TOP POLITICAL STORIES
Local/Regional:
Rep. Jeff Denham released a PSA targeted at DACA recipients
Politico California Playbook
From Politico California Playbook: Want more evidence about how President Donald Trump’s DACA order is complicating life for California Republicans? On Tuesday, Rep. Jeff Denham released a PSA targeted at DACA recipients, acknowledging – in the understatement of the year – that Trump’s order has “left many of the program’s recipients with questions and concerns.”
Anti-white supremacy gesture gets traction in Turlock
Modesto Bee
People concerned about alt right stickers popping up in public places asked city leaders Tuesday to make a statement denouncing bigotry.
State:
Latest census stats show a fifth of Californians in poverty
Fresno Bee
One in five Californians lives in poverty, the highest rate in the country, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The “Supplemental Poverty Measure,” factors in cost of living and shows a stubbornly high share of Golden State residents in poverty even as the national rate has dropped slightly. Under the methodology, an estimated 20.4 percent of Californians lived below the poverty line in a three-year average of 2014, 2015 and 2016. That is virtually unchanged from the 20.6 percent average for 2013, 2014 and 2015, according to Tuesday’s release.
LA Times
Gov. Jerry Brown and state Senate leader Kevin de León agreed Monday to amend a “sanctuary state” bill that would limit the role of state or local law enforcement agencies in holding and questioning immigrants in the country illegally.
Los Angeles Times
Gov. Jerry Brown and California legislative leaders have agreed to earmark $30 million for financial aid and legal services to help young people brought into the country illegally as children, a response to President Trump’s recent decision to cancel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
The Latest: California lawmakers reject lowering voting age
Washington Post
Members of the California Assembly have rejected a bill to lower the voting age to 17. The proposed amendment to the California Constitution would have let 17 year olds vote, including in presidential elections. It failed 46 to 23.
Can Antonio Villaraigosa become California’s next governor?
Los Angeles Times
Four years after his mayoralty came to an end, Antonio Villaraigosa is no longer the scrappy upstart whose rise to power symbolized Latinos’ growing clout in California. Instead, at 64, he stands out as the oldest of the top contenders for governor in the June 2018 primary. He is painfully aware that Californians might deny him what he craves: one more act in public life. “Maybe it passed me up,” he conceded to guests at a July reception in Stockton. “Maybe I’m yesterday’s news. Maybe I’m just a guy who was starting out 20-some-odd years ago, broke glass ceilings — but maybe my time is over.”
LA Times
It took decades for John Chiang to hustle into the top ranks of California politics, and he relished all the schmoozing along the way.
Gavin Newsom hires veteran Democratic strategist as campaign manager in governor’s race
LA Times
Gavin Newsom hires Addisu Demissie
Trump presidency eases Gavin Newsom’s path in his second run for California governor
LA Times
The first time Gavin Newsom ran for governor, he dropped out of the race in deference to a seemingly unbeatable fellow Democrat, Jerry Brown. Now, with Brown, 79, nearing retirement, he is gunning for the governor’s job again. This time, patience, calculation and lucky timing have combined to make him the early favorite in next year’s June primary.
Poll: Most California Democrats want to restrict free speech from white nationalists
Sacramento Bee
In this cradle of the free speech movement, from the very campus where the First Amendment has been tested time and again, a new poll from UC Berkeley shows California voters are split over the delicate question of whether white nationalist groups should be allowed to demonstrate.
White nationalist demonstrations divide California voters
The Sacramento Bee
Has America has gone too far in allowing white nationalist groups to hold public demonstrations?
California may slow revolving door of legislators becoming lobbyists
LA Times
A measure aimed at slowing the revolving door of California legislators becoming lobbyists was given final approval by lawmakers Monday and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown for consideration.
California’s hottest congressional races, ranked
Los Angeles Times
This time next year, the mad scramble for control of the U.S. House of Representatives in all likelihood will dominate political conversation.
California may move up its primary, shaking up 2020 presidential race
KPCC
The California Legislature is moving forward on a plan to switch the state’s presidential primary election from June to March, a move that would change the national strategy for presidential candidates but has unclear implications for local voters.
See also:
· Debate over early California primary is deja vu. And if it passes, it probably won’t change a thing LA Times
Vice President Mike Pence’s fundraising trip to California rescheduled for October
LA Times
Pence moves back his highly anticipated visit.
LA Times
Democrats are pushing for a vote on the Dream Act in a matter of weeks after President Trump told congressional leaders he wanted action on legislation to protect the young immigrants known as “Dreamers.”
Government waives reviews for border wall in California
AP
The Trump administration on Tuesday waived environmental laws and other reviews to replace a small stretch of border wall in Calexico, California, the second time it has exercised that authority in less than two months. Critics said the move was an overreach and a threat to the environment.
How to speak like a Capitol insider
Sacramento Bee
To those unaccustomed to the inside baseball of policymaking, politicians can sometimes seem like they speak a different language. But fear not! With lawmakers returning from a summer recess Monday, this legislative dictionary will help you decipher how California Capitol creatures conduct business.
Other:
Are you ready for a disaster? Here’s how to prepare for anything
General preparedness info for disasters or emergencies.
Fitzgerald: Eyeing a third City Hall?
Stockton Record
City staff is recommending the city ditch its historic City Hall, ditch the second City Hall it is leasing — though it will have to keep on paying for it — and buy a third City Hall.
California Assembly committee kills 12-month fishing license bill
Sierra Sun
SB187, which aimed to make fishing more affordable and accessible, was supported by many organizations representing business, labor, travel, hospitality, local government and outdoor recreation with no recorded opposition, according to a press release from the bill’s sponsor, the California Sportfishing League
Beyond Confederacy: California confronts its legacy of slavery and genocide
CALmatters
Back when Assemblywoman Monique Limón served on the school board in Santa Barbara, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians donated an encyclopedia-style dictionary to the local schools about their language and culture.
Conservatives, liberals unite against Silicon Valley
Politico
The days of unqualified praise from Washington are over for the country’s biggest tech companies, whose size and power are increasingly drawing attacks from both the left and the right.
EDITORIALS
Community Voices: Make the human right to water a reality for the valley
The Bakersfield Californian
The trials in Flint, Mich., have transfixed the nation. Californians are worried about people halfway across the country, yet do not realize that their fellow Californians, often just a short drive away, are also impacted by unsafe drinking water.
Legislators wouldn’t penalize Tesla for operating in California. Would they?
Sacramento Bee
Tesla employs 10,000 Californians, unlike other automakers that have no factories here. So why get into the middle of their labor dispute?
Use California’s cap-and-trade money to end diesel pollution
Los Angeles Times
California has $1.5 billion available this year to fight climate change, and many billions of dollars more coming in the years ahead, now that lawmakers have extended the state’s cap-and-trade program through 2030. Needless to say, there are plenty of people, groups, businesses and governments that would love to get a piece of the pie.
Horrific as the killing of a Whittier cop may be, we can’t let emotion guide criminal justice reform
Los Angeles Times
The grief and anger caused by the horrific killing in February of Officer Keith Boyer has moved policymakers to seek three changes in laws dealing with how criminals are punished and then supervised after their release from incarceration. But grief and anger seldom turn into good criminal justice…
Moving up California’s presidential primary again? Here’s what we learned last time
San Jose Mercury News
Moving the primary up to March is worth a try, but the state has tried early primaries before with, at best, mixed results.
Cheers and jeers: ‘Unselfish commitment’
Stockton Record
Congratulations to Kristen Dyke, the 2017 ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award winner. The ninth overall recipient of the award, she joins a list of the next generation of leaders in San Joaquin County ages 18-40. The criteria is simple: “Nominees must demonstrate excellence, creativity and innovation in their business or profession; provide…
AGRICULTURE/FOOD
Thunderstorm, heavy rain damages raisin crop in Fresno County
Fresno Bee
This time of year, raisin grapes are placed on paper trays in the field to be dried by late-summer heat into raisins. Any moisture can damage the crop by embedding dirt and sand into the wrinkles of the drying fruit, or creating the potential for mold.
Merced leader hopes city will become model for monetizing commercial marijuana.
Merced city leaders seemed poised to make a statement Tuesday night. In a matter of three hours, they became the first in the Valley to seriously consider allowing every type of cannabis business to its city.
Kern could become No. 1 in crop value for the first time
Bakersfield Californian
We already have Fresno County beat. Tulare could be next. For the first time, said Kern County Agricultural Commissioner Glenn Fankhauser, the San Joaquin Valley’s southernmost county could become the top ag producing county in California.
Farmworker union dues seized to pay off UFW lawsuit
Los Angeles Times
Union dues from hundreds of farmworkers will be diverted to pay off a $1.2-million judgment against the United Farm Workers over the union’s treatment of its organizers.
San Diego legalizes marijuana cultivation and manufacturing, despite some concerns
Los Angeles Times
San Diego will have a fully legal and regulated marijuana industry, including pot farms, factories making edibles and retail storefronts selling the drug to both medical and recreational customers.
Pot delivery by drone? California cannabis czars put the kibosh on stoner pipe dream
Los Angeles Times
If you imagined the skies of California would someday be buzzing with drones carrying tiny vials of pot or edibles for recreational marijuana users, think again because that stoner fantasy was just a pipe dream.
Only 11% of Northern California Cannabis Growers Have Applied to Join the Legal Market
MERRY JANE
As of last November, it has been legal for California residents to grow up to six cannabis plants for personal use, or to apply for a permit to grow a larger quantity of marijuana to sell. But law enforcement have reported that the majority of growers in Northern California have chosen to forego the legal licensing process. Many of these growers are cultivating marijuana for the black market in states where cannabis is still illegal, as customers in those states are willing to pay much higher prices for weed.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime:
Dyer: New Approach Coming For Mental Health Cases
Valley Public Radio
Police officers across the country and in the Central Valley have been under increasing scrutiny and pressure for how they deal with civilians in the field. At the same time, some departments are acknowledging that their role is morphing into one that is just as concerned with identifying and helping people who might be suffering from a mental illness as it is enforcing the law. Fresno’s Police Chief Jerry Dyer says he is making changes within his force in an attempt to separate committed criminals from people who need a softer form of help. Valley Public Radio’s Jeffrey Hess spoke with Dyer about what he has learned over the last couple years and what changes he hopes to make at FPD.
California governor to consider bill for reducing penalties for infecting others with HIV
Fox News
California lawmakers gave a green light Monday to a bill that would reduce penalties for knowingly exposing someone to HIV without telling them, claiming the current felony charge for the crime is discriminatory.
California Senate bill headed to Gov. Brown would limit mandatory sentences for some drug charges
Los Angeles Times
A state Senate bill headed to Gov. Jerry Brown would reduce sentence enhancements for some low-level, nonviolent drug offenses, part of a push by Democratic legislators to help young people facing charges or doing time in California.
Smoking pot while driving or riding in a car in California will soon be punishable with a fine
LA Times
With state-licensed marijuana sales months away, Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday signed a bill that prohibits smoking or consuming cannabis while driving or riding in a vehicle in California.
California lawmakers act to ease crime penalties
Washington Post
Democrats who control California’s Legislature are continuing their efforts to ease criminal penalties, including voting to end a punishment critics call a relic from the nation’s failed war on drugs.
Fire:
Rain doesn’t help, Pier Fire jumps to 30,390 acres near Springville
Firefighters continue to battle the Pier Fire, which has now engulfed 30,390 acres since it sparked two weeks ago.
ECONOMY / JOBS
Economy:
California’s housing costs are driving its No. 1 poverty ranking
89.3 KPCC
New figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show California has the country’s highest poverty rate, with nearly one in five residents facing economic hardship when factoring in living costs such as housing.
Brookings Institution
How does Valley compare when it comes to digital access?
Jobs:
Fresno looking to be home for second Amazon headquarters
The Business Journal
The city of Fresno plans to throw its hat in the ring to become the home of Amazon’s second headquarters. “We’re going to look at all the requirements and look at it,” said Mark Standriff, a spokesman for the city. But, he noted, there wasn’t much to say yet in terms of how Fresno will make its case that “Amazon HQ2” should be built here, noting that the company’s founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, had announced online the request for proposals to cities across the country on Thursday.
Fresno’s Amazon, Ulta warehouses are rising quickly
Fresno Bee
From what was empty land just a few months ago, a pair of large warehouses are rapidly rising from the ground in a south Fresno industrial park with the promise of hundreds of new jobs for the city.
Farmworker union dues seized to pay off UFW lawsuit
Los Angeles Times
Union dues from hundreds of farmworkers will be diverted to pay off a $1.2-million judgment against the United Farm Workers over the union’s treatment of its organizers.
EDUCATION
K-12:
With opening of Dream Center, FUSD dodges student walkout
Fresno Bee
Dozens of students at Edison High School were planning to walk out of class Friday to protest President Donald Trump’s decision to end DACA – a program that protected young immigrants from deportation if they came to the U.S. illegally as children.
Fresno school for special needs students receiving $4 million makeover
Rata High serves kids from 8th grade all the way up to 20 years old. A $4 million makeover will feature outdoor space and enough indoor space to hold full hospital beds.
Residents in Lamont are clamoring for a new high school to be built in their community, but there’s no indication that will happen anytime soon.
Three crucial debates to follow at September’s California State Board of Education meeting
Los Angeles Times
How should California define underperforming schools and intervene in school districts that clearly need extra help? Education officials have long been mulling these questions, but during the State Board of Education meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, they are expected to make key decisions and offer one last chance for public discussion of how the state will satisfy a crucial federal law.
Los Angeles Times
When the state of California asked the Obama administration for permission to drop an old science test in favor of a new one that the state was putting into place, the answer — more than once — was no.
If Teenagers Get More Sleep, California Could Gain Billions
RAND
Sleep deprivation among teenagers should be regarded as a public health epidemic. Only about 60 percent of teenagers get the eight to 10 hours of sleep a night recommended by sleep scientists and pediatricians.
Saved by the peace and quiet at a growing number of California schools
EdSource
Hoping to create calmer, more peaceful atmospheres on campus, schools around the state are turning off their bell systems and letting students figure out when class starts the old-fashioned way: by looking at a clock.
How central California colleges ranked in U.S. News and World Report’s 2018 list
Fresno Bee
Colleges in the San Joaquin Valley did fairly well in the latest U.S. News and World Report’s list of top colleges in the U.S for 2018. Among the bright spots for parents and prospective students: Fresno State’s engineering program was ranked No. 74 out of 200 colleges in the U.S. Among its graduate programs, rehabilitation counseling, physical therapy, social work and speech-language pathology programs are all nationally ranked, according to the report.
California leaders pledge $30M for young immigrants
Fresno Bee
California Gov. Jerry Brown and top lawmakers announced Tuesday that they plan to spend $30 million helping young immigrants with legal services and college financial aid.
New report: community college isn’t a cheaper route to university
KPCC
The Campaign For College Opportunity released “The Transfer Maze: The High Cost to Students and the State of California.” The report’s subject matter is students like Marisa Vasquez, a media studies major at Santa Monica College. “I’ve been going to Santa Monica for four years,” she said. “I was kind of floating around trying to figure out what I wanted to do.” That floating around led her from a marketing major, which was so not her, to photography, photojournalism and now journalism.
Walters: Blocking new role for community colleges short-sighted
CALmatters
Senate Bill 769 was just one of dozens of measures that were effectively killed by legislative appropriations committees this month without formal votes or explanations why.
ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY
Environment:
California border fence can bypass environmental laws, Trump administration says
The Mercury News
The Trump administration on Tuesday waived environmental laws and other reviews to replace a small stretch of border wall in Calexico, California, the second time it has exercised that authority in less than two months.
California is suing Donald Trump again. Your car’s mpg might be the reason
Sacramento Bee
When cars don’t meet minimum standards for fuel economy, the manufacturers pay fines to the federal government – sometimes millions of dollars a year. The amount they pay has become a hot topic in Washington, and the focus of the latest fight between California officials and President Donald Trump’s administration over automobiles and how quickly they consume fuel.
Here’s how California plans to spend $1.5 billion in cap-and-trade money
San Jose Mercury News
As California’s newly strengthened “cap and trade” climate-change program rakes in the cash, top lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown have reached a deal to spend nearly $1.5 billion in the coming year on such programs as clean-vehicle rebates, methane reduction and fire prevention.
See also:
· Cap-and-trade plan spends $1.5 billion Sacramento Bee
Unions could get a boost from California’s cap-and-trade spending proposal
Los Angeles Times
If passed by lawmakers, the legislation would require state regulators to develop a process for determining whether automakers are “fair and responsible in the treatment of their workers” before vehicles can be eligible for the rebates. The change could take effect next summer.
Promised parks still unbuilt as lawmakers seek to build more
The Union Democrat
Lawmakers are poised to vote this week on $725 million in bond funding to build new parks in underserved neighborhoods around California, even though a third of similar projects promised under the last parks bond in 2006 are incomplete.
Energy:
Legislation to allow further review of CPUC records requests dies again
San Diego Union-Tribune
For the third straight year, legislation to allow public records requests rejected or delayed by the California Public Utilities Commission to be heard in Superior Court has been defeated.
California tries to goose electric car sales with rebates—but is it enough?
CALmatters
California car buyers are getting a mixed bag of news this week, some of which could have profound implications for the future of the state’s effort to get 1.5 million drivers out of emission-spewing vehicles and into electric alternatives. The Legislature is sending the governor a bill—outlining how to spend $1.5 billion in proceeds from the state’s cap-and-trade auctions—that includes $140 million to replenish the state air board’s rebate fund for zero-emission vehicles, a popular and often over-subscribed program to assist consumers in buying pricy electric cars.
HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES
Census shows uninsured rate at record low
The Hill
The number of Americans without health insurance dropped to a record low in the final year of the Obama presidency, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday. The uninsured rate dropped to 8.8 percent in 2016, down from 9.1 percent in 2015, the Census Bureau reported. This means that a total of 28.1 million Americans did not have insurance, down 900,000 from the previous year.
Modesto Bee
A former chiropractor in Modesto is charged with practicing medicine without a license, as well as possession and sale of a controlled substance, testosterone.
Bakersfield woman advocates for cancer funding on The Hill
Patsy Romero, a Bakersfield cancer survivor, joined 700 others in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to meet with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and advocate for more robust cancer research funding and legislation related to care.
California Assembly passes drug price transparency bill
East Bay Times
The California State Assembly on Monday overwhelmingly approved Senate Bill 17, controversial legislation that could soon become the nation’s most comprehensive law aimed at shining a light on prescription drug prices.
Bill to create ‘safe injection sites’ for drug users fails in California Senate
Los Angeles Times
A controversial proposal to allow certain California counties and cities to establish sites where people could inject drugs without legal consequences stumbled in the state Senate on Tuesday night.
See also:
· “Safe Zones” For Drug Use Stalls, Workplace Bills Advance, ‘Sanctuary State’ Split Capital Public Radio
California will now track suicide among veterans
The San Diego Union-Tribune
A new law will require California officials to compile statistics on how many military veterans are committing suicide in the state. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the legislation Monday. One of the law’s proponents said the new requirement makes California one of 22 states to accurately report veteran suicide.
IMMIGRATION
California sanctuary state law clears key hurdle
The Hill
Top Democrats in Sacramento have reached an agreement that appears set to pave the way for California to become a sanctuary state for undocumented immigrants.
See also:
· Despite compromise, California law enforcement mixed on ‘Sanctuary State’ bill Los Angeles Daily News
· California Police Chiefs End Opposition To Sanctuary Measure AP
Los Angeles Times
Gov. Jerry Brown and California legislative leaders have agreed to earmark $30 million for financial aid and legal services to help young people brought into the country illegally as children, a response to President Trump’s recent decision to cancel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
See also:
· ‘Dreamers’ would receive more financial, legal help under new California plan Sacramento Bee
· Administration Hints That Trump Would Work With Dems on DACA The Weekly Standard
· Salters: I can stand with the Dreamers while supporting the White House bakersfield.com
PolitiFact California: Bipartisan Support For Border Wall?
Capital Public Radio News
As President Trump attempts to drum up support for his proposed border wall, his colleagues argue he may have some unlikely advocates. Congressman Jeff Denham in a recent interview with NPR’s Rachel Martin suggested then Senators Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer voted in favor of “border security.”
LAND USE/HOUSING
Promised parks still unbuilt as lawmakers seek to build more
AP
Lawmakers are poised to vote this week on $725 million in bond funding to build new parks in underserved neighborhoods around California, even though a third of similar projects promised under the last parks bond in 2006 are incomplete.
PUBLIC FINANCES
Fresno County agency won’t release names with salaries
The Fresno Bee
Taxpayers pay the salaries of public employees, but do their names have to be identified with their wages?
Merced leader hopes city will become model for monetizing commercial marijuana.
Merced city leaders seemed poised to make a statement Tuesday night. In a matter of three hours, they became the first in the Valley to seriously consider allowing every type of cannabis business to its city.
If Trump wants to know how not to reform a tax code, he should just look to California
Sacramento Bee
The president rightly wants to reform America’s tax code. Our nation’s ever-growing list of tax laws burden the average American, and our world-leading corporate tax rate makes it harder for homegrown businesses to compete globally, putting our country at an economic disadvantage. This means fewer jobs for everyone.
Will California offer the pricey tax breaks that may be needed to win Amazon’s new headquarters?
Los Angeles Times
When Amazon last week rolled out its public search for a second headquarters, the tech giant detailed attributes it deems key in selecting a winner: a large metropolitan area, an international airport, recreational opportunities and a top-notch university system.
Our Future is 3-D: How to better pay for public goods through economic growth
CAFWD
Mark Pisano is a professor of public administration at the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy. For 31 years, he served as executive director of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), the nation’s largest regional planning agency. He is the author of The Puzzle of the American Economy, which describes how demographic transformations will place a drag on economic growth and increase stress on public budgets. This is part three of four columns on what these changes mean for California’s future.
TRANSPORTATION
Fresno State announces opening of new Transportation Institute
ABC30
Fresno State is embarking on new territory with the opening of the universities Transportation Institute showcases. The institute is a creative private and public partnership between the university, Fresno Council of Governments, and the Fresno County Transportation Authority. “We do not want to be copying other technologies, other solutions in other places because our situation is different,” said Founding Director of the Transportation Institute Aly Tawfik.
Report: Investment needed to prepare San Joaquin Valley communities for high-speed rail
The Mercury News
Without state and local intervention, San Joaquin Valley cities with high-speed rail stations will become sleeper communities, farming out tech workers on express trains to the Bay Area and Los Angeles, a report released Wednesday by nonprofit think-tank SPUR argues
Electric Vehicles In The Central Valley Could Get A Big Boost Thanks To The VW Settlement
Valley Public Radio
A major scandal rocked the auto industry two years ago when it was discovered that the car company Volkswagen had been systematically cheating on diesel emissions tests. That scandal might soon turn into a big boon for electric cars in the Central Valley.
California tries to goose electric car sales with rebates—but is it enough?
CALmatters
California car buyers are getting a mixed bag of news this week, some of which could have profound implications for the future of the state’s effort to get 1.5 million drivers out of emission-spewing vehicles and into electric alternatives. The Legislature is sending the governor a bill—outlining how to spend $1.5 billion in proceeds from the state’s cap-and-trade auctions—that includes $140 million to replenish the state air board’s rebate fund for zero-emission vehicles, a popular and often over-subscribed program to assist consumers in buying pricy electric cars.
Feds vow to clear road for self-driving car makers
San Francisco Chronicle
The Trump administration has a message for the scores of companies racing to develop self-driving cars: We want to make your life easier.
How much oil and gas does California produce?
San Jose Mercury
Following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, floodwaters have caused 15 oil refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast to go offline. Collectively, products from those refineries represent about 25 percent of U.S. capacity. In California, Nevada and Arizona, more refined products are distributed through a network of pipelines and terminals, and then on to wholesale and retail customers.
WATER
Fellow to Explore Central Valley Groundwater Problems
Public Policy Institute of California
PPIC announced the appointment of Josué Medellín-Azuara, a member of the PPIC Water Policy Center’s research network, as the 2017 Steyer-Taylor Fellow. This is the second year of a three-year fellowship―supported with funding from the TomKat Foundation, established by Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor―to explore solutions to some of California’s toughest groundwater policy challenges. Medellín-Azuara is associate professor at the UC Merced School of Engineering. He focuses on water resources economics with expertise in water management for agricultural, environmental and urban uses, and farm adaptation to drought and climate change, among other topics.
“Xtra”
Join in the Heritage Day Celebration this Saturday
Sierra Star
It’s going to be a big time in the old town as Oakhurst celebrates the 21st Annual Mountain Heritage Day at Fresno Flats Historic Village & Park, Saturday, Sept. 16. It’s a day when the museum and park comes alive with many activities to celebrate the heritage of Oakhurst dating back to the 1800s.
Tulare County Fair Food: What to eat
Here’s a list of the top five things to be on the lookout for at the Tulare County Fair this weekend if you’re not counting calories or even bothering to charge your Fitbit until the Fair closes up Sunday night.
You could visit a California state park for half price on this day every year
Sacramento Bee
Beginning next year, you may be able to celebrate California’s entry into the United States by visiting a state park for half the price.