June 18, 2019

18Jun


POLICY & POLITICS

North SJ Valley:

Stanislaus County looks at buying voting system. Is foreign influence really a threat?

Modesto Bee

Stanislaus County could enter an agreement with the state for the purchase of vote-counting equipment before the March 2020 primary.

City Council could vote Tuesday on new budget

Stockton Record

The City Council will discuss and possibly vote Tuesday to approve a proposed 2019-20 fiscal year budget that is more than $36 million greater than the current spending plan, which expires June 30.

EDITORIAL:Modesto city manager is outraged by insurance debacle. But he largely created it

Modesto Bee

Why hasn’t Modesto City Manager Joe Lopez come clean about his role in the insurance fiasco at City Hall?

Central SJ Valley:

This Valley Congressman has made his pick for president in 2020

Fresno Bee

Rep. Jim Costa, (D-Fresno) on Monday announced he is endorsing California Sen. Kamala Harris in her bid for president. Costa, who has represented the state’s 16th Congressional district since 2005, pointed to Harris’ plan to protect Dreamers in his endorsement.

Nunes hired a longtime supporter with little experience to handle 2018 campaign ad buys

Los Angeles Times

For 13 years, Rep. Devin Nunes relied on a trusted, experienced political consultant, Tim Orman, for his campaign advertising.

The sinking of California

California Sun

The ground is literally sinking beneath our feet in California.

South SJ Valley:

A month later, its city manager still missing, small-town McFarland tries to move on

Fresno Bee

Manuel Cantu has a tough time talking about his city manager in the present tense. John was well-known in the community, he said. John turned the city around. John, he said, was a great guy.

State:

A Pride Flag is flying over California’s Capitol. Gavin Newsom says it’s sending a message

Fresno Bee

For the first time in state history, the flag of LGBTQ Pride flies above the California Capitol. The Rainbow Flag, which sits below the U.S. and California state flags, will fly until July 1.

See also:

California vaccine bill amended to allow more exemptions, win Gavin Newsom’s support

Sacramento Bee

A controversial bill that restricts vaccine medical exemptions for students enrolling in California schools was amended on Tuesday.

See also:

State Auditor Talks About Citizens Re-Drawing The Election Maps

Capital Public Radio

Following passage of Proposition 11 in 2008, the citizenry of California draws the maps for state Senate, Assembly, Congress and Board of Equalization Districts. The State Auditor will describe what the Citizen’s Commission will do and how to apply.

Why fighting for clean water with climate change money worries some California lawmakers

CALmatters

Combat climate change, or clean up California’s water? Those alarmed by the Legislature’s decision to dip into a greenhouse gas fund to pay for clean drinking water may need to get used to it: constitutional restrictions on spending that money are set to expire in 2021.

California’s Newsom takes aim: GOP destined for ‘waste bin of history’

Politico

The former San Francisco mayor has spent the better part of the last decade waiting his turn. Now he’s on the attack.

See also:

California lawmakers negotiate new business, phone taxes

Associated Press

California lawmakers are negotiating a pair of proposed tax increases as the deadline approaches for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a $214.8 billion operating budget. Lawmakers approved the budget bill last week, but lawmakers still must pass more than a dozen “trailer bills” that detail how the money must be spent.

Federal:

California congresswoman supports Trump impeachment inquiry

Bakersfield Californian

Freshman U.S. Rep. Katie Porter on Monday threw her support behind an impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump, adding another Democratic lawmaker to those clamoring for the move.

See also:

Supreme Court Justices Split Along Unexpected Lines In 3 Cases

Capital Public Radio

With less than two weeks left in the U.S. Supreme Court’s term, the justices handed down four decisions on Monday. Defying predictions, three were decided by shifting liberal-conservative coalitions.

See also:

Pentagon to send 1,000 more troops to Middle East as tensions rise with Iran

Los Angeles Times

The Pentagon said Monday it was sending about 1,000 more troops, reconnaissance aircraft and missile defense units to the Middle East, the latest U.S. military response to growing tensions with Iran.

See also:

Is the census ready for its online debut?

Roll Call

Next year the federal government will launch its largest public-facing online portal in years, for an undertaking facing risks ranging from foreign cyberattacks to collapsing under its own weight: the 2020 census.

Elections 2020:

Trump campaign parting ways with pollsters following internal numbers leak

abc30

The Trump campaign is cutting ties with some of its pollsters after data was leaked and first reported by ABC that showed the president losing in key battleground states.

See also:

Oakland police protected Kamala Harris’ campaign rally. Now they’d like to get paid for it.

Sacramento Bee

Here’s one thing California Sen. Kamala Harris has in common with President Donald Trump: Both of them owe money for campaign events.

Meet the candidates: Kamala Harris and Andrew Yang

Politifact

All candidate bios will eventually be findable on this page.

Why Democratic presidential candidates shouldn’t promise to slash defense spending

Brookings

As an alternative to pledging major cuts to the U.S. defense budget, Michael O’Hanlon and Frank Rose share a few targeted ways Democratic candidates can distinguish themselves from President Trump on issues of national security without compromising U.S. interests abroad.

Other:

ValleyPBS board votes to end contract with CEO after seven months on job

Fresno Bee

Seven months after taking over as the CEO for ValleyPBS, Jenny Toste has lost her contract with the public television station.  The ValleyPBS Board of Directors voted to end Toste’s contract with the station on Friday, according to a short news release.

See also:

Clovis 9/11 memorial undergoing big expansion

abc30

Demolition crews ripped out trees and broke concrete at Schneider Electric’s 9/11 Memorial in Clovis on Monday. They leveled dirt to make way for a new expansion project planners say will be unlike anything the West Coast has ever seen before.

Staffers at The Bakersfield Californian informed in vague email of final paychecks as new owners take over June 30

KGET

All union-represented staffers at The Bakersfield Californian were notified by email Monday they’ll receive their final paychecks from the company June 30, the day the paper’s sale to Canadian businessman Steven Malkowich becomes official.

‘Long may she wave’

Porterville Recorder

A slight breeze in the air sent a chill through the heat of Friday evening as the Grocery Outlet parking lot began to fill with people who came out to enjoy the 38th annual Flag Day Celebration on June 14.

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

Sunday, June 23, at 10 a.m. on ABC30 – Maddy Report: “Fighting Fire with Fire: Rethinking Forest Management” – Guest: Pedro Nava, Chair of California Little Hoover Commission. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, June 23, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report – Valley Views Edition:  “How Prepared is California for Natural Disaster, Generally and Forest Fires, in Particular?” – Guests: Christina Curry, Cal OES Deputy Director of Planning, Preparedness and Prevention and Pedro Nava, Chair of California Little Hoover Commission. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, June 23, at 7:30 a.m. on UniMas 61 (KTTF) – El Informe Maddy: “Fighting Fire with Fire: Rethinking Forest Management” – Guest: Little Hoover Commission Representative, Julissa Delgado. Host: Maddy Institute Program Coordinator, Mark Keppler.

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

Driverless tractor takes Valley farmers into the future of harvesting

abc30

This tractor is ready to take farmers and ranchers into the future without a driver.

Living near marijuana dispensaries makes youth more likely to use it, study finds

Los Angeles Times

Young adults who live in neighborhoods with a higher number of medical marijuana dispensaries use pot more frequently than their peers and have more positive views about the drug, according to a study released by the Rand Corp.

Potent pot, vulnerable teens trigger concerns in first states to legalize marijuana

Washington Post

The first two states to legalize recreational marijuana are starting to grapple with teenagers’ growing use of highly potent pot, even as both boost the industry and reap huge tax windfalls from its sales.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime:

Justices say states can continue to prosecute for the same crime as federal government

abc30

The Supreme Court said states can continue to prosecute for the same crime as the federal government, in a case that could have expanded the presidential pardon power.

See also:

More Violence, Or Vigilance? Reports Of Domestic Abuse Are Rising In Fresno

VPR

Domestic violence remains commonplace in the San Joaquin Valley—in fact, local law enforcement agencies warned in May that cases appear to be increasing.

Open Forum: Exaggerating California crime to protect their livelihoods

San Francisco Chronicle

California has seen seven years of transformative justice system reforms: AB109, enacted in 2011, lowered the prison population; Proposition 47, approved by voters in 2014, reduced certain nonviolent crimes to misdemeanors; Prop. 57, passed in 2016, gave more people a chance at parole and reduced prosecutors’ power to try children in adult court; and, in March, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a moratorium on the death penalty.

Public Safety:

CA Assembly approves phone bill fee to improve 911 system

abc30

The California Assembly has voted to raise fees on phones to pay for an upgrade of the state’s 911 system. It’s estimated to total about 34 cents on each bill and includes landlines and cellphones.

Besides more lives, what do we have to lose? Fresno should pony up for Advance Peace

Fresno Bee

Gang-banging in Fresno no longer pays. Because of this most gang members, including those who commit the bulk of the city’s shootings, can be steered onto a different path.

Government fails to release data on deaths in police custody

Fresno Bee

More than four years after Congress required the Department of Justice to assemble information about those who die in police custody, the agency has yet to implement a system for collecting that data or release any new details of how and why people die under the watch of law enforcement.

Many US jails fail to stop inmate suicides

Fresno Bee

Suicide, long the leading cause of death in U.S. jails, hit a high of 50 deaths for every 100,000 inmates in 2014, the latest year for which the government has released data. That’s 2½ times the rate of suicides in state prisons and about 3½ times that of the general population.

‘No evident justification‘ for California prison guard raises in contract, analyst warns

Sacramento Bee

The 3 percent raise Gov. Gavin Newsom has agreed to give state prison correctional officers has “no evident justification” based on the state’s hiring and retention needs, according to a new report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Sacramento set to require panic buttons for hotel workers to protect them from sex harassment

Sacramento Bee

Sacramento will likely soon require 60 hotels in the city to give their workers “panic buttons” to protect them from sexual assault and harassment.

Beneath their rival efforts to reduce police shootings, two lawmakers share one common experience as mothers

CALmatters

To reduce the use of force by California police, two Democrats began with competing approaches: Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, a firebrand from a liberal San Diego district, aimed to crack down by setting a tougher standard for justifiable police shootings. Sen. Anna Caballero, a centrist who flipped a red Central Valley district blue, introduced a police-backed vision to reduce deadly force through improved officer training.

See also:

EDITORIAL: California sheriffs need strong citizen oversight

Sacramento Bee

There may not be a new sheriff in town, but if Assemblyman Kevin McCarty has his way, at least the sheriff may have some badly needed supervision.

Fire:

McFarland withholds more than $680,000 in contract dispute with Kern County Fire Department

Bakersfield Californian

The city of McFarland is withholding $681,120 from the Kern County Fire Department in a contract dispute over fire services performed over the last two years, a grand jury reported Monday.

California Officials Want More Notice From PG&E Before Outages Related To Fire Risk

Capital Public Radio

It’s been only eight months since Pacific Gas and Electric began turning off the power as a way to prevent its equipment from starting wildfires. Emergency operations officials are asking for more notice from the utility.

See also:

California needs a big pot of money for wildfires. But how big? And who pays?

Los Angeles Times

California leaders are calling for a giant pot of money to help electricity providers cover wildfire liabilities, a critical move to head off another utility bankruptcy and also to prevent Wall Street from hammering utility stock prices again.

As California Wildfire Season Looms, Finding Tree Trimmers Is a New Problem

New York Times

Pacific Gas & Electric has a big problem. Its equipment keeps coming into contact with dry trees and shrubs and starting devastating wildfires. So the company is scrambling to trim or cut down hundreds of thousands of trees across its vast Northern California territory.

See also:

Wet California winter is a boon for skiers and water supply. But it brings a threat: Wildfires.

Washington Post

This early June morning is Boyd Shepler’s birthday, No. 66, and he is spending it in a classic California way: a few hours of skiing in a snowflake-filled morning, then a round of golf in the dry afternoon sun.

EDITORIAL: California’s wildfire commission delivers its reform plan, only to be promptly ignored

Los Angeles Times

The five members of the Commission on Catastrophic Wildfire Cost and Recovery were given no small task: Dive into the highly wonky issues of electric utilities, finance and insurance to come up with a fair and workable plan to spread the cost of future wildfires caused by power lines.

ECONOMY / JOBS

Economy:

Even longtime backers of tariffs say Trump is pushing them too far

Los Angeles Times

New Balance Athletics Inc. has long advocated for and benefited from tariffs, competing with Nike Inc. and other footwear companies as it makes shoes in the United States. But now it’s among the critics of President Trump’s duties testifying at a public hearing that started Monday.

See also:

Has the Federal Reserve Lost Its Mojo?

WSJ

The central bank has less control over market interest rates today than at any time in its history.

Trump may be about to face his biggest test yet on the economy

Washington Post

President Trump faces a number of major decisions on trade and the budget in the coming months just as the U.S. economy faces the biggest head winds of his tenure, forcing him to decide whether to recalibrate as recession fears mount for next year.

Fed Debates Whether Rate-Cut Moment Has Arrived

WSJ

Policy makers could weigh prospects for U.S.-China trade progress at next week’s G-20.

Oil’s Slide Highlights Global-Growth Fears

WSJ

Breakdown in U.S.-China trade talks has also hit demand for other commodities, like copper and cotton.

Jobs:

Postmates — Like Uber And Lyft — Is Working With California Labor Groups To Keep Independent Contractors. Critics Aren’t Sold.

Capital Public Radio

In a remarkable shift from their historically contentious relationship with organized labor, gig companies are negotiating with unions to potentially extend benefits to their hundreds of thousands of California workers — as long as the companies can continue to classify them as contractors.

Mexicans have a special route to the US job market

San Francisco Chronicle

As a candidate, Donald Trump began his campaign by attacking Mexicans. Now, some here legally fear they’ll be collateral damage in his trade wars.

Skills-based Immigration and California’s Workforce

PPIC

The immigration plan recently announced by the White House prioritizes immigrants with higher levels of education. What might this mean for California immigration overall and for the state’s workforce?

Campaigning over gig work

CALmatters

The fight over the future of gig work is taking on all the earmarks of a political campaign.

New workers’ compensation battle on horizon

CALmatters

About once a decade – or to put it another way, about once in each governor’s reign – powerful interest groups wage political war over the state’s system of compensating workers for job-related illnesses and injuries.

EDUCATION

K-12:

Toros for Torres

Madera Tribune

After weeks of wrangling and campaigning over the naming of a mascot for the New Matilda Torres High School, Madera Unified trustees Tuesday night chose Toros, Spanish for bulls, to help give the new facility its identity.

How does a $50 million charter scam work? Here’s what happened in California (before 11 people were indicted).

Mercury News

Late last month, San Diego officials indicted 11 people in what they described as a charter scam that defrauded the state of California of more than $50 million in education funds.

SUSD’s push for new headquarters takes step forward

Stockton Record

Tuesday, SUSD’s extended search for a new home may take a major leap forward, with the potential landing spot turning out to be the same location the district tried to move to 25 years ago.

Legislation would ratchet down on charter schools

Capitol Weekly

Assembly Bill 1505 would give school districts the right to deny charter schools if they believe they would negatively impact neighborhood schools’ finances, academics or facilities. It would also effectively eliminate the appeal process, allowing charter schools to appeal a denial only if there was a procedural violation. Assembly Bill 1507 would prohibit school districts from approving a charter school outside their boundaries.

The Impact of Expanding Public Preschool on Child Poverty in California

PPIC

High-quality preschool has many benefits, such as promoting early skill development in young children and supporting work among parents. More investments in public preschool could also help reduce child poverty by subsidizing an important family expense.

Does Head Start work? The debate over the Head Start Impact Study, explained

Brookings

In 1998, Congress authorized the Head Start Impact Study to determine whether the federal early childhood education program improved school readiness. Lauren Bauer explains how the study’s imperfections have allowed researchers to learn more about Head Start’s positive impacts.

Higher Ed:

California Energy Research Center receives $500k grant for energy, education

Bakersfield Californian

A collaborative program headed by Cal State Bakersfield will receive $500,000 to conduct energy research and open the door to more students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

The federal government won’t protect student borrowers. California must step up

Sacramento Bee

California should act to protect millions of its residents by being the first state in the country to adopt a law requiring student loan companies to treat borrowers fairly and giving borrowers the right to hold these companies accountable when they fail to meet basic servicing standards.

Affording college a top worry among California voters

EdSource

Voters in some of the state’s northernmost areas and in several eastern counties have higher concerns about college affordability.

Apprenticeships:

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ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY

Environment:

Mosquito release underway in Fresno, Clovis

abc30

Male mosquitos are being released into Fresno and Clovis neighborhoods, ready to mate. But the females who seek them out will not reproduce.

Questions remain on chemical spill incident that killed man near Los Banos

Merced Sun Star

Questions remain about the circumstances surrounding a hazardous materials spill reported Thursday outside of Los Banos — an incident that left one man dead and injured at least one other person.

Asian countries take a stand against the rich world’s plastic waste

Los Angeles Times

The shipments were part of a decades-old practice in which rich countries including the United States sent used plastic to Asia to be recycled. Often, the shipments included contaminated waste that couldn’t be recycled but made it past customs checks anyway, and countries had few legal avenues to send it back.

Will the G-20 provide the urgent leadership we need on climate action?

Brookings

As G-20 leaders, whose countries account for more than 80% of global emissions, prepare to meet in Osaka for their annual summit, Amar Bhattacharya explains how they can push forward on the world’s ambitious climate goals.

Democrats want companies to disclose their climate risks — and fossil fuel industry is worried

Politico

Democratic presidential candidates have a sweeping array of proposals to fight climate change, but virtually all the leading hopefuls agree on one relatively simple proposal: forcing companies to disclose the risks they face from a warming atmosphere.

Energy:

The Price of Owning the Power Grid

KQED

Environmental activists in San Francisco have long called for the city to have its own public power system. The idea never took off until PG&E went bankrupt, again, in January. The private utility company owns most of the power grid that delivers the city’s power, but S.F. leaders worry PG&E will raise rates and prioritize profits over reliable, safe power. Now city leaders are looking at buying PG&E  lines, and are considering what it would take if San Francisco ran power on its own grid. The city will discuss Monday it whether to move forward with a study into how San Francisco could go about operating its own system.

Trump Administration Weighs Further Boost to Ethanol

WSJ

Policy changes could include fewer exemptions to mandates, helping farmers stung by China tariffs.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Health:

California vaccine bill amended to allow more exemptions, win Gavin Newsom’s support

Sacramento Bee

A controversial bill that restricts vaccine medical exemptions for students enrolling in California schools was amended on Tuesday.

See also:

Meth In The Morning, Heroin At Night: Inside The Seesaw Struggle of Dual Addiction

Capital Public Radio

Many users now mix opioids with stimulants such as meth and cocaine. Researchers say efforts to get doctors to reduce opioid prescriptions may have driven some users to buy meth on the street instead.

New DNA test beats others at hunting down germs that inflame the brain, UC study finds

Sacramento Bee

Right now, neurologists don’t have one test that can identify multiple causes of inflammatory neurological diseases such as encephalitis and meningitis. But UC San Francisco researchers say their new DNA test hunted down more of these pathogens than any conventional test did in a newly released study.

Cancer taught me that getting old isn’t something to fear — it’s a privilege

Los Angeles Times

What if instead of dreading aging, we continued to idealize it? As children, after all, we champ at the bit to do grown-up things: stay up late, drive a car, fall in love. But as we get older, we romanticize youth, and lose that craving for maturity.

As price of insulin soars, Americans caravan to Canada for lifesaving medicine

Washington Post

Like millions of Americans, Greenseid and Nystrom are stressed and outraged by the rising costs of prescription drugs in the United States — a problem Republicans and Democrats alike have promised to fix.

Climate Change-Fueled Valley Fever is Hitting Farmworkers Hard

Civil Eats

The potentially deadly disease is caused by a soil-borne fungus made worse by rising rates of dust storms. In California’s Central Valley, farmworkers are bearing the brunt of the problem.

See also:

Human Services:

How well does California care for children? New report ranks state just below Kentucky

Sacramento Bee

California’s efforts to improve health care for children is being dimmed by high rents and housing prices, poorly performing schools, expensive child care and a host of other challenges, according to a new report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

See also:

How do we make America happy again? We start by studying well-being

Los Angeles Times

To make America happy again, society has to figure out how to make our country whole. Understanding what divides Americans – and what gives them hope — could be critical to improving their well-being and the nation’s.

In California, New Drug Treatment Money Also Means New Rules

KQED

Providers are especially concerned about the cap of two residential treatment stays per year. People leave treatment prematurely for all kinds of reasons, including family emergencies or because they just got overwhelmed. Plus, drugs like meth alter a person’s brain, making it harder to control impulses and make decisions — like whether to stay in treatment.

Removing birth control barriers

CALmatters

California legislators stepped toward removing one more barrier to contraception Monday, on a day when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge by a Catholic order seeking to limit birth control access.

California Tests a Digital ‘Fire Alarm’ for Mental Distress

New York Times

The state is teaming up with Silicon Valley to make mental health services more available. Promises abound, and so do potential problems.

Potent pot, vulnerable teens trigger concerns in first states to legalize marijuana

Washington Post

The first two states to legalize recreational marijuana are starting to grapple with teenagers’ growing use of highly potent pot, even as both boost the industry and reap huge tax windfalls from its sales.

IMMIGRATION

Trump threatens to deport millions beginning next week

Fresno Bee

President Donald Trump is threatening to remove millions of people in the country illegally. In a late-night tweet Monday, Trump says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will begin the removal process next week.

See also:

This Mexico border city is ground zero for migrants deported from US

Stockton Record

In test of a deterrent, Ciudad Juarez makes hasty plans for US to dump thousands of migrants within days.

Skills-based Immigration and California’s Workforce

PPIC

The immigration plan recently announced by the White House prioritizes immigrants with higher levels of education. What might this mean for California immigration overall and for the state’s workforce?

LAND USE/HOUSING

Land Use:

$4 billion in state government construction getting underway in Sacramento

Sacramento Bee

Construction has begun on $1.2 billion worth of new state government buildings in Sacramento. Estimated construction costs for projects already in the pipeline top $4 billion.

Housing Crunch Sends Bigger Populations to Smaller Towns

PEW Charitable Trusts

Cities with fewer than 200,000 residents grew faster than larger metropolises between 2017 and 2018 as high housing prices chased many people away from big cities and their closest suburbs.

Housing:

Real Estate Dominates ‘Opportunity Zone’ Tax Break

PEW Charitable Trusts

Almost two years after the tax break became law, only a handful of people have started funds that focus on operating businesses.

Cities pledge to find solutions to California’s homeless crisis

CALmatters

With homelessness worsening, Californians are rightly frustrated that our state, with its abundance of wealth and resources, has not made better progress in helping people get off the streets and into housing.

PUBLIC FINANCES

City proposal would cut funding for Fulton Street maintenance

abc30

Merchants worry a funding cut could eventually cause the fountains on Fulton to close. They believe a city council proposal to reduce Fulton Street maintenance funding by $200,000 could be catastrophic.

Dolores Huerta backs anti-loan sharking measure in CA

Fresno Bee

Predatory lenders are preying on Californians where consumer protection laws are weaker than 37 other states.

California lawmakers negotiate new business, phone taxes

Bakersfield Californian

California lawmakers are negotiating a pair of proposed tax increases as the deadline approaches for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a $214.8 billion operating budget.

CalPERS using more Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria in investment strategy

Public CEO

CalPERS is stepping up its ESG investment program, despite evidence that funds based only on environmental, social and corporate governance strategies have tended to underperform.The big pension system, an early ESG leader, is half-way through a five-year plan that includes getting companies to report and reduce climate-changing carbon emissions and using ESG factors to help analyze and select its own investments.

California lawmakers negotiate new business, phone taxes

Associated Press

California lawmakers are negotiating a pair of proposed tax increases as the deadline approaches for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a $214.8 billion operating budget. Lawmakers approved the budget bill last week, but lawmakers still must pass more than a dozen “trailer bills” that detail how the money must be spent.

TRANSPORTATION

Prices tumble at Valley gas pumps. Where can you find the region’s cheapest fuel?

Fresno Bee

Throughout California and much of the central San Joaquin Valley, gasoline prices are continuing to tumble relative to their peak in early May. Prices statewide and in the Valley fell by an average of about seven cents per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline just in the past week.

See also:

Project to widen Willow Ave begins

abc30

Major construction started on the Willow Avenue widening project Monday in Fresno County. The project will expand the increasingly busy roadway to three lanes in each direction along two-mile stretch Between Copper Avenue and Shepherd Avenue.

WATER

Let’s protect San Joaquin Valley residents from floods

Modesto Bee

Modesto, Stockton and other communities along the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers face growing flood risk. It’s time to face this threat – and to solve it.

Officials hope first drowning victim of the 2019 summer season is also the last

Bakersfield Californian

The Kern River Basin has experienced a huge water year, which included a twice-average snowpack and an unusually wet May. As a result, the river has been flowing fast and full and dangerous.

Why fighting for clean water with climate change money worries some California lawmakers

CALmatters

Combat climate change, or clean up California’s water? Those alarmed by the Legislature’s decision to dip into a greenhouse gas fund to pay for clean drinking water may need to get used to it: constitutional restrictions on spending that money are set to expire in 2021.

“Xtra”

Juneteenth celebration in Fresno

abc30

People from all backgrounds celebrated Juneteenth on Saturday here in the Valley. The 41st Annual Juneteenth Celebration took place at Frank H. Ball Park in Southwest Fresno.

Week-long camp gives kids hands-on experience caring for animals

abc30

Kids are getting some hands-on experience taking care of animals at the Central California SPCA this week.