Maddy Institute – March 27, 2019

27Mar

POLICY & POLITICS

North SJ Valley:

Merced builder pleads guilty, admits bribing school board member in public corruption probe

Fresno Bee

Gregory Opinski admits to paying former Los Banos Unified School District board member Dominic Falasco money to vote him construction manager for Mercey Springs Elementary project. He avoided prison time.

EDITORIAL: Kevin Blake’s bar-brawl case is now over. But regaining Merced’s trust has just begun

Merced-Sun Star

A Merced County sheriff’s sergeant, Kevin Blake is also a Merced city councilman who has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of public disturbance following fights at two downtown bars.

Central SJ Valley:

Leaders discuss state of Madera County

Madera Tribune

Elected officials of Chowchilla and the city and county of Madera attempted to rally community pride during the recent annual State of the County luncheon.

Amid Teacher Salary Negotiations, Madera Unified Struggles With Overcrowding, Limited Resources

VPR

Representatives from Madera Unified School District, just north of Fresno, met on Monday to discuss a new offer regarding salaries and health benefits. If needs aren’t met, the teachers’ union has said it could be one step closer to a strike, following in the footsteps of Los Angeles and Oakland educators.

Fresno Unified board member fined nearly $1,000 for campaign contribution violations

Fresno Bee

Fresno Unified trustee Valerie Davis has been fined $968 by the state Fair Political Practices Commission for failing to report large contributions to her 2018 campaign in the mandated timeframe.

Clovis elects Drew Bessinger for mayor

Clovis Roundup

Clovis elected Drew Bessinger as mayor at its city council meeting on Monday, March 25.

Bessinger, who is taking the place of Bob Whalen, said he is honored and humbled for the opportunity to serve in a community that always looks out for its citizens.

South SJ Valley:

PuebloFest civil rights lawsuit against Tulare and its police chief detailed by attorney

Fresno Bee

Attorney Emilio Huerta describes a federal lawsuit against the City of Tulare and its police chief over alleged civil rights violations for characterizing the Mexican music festival, PuebloFest, as a Mexican cartel and gang gathering.

● PuebloFest promoters sue Tulare Visalia Times Delta

Tulare school among many with lead-tainted drinking water

Visalia Times Delta

The California Public Interest Research Group’s Education Fund found “pervasive lead contamination” in school drinking water. California’s safe drinking water “crisis” affects 1 million California students each year, according to the report.

State:

Gov. Newsom Says Work Continues On Possible Rent Compromise

Capital Public Radio

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he’s continuing to work with state lawmakers on what he hopes will be a deal to stabilize California’s rising rents without putting small landlords out of business.

California voters could be asked to impose an estate tax, replacing the one Trump loosened

Los Angeles Times

California voters would consider a state-mandated tax on the assets of wealthy residents, one that could generate as much as $1 billion a year for low-income families, under legislation introduced in the state Legislature on Tuesday.

See also:

● Californians could vote on raising estate taxes San Francisco Chronicle

Bill to ban long paper receipts in CA clears first hurdle

abc30

A bill that would ban long, paper receipts has cleared its first hurdle in the state legislature. The bill would require businesses that earn more than $1 million a year to give electronic receipts unless customers ask for a printed one.

● EDITORIAL: Banning paper receipts just more pettifoggery CALmatters

Auditor’s investigation exposed nepotism at DIR. Why did she try to hide it?

Sacramento Bee

After nearly a year of delay, California State Auditor Elaine Howle finally did the right thing by releasing details of her investigation into charges of nepotism at the Department of Industrial Relations. The surprising details in the report make it clear why some people wanted it to remain secret.

California controller ‘gravely concerned’ about state’s $1 billion accounting program

Sacramento Bee

State Controller Betty Yee is “gravely concerned” that problems with the state’s accounting software could undermine California’s credit worthiness, she wrote in a recent letter to legislators.

Voters handed California Democrats a clear progressive mandate. Will they deliver?

Sacramento Bee

Democrats in Sacramento now have such power, holding a super duper majority in both houses of the California State Legislature, a supermajority complemented by a new governor who was elected on a bold, progressive vision for the state.

Trump planning a rare California visit. Tickets start at $15,000

San Francisco Chronicle

President Trump is expected to come to California next week for a Los Angeles-area fundraiser. His popularity has never been high in the state, and he can expect plenty of protests.

No, California Didn’t Just Name A Building After A Woman For The First Time (But It Was Close)

Capital Public Radio

Some news organizations, state lawmakers and political groups cheered the naming of the Secretary of State building after March Fong Eu as historic, saying it’s the first state building to be named after a woman. But that’s not exactly right.

California has never had a female governor. These 3 women want a shot at it in 2026

Fresno Bee

California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, State Treasurer Fiona Ma and Controller Betty T. Yee all said at a Sacramento Press Club event they are open to running for governor in 2026.

New Ruling on San Diego’s Pension Reform Measure Sheds Some Light on Reform’s Future, But Big Questions Remain

PublicCEO

On Monday, the Court of Appeal declined to invalidate Proposition B, the city’s legally dubious 2012 pension reform measure, but it confirmed employees must be compensated for lost benefits. It’s not yet clear how much that will cost.

Federal:

Justice Department sides with lower court, says Obamacare should end

abc30

The U.S. Department of Justice now says it supports a federal judge’s ruling that the entire Affordable Care Act should be overturned.

See also:

● Trump reopens Obamacare repeal debate, and Democrats are thrilled Los Angeles Times

● The Trump approach to healthcare: Break it and figure out the rest later Los Angeles Times

● Trump Greenlights Major Medicaid Changes PEW

● Democrats Pivot Hard to Health Care After Trump Moves to Strike Down Affordable Care Act New York Times

● What Happens if Obamacare Is Struck Down? New York Times

● Trump Administration Renews Attempt to Topple Affordable Care Act Wall Street Journal

● With Obamacare under siege, Democrats fire back Roll Call

● EDITORIAL: Trump is attacking the Affordable Care Act yet again San Francisco Chronicle

● OPINION: Republicans Really Hate Health Care New York Times

House unable to override Trump veto on border

Bakersfield Californian

The Democratic-led House has failed to override President Donald Trump’s first veto, salvaging his effort to steer billions of extra dollars to erecting barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border.

● House fails to override Trump’s veto over border emergency declaration Los Angeles Times

● House fails to override Trump veto on border emergency Politico

Why Kamala Harris didn’t vote on a climate change bill after sponsoring one just like it

Fresno Bee

Both California Sens. Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein voted “present” on the progressive Green New Deal. Sen. Mitch McConnell called for a vote on the non-binding climate change proposal.

Biden rips ‘white man’s culture,’ regrets Anita Hill hearing

Fresno Bee

Former Vice President Joe Biden condemned “a white man’s culture” Tuesday night as he lashed out at violence against women and, more specifically, lamented his role in the Supreme Court confirmation hearings that undermined Anita Hill’s credibility nearly three decades ago.

Kavanaugh Seems Conflicted On Partisan Gerrymandering At Supreme Court Arguments

Capital Public Radio

The court once again appeared divided on whether redistricting could be done on the basis of politics. The newest justice seemed to be at least open to considering it as a problem.

OPINION: The Court vs. the Regulatory State

Wall Street Journal

A big moment arrives at the Supreme Court Wednesday when the Justices have a chance to rethink their long deference to the administrative state. This could be the first major benefit of the return to an originalist Court majority.

Elections 2020:

Sen. Kamala Harris releases details in teacher pay raise plan

abc30

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said she would use federal resources to close the pay gap between the average teacher salary and other college graduates.

See also:

● Harris unveils teacher pay-hike proposal San Francisco Chronicle

● Kamala Harris’ teacher pay price tag: $315B Politico

Mueller findings help Trump toward re-election

San Francisco Chronicle

“No collusion! No collusion!” has been President Trump’s mantra for nearly two years when asked about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether his campaign coordinated with the Russian government to interfere with the 2016 elections.

It’s already clear who the Democratic presidential nominee will be in 2020

Sacramento Bee

If you read or watch political news these days, you’ve probably already realized the Democrats’ presidential nominee next year will be Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke.

OPINION: The Trump administration just handed Democrats their best 2020 issue

Washington Post

When you’re the opposition party, much of what the administration does will make you angry, even horrified, but you often struggle to make the public share your outrage. Yet every once in a while, the administration will do something so obviously awful that you can only see it as a political gift.

See also:

● OPINION: How Dems Plan to Lock In a Majority Wall Street Journal

Other:

McClatchy, Google partner to launch local news outlets in underserved U.S. cities

Fresno Bee

McClatchy and Google are partnering to create three local news outlets in underserved U.S. cities. The Compass Experiment is the first effort to emerge from the Google News Initiative Local Experiments Project.

For Local News, Americans Embrace Digital but Still Want Strong Community Connection

PEW Research Center

Nearly as many Americans today say they prefer to get their local news online as say they prefer to do so through the television set, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of 34,897 U.S. adults conducted Oct. 15-Nov. 8, 2018, on the Center’s American Trends Panel and Ipsos’s KnowledgePanel.

California’s Digital Divide

PPIC

In 2017, 90% of California households used the internet and 74% had broadband subscriptions at home—up from 82% and 70%, respectively, in 2013. Seventy-three percent of households in 2017 accessed the internet using a cell phone.

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

Beekeepers facing various challenges in 2019

abc30

Between the stings, shrinking land and the threat of thieves, beekeeping in the Central Valley has its challenges. Shrinking open land and a lack of resources is part of the challenge of owning an apiary in 2019.

Elementary students learn importance of agriculture industry at Farm Day in the City

Bakersfield Californian

Hundreds of eager elementary school students throughout the county gathered Tuesday at the Kern County Fairgrounds for the 35th annual Farm Day in the City hosted by the Kern County Farm Bureau.

Now that marijuana’s legal, state must relax rules for CBD and hemp products

Sacramento Bee

In California, only CBD derived from cannabis can be sold in cannabis dispensaries because Prop. 64 specifically defined cannabis to exclude hemp and hemp-derived products. This was done to avoid confusion between the two plants, but it means CBD derived from hemp is in a legal gray area.

People are lining up to grow marijuana for research. Trump’s Justice Department won’t let them.

Vox

The US Department of Justice won’t give him the approval he needs to start producing weed. So the researchers clamoring for access to marijuana — to finally learn more about the drug’s effects — can’t get it, even as states move to legalize pot.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime:

Legionnaire’s disease confirmed in dead Stockton prison inmate

Fresno Bee

Prison officials are investigating a Legionnaire’s disease outbreak after an inmate from a state prison in Stockton died at an outside hospital.

ShotSpotter statistics show decrease in Fresno shootings last year

abc30

ShotSpotter technology allows Fresno Police to pinpoint and respond to neighborhoods where shots have been fired.

‘Just Give Me The Chance’: Two Women Talk About The Challenges Of Life After Prison

VPR

Today in our studio, we talk to two formerly incarcerated women, Anna and Angel, about the difficulties of finding work and housing and re-establishing familial relationships after getting out of prison.

The Dark Side Of Gavin Newsom’s Moratorium On The Death Penalty

Zocalo

So, if Governor Gavin Newsom’s new moratorium on the death penalty becomes a permanent ban, we Californians should celebrate the end of a policy that magnified our society’s worst disparities, put us at odds with so many other countries, and created the risk of putting an innocent person to death.

We must end bias in the justice system. Here’s one answer

CALmatters

A survey of data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission in 2017 found that when black men and white men commit the same crime, black men on average receive sentences almost 20 percent longer.

Public Safety:

Fresno PD launch gang operation in quick response to weekend violence

abc30

A sudden spike in shootings in Fresno last weekend led to the launch of a gang operation just as quickly. More than 50 officers hit the streets after seven shootings and two homicides in 48 hours between Friday and Sunday.

Fresno police to hold six-week outreach program geared toward Hmong community.

Fresno Bee

Fresno Police Department is teaming up with Fresno Unified’s Parent University to provide a six-week academy to better acquaint the city’s Hmong community with police work and services. The Hmong Residents’ Academy will run from April 3 to May 8.

PuebloFest civil rights lawsuit against Tulare and its police chief detailed by attorney

Fresno Bee

● PuebloFest promoters sue Tulare Visalia Times Delta

Detention deputies to receive first raises in six years

Bakersfield Californian

For the first time in six years, Kern County detention deputies will be receiving a raise. The Kern County Board of Supervisors approved raises for the majority of the county’s detention officers, hoping to stanch the flow of employees out of the Sheriff’s Office.

Public safety, curbing violent crime the focus of community meeting

Stockton Record

Dozens of leaders in community-based organizations, business and education took part of a meeting Tuesday to focus on public safety and to share ideas on how to curb violent crime in Stockton.

Bump Stock Ban Takes Effect As Gun Rights Groups Ask Supreme Court For Delay

Capital Public Radio

Anyone selling or owning bump stocks could face up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. The devices are now classified as machine guns.

Fire:

‘It’s just a recipe for destruction,’ fire chief says of California wildfires

abc30

A prolonged drought followed by a welcomed spike in rain and another dry spell has created a “recipe for destruction” that’s manifesting itself in wildfires of historic proportions raging in California, leveling thousands of homes and killing at least 31 people, a state fire official told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday.

Are firefighters using all the right stuff?

Porterville Recorder

It’s pretty clear to anyone who’s watched firefighters try to control the massive blazes bedeviling California over the last two years that they have the right stuff. But questions have arisen over whether they are using all the right stuff.

ECONOMY / JOBS

Economy:

Stocks move broadly higher, erasing Monday’s losses

Los Angeles Times

Stocks finished broadly higher on Wall Street Tuesday, erasing the market’s modest losses from a day earlier.

NAFTA to USMCA: What is Gained?

International Monetary Fund

This paper uses a global, multisector, computable-general-equilibrium model to provide an analytical assessment of five key provisions in the new agreement, including tighter rules of origin in the automotive, textiles and apparel sectors, more liberalized agricultural trade, and other trade facilitation measures.

Jobs:

California bill curbing use of contractors would not exempt Uber, Lyft, other tech firms

Los Angeles Times

California is moving to codify a sweeping court decision curbing employers’ use of independent contractors, and the new law is unlikely to exempt Uber, Lyft and other app-based technology companies.

What do lawsuits against California unions mean for teachers, public workers?

Merced-Sun Star

Anti-union organizations have filed more than a dozen lawsuits in California since the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling last year that banned public employee unions from collecting fees from workers who don’t want to join them.

An Unsung Hero: Documentary Chronicles Life Of First Female Union Organizer In The Valley

VPR

Adios Amor tells the story of one woman who should have made it into the history books but didn’t. Maria Moreno was the first female farm worker to be hired as a union organizer.

Nepotism investigation finds state executive got her daughter a job, undermined audit

Sacramento Bee

A former California state government executive under investigation for alleged nepotism sought to undermine a state audit and helped her daughter win promotions that violated state civil service rules, according to a report released Tuesday.

Women staging a labor force comeback

Brookings

From the early 1960s through 2000, the overall U.S. labor force participation rate grew from under 59 percent to just above 67 percent. This increase was driven by the entrance of millions of women into the labor force: where only 38.3 percent of women participated in 1963, 59.9 percent were employed or searching for employment in 2000.

EDUCATION

K-12:

Fresno Unified board member fined nearly $1,000 for campaign contribution violations

Fresno Bee

Fresno Unified trustee Valerie Davis has been fined $968 by the state Fair Political Practices Commission for failing to report large contributions to her 2018 campaign in the mandated timeframe.

Merced builder pleads guilty, admits bribing school board member in public corruption probe

Fresno Bee

Central Unified School District to build new high school campus

abc30

The educational complex which houses Deran Koligian Stadium, as well as Glacier Point Middle School and Harvest Elementary, is expected to be home to Central Unified’s newest high school in August 2021.

New schools to take toll on MUSD budget

Madera Tribune

Having passed the mid-point in the 2018-2019 school year, and finding itself in the middle of negotiations with its employee unions, Madera Unified is taking a close look at its money situation.

Lawsuit against school to push on

Madera Tribune

An American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against a local high school and its district will continue despite a partial resolution of a student complaint. Student-submitted quotes at the center of the dispute will be published in the Minarets High School yearbook in May.

Tulare school among many with lead-tainted drinking water

Visalia Times Delta

Rekindling the inner spirit & CTE

Porterville Recorder

New teachers often arrive at school eager to share their passion for the content. Having colleagues who willingly collaborate helps to keep that flame alive. Inspiring professional development that offers a great new idea can help, but may not be implemented because of the lack of available energy.

Bakersfield City School District to offer 16-day summer program

Bakersfield Californian

The Bakersfield City School District’s modified summer school program will focus on remedial English and math.

Voorhies Elementary gets state award for dual immersion program

Bakersfield Californian

Voorhies Elementary School has been awarded with a 2019 Seal of Excellence Award by the California Association for Bilingual Education for its Dual Language Immersion Program.

Amid Teacher Salary Negotiations, Madera Unified Struggles With Overcrowding, Limited Resources

VPR

How one couple worked charter school regulations to make millions

Los Angeles Times

Though she was fresh out of college, she was pretty sure it wasn’t normal for the school to churn so quickly through teachers or to mount surveillance cameras in each classroom. Old computers were lying around, but the campus had no internet access. Pay was low and supplies scarce — she wasn’t given books for her students.

California needs a better education data system but who will manage it?

EdSource

Governor Newsom has taken a strong step to modernize public education by proposing funding for a longitudinal data system that connects student information from cradle to career.

Higher Ed:

Local students heading in droves to COS

Visalia Times Delta

Over the last few years, College of the Sequoias enrollment has steadily increased. With more programs, funding and career technical education offerings for students than ever before, partnerships with local school districts have become even more important.

ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY

Environment:

How California is defying Trump’s environmental rollbacks

Los Angeles Times

They are preparing to strengthen safeguards for waterways that are about to lose federal protections in a major rollback of the Clean Water Act.

To Rid California Of Rodents Of Unusual Size, State To Use Detection Dogs And ‘Judas Nutria’

Capital Public Radio

California has a rodent problem, but not mice or rats. Nutria are 20-pound invasive rodents that like to burrow in the state’s wetlands and water delivery systems. The state has killed 410 in a year.

Senate Democrats dodge vote on Green New Deal resolution

Roll Call

Senate Democrats backed away from a Green New Deal resolution offered by Republicans, even though it copied the version introduced and cheered by many Democratic lawmakers, including those running for president.

· OPINION: Democrats Vote ‘Present’ on Climate Wall Street Journal

Wildflower tourists are behaving badly at the Carrizo Plain — here’s what not to do

Fresno Bee

Crowds of tourists visiting California wildflowers near Carrizo Plain National Monument in San Luis Obispo County are behaving badly by blocking roads with traffic and trespassing while seeing 2019 super bloom.

Yosemite Welcomes Three New Senior Park Managers

Sierra News

Yosemite National Park is pleased to announce that three new park managers have been selected, “bringing a wealth of diverse background knowledge and experience to Yosemite”

Energy:

Consumers shouldn’t pay for natural gas lost from leaky pipes

San Francisco Chronicle

Embedded in the California Public Utilities Commission’s decision to direct more money toward reducing methane leaks is a PUC practice that runs counter to these values: forcing ratepayers to pay gas utilities for leaking methane pollution.

In blow to climate, coal plants emitted more than ever in 2018

Washington Post

Global energy experts released grim findings Monday, saying that not only are planet-warming carbon-dioxide emissions still increasing, but the world’s growing thirst for energy has led to higher emissions from coal-fired power plants than ever before.

Gassing Up

National Review

Dozens of communities in the woefully misgoverned states of New York and Massachusetts are facing what amounts to a moratorium on the construction of modern new homes. Why? Because the utility providers there will not approve new gas connections, for a good reason — they can’t get the gas they need.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Health:

Valley health experts see spike in late-season flu cases

abc30

Early spring is typically the time of year when cases of the flu begin to drop off. But Valley doctors say they’ve seen a bump in patients dealing with the flu as of late — mainly junior high aged kids.

California may toughen immunization rules to block measles

Sacramento Bee

California would give state public health officials instead of local doctors the power to decide which children can skip vaccinations before attending school under legislation proposed Tuesday to counter what advocates call bogus exemptions.

● County bans unvaccinated minors in public as measles spreads Stockton Record

● California may toughen immunization rules to block measles Stockton Record

● Doctors who sell vaccination exemptions endanger our kids. It’s time to crack down Sacramento Bee

● California bill could ban anti-vaccine parents from doctor-shopping for medical exemptions Sacramento Bee

● Childhood vaccine exemptions in California would need state OK under new bill San Francisco Chronicle

● Bill would strengthen vaccination laws, checking up on doctors who write exemptions Los Angeles Times

● California made it hard to avoid vaccinating kids. Medical waivers have tripled. Now what? CALmatters

Legionnaires’ disease confirmed in dead Stockton prison inmate

Sacramento Bee

The California Health Care Facility inmate tested positive in a post-death analysis for legionella, the bacteria that causes the disease, according to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation news release issued Tuesday. The disease is a type of pneumonia.

With Fentanyl Deaths On the Rise Nationally, California Is Taking Precautions

Capital Public Radio

Deaths from a synthetic opioid called fentanyl have been on the rise nationally, and last week’s findings from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show this could be the third wave of the nation’s opioid epidemic.

Human Services:

Justice Department sides with lower court, says Obamacare should end

abc30

The U.S. Department of Justice now says it supports a federal judge’s ruling that the entire Affordable Care Act should be overturned.

See also:

● Trump reopens Obamacare repeal debate, and Democrats are thrilled Los Angeles Times

● The Trump approach to healthcare: Break it and figure out the rest later Los Angeles Times

● Trump Greenlights Major Medicaid Changes PEW

● Democrats Pivot Hard to Health Care After Trump Moves to Strike Down Affordable Care Act New York Times

● What Happens if Obamacare Is Struck Down? New York Times

● Trump Administration Renews Attempt to Topple Affordable Care Act Wall Street Journal

● With Obamacare under siege, Democrats fire back Roll Call

● EDITORIAL: Trump is attacking the Affordable Care Act yet again San Francisco Chronicle

● OPINION: Republicans Really Hate Health Care New York Times

‘Medicare for all’ doesn’t just rival Canada’s system. It goes further

Roll Call

In Canada, each province and territory has an insurance program that covers most doctor and hospital services — simpler than dealing with various insurers and government health programs. Instead of doctors and hospitals figuring out each patient’s plan, “you have one set of paperwork,” said Raisa Deber, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation.

Q&A: California’s first-ever surgeon general on her plans to tackle toxic stress in children

EdSource

Gov. Gavin Newsom made it clear throughout his campaign that improving the health and welfare of California’s children and young families would be among his signature issues.

IMMIGRATION

Daily border crossings by undocumented migrants hit 13-year highs

NBCNews

Daily attempts by undocumented immigrants to cross into the United States from Mexico over the past month surpassed daily averages not seen since fiscal year 2006, according to Customs and Border Protection data obtained by NBC News.

Invisible walls

Washington Post

From Guatemala, Mexico and California come the stories of lives altered by Trump’s crackdown on immigration.

LAND USE/HOUSING

Land Use:

Fears grow that hard work to transform regional park will be lost to homeless camp

Modesto Bee

One of the Tuolumne River Regional Park’s biggest volunteers and advocates fears that what happened at Modesto’s Beard Brook Park could happen in the regional park’s Gateway Park now that officials have moved the homeless camp to Gateway.

Housing:

Gov. Newsom Says Work Continues On Possible Rent Compromise

Capital Public Radio

Which Cities in California Have the Most Young People?

New York Times

Demographic statistics about populations can’t explain everything about why our communities are the way they are: What motivates someone to move to a new city, or to start a family or not, differs from one person to the next. But they’re helpful for spotting trends and exploring larger economic forces.

PUBLIC FINANCES

EDC executive director feels heat over budget

Madera Tribune

The Madera County Economic Development Commission and its executive director Bobby Kahn were on the hot seat at the Madera City Council meeting Wednesday night.

Should California’s richest residents pay more taxes? You could soon get to vote on it

Merced-Sun Star

A new bill could send Californians to the polls to decide whether to authorize an estate tax for the Golden State’s wealthiest residents.

Californians would vote on raising estate taxes under Sen. Scott Wiener’s bill

San Francisco Chronicle

Are Californians ready to tax some of the state’s richest residents after death to close the wealth gap with the poor?

● California voters could be asked to impose an estate tax, replacing the one Trump loosened Los Angeles Times

● Californians could vote on raising estate taxes San Francisco Chronicle

Half of Older Americans Have Nothing in Retirement Savings

Bloomberg

The bad news is that almost half of Americans approaching retirement have nothing saved in a 401(k) or other individual account. The good news is that the new estimate, from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, is slightly better than a few years earlier.

TRANSPORTATION

Fresno County officials approve 4-way stop at two deadly intersections

abc30

There have been at least six accidents at the intersection of Bethel and Rose in the past year. After residents petitioned the county, the Board of Supervisors approved installing a four-way stop at the intersection.

California sells $600M in bonds for high-speed rail project

Bakersfield Californian

California sold $600 million in bonds Tuesday to help pay for its high-speed rail project even as lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledge challenges to completing the line between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

WATER

Colorado River drought plan gets first congressional hearing

Bakersfield Californian

A plan that outlines how seven states will deal with declining flows in a major river in the U.S. West is getting its first hearing in Congress. The drought contingency plan aims to keep two Colorado River reservoirs from crashing.

Who keeps buying California’s scarce water? Saudi Arabia

The Guardian

Four hours east of Los Angeles, in a drought-stricken area of a drought-afflicted state, is a small town called Blythe where alfalfa is king. More than half of the town’s 94,000 acres are bushy blue-green fields growing the crop.

Governor Newsom’s Clean Water Tax A ‘Moral Imperative’ To Some, A Burden To Others

VPR

Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he will introduce a tax of up to $10 a month to water customers in order to fund safe drinking water in disadvantaged communities.

Rebuilt Oroville Dam spillway could be used next week after storm hits. Is it ready?

Sacramento Bee

Water may cascade down Oroville Dam’s rebuilt spillway next week for the first time since a massive crater formed in its nearly half-mile long surface two years ago — a major milestone in the saga that triggered the evacuation of 188,000 people and a $1.1 billion repair job to the country’s tallest dam.

Rising Seas Bring Rising Water Management Challenges

PPIC

Sea level rise—driven principally by melting continental ice and expansion of the oceans as they warm—is a significant threat for those living along the coast. Adapting to increases in coastal erosion and flooding—and managing the broad impacts of sea level rise on the state’s water systems—will be expensive and disruptive for millions of Californians.

“Xtra”

Fresno Chaffee Zoo celebrates its 90th anniversary

abc30

For 90 years, the Fresno Chaffee Zoo has delighted millions across the Central Valley and beyond. New exhibits like African Adventure bring in new people while crowd favorites like elephants keep others coming back for more.

H.O.P.E. Animal Foundation offering low cost spay and neuter services

abc30

You can get your dog or cat spayed or neutered this weekend for a low price. The H.O.P.E. Animal Foundation, a low-cost veterinary clinic in Fresno is offering $10 dollar spay or neuter.

‘Oildale’ Film Features Community As Backdrop For Story About Loss And Healing

VPR

Four years after the Hollywood blockbuster McFarland, USA, another film is featuring a small town in Kern County. This time it’s right outside Bakersfield in the unincorporated community of Oildale.