TOP POLITICAL STORIES
Top Level:
Stroke claims life of former Stanislaus County supervisor Nick Blom
The Modesto Bee
Nick Blom, who served as a Stanislaus County supervisor for 20 years, died Thursday following a stroke, his family said.
Anil Olivera installed as new Coarsegold postmaster
Sierra Star
Before a crowd of family and friends gathered at the Coarsegold Community Center, Anil Olivera was installed as the Postmaster of Coarsegold by Manager of Postal Operations Kimi Lonjin last Friday.
State Politics:
Walters: California’s GOP has become a circular firing squad
Fresno Bee (blog)/CALmatters
Each week, the San Bernardino County elections office publishes updated voter registration data not only for the county but also for all of its local entities, one being the City of Rancho Cucamonga.
Brown signs CA bill requiring more campaign disclosure
The Sacramento Bee
Amid debate among California campaign officials over whether it would hinder their accountability work, Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a measure aimed at providing voters with more information about deep-pocketed groups that pay for political advertisements.
LA Times
California officials could be barred from transferring the title for federal government land to a private owner under a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, prompted by fears that President Trump may shift away from previous efforts at preservation.
Political Road Map: How California went from worst to first in drawing fair political maps
LA Times
As the U.S. Supreme Court considers its role in forcing states to draw fair political maps, Californians know well how the process can be manipulated. They saw it happen over and over again, for decades.
LA Times
The year’s most prominent effort by Democrats to engage on the issue of illegal immigration may also prove to be the main source of friction in coming months between the state and federal governments.
LA Times
Just weeks before it takes effect, California’s new gas tax increase is again under attack, with Republicans mounting a growing campaign against the higher levies.
Walters: With tables turned, Democrats now oppose gerrymandering
CALmatters
Drawing maps of legislative and congressional districts for partisan advantage—commonly called “gerrymandering”—is ethically wrong, and the U.S. Supreme Court may soon decide whether it’s also a constitutional violation.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein says she’s running for re-election
The Fresno Bee
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a veteran California Democrat, said Monday that she’s running for another term.
See also
· Dianne Feinstein hints at another Senate run 89.3 KPCC
· Feinstein suggests she’s running in 2018: ‘I’m ready for a good fight’ LA Times
· Sen. Dianne Feinstein says she’s running for re-election abc30
· Feinstein running for reelection in California POLITICO
De León tangles with Feinstein over her signature issue – gun control
Sacramento Bee
Tangling with Sen. Dianne Feinstein over one of her signature issues, California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León said Sunday that the United States can prevent mass killings like the one last week in Las Vegas by “getting weapons designed for the battlefield out of our neighborhoods.”
House Set to Vote on Federal Budget Plan, Presenting Key Choice for California’s Members of Congress
California Budget & Policy Center
The US House of Representatives plans to vote tomorrow, Thursday, October 5, on a 2018 budget resolutionthat calls for deep spending cuts to many important public services and systems that improve the lives of individuals and families across California. The House budget resolution also paves the way for fast-track approval of a package of major tax cuts that would largely benefit wealthy households and large corporations. In fact, the current tax framework favored by President Trump and Republican congressional leaders would deliver 82 percent of the tax cuts in our state to the top 1 percent of California households in 2018, according to estimates released this week.
Reuters
From ending the ‘war on coal’ to ending DACA: track the impact of Trump’s policies here
See also:
· Even in California, some people think Trump is doing just fine as president LA Times
Trump reaches out to Democrats in bid for ‘great’ health law
PBS NewsHour
Trying to revive health care talks, President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday that he had spoken to the Senate’s Democratic leader to gauge whether the minority party was interested in helping pass “great” health legislation.
See also:
· Trump reached out to Schumer to work on ‘great HealthCare Bill’ POLITICO
· Schumer: I told Trump that ObamaCare repeal was ‘off the table’ TheHill
· Trump says he called Schumer on health care CNN
· Trump vents to wealthy donors about failure to repeal Obamacare POLITICO
Does Trump’s tax plan do nothing for low income earners?
False: Schumer: Trump’s tax plan is “completely focused on the wealthy and the powerful – not the middle class.”
President Trump and the Republicans’ Tax Cut Fantasy Land
The Weekly Standard
The stock market rockets ever-upward, as well it should, what with the president’s tax package destined to make corporate America great again. Sure thing.
Medical marijuana’s shield against a Sessions crackdown is under assault and could disappear
LA Times
The 85 words almost seemed an afterthought when Congress hurriedly crammed them into a massive budget bill late in the Obama administration, as if lawmakers wanted to acknowledge America’s outlook on marijuana had changed, but not make a big deal of it.
Supreme Court Should Not Strike Down Partisan Gerrymandering
National Review
Partisan gerrymanders are bad — and traditional. Let the people sort them out the old-fashioned way, through messy politics.
Vice President Pence plans California fundraising visit
AP
Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to arrive in California this weekend for a fundraising trip in a state that overwhelmingly rejected his boss.
Other:
Las Vegas shooting victims: Portraits of the fallen
Los Angeles Times
Officials have identified 58 people who were killed when a gunman opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas Sunday night.
See also:
· Las Vegas Shooting Victims Update: The Ones Who Were Lost: The Two-Way NPR
· Before tragedy in Las Vegas, these victims touched the lives of their loved ones PBS NewsHour
· Jessica Milam undergoes successful surgery The Fresno Bee
· Encouraging news about Sanger woman who was shot during Las Vegas massacre ABC30
· Valley officers used wheelbarrow to bring Las Vegas victims to safety visaliatimesdelta.com
· Hundreds gather for Mass remembering Las Vegas shooting victim Jack Beaton bakersfield.com
· A father’s worst nightmare during Las Vegas shooting: ‘It was like an angel was over my daughter’ bakersfield.com
· Kern County, with strong ties to Las Vegas, mourns those wounded and lost at Route 91 bakersfield.com
· Bakersfield couple shares their account of Las Vegas shooting bakersfield.com
· Congress may ban the bump stock, but what is it? PolitiFact
· Republicans and NRA, in a shift of position, say they’ll consider limiting firearm ‘bump stocks’ LA Times
· Feinstein: No law would have stopped Las Vegas gunman TheHill
· Sen. Dianne Feinstein on banning bump stocks: “We need a law” CBS News
· NRA’s Chris Cox falsely says Dianne Feinstein wanted to take ‘all of your guns’ PolitiFact
· NRA CEO says legislation regulating guns won’t prevent mass shootings POLITICO
· Scalise criticizes ‘rush to judgment’ on guns, bump stocks POLITICO
· Australian conservatives took on gun control. It worked. The Washington Post
· The safety payoff of the big business of gun training Marketplace
· Second Amendment: Timeless Natural Right, Protected ational Review
· Charlie Sykes’s Is Wrong to Call ‘Constitutional Carry’ ‘Nuts’ National Review
· Hiltzik: ‘Thoughts and prayers’ — and fistfuls of NRA money: Why America can’t control guns LA Times
· Why Americans Fight Over Guns – Up For Discussion Zócalo Public Square
Facebook, Google Spread Misinformation About Las Vegas Shooting. What Went Wrong?
NPR
In the hours just after the massacre in Las Vegas, some fake news started showing up on Google and Facebook. A man was falsely accused of being the shooter. His name bubbled up on Facebook emergency sites and when you searched his name on Google, links of sites connecting him with the shooting topped the first page.
See also:
· Google and Facebook help spread bad information after Las Vegas attack CNN
Gerrymandering: Don’t Blame Republicans
National Review
This week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Gill v. Whitford, a case in which they will decide whether Wisconsin Republicans’ redistricting plan is unconstitutional. Until now, the Court has hesitated to strike down partisan gerrymandering, primarily because there is no objective way of measuring the extent to which it has taken place or deciding how much is too much.
Party shapes political views more than race, class or education, Pew finds
PBS NewsHour
Democrats and Republicans are more divided on race, immigration and other issues than at any point in the past two decades, according to a new study on partisanship and political values.
America’s Partisan Divide Grew Wider Than Ever in 2017: Divided States of America
FRONTLINE – PBS
The partisan divide on some of the nation’s most pressing political issues, including environmental protection, race and immigration, has widened even further under President Donald Trump, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.
EDITORIALS
The Valley’s global ambassadors in scrubs
Fresno Bee
Even as we admire the crisis medical teams in Las Vegas, the Valley’s own teams are flying around the world, diving into serious health crises.
Who is in charge of social media? Humans or machines?
Fresno Bee/ Sacramento Bee
Time is running out for Facebook and Google to win back public trust, especially after the fake news on the Las Vegas shooter.
No matter how the world guts us, we must show up strong for our kids
Fresno Bee
We’re scared, angry, confused, but our job is to power through, writes former Fresnan Jill Simonian.
Community Voices: Trumps’s ruthless me-first attitude cannot take us anywhere good
Bakersfield Californian
A riddle: It’s instinctual. It doesn’t think or plan or reflect. It has no conscience. It’s opportunistic and seeks and feeds upon others’ weaknesses. It quickly changes its colors to hide or blend in. It strikes faster than its prey can think or move. It’s totally selfish.
Banning bump stocks a no-brainer after Las Vegas shooting. What else you got, Congress?
Sacramento Bee
A bill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein would ban “bump stocks,” which can make semiautomatic rifles fire like illegal machine guns.
Finally, a crackdown on predatory payday loans
Los Angeles Times
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new rules for payday loans and car title loans have drawn the predictable cries of outrage from lenders, particularly small storefront operators who say the restrictions will put them out of business. And it’s an understandable complaint — after spending five years researching the market for high-cost credit, the bureau has fired a shot right at the heart of these lenders’ business model.
Southern California needs water. Stop waffling over the delta tunnels and dig
Los Angeles Times
Twentieth century Southern California quenched its thirst with a series of ingenious projects, from the aqueducts that bring snowmelt from the Eastern Sierra to Los Angeles, and the dams along the Colorado River that impound water from the Rockies, to the State Water Project that directs the flow of the distant Feather River through the Sacramento River, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, down the California Aqueduct and over the Tehachapis. These engineering feats brought us water and wealth — and bred waste, although for decades Southern Californians were blissfully unaware of just how foolish it was to keep front yards emerald green in August or to turn five gallons of the world’s most pristine water into sewage with every flush of the toilet.
The problem of sexual harassment is much bigger than Hollywood’s vile ‘casting couch’ culture
Los Angeles Times
Assuming the allegations are true, powerful movie producer Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment of numerous women over a period of several decades is repugnant. Almost as outrageous, though is his whining, self-excusing rationalization that he came of age “in the ’60s and ’70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different.”
Just admit it Mr. Trump, you’re wrong about the Iran nuclear deal
Los Angeles Times
With President Trump, one can never be sure what action he will take on a controversial issue until he takes it — as he himself famously said, “You want to be unpredictable.” But several reports suggest that, after twice certifying to Congress that Iran is in compliance with the international agreement placing limits on its nuclear program, Trump will refuse to do so on Oct. 15.
AGRICULTURE/FOOD
Don Cameron named Agriculturist of the Year
The Fresno Bee
An innovative west Fresno County farmer, who has become a leader in replenishing groundwater supplies, has been named the Fresno Chamber of Commerce’s Agriculturist of the Year.
Amid Trump’s immigration crackdown, farmers look for reform
Marketplace
In Irwin County, Georgia, Gary Paulk walks through a field of strawberries as workers load a truck that’s playing music. He greets his employees, some of whom he’s known for decades.
Medical marijuana’s shield against a Sessions crackdown is under assault and could disappear
Los Angeles Times
The 85 words almost seemed an afterthought when Congress hurriedly crammed them into a massive budget bill late in the Obama administration, as if lawmakers wanted to acknowledge America’s outlook on marijuana had changed, but not make a big deal of it.
Hundreds applied to be on California’s pot advisory committee. Here’s who got picked
LA Times
With just three months left to draft new rules for marijuana sales in California, the state on Wednesday appointed a panel of industry members, health experts, law enforcement officials and union leaders to provide advice during the effort.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY
For stories on the Las Vegas mass shooting, See: “Top Stories – Other Politics,” above
Crime:
Tulare residents: Chief’s removal ‘politically motivated’
Tulare City Council received strong reaction during their bi-weekly meeting, following Tulare Chief Wes Hensley being placed on paid administrative leave last week.
Bigger police presence at Big Fresno Fair to keep community safe
abc30
The Big Fresno Fair may end at midnight, but it’s far from over for police officers.
Knowingly exposing others to HIV will no longer be a felony in California
LA Times
Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday that lowers from a felony to a misdemeanor the crime of knowingly exposing a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing the infection.
California wrapping up report on cost-effective mental health strategies to cut jail population
CAFWD
The Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC) last week released a draft report from yearlong investigation into the intersection of people with mental health needs and the criminal justice system. Titled “Together We Can: Reducing Criminal Justice Involvement for People Living with Mental Illness,” the report outlines the Commission’s findings and proposes recommendations to ease this growing crisis.
Wearable Technologies for Law Enforcement: Multifunctional Vest System Options
RAND
This report reviews the current and projected status of wearable technologies with potential for use by law enforcement and describes three conceptual integrated vest systems that incorporate these technologies. These three systems are meant to represent what could conceivably be implemented very quickly to enhance existing capabilities, what might be done in the near term to provide additional capabilities, and what might be considered to take advantage of technologies that are still in development and could provide even greater capabilities. Wearable technologies provide an opportunity to address several problems faced by law enforcement officers in an increasingly complex and technologically challenging environment — for example, the size and weight of equipment they must carry, the proliferation of batteries for electronic devices, the need for mounting and docking systems for body-worn cameras, and the need for comfort and flexibility while wearing body armor underneath uniforms.
Fire:
California wildifres | Blazes burning in Sonoma, Butte, Yuba, Napa counties | Winds whip flames
The Fresno Bee
Several fires burned in Northern California, forcing residents to evacuate in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties on October 8. Strong northern winds spread the Cherokee Fire in Oroville from 80 to 800 acres in just two hours Sunday night, according to tweets from Cal Fire
ECONOMY / JOBS
Economy:
Anna Smith: Bakersfield won’t win new Amazon campus, but we’ll gain by trying
bakersfield.com
Amazon, the Seattle-based internet commerce company, is considering building a huge second base. Metro areas around the country are engaged in a bidding war, scrambling to apply and entice the behemoth. Amazon promises the winner a $5 billion investment and 50,000 new jobs with average pay in excess of $100,000 over the next two decades.
Jobs:
ANALYSIS: What’s behind the 33,000 US jobs lost this month
In September, the U.S. economy lost 33,000 jobs –- the first month of job declines since September 2010, according to a report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics — but overall, unemployment fell and wages went up. Here’s why.
What jobs will and won’t be needed in California’s future
Orange County Register
The job market in Southern California could look very different by 2021 and beyond. Here’s where the jobs will and won’t be.
Americans want jobs, not low-paying work
Slate
The economy is too strong for employers to be offering seasonal work at $14 per hour.
EDUCATION
K-12:
Clovis parents discuss racial tensions at schools after Snapchat messages
The Fresno Bee
Nearly 200 members of the community showed up for the Clovis High area community meeting on Thursday, Oct. 5, to discuss how Clovis Unified School District will handle the concerns of parents after racially demeaning messages were exchanged by students in the district.
New funding system making a difference for California schools
The San Diego Union-Tribune
California is making major improvements in public education to ensure that all 6.2 million students in our diverse state have the support they need to be successful in college, careers, and life.
Signs of hope amid Smarter Balanced math scores
EdSource
California’s Smarter Balanced math scores may look nearly identical to last year’s, but math educators said they saw at least one glimmer of hope: 3rd-graders.
Learning your ABCs in the future: reading, writing, coding and AI
Marketplace
We talk about artificial intelligence and intelligent machines as if killer robots loom just around the corner. But if we all learned the basics of AI programming, would we be less scared of it?
Dan Walters: New law, born of UC scandal, will punish interference with audits
The Bakersfield Californian
Political discourse is full of hype, obfuscation and downright lying — which is why two independent authorities play such vital roles in the state Capitol.
Fresno State to host statewide summit on educational interpreting
Fresno State College of Health and Human Services
A statewide summit on educational interpreting at Fresno State will address the need to have readily available qualified sign language interpreters in the state of California.
Elevate CA: Lift Up California Millennials With Higher Education
CAFWD
Millennials are entitled. Or so they say.
But what does entitled really mean? To those in other generations who use the word as a slur to denigrate the largest generation currently living in the United States, it means that millennials, or Generation Y, feel as though they are inherently deserving of certain privileges or special treatment: a participation medal, get-rich-quick scheme, or a selfie worth one million likes. To millennials, entitled means so, so much more.
Examining faculty diversity at America’s top public universities
Brookings Institution
Following protests at colleges across the United States during the 2015-16 academic year, many student organizations have issued demands of administrators to increase the representation of minorities and women among faculty and staff.
ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY
Environment:
Thinking of buying a new car in a few years? California officials threw their latest punch Friday in an escalating war with President Donald Trump over how much carbon it will spew and how many miles it will get to the gallon.
Scientists foresee major change in rainfall patterns across California
The San Diego Union-Tribune
Unprecedented amounts of rain fell across Northern California last winter, ending a damaging drought that reached to the southern edges of San Diego County.
EPA to begin repealing Obama’s landmark climate rule Tuesday
TheHill
The Trump administration will kick off the process Tuesday to repeal the Obama administration’s landmark climate change rule for power plants.
See also:
· War on the EPA PBS – Frontline
Climate change: California answers Trump on greenhouse gases
The Sacramento Bee
See also:
· Countries banning gas cars businessinsider.com
Courts Thwart Administration’s Effort to Rescind Obama-Era Environmental Regulations
NYTimes.com
The rapid-fire push by the Trump administration to wipe out significant chunks of the Obama environmental legacy is running into a not-so-minor complication: Judges keep ruling that the Trump team is violating federal law.
Energy:
HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES
Lawyer: TRMC ‘circus’ could end by force
It could take a judge’s order to remove Tulare Regional Medical Center’s management company, an option the district’s lawyers are hoping to avoid.
Gov. Brown to sign drug pricing transparency bill
San Jose Mercury News
What is believed to be the nation’s most comprehensive legislation aimed at shining a light on prescription drug pricing is expected to be signed into law Monday morning by Gov. Jerry Brown, according to an advisory issued by his office Sunday.
Health care premiums for 2018 set to go up by as much as 50%
Marketplace
Several states have announced rates for health insurance premiums on the Obamacare exchanges for 2018. Topping the list is Georgia, with rates that are 57 percent higher than last year, while Florida said some premiums will be 45 percent higher.
See also:
· Democrats accuse Trump of ‘sabotage’ on Obamacare sign-ups POLITICO
· Republicans privately admit defeat on Obamacare repeal POLITICO
· Trump: I want to focus on North Korea not ‘fixing somebody’s back’ TheHill
· Best minds say single-payer is good for California, but I can’t see it … San Francisco Chronicle
California sues Trump administration over changes to Obama-era birth control coverage rule
LA Times
California sued the Trump administration Friday, claiming it unlawfully discriminated against women in its decision to limit an Obama-era rule that requires employers to provide for contraceptives in their health insurance plans.
See also:
· California challenges Trump’s rollback of birth control mandate TheHill
· Trump administration limit on contraceptive coverage compared to gun control The Fresno Bee
New facilities for agencies serving Fresno’s neediest due to High Speed Rail
Despite the city’s ban on sidewalk camping, temporary structures built by homeless residents– F Street, between Ventura and Santa Clara, Carmen Hernandez is their neighbor.
Water board reports highlighted health risk before hepatitis outbreak
San Diego Uniom-Tribune
San Diego officials were informed repeatedly of the dangers of disease-carrying runoff from homeless encampments into area waterways, as far as a decade before the current hepatitis A crisis spurred action.
IMMIGRATION
ICE Director: Arrests Coming To California Neighborhoods, Workplaces
The nation’s top immigration enforcement official is vowing arrests in California neighborhoods and at work sites now that Gov. Jerry Brown has signed the so-called “sanctuary state” bill.
See also:
· ICE chief says more immigration raids coming to California The Sacramento Bee
· ICE warns of stepped-up raids after California passes ‘sanctuary state’ law The Mercury News
White House offers hard-line immigration policies as trade for legalizing ‘Dreamers’
LA Times
The Trump administration revealed a set of sweeping immigration demands Sunday night — including the building of a wall on the southern border and major changes to the legal immigration system — as tradeoffs for legislation to protect the so-called Dreamers.
See also
· Trump lists immigration demands that could derail ‘Dreamers’ deal POLITICO
· WH aide’s DACA demands threaten to scuttle legislation CNN
· Trump Ties Immigration Demands To DACA Deal, Including Border Wall NPR
· Schumer, Pelosi blast Trump’s new immigration principles TheHill
LAND USE/HOUSING
California will require higher wages to fast-track housing
The Sacramento Bee
After a decades-long battle with California’s building industry, developers who want to fast-track housing production – especially in cities that have not built enough housing to keep pace with rising demand – will be required to pay higher wages and benefits to construction workers beginning Jan. 1.
Tiny houses coming to Charlotte at Keyo Park West development
The Sacramento Bee
Developer Kelvin Young believes his planned “tiny house” community in northwest Charlotte will create an affordable place for first-time home buyers or for people downsizing. But to neighbors, Young’s Keyo Park West is a threat to their property values. They are asking City Council to stop it
California Today: Homeless Camps, With Official Blessing
New York Times
Governmental czars have been appointed, ambitious plans crafted and billions of dollars spent, yet California’s homeless crisis still grows.
PUBLIC FINANCES
California Republicans spot political opportunity in fight for repeal of new gas tax
Los Angeles Times
Just weeks before it takes effect, California’s new gas tax increase is again under attack, with Republicans mounting a growing campaign against the higher levies.
California’s on a tax binge, despite one of the nation’s highest burdens
CALmatters
California has been on a tax binge in recent months, enhancing its status—for better or worse—as one of the nation’s highest-taxing states.
How pension costs reduce government services
CALPensions
A think tank at Stanford University, known for bringing investment earnings forecasts into the public pension debate in California, issued a new study last week that looks at how rising pension costs are reducing government services.
Skelton: Does Washington shortchange California on taxes? No, not really
LA Times
One of California’s oldest gripes is that Washington shortchanges the state on taxes. But it’s a questionable claim.
TRANSPORTATION
ABC30
The autonomous car industry is on the fast track to revolutionizing the way people move and Merced county officials are hoping this new technology will hit the road at the Castle Air Force Base.
Commercial bus riders who choose not to buckle up could be fined under new California law
LA Times
Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law on Sunday to require passengers on commercial buses equipped with seat belts to use them, a decision following a recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board after a San Jose bus crash that killed two people.
Another key California bullet train executive is leaving
LA Times
Another key executive at the California High-Speed Rail Authority announced his exit in recent days, the third such departure in less than a year for the troubled project.
California bullet train staff recommend German operator
SFGate.com
The agency overseeing California’s bullet train project recommended Friday that a U.S. subsidiary of a German rail company design and operate a train segment from the Central Valley to Silicon Valley in its early stages.
California could ban gasoline cars — if automakers don’t beat state to it
San Francisco Chronicle
In January, when the California Legislature reconvenes, Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, plans to introduce a bill that would ban new vehicles that run on gasoline or diesel after 2040. Automakers may not be too far behind.
Petaluma: Driver of truck arrested in hit-and-run on cyclists
The Fresno Bee
The driver of a pickup truck suspected of hitting four cyclists on a fundraising ride outside of Petaluma on Saturday has been arrested, the California Highway Patrol announced.
WATER
Don Cameron named Agriculturist of the Year
The Fresno Bee
An innovative west Fresno County farmer, who has become a leader in replenishing groundwater supplies, has been named the Fresno Chamber of Commerce’s Agriculturist of the Year.
MID candidates slugging it out
Modesto Bee
No group is holding a public debate allowing people to see in action the two candidates running in the Modesto Irrigation District’s only contested race on the Nov. 7 ballot.
L.A. city councilman wants water board to call off Delta tunnels vote
LA Times
A Los Angeles city councilman is calling on the council and Mayor Eric Garcetti to oppose a crucial vote by a Southern California water board on a $17-billion project that would be funded in part by Los Angeles ratepayers.
The Cadiz desert water project is facing a new hurdle
LA Times
A state commission is throwing a new hurdle in front of Cadiz Inc.’s plans to turn a remote desert valley into a lucrative water source for Southern California.
“Xtra”
Fulton Street: Restored downtown art is stunning
The Fresno Bee
When the art pieces along what used to be Fulton Mall were removed in April 2016 to make way for the bulldozers, folks were skeptical. Mistrustful, even.
Downtown Hanford theater stays open with new ownership, membership system
This summer, Hanford’s downtown movie theater announced that it was going to close its doors, but within a few days, Metro 4 Cinema would stay open, thanks to some heroes who stepped in.
Fitz’s Stockton: A black cowboy rides again
Stockton Record
The Oakland Black Cowboy Association held a parade and festival Saturday in Oak-town, featuring a reluctantly retired racehorse groomer from Stockton, Robert “Cowboy” Armstead.
Madera County fall wines will be featured Saturday on the Wine Trail
Sierra Star
Winemaker Ray Krause, owner of Westbrook Wine Farm in O’Neals, is ready to serve up some wine during Fall Favorite Wine tastings this Saturday.
Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival
Pumpkinfest.com
Hunting for an Orange October? Half Moon Bay is the spot!