to oppose Denham.  Cox, 53, has already run for Congress in the area. In 2006, he lost to Rep. George Radanovich with 39.4% of the vote in what was then the 19th Congressional District. Denham succeeded Radanovich in 2011, and the district boundaries have since been redrawn.

                  

Democrats’ woes go beyond Nancy Pelosi

San Francisco Chronicle

If you’re a Democratic officeholder, it’s not a compliment when President Trump tweets that he hopes you’re not forced out of your job because “that would be very bad for the Republican Party.”

 

California Democrats out to reverse another election rule to help one of their own

OCRegister

First, Democrats hoping to protect one of their own passed a law changing the rules for a recall. Now they are pressuring the state’s campaign watchdog to reverse a longstanding stance on contribution limits to once again benefit Sen. Josh Newman, who Republicans are seeking to punish for casting a vote to raise state gas taxes.

EDITORIALS

 

Fresnans listened to the deepest needs of our working poor. The answers may surprise you.

Fresno Bee

Two sessions in Fresno late last year were among 14 hosted statewide to hear directly from workers who face barriers to opportunity.

 

Real fraud is Trump’s probe into voter ID

Modesto Bee

State election officials, Republicans and Democrats, are rebelling against a request for detailed voter data. Cybersecurity experts say putting the sensitive information in one place could be a gold mine for hackers.

 

Facing worsening wildfires, Congress seeks bipartisan answer. Where’s Tom McClintock?

Sacramento Bee

The Wildfire Disaster Funding Act quickly gained 61 co-sponsors. It would treat wildfires like natural disasters, and stop depleting the U.S. Forest Service budget.

 

Lack of bid competition could cost California

LA Daily News

Two state agencies tasked with overseeing state procurement contracts have failed to provide adequate oversight, a new State Auditor’s Office report has found.

 

 

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

 

Valley farmers meet with Sen. Kamala Harris

Fresno Bee

Agricultural leaders and farmers pressed their case for a reliable water supply, immigration reform and their fair share of the Farm Bill during a roundtable discussion with Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday.

 

 

Farmers seek help from Sen. Kamala Harris. What did they want most? Hint: Starts with ‘w’

Modesto Bee

Agricultural leaders and farmers pressed their case for a reliable water supply, immigration reform and their fair share of the Farm Bill during a roundtable discussion with Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday.   Harris is the former attorney general who won election last November in the race to replace outgoing Democrat Barbara Boxer. Harris is touring California this week, made good on her promise to visit the Valley to get a better understanding of the region’s needs, including its most powerful economic engine, agriculture.  See also, Senator Kamala Harris Meets With Valley Ag Leaders KMJ and

Sen. Kamala Harris makes a trip to the Central Valley Yourcentralvalley.com

 

Veterinary law emerges from the shadows

Capitol Weekly

A California statute governing blood-banking programs and transfusions for dogs has flown under the radar for the past 7 years, causing private veterinarians to break a law that they did not know existed.

 

Corcoran joins competition to lure pot industry

Hanford Sentinel

Corcoran has joined Hanford, Coalinga and Woodlake in looking to attract large marijuana commercial growing facilities that could boost these towns’ economies.  See also,

Hanford City Council votes to allow medical marijuana cultivation in industrial zone  ABC30

 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/PUBLIC SAFETY

California bill would make police body camera videos public

Los Angeles Times

New legislation from a Bay Area assemblyman would dramatically expand public access to police body camera videos in California.

 

Despite backlog of rape kits, California’s not requiring they be tested or tallied

CALmatters

After a man held a knife to her throat, forced her into her car and repeatedly raped her, Helena Lazaro underwent a painful and humiliating medical forensic examination. The 17 year old wanted her attacker caught.

 

Fresno Police Recorded At Least 6,000 Fireworks Explosions On 4th Of July

VPR

The Fresno Police Department says their gunshot detection system, known as ShotSpotter, recorded thousands of incidents of illegal fireworks being set off on the Fourth of July.

 

EDUCATION

 

How budget cuts to Medicaid would impact schools

Marketplace

Cuts to Medicaid have been at the center of the fight over health care, and one little-noticed target would be schools. When lawmakers return to Washington, D.C., next week, they’ll pick the issue back up. Both the House and Senate’s current plans would cut Medicaid spending to the poor and disabled by hundreds of billions of dollars.

 

Education Matters: California Tiny House partners with Fresno Co Office of Ed

Fresno Bee

Mosley, whose family operates California Tiny House, said the movement isn’t going anywhere and will continue to grow. In that assessment, the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools saw an opportunity to grow its career technical education program.  See also,

Education Matters: California Tiny House partners with Fresno County schools

yourcentralvalley.com

 

Regional Action to Boost College Success

PPIC

Higher education experts from Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, and the San Joaquin Valley describe their efforts to meet California’s need for college-educated workers.

 

California moves to expand K-12 computer science instruction

EdSource

Gov. Jerry Brown’s signing last week of the 2017-18 state budget included funding for two significant and complementary initiatives intended to expand K-12 student access to computer science coursework and instruction.

 

Summer and school year math programs give the very lowest achievers answers, and hope

EdSource

Cesar Conriquez, 12, was doing OK in math until 4th grade, when the curriculum turned to division. He got stuck. Really stuck. As his class moved on to more complex mathematical equations, Cesar was increasingly mired in confusion, and his grades in 4thand 5th grade plummeted.

 

California lawmakers chip away at state’s college affordability crisis

Calmatters

California’s economy is one of the world’s largest, and according to a new report, the state needs 1 million more workers with bachelor’s degrees by 2030 to keep up with economic demand.

 

Education: Creating pathways for Hispanic professors

The Business Journals

The HSI Pathways to the Professoriate program aims to train undergraduates at Hispanic-Serving Institutions for academic careers to better represent the country’s diverse student body, per The Chronicle of Higher Education.

 

Conservatives Face Discrimination at Colleges: Keith Fink’s UCLA Case

National Review

Last week the Chronicle of Higher Education wrote a lengthy report on the curious case of Keith Fink, a part-time lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA refused to renew his contract, writing in a letter that his teaching did not “meet the standard of excellence.”

 

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

 

National Gasoline Price Drops to New Low for 2017 – California at $2.94

Sierra Sun Times

July 6, 2017 – At $2.23, today’s average national gas price is the cheapest the country has seen all year. On the week, gas prices fell in 46 states. Only Illinois, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C. saw prices increase, albeit by one cent each, while Hawaii and Maine remained flat. South Carolina continues to carry the cheapest gas in the country at $1.90. Today, consumers can find gas for $2.00 or less at one out of every four gas stations in the country.

 

Environmentalists File Lawsuit Over California’s Delta Tunnels Project

San Francisco  CBS Bay Area

Environmentalist have filed a lawsuit after the federal government said last week that Northern California’s delta tunnels project would not harm endangered fish in the delta and bay.

 

Gov. Jerry Brown to call for a 2018 global climate summit in San Francisco

Los Angeles Times

Continuing his bid to act as an envoy for the U.S. on climate change, Gov. Jerry Brown plans to issue a call Thursday for a global summit on “climate action” to be held in San Francisco in the fall of 2018. See also, Jerry Brown to Announce a Climate Summit Meeting in California New York Times

 

Brown’s Beijing fling with contributors

San Francisco Chronicle

While in Beijing, Gov. Jerry Brown publicly promoted the fight against climate change. Just as important was the quiet attendance of AES, a major builder of fossil-fuel power plants in California.


A trade flap is roiling the solar industry — and Trump may have the final word
 

Los Angeles Times

In one corner is a bankrupt maker of solar panels from Georgia that says a flood of inexpensive imports from China and other countries is harming U.S. solar equipment manufacturers and a global tariff needs to be imposed. In the other corner is just about every other sector of the industry, saying a hike in the price of solar panels will lead to a dramatic downturn in sales that will result in thousands of lost jobs, especially in California.

 

Come March, 250,000 PG&E customers could pay new rates for power 

San Francisco Chronicle

If state regulators approve, a quarter of a million Californians scattered across Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s vast service territory will, in March, begin paying different prices for power at different times of day. It’s a glimpse of the future.

 

New Heat Wave Elevates Fire Danger, Accompanied by Unhealthy Air Quality

NBC Los Angeles

Another heat wave is expected to hit Southern California starting Thursday and will raise the risk of heat-related illnesses and wildfires, while the mountains and desert communities could see a chance of thunderstorms due to an increase in humidity.

 

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

 

PolitiFact statements about Health Care

PolitiFact

What is true and what is false when it comes to health care

 

Senator Dianne Feinstein Says Senate Republican Health Care Bill Devastating for Women

Sierra Sun Times

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) yesterday released the following statement highlighting the effect of the Republican health care bill on women:

 

Conservative Corner Of California Pushes To Preserve Obamacare …

NPR

Modoc County, in the northeast corner of California, is roughly the size of Connecticut. It’s so sparsely populated that the entire county has just one stoplight. The nearest Walmart is more than an hour’s drive, across the Oregon border. Same with hospitals that deliver babies.

Medicaid’s vital role for children in Trump country

Los Angeles Times

Medicaid and the related Children’s Health Insurance Progam, CHIP, provide critical protections to children in poor, rural parts of America. A majority of these areas backed Donald Trump last year. Now President Trump is pushing healthcare legislation that would dramatically cut the healthcare safety net.

Liberals, get your story straight on single payer

Theweek.com

Democrats need to take a breath and do some thinking. Do they understand exactly what it is they want to advocate for?

Scared Democrats are the hurdle to single payer

Sacramento Bee

America has reached a pivotal point in how we think about and legislate health care. While Republicans in Congress continue down the road of gutting, defunding and privatizing health insurance, many on the left and even some conservatives are swinging toward an approach that just five years ago was politically unthinkable – government-financed health insurance for all.  See also, Lawmakers push back against single-payer bullying Los Angeles Daily and Jeffe & Jeffe: The Bullying Pulpit  Fox & Hounds

 

Soaring drug prices prompt CA bills to control costs

Sacramento Bee

2016 was the year that public anger over the rising cost of prescription drugs boiled into a national outrage.  California lawmakers responded this session with a half-dozen measures targeting players across the complex supply chain that brings medications to patients and determines what they pay. To tackle what those legislators say is a problem of drug affordability, however, they’ll first have to agree on who is to blame.

When it comes to cancer surgery outcomes, volume counts 

KPCC

Patients who have cancer surgeries at hospitals that perform them infrequently are more likely to have complications, according to a study by the California Health Care Foundation.

 

Survey: Consumers Seek Healthier Options in Supermarkets

KMJ

A new survey finds that 79 percent of adults believe supermarkets should make healthier foods easier to access

 

IMMIGRATION

 

​​​​California’s ‘Sanctuary State Bill’ Advances In Assembly 

Capital Public Radio

A bill that would extend “sanctuary city” protections for immigrants across California is continuing to move through the state Legislature, after passing the Senate months ago.

9th Circuit panel: Minors who enter US illegally may not be confined without hearing

Sacramento Bee

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said immigration authorities continue to be bound by a 1997 lawsuit settlement that guaranteed court hearings for minor immigrants, set standards for their detention and established a policy in favor of their release.  See also,  9th Circuit judges: Minors who enter U.S. illegally may not be confined without court hearings  LA Times

 

Discharged. Deported. Why California may cover vets’ legal bid to return

Mercury News

Deported to Mexico, the Vietnam-era Army cook struggled to find a way to live in Tijuana —landing in the sprawling border city after serving time for a drug conviction. At age 65 he lost his home in Madera, his car and his family. It’s been years since he’s seen his 10 grandchildren.

 

Months after deportation, they do what the Mexican government will not 

Los Angeles Times

Deportees United is among a handful of grass-roots groups that have formed in recent years to help a growing number of deportees to Mexico. Since 2009, more Mexicans have been departing from the U.S. than arriving there, according to Pew Research Center, a reverse migration trend driven by job loss after the Great Recession and an increase in deportations under President Obama.

 

Hunger Strike at California’s Biggest Immigration Detention Center

KQED | California Report

Activists say that more than 30 people began a hunger strike at the Adelanto Detention Facility on Tuesday, seeking better medical care and release pending their immigration court dates.

 

JOBS AND THE ECONOMY

 

They listened to the deepest needs of the working poor. Welfare? Guess again.

Fresno Bee

There is growing number of Californians who are working, but are still in – or on the brink of – poverty. They’re struggling to support their families financially and cut off from opportunities to make their voices heard. For decades, we have been trying to solve these problems, but our success has been limited.

 

Parlier restaurant agrees to pay overtime back wages

The Business Journal

A Parlier carniceria has agreed to pay more $100,000 to its employees after it was found to be in violation of federal labor laws.

 

Lots of employees get misclassified as independent contractors, here’s why it matters

Harvard Business Review

Included on a long list of transgressions, Uber has been dogged by its decision to classify its vast network of drivers as independent contractors. Almost 400,000 Uber drivers in California and Massachusetts reached a $100 million settlement with the company in 2016 (a settlement that was later thrown out by a federal court as insufficient in the compensation it provided the claimants). 

 

Do minimum wage hikes aid workers? The jury is still out.

AEI

The minimum wage debate is far from over. Recently, two competing studies on the phased-in minimum wage hike in Seattle reached opposing conclusions about the effect on employment, wages and hours worked.

 

Moving toward a better retirement system for government and private-sector workers

OCRegister
California’s plan to automatically enroll private-sector workers who don’t have retirement plans into a state-run savings account, the Secure Choice plan, was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year. It’s a state-mandated (but not state-funded) program that requires private-sector employers who do not offer employer-sponsored retirement plans to automatically enroll their employees into individual retirement plans. And there appears to be an emerging consensus around the optimal Secure Choice plan design — an individually controlled, 401(k)-style defined-contribution retirement plan structure that could mark the dawn of a new day for responsible retirement planning.

 

Ahead of retirement wave, some states fill jobs with apprenticeships

PBS NewsHour

“Let’s make sure we’re clear on terms,” the instructor said, summoning the next presentation slide onto the big screen behind him. Obscurities such as “borrow excavation,” “grubbing” and “subbase” didn’t faze the 21 apprentices in the room. They were almost all young men, many sporting baseball caps and sunburned necks. They’d been working on construction sites for months.

LAND USE/HOUSING

 

Affordable housing crisis grips California

Capitol Weekly

California lawmakers are in the midst of trying to solve the housing crisis that is spread throughout the state. An array of housing related bills – 130 and counting – have been proposed in the legislature since January.

 

What you want to know about California’s failed housing affordability law

Los Angeles Times

Our story on California’s failed 50-year-old housing law generated lots of questions from Times readers.  The law is the state’s primary tool to encourage housing development and address a statewide shortage of homes that drives California’s affordability problems. But, as anyone who is trying to afford a home in California knows, costs are continuing to spiral upward.

 

Affordable housing can help on climate change

Sacramento Bee

In 2014, the state created the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also reducing the shortage of 1.5 million affordable homes. Now, the governor and Legislature must not forget how critical this program is to Californians’ health and to meeting our state’s climate goals.

 

Senate Bill 35 will cause further displacement of communities of color

San Francisco Examiner

Let’s set the record straight: Our organizations understand the need for more housing across the state, in San Francisco and in the Mission. It just can’t be housing that harms our most-vulnerable community members. We say, “Yes to Equitable Development In My Backyard” (YEMBY).

 

California’s Housing Supply Rx: Change Now or Lose Future Generations

Fox & Hounds

California’s housing supply and affordability crisis is well-chronicled and has attracted national attention from several noted scholars and economists. The numbers are stark: California’s median home price of $550,000[1] is one of the most expensive in the country at a time when its homeownership rate of 54 percent ranks last. In June, the Center for California Real Estate published a series of articles on what ails California – and potential solutions. The sobering conclusion: find a way to increase housing supply now or lose generations of potential homebuyers.

 

With California housing prices surging, developers say they can’t build enough homes 

LA Daily News

A new report Wednesday showed there’s no end in sight to rising home prices in California, which jumped again over the last year.


Pender: Fannie Mae making it easier to spend half your income on debt
 

San Francisco Chronicle

Fannie Mae is making it easier for some borrowers to spend up to half of their monthly pretax income on mortgage and other debt payments. But just because they can doesn’t mean they should.

 

California mounts an offensive in the bathroom wars

The Economist

“WE’RE not going to be the first edge of social change,” concedes Jim Gray, mayor of Lexington, Kentucky’s second-biggest city. “But over time we adapt.” He illustrates that; Mr Gray, a successful businessman, who has won plaudits for his leadership of a rare liberal outpost in Kentucky, is the state’s first openly gay elected official. Yet a clanking new face-off in the culture wars, opened by California against Kentucky and another seven Republican states, suggests the smooth transition he describes is by no means assured.

PUBLIC FINANCES

       

Farmersville approves budget, employees forego raises

Visalia Times Delta

2017-2018 spending plan approved, but it came at a cost.

                 

Bigelow column: Rural counties get short end of California budget

Tahoe Daily Tribune

The majority party recently enacted the largest budget in California state history.

I truly hoped leadership would craft a fiscally prudent measure, prioritizing money for rural California. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

 

TRANSPORTATION

 

Arambula praises state funding for Huron-area bridge

Fresno Business Journal

Assemblyman Dr. Joaquin Arambula is praising the California Transportation Commission’s vote to earmark $18 million in state highway funds to tear down and replace a bridge along State Route 269 north of Huron in western Fresno County. See also, Caltrans predicts new taxes will allow major increase in highway and bridge repairs 

Los Angeles Times and More than 200 state highway bridges prone to erosion from surging waters slated for repairs or replacement  Los Angeles Times

 

City of Visalia

News in Detail

Visalia Transit’s 2017 Draft Short Range Transit Plan is now available for review and comment. Comments will be accepted through Friday, August 18th. 

 

Electric car goals prompt push for more rebates in CA | The …

Sacramento Bee

Amid the cows and corn dogs, visitors to the California State Fair this month will also have the chance to try out an electric car.

For three days, the California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative plans to bring a test course and as many as a dozen models to the fairground, including the new Chrysler Pacifica, the first plug-in minivan.  See also, The Electric Car Revolution Is Accelerating   Bloomberg

WATER

How climate change could threaten the water supply for millions of Californians

Sacramento Bee

Scientists from government and academia say rising sea levels caused by climate change will bring more salt water into the Delta, the hub of California’s water-delivery network. As a result, millions of gallons of fresh water will have to be flushed through the Delta, and out into the ocean, to keep salinity from inundating the massive pumping stations near Tracy. That will leave less water available for San Joaquin Valley farmers and the 19 million Southern Californians and Bay Area residents who depend on Delta water – eventually as much as 475,000 acre-feet of water each year, enough to fill Folsom Lake halfway,

 

They’ve demolished most of Oroville Dam’s troubled spillway. What’s next?

Sacramento Bee

The preliminaries are just about over. Permanent structural repairs are about to begin at Oroville Dam.

 

Grossi: The California Drought Isn’t Over, It Just Went Underground

Water Deeply

Drought conditions continue for thousands of rural residents in the San Joaquin valley who rely on groundwater. And the race to dig deeper wells is a losing game for small communities and those on private wells.  See also, California bill takes aim at Mojave Desert groundwater project with ties to Trump nominee  Deseret Sun.

 

Waterwise: State budget includes funds for water projects

Visalia Times-Delta

California’s 2017-2018 fiscal year budget includes $17 million in allocations to tackle the Golden State’s drinking water crisis’ immediate needs, the Community Water Center reported.

 

Environmentalists File Lawsuit Over California’s Delta Tunnels Project

CBS SF Bay Area

Environmentalist have filed a lawsuit after the federal government said last week that Northern California’s delta tunnels project would not harm endangered fish in the delta and bay.

 

California’s lakes are full again but fishing remains in a drought – LA …

Los Angeles Times

As he prepared to launch his fishing boat from the dock at Castaic Lake, longtime angler Dan Curtis recalled conditions two years earlier when the state’s worst drought shriveled the reservoir to nearly a third of its total capacity.

 

High levels of dangerous algae are blooming in the San Luis Reservoir

ABC30

Officials with Department of Water Resources said they found dangerous levels of the blue green algae bloom after testing the water by the Basalt Boat Ramp.

After the drought, the ‘Killer Kern’ river is a different beast 

Los Angelest Times

Deep in the brush along a churning stretch of the Kern River, they began the morning with a grim task: the search for a body.

“Xtra”

 

NPR tweets Declaration of Independence, and Trump supporters are angered

Fresno Bee

To commemorate the Fourth of July and what the holiday represents, National Public Radio filled its Twitter feed with the words of the Declaration of Independence on Tuesday–and people freaked out.

 

Cities fight bill to streamline cell antenna installations

Mercury News

Lawmakers in 179 California cities including San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco are fighting a bill to streamline permitting for wireless antennas on public buildings, streetlamps and traffic signal poles that they say would limit local control over where they go.

 

Daylight Saving Time is here to stay in California

The Mercury News

Californians who cherish their sunny summer evenings need no longer fret about the prospect of losing Daylight Saving Time.

A bill that could have ended the time change, setting the state’s clocks permanently on winter’s Standard Time, is now pushing in the opposite direction — everlasting Daylight Saving Time.

 

Two new dairy princesses selected

Visalia Times-Delta

During National Dairy Month, four young ladies were selected to represent the California dairy industry. On June 30, Tristan Rowell of Lemoore was selected as the 2017 District 7 Dairy Princess for the California Milk Advisory Board. A few weeks earlier, Hayley Fernandes of Tulare was selected as the District 9 Dairy Princess.

 

How Are We Going To Make Fresno “Cool”, Yo?

The Fresnan

We have a problem here. A problem I bounce around in a post from time to time but never take on directly.  What will it take for Fresno to be coqansidered a cool city?

 

Madera releases utility app and website

Madera Tribune

The City of Madera has launched a new website and app for mobile devices, MyWater Madera, that allows residents to digitally track and manage their water usage and utility accounts.

 

Trump is letting companies spy on your children. Protect their internet privacy.

Sacramento Bee

With a stroke of a pen shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump reversed internet policies that were intended to keep broadband providers from infringing on your child’s privacy.

 

Effort to bar child marriage in California runs into opposition

San Francisco Chronicle

A Bay Area legislator was shocked when he learned from a young constituent that while Californians cannot legally consent to sex until they are 18, they can — with the permission of a parent and a judge’s order — get married at any age, even if their spouse is many years older.


It’s magical legal thinking to say Trump can’t reverse Obama’s national monuments

Los Angeles Times

Suppose President Trump declared much of California, Nevada and Oregon — states that just happened to vote against him — off-limits to economic development and recreational use. Suppose he barred all mining, grazing, agriculture and even camping from these states’ federal lands (roughly 46% of California, 85% of Nevada and 53% of Oregon) under a law to preserve national monuments of scientific and historical interest.

                          

New report swings and misses on communities and next generation broadband

Brookings Institution

What is the role of cities in assuring that their residents have the affordable bandwidth necessary to thrive in the 21st century information economy? Municipal governments—more than other jurisdictions—will directly affect the cost of deploying fiber, the foundation for the abundant bandwidth that will serve next generation networks like 5G Mobile and the Internet of Things. Yet with a huge range of choices on how to influence their local broadband market, governments can struggle to understand how best to proceed.

 

Sikh Community Saves Town’s Independence Day Fireworks Display

NBC News

When the mayor of Visalia, in California’s agricultural Central Valley, mentioned to a local Sikh businessman that the city of 120,000 might have to forgo a July Fourth fireworks display because of financial concerns, the religious community jumped.

 

Lawsuit Targets California’s Million-Person Legislative Seats

New York Magazine

The Democratic Party will hit a new nadir in state legislative seats after suffering more losses in November’s elections, highlighting the devastation up and down the party across the nation.