Political Stories
Top stories
CD 23: Mettler may enter ring against McCarthy – Conservative Republican Ken Mettler, a former Kern High School District trustee and Proposition 8 organizer, is considering challenging House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, for his congressional seat. Bakersfield Californian article
More expensive soda: Lawmakers want to tax sugary drinks – Alarmed by an obesity epidemic, two state lawmakers on Tuesday proposed a “health impact fee” of 2 cents per ounce on sugar-sweetened sodas and other drinks sold in California. LA Times article
Valley politics
Fresno mayoral hopefuls start collecting, announcing endorsements – Fresno mayoral candidate H. Spees on Tuesday formally announced the endorsements of former Secretary of State Bill Jones and former Rep. George Radanovich, a Mariposa Republican. But the city’s three top candidates – Spees along with Fresno City Councilman Lee Brand and Fresno County Supervisor Henry R. Perea – long ago started collecting the political backing of influential Fresno and Fresno-area residents. Fresno Bee article
Lee Brand: Policy leader on City Council wants mayor’s chair – Most people in Fresno known Lee Brand as the city council’s resident policy guru. The rental property developer and manager has authored or co-authored over a dozen pieces of legislation during his seven year tenure at city hall, covering everything from negotiations with labor unions to city financial safeguards. Now Brand hopes to shift gears, from legislator to chief executive of California’s fifth largest city. Brand says he’s up for the challenge, both on both the policy and leadership sides of the job. KVPR report
Steve Nascimento: A case for campaign finance reform – The Turlock City Council member writes, “With the reintroduction of the Tin Cup ordinance, our residents will have the opportunity to weigh in on the debate, and help us establish campaign finance reform measures that not only reflect good practice and good government, but the ethical standards and values shared by our community. I trust my fellow council members will see the wisdom in these reforms and will join me – and our community – in supporting them.” Nascimento op-ed in Modesto Bee
Businessman Richard Spencer hosts McCarthy reception — Fresno businessman Richard Spencer is hosting a $1,000-per-person reception for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Washington Republicans Wednesday at Harris Construction near Fresno Yosemite International Airport. Fresno Bee article
Stanislaus GOP committee hit with campaign money-laundering penalty — The Stanislaus Republican Central Committee has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine for laundering money to an unsuccessful candidate for state controller six years ago. It’s the third time since 2008 that the committee has gotten in trouble with a state enforcement agency for deception in campaign finances. Modesto Bee article
Statewide politics/Ballot Measures
California Counts: Mobilizing the state’s refugee voters – A San Diego nonprofit, the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, sees untapped potential in one voting bloc: refugees. The group noticed that refugees who do vote, tend to never miss an election. They’re super voters. KPBS report
San Bernardino Shootings
San Bernardino chief says first responders to attack were out-gunned — San Bernardino police officers did not have all the equipment needed as they stormed into the Inland Regional Center searching for active shooters last December, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said Tuesday. KPCC report
Other areas
Sacramento Bee: Gov. Jerry Brown should sign bump in paid family leave — Gov. Jerry Brown should sign Assembly Bill 908 and make this modest perk easier forfamilies to access. As it is, the administrative work needed to make it happen will delay the bump until 2018. Sacramento Bee editorial
Sacramento Bee: Mayoral candidates must address Sacramento’s real crime issue — Sacramento voters should pay much more attention to Ashby’s proposals – and those of her main rival, former Senate leader Darrell Steinberg – to arrest the city’s worrisome spike in violent crime. Sacramento Bee editorial
Q&A: Ami Bera discusses reelection fight, Donald Trump — Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, is used to fending off criticism from his right. But over the last several months, he’s faced increasing pressure from activists over his votes to advance a trade deal and limit Syrian and Iraqi refugees from resettling in the U.S. Sacramento Bee article
Steve Lopez: Donald Trump fans are not actually hard to find in California — In a state as blue as California, does Donald Trump have any support? Absolutely. Lopez column in LA Times
California Government Today:
News Stories
Top Stories
In major win for high-speed rail, judge rejects claims by Kings County foes of bullet train — In a major setback to foes of the California high-speed rail project, a Sacramento judge rejected claims by opponents in Kings County that plans for the bullet train system violate state law. Fresno Bee article; LA Times article; Dan Walters column in Sacramento Bee; AP article
As a potential strike looms, Cal State faculty and trustees remain at odds over pay – California State University faculty members appealed to trustees Tuesday to do more to avert a strike at the nation’s largest university system, but the two sides remain at odds over salaries for about 26,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches. LA Times article
Jobs and the Economy
Kern supervisors send library tax to the voters – Kern County supervisors voted 3-2 Tuesday to place a one-eighth cent sales tax to support the Kern County library system on the June 7 ballot. But supervisors had library supporters sweating as they hashed out their concerns and debated the issue. Bakersfield Californian article
Modesto to look at downtown parking – The conversation about how to fix parking downtown – including whether Modesto should charge for its most desirable street parking – is about to restart. The Downtown Modesto Partnership’s board of directors voted last month to have DMP members meet with the city about parking. The problem – as outlined in a 2014 consultant’s report commissioned by the partnership – is the city’s parking incentives are backward. Modesto Bee article
Bakersfield home market ‘quite strong’ in February – Bakersfield’s home market showed unexpected signs of strength in February, as rising demand among buyers helped nudge prices higher. According to data gathered by local appraiser Gary Crabtree, the median price of a single-family home sold in the city last month was $221,500, up 3 percent from January’s median. A year earlier, the median was 1.8 percent less. Bakersfield Californian article
Nan Austin: Neighborhoods, needs growing apart across Modesto – The Valley trend of movin’ on up to sprawling, east-side subdivisions of larger homes, the so-called McMansions, has gained scholarly notice in a new report tracking segregation by income. The Modesto area ranks second in the nation for loss of middle-class or mixed-income neighborhoods over the past decade, according to a study by Stanford’s Center for Education Policy Analysis. Austin in Modesto Bee
Joe Mathews: Are tacos key to Fresno’s future? – Greater Fresno, with 1.1 million people and growing, is in the process of becoming California’s next big metropolitan area (it’s already fifth—after L.A., the Bay Area, San Diego, and greater Sacramento). But, perhaps because of its poverty, it still has the low civic self-esteem of the smaller town it used to be. And so Fresno hasn’t managed to conjure up a defining, unifying narrative that could galvanize it to build the infrastructure and institutions its population needs. Good news: Such a narrative may finally be emerging. Mathews in KVPR
Hometown Buffet workers leave restaurant with final paychecks – Andrea Chavez showed up to work Tuesday afternoon at Hometown Buffet in Merced and learned what many had feared – the restaurant was closing and its several dozen employees were out of jobs. Merced Sun-Star article
In San Francisco and rooting for a tech comeuppance – Cities do not usually cheer the downfall or even the diminishment of the hometown industry, but the relationship between San Francisco and the tech community has grown increasingly tense. New York Times article
Chevron, citing tough industry conditions, slashes its spending budget nearly 40 percent – Chevron Corp. is slashing its spending budget by nearly 40% for 2017 and 2018, a bigger cut in spending than it previously expected, as it deals with plunging oil prices. AP article
DSW shoe store to open in Visalia – Visalia’s first DSW shoe store will open Thursday. DSW, short for Designer Shoe Warehouse, carries men’s and women’s shoes. The Visalia store is at 3725 S. Mooney Blvd. at the Gateway Plaza Shopping Center. Fresno Bee article
New resource for consumer credit, loan problems – Stockton and San Joaquin County residents may now attend monthly credit and loan educational workshops or free legal clinics to deal with mortgage and debt collection issues, consumer advocates and San Joaquin County officials announced Tuesday. Stockton Record article
Sacramento new-home sales rising, but affordability concerns linger – Nearly a decade after the Sacramento region suffered its historic housing collapse, when tens of thousands of owners lost their new homes, builders and real estate watchers say 2016 could be the year home construction and sales come back alive, fueled in part by millennials, like Lewis, unscarred by the mid-2000s meltdown. Sacramento Bee article
Unpaid library late fines in San Jose total $6.8 million — Patrons of the San Jose public library system have racked up $6.8 million in late fees for overdue materials. That’s a lot of pennies. While it’s not uncommon for libraries to have unpaid late fees reaching into the millions, the situation in San Jose is especially bad, according to Jill Bourne, the director of the library system. LA Times article
Does Rob Lowe case hurt California state workers? – A high-level government official makes an embarrassing remark. News coverage zooms in on the bigwig, the errant words, the political fallout. But what about the organization underneath? What about the employees who see the official’s picture grinning down on them each day from their office walls? How are they affected? Sacramento Bee article
Sacramento’s Rack N Road retail chain sells all but one store — Rack N Road, a Sacramento retail chain and one of the city’s great entrepreneurial success stores of the past quarter century, has sold five of its six stores. The company is keeping only its flagship store in Sacramento. Sacramento Bee article
Statewide gas prices down from last month, but rising — The average price of unleaded regular gasoline in California fell an average 3 cents a gallon from last month, according to the latest monthly, statewide AAA report released Tuesday. Sacramento Bee article
San Francisco’s steep towing fees trouble city supervisors — The cost of being towed in San Francisco has nearly tripled over the last five years, to $491.25, driven by a 432 percent increase in the administrative fees the Municipal Transportation Agency charges. The MTA says that fee is necessary to ensure full “cost recovery.”But some San Francisco supervisors and civil rights lawyers say the charges disproportionately harm low-income people and can ruin lives when people forfeit their cars because they can’t pay the fees. San Francisco Chronicle article
McClatchy proposes plan to boost stock price — The McClatchy Co. proposed a reverse stock split Tuesday in an effort to boost its share price. The proposal by Sacramento-based McClatchy follows warnings that the company could lose its New York Stock Exchange listing if the price consistently falls below $1. Sacramento Bee article
Lockheed to lay off 1,000 aeronautics workers – Lockheed Martin Corp. says its aeronautics division is seeking to part with up to 1,000 workers as it works to stay competitive and keep its staff aligned with orders. AP article
Janitors and security guards are paid 20 percent less when they’re contractors, report says – A boom in companies trying to cut costs by contracting out janitorial and security jobs has led to large pay disparities between workers doing the same jobs, according to a UC Berkeley report. LA Times article
Online lenders drawing more scrutiny from regulators — Online lenders, led by San Francisco’s Lending Club, have grown explosively over the last few years, lending billions to consumers who can quickly get large sums by simply filling out a few online forms. Now state and federal officials look to be taking steps toward more tightly regulating the industry. LA Times articl
Agriculture/Water/Drought
Weekend storm helps Fresno beat rain season average — The weekend storms that hit Fresno pushed the rain-season total above average for the first time since 2010, said William Peterson, hydro-meteorology technician with the National Weather Service in Hanford. Fresno Bee article
Delta islands sale moves forward – A Southern California water district gave its general manager permission Tuesday to purchase four large tracts of Delta land from a Swiss insurance company, though some L.A.-area board members said they still have unanswered questions. Stockton Record article; Sacramento Bee article; LA Times article
Modesto Irrigation District farmers could get 67 percent more water – A wet weekend boosted confidence enough for the Modesto Irrigation District to forecast 30-inch water allotments this year for farmers – welcome news after four years of drought and last year’s historic low of 18 inches, although missing the 42-inch average. Modesto Bee article
March weather will determine Merced irrigation season – Though Merced and the rest of the Valley received a soaking over the weekend and the Sierra was coated in snow, the Merced Irrigation District is hoping for many similar storms in March to ease drought effects. Merced Sun-Star article
South San Joaquin Irrigation District boosts water allotment to 40 inches — Farmers in the South San Joaquin Irrigation District will get at least 40 inches of water this year, thanks to a 5-0 vote by its board Tuesday. The allotment is up from 36 inches last year, the first time ever that SSJID capped deliveries to the farmland around Escalon, Ripon and Manteca. Modesto Bee article
LA officials seeded clouds during El Nino in hopes of more rain — Clouds over Los Angeles County were seeded with silver iodide to increase the amount of rainfall during Monday’s storm, marking the first cloud seeding done by the Department of Public Works since 2002. LA Times article
Thaddeus Barsotti: California needs to streamline rules on organic farms — The owner of Capay Organic and board member of California Certified Organic Farmers writes, “There is no group of people who wish to maintain the integrity of the certified organic label more than farmers. The distinction is our lifeblood and the foundation of trust with our consumers that is critical to our economic survival. AB 1826 will ensure that we maintain that integrity in California and help us become an even stronger sector of the California economy.” Barsotti op-ed in Sacramento Bee
Criminal Justice/Prisons
Man dies after confrontation with Stockton police – A man died during a confrontation with police Monday night in south Stockton after officers used physical force and a stun gun to subdue him, authorities said. Stockton Record article
Judge refuses to toss excessive force claims in David Sal Silva case – A federal judge Tuesday refused to dismiss most claims, including those involving allegations of excessive force and wrongful death, in a lawsuit filed against Kern County in the death of David Sal Silva. Bakersfield Californian article
Tulare Sheriff’s Department adds drone – The Tulare County Sheriff’s Department has added a drone to its law enforcement tool box. In presenting the device to the Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said Tuesday the drone will likely be used in response to calls of missing people and helping diagram crime scenes. Other uses include helping in tactical law enforcement operations, disaster control operations and enhancing law enforcement personnel safety. Visalia Times-Delta article
Police battle east Hanford violence – Police are investigating two weekend shootings in a section of east Hanford with a history of gang activity and violence. Hanford Sentinel article
No charges in fatal collision involving Kern County Sheriff’s Office sergeant – No charges will be filed in the case of a Kern County Sheriff’s sergeant involved in a fatal collision with a motorcyclist last July. In a news release Tuesday, the Kern County District Attorney’s Office said KCSO Sgt. Marvin Gomez “was operating his patrol car within the parameters allowed by law” when the collision happened. Bakersfield Californian articl
Killings in LA jumped 27.5 percent so far this year – Killings in Los Angeles have surged by 27.5% so far in 2016 compared to the same period last year as the city continued to see a rise in violent crime,LAPD officials said Tuesday. LA Times article
State’s chief justice says bail system may unfairly penalize poor – California’s chief justice says the practice of holding people on bail after their arrest may be both unfair to the poor and ineffective at preventing crime, and the state’s courts are working on alternatives. San Francisco Chronicle article
Oakdale police chief announces retirement – Oakdale police Chief Lester Jenkins announced this week that he will retire in July, ending 26 years of service in the community. Modesto Bee article
Coroner: California inmate had signs of starvation — At 6-foot-1 and 172 pounds, Michael Stanley Galliher appeared healthy — until he dropped dead days after being transferred to a California prison from a state mental hospital. AP article
Autopsy finds Napa County jail inmate died from drug overdose — An investigation into the death of a 44-year-old inmate at the Napa County Jail last month revealed he died from a methamphetamine overdose after an autopsy discovered two plastic bags of the drug in his system, authorities said Tuesday. San Francisco Chronicle article
Education
Cal State system says campuses will remain open during strike – The California State University system says it is scheduling extra security, reminding students about their academic obligations and taking other steps to minimize the disruption of a potential faculty strike next month. AP article
Gray introduces bill to beef up UC Merced security – New legislation recently introduced to the state Assembly would appropriate about $1.3 million for security measures at UC Merced, a direct response to the knife attacks on campus in November. Merced Sun-Star article
CSU under pressure to help students graduate in four years instead of six – The soaring cost of college and the high demand for seats at all California State University campuses have thrust an old problem back into the spotlight: Few students are graduating “on time.” San Jose Mercury News article
Fresno State’s leadership institute to be named after former president Welty – The Central Valley Educational Leadership Institute at Fresno State will become the John D. Welty Center for Educational Policy and Leadership. The California State University board of trustees will vote Wednesday to honor former Fresno State president Welty with the name change of the center, which was built in 2002. Fresno Bee article
Sacramento Bee: Wanted: Community college chancellor for tall order, important job – California’s community colleges are fundamental to this state’s promise. They provide first chances to people in search of better lives, and they provide breaks for people seeking a second shot. Brice Harris understood that. The next chancellor must as well. Sacramento Bee editorial
Kern forensics team casualties of cuts, underfunding – Stockdale High School’s speech and debate squad swept the Valley Championships this weekend, earning 30 of them coveted spots to compete at the state level. There’s just one problem: they might not be able to get there. It’s a result, forensics coaches said, of a years-long trend where speech and debate programs receive less funding, even while clinching state and national titles. Bakersfield Californian article
Folsom Cordova Unified allows select staff to have guns on campus – Select employees at the Folsom Cordova Unified School District have been allowed to store and access guns in case of an emergency for several years, district officials announced for the first time Tuesday. Sacramento Bee article
Dozen districts offer free SATs to all juniors – A dozen California school districts are joining more than two dozen states and a fast-increasing number of districts that are making the SAT or its rival, the ACT, available to all high school juniors for free in an effort to encourage more students to apply to college. EdSource article
School districts: Fewer layoffs, more retirements and resignations – Now with more financial stability, school districts are not preparing for layoffs for the next school year. Instead, they are preparing for some retirements and resignations. Hanford Sentinel article
West Hills College Lemoore president sets big goals for students – Only two months into the job, West Hills Community College Lemoore President Dr. Kristin Clark is already setting big dreams she hopes to accomplish at the college while still remembering her own first steps into education. Hanford Sentinel article
First-year UC Merced professor wins $500,000 award – Dong Li, a professor in his first year at UC Merced, has won a prestigious award that comes with $500,000 in research funds from the National Science Foundation. Merced Sun-Star article
Mind, body and psych: St. Mary’s students do the teaching at interactive fair – Hundreds of St. Mary’s High school students were engaged by a few dozen interactive and homemade demonstrations related to the mind and body during the annual Bio-Psych Fair on Tuesday. Stockton Record article
DA want jail time for students in San Jose State bullying case — A district attorney in Northern California says he wants three former San Jose State University students who are white – one of them from Clovis – to go to jail for forcing a bike lock around a black roommate’s neck. AP/Fresno Bee article
LA Unified school board approves another charter against district recommendations — The L.A. Unified school board approved a new charter high school, despite the district charter school division’s recommendation that the board deny the application. LA Times article
Energy/Environment
Public input sought on regulation of oil field wastewater ponds – Bakersfield will get an opportunity Wednesday morning to weigh in on a plan to change the way oil field wastewater ponds are regulated in the Central Valley. Bakersfield Californian article
Sacramento County supervisors prepare to vote on plastic bag ban – Sacramento County supervisors Tuesday scheduled a March 22 vote on a ban on plastic, single-use grocery bags after advocates overwhelmingly spoke in support of the proposal. Sacramento Bee article
National parks have a long to-do list but can’t cover repair costs – When the money’s tight, some jobs don’t get done — and those jobs start to pile up. Today, the total backlog of needed maintenance at U.S. national parks is $11.9 billion. That backlog includes $500 million in needed repairs at Yosemite National Park, $100 million of which is considered critical. NPR repor
Southern California Edison, 2 other utilities urge PUC to vacate or modify solar ‘net metering’ decision – Southern California Edison and two other major California utilities have filed applications urging the California Public Utilities Commission to vacate or modify its decision that maintained certain subsidies for rooftop solar panel owners until 2019. LA Times article
CPUC head suggests agency needs fewer responsibilities – The California Public Utilities Commission oversees areas from energy to telecommunications. Commission President Michael Picker told the state Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee on Tuesday that he has begun to question how much the CPUC should be in charge of. KQED report
State Senate leader will introduce measure to counter Southern California air board’s industry-friendlier plans – The leader of the state Senate said Tuesday that he will push to reverse efforts by the Southern California air quality board to adopt pollution rules friendlier to industry, saying swift action is needed to prevent a rollback of environmental gains. LA Times article
Gavin Newsom and Ben Allen: Buoys provide safer alternative for catching swordfish in Pacific Ocean – California Lt. Gov. Newsom and state Sen. Allen (D-Santa Monica) write, “We are encouraging the Pacific Fishery Management Council to authorize deep-set buoy gear in 2016. It’s crucial that we provide swordfish fishermen the ability to earn a living while safeguarding ocean wildlife valued by all of us.” Newsom/Allen op-ed in Sacramento Bee
Paul Netter: Condor rescued in recovery program takes first flight in 30 years – The member of the Southern California Edison media relations team writes, “After 30 years in captivity, the 35-year-old male named California condor No. 20 took flight for the first time at Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Kern County. And this condor has played a significant role in the recovery of North America’s largest flying birds.” Netter op-ed in Bakersfield Californian
Health/Human Services
Obama administration proposes new effort to combat high drug prices – Facing skyrocketing drug prices, the Obama administration is proposing potentially major changes in how Medicare pays for some medications, including high-priced specialty drugs used to treat cancer and other costly diseases. LA Times article
California’s last institutions for developmentally disabled to be closed — The final countdown has begun for the last of three large state-run institutions that care for the severely disabled: In less than six years, almost all of their residents are likely to be transferred to other settings. KQED report
Lois Henry: Giving a voice to the frail, lonely and old — If it seems like I crusade for certain things a lot, well, I guess I do. Here’s one of my favorites: the Kern County Long Term Care Ombudsman’s office. It needs volunteers again and I’m encouraging you to check it out. Henry column in Bakersfield California
Land Use/Housing
Sacramento council Oks funding for LGBT-friendly senior housing — The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday night approved funding for the first LGBT-friendly senior affordable housing project in the Sacramento region. Sacramento Bee article
Transportation
High-speed rail construction extended northward in Madera County – The California High-Speed Rail Authority has given a green light to a $154.2 million extension of its first construction contract in the San Joaquin Valley, stretching the line northward by almost 3 miles in Madera County. Fresno Bee article
Vidak introduces high-speed rail property buy-back bill – This week in Sacramento, Senator Andy Vidak (R-Hanford) introduced Senate Bill 940, proposed legislation that would provide previous property owners the ability to buy back their property no longer in the path of California’s High-Speed Rail. The Business Journal article
Visalia gives up on air service – After years of unreliable airline service at Visalia airport, the city is giving up on the federal Essential Air Service program that subsidizes air carriers serving small communities. The issue came to a head for city officials when SeaPort Airlines abruptly ended service in mid-January, citing a pilot shortage. Fresno Bee article
Study: Pedestrian deaths in California rose 7 percent in first half of 2015 — Despite an increased focus on street safety, the number of pedestrians killed by vehicles in California rose 7% in the first half of 2015 compared with the year before, according to a national study released Tuesday. LA Times article; San Francisco Chronicle article
Mudslide probably caused Bay Area commuter train derailment, railroad official says — Preliminary investigation shows that a mudslide triggered by days of rain probably caused a Bay Area commuter train to derail on Monday night, according to an official of Union Pacific Railroad, which owns the tracks. LA Times article; Stockton Record article
Other areas
Medical marijuana advocate evicted from Merced dispensary, deputies seize hundreds of ‘illegal plants’ – An outspoken advocate for medical marijuana was evicted from her downtown dispensary Tuesday after she refused to pay her rent for several months — and deputies discovered dozens of marijuana plants growing illegally inside the second-story business. Merced Sun-Star article
California Supreme Court will stream arguments online – The California Supreme Court will begin streaming oral arguments online. Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye announced the change Tuesday in her annual “state of the judiciary” address to a California lawmakers. AP article
Michael Fitzgerald: Stockton tough bloodies Irish eyes — I don’t know anything about mixed martial arts. But I know when a guy insults Stockton and then gets his rear kicked on pay-per-view television by a Stockton underdog. Fitzgerald column in Stockton Record
Stockton Easter sunrise service canceled — There will be no Easter Sunrise Service in downtown Stockton later this month, a tradition whose demise was set in motion earlier this year when an errant invitation was sent to a predominantly LGBT church. Stockton Record article
Hanford’s Mussel Slough tragedy remains relevant, more than 130 years later — Today, Mussel Slough doesn’t show up on many maps of the San Joaquin Valley. But in 1880, this small settlement northwest of Hanford was the site of one of the bloodiest gunfights in the Old West. It pitted a group of Kings County farmers against the powerful Southern Pacific Railroad in a fight for their land. KVPR report
Valley Editorial Roundup
Sacramento Bee – Gov. Jerry Brown should sign bump in paid family leave; Mayoral candidates must address Sacramento’s real crime issue; Wanted: Community college chancellor for tall order, important job.
Maddy Events
Sunday, March 13, at 5 p.m. on ABC 30 – Maddy Report: “The Governor’s 2016 Budget: Sunny Today, Rain Tomorrow?” – Guest: Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor and Fred Silva, fiscal policy analyst with California Forward. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director Mark Keppler.
Sunday, March 13, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580 (KMJ) – Maddy Report-Valley Views Edition: “Governor Brown’s 2016 Budget: What It May Mean for the Valley” – Guests: Fresno Bee opinion page editor Bill McEwen and Fresno State political science professor Jeff Cummins. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director Mark Keppler.
Sunday, March 13, at 7 a.m. on Fresno Univision 21 (KFTV)– El Informe Maddy Report: “Californians and Civic Engagement” – Guest: Mony Flores-Bauer of the League of California Voters in California. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Deputy Director Ana Melendez.
The Maddy Report airs throughout California on The Cal Channel. Check http://www.calchannel.com to find the Cal Channel and schedule in your area. You also can view previous Maddy Report programs in their entirety at http://www.maddyinstitute.org/policy-analysis/the-maddy-report-tv.
Community Events
- The International Green Industry Hall of Fame will hold its sixth annual conference and induction ceremony at Buchanan High School in Clovis on March 9. Registration information is available here.
- Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro and other university officials will participate in a Community Conversation at the Reedley College Student Center in Reedley on April 7 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Seating for this free event is limited, so RSVPs should be made by Tuesday, April 5, at www.fresnostate.edu/presidentrsvp using the code “Reedleyforum.”
- The 2016 San Joaquin Valley Parks Summit will be held at Bitwise South Stadium in Fresno on Thursday, May 12, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration launches March 1. More information: Jenna Chilingerian at jennac@csufresno.edu.
Interactive
Next 10: UPDATED California budget challenge – For the first time in a decade, California’s budget is largely in balance. However, the state has outstanding debts of $28 million, not counting long-term pension and retiree health care costs. Budget choices affect us all. Take the Challenge and decide how much should be spent on programs and where the money should come from. Next 10 California Budget Challenge
Next 10: Federal budget challenge — The Federal Budget Challenge is based on The Concord Coalition’s Principles and Priorities budget exercise, which has been used in numerous town hall meetings across the country by members of Congress from both parties, as well as in hundreds of high school and college classrooms. Next 10 Federal Budget challenge at www.federalbudgetchallenge.org.
Next 10: California Water Challenge – As our state faces some of the most severe drought conditions in its history, Next 10 wants to issue a new challenge to Californians: can you create a plan to make sure there’s enough water for everyone? Next 10 California Water Challenge
LEGISLATORS’ VOTING RECORDS: How often has a California legislator broken party ranks, abstained or switched sides? The Sacramento Bee has a database of the voting records of every member of the state Senate and Assembly. Enter a lawmaker’s last and first names to see how he or she voted, or enter a bill number to see how every legislator voted on it. Check it out at this link. http://www.sacbee.com/votingrecord/
More Information
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Maddy Institute Updates List of San Joaquin Valley Elected Officials – The Maddy Institute has updated its list of San Joaquin Valley elected officials. The list is available here.
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