Maddy Institute – September 23, 2019

23Sep

POLICY & POLITICS

Valley Air District Approves Community-Led Plans To Improve Air Quality In Shafter, Fresno

VPR

Air quality stole a lot of headlines this week, as the Trump Administration moved to revoke California’s ability to set its own tailpipe emissions standards distinct from those mandated federally by the Environmental Protection Agency.

● Progress on climate change is happening — everywhere but DC San Francisco Chronicle

● EDITORIAL: Health of Stanislaus County residents is more important than Trump’s ego Modesto Bee

● EDITORIAL: Clean air is worth emission waiver fight Stockton Record

Return of Measles in Central California

abc30

Action News investigates how many students have the measles vaccination as health officials fight the resurgence of the deadly disease that was once all but eradicated in our country.

2019 California Economic Summit Registration Opens

CAFWD

Registration has opened for the 2019 California Economic Summit, which will take place in Fresno on November 7-8. The Summit, produced by California Forward, marks the eighth annual gathering of private, public and civic leaders from across California’s diverse regions committed to creating a shared economic agenda to expand prosperity for all.

North SJ Valley:

PG&E may shut off power in Sierra foothills due amid red flag warning Monday night

Fresno Bee

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said late Saturday it may shut off power to parts of Northern California in the next 48 hours to “help reduce the risk of wildfire,” potentially affecting customers along the Sierra foothills from Butte County to El Dorado County.

● Late September heat, wind bring severe wildfire danger across Northern California this week Sacramento Bee

Modesto’s downtown train depot will get makeover to welcome ACE. Ceres has plans, too

Modesto Bee

Transportation leaders got a glimpse Wednesday of the Modesto and Ceres stations planned for the Altamont Corridor Express. The dingy old depot in downtown Modesto will get a $5 million makeover in advance of service starting as early as 2021.

They’re big, furry and Congress might help California kill them all to save the Delta

Sacramento Bee

Nutria, a large South American rodent, were found in Merced County two years ago, alarming California wildlife officials because of the rodents’ potential to harm infrastructure that moves waters to Central Valley farms and Southern California cities.

Inland California Rising summit focuses on closing divide between haves, have-lesses

Stockton Record

Swearengin’s remarks came early in Friday’s all-day Inland California Rising conference at Pacific. The movement, according to event organizers, is based on the premise that the state’s future relies on strengthening and increasing investments in the inland region.

Central SJ Valley:

Fresno’s short-term rentals have gone unregulated. The City Council aims to change that

Fresno Bee

The Fresno City Council voted unanimously Thursday in support of the introduction of an ordinance to regulate short-term rentals like Airbnb, aiming to catch up with other cities that already have such polices in place.

Fresno joins cities supporting DACA immigrants, as Supreme Court date looms

Fresno Bee

The Fresno City Council on Thursday voted 5-1 to pass a resolution supporting DACA recipients, joining 40 other cities in a show of solidarity with those immigrants, whose case is expected to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Madera City Council adopts code of ethics

Madera Tribune

The Madera City Council Wednesday night adopted a code of ethics to guide its members in how they should conduct themselves in the city’s official business and in their relationships toward citizens and colleagues on the city staff.

EDITORIAL: Devin Nunes tried to scare these three Valley citizens with a lawsuit. It didn’t work

Fresno Bee

In August 2018, we petitioned the courts to require Devin Nunes, the elected representative of California’s Congressional District 22, to remove “farmer” from his ballot designation and replace it with an accurate description of his occupation.

South SJ Valley:

Lindsay council to talk menudo, pozole

Porterville Recorder

The Lindsay City Council will meet on Tuesday, and among the items on its rather short agenda is the approval of the annual Menudo and Pozole Cook-Off Festival and Car Show set for October 12.

Animal advocates are divided on Bakersfield's strategy for reducing rampant pet overpopulation

Bakersfield Californian

As the Bakersfield City Council prepares to vote on law changes that could add regulations to breeders and kennel operators, a fierce debate has broken out among those who say the changes will help and others who claim the city’s proposals go too far.

Lemoore City Council to consider cannabis project agreement in public hearing

Hanford Sentinel

The Lemoore City Council announced Thursday that a public hearing will be held on Oct. 1 focusing on the project development agreement and regulatory permit for cannabis company Valley Pure Lemoore.

BPD to deploy body cameras to all officers in three-year rollout

Bakersfield Californian

The Bakersfield Police Department will soon begin outfitting its officers with body-worn cameras, fulfilling a request that community activists have long lobbed at city leaders.

Price: State's new energy blueprint can't leave Kern County in the dark

Bakersfield Californian

Four years before Gov. Gavin Newsom set in motion the managed decline of California's oil industry, Aera Energy CEO Christina Sistrunk was asking questions about the mechanics, and wisdom, of such an undertaking.

State:

How can California effectively protect privacy rights and personal data of its citizens?

Fresno Bee

It’s unnerving to know that technology companies are keeping track of what we do when we’re online. On the other hand, it’s nice to get all the free stuff from those companies in exchange for being able to keep track of us.

Hiltzik: In landmark session, the California Legislature shows what progressive lawmaking looks like

Los Angeles Times

California is often identified as one of the most liberal states in the union — perhaps the most liberal. In the session just ended, its Legislature showed its willingness to live up to that standard.

Walters: Is there a California tipping point?

CALmatters

The larger question is whether California as a whole could reach a tipping point when high taxes, regulation, and other negative factors overwhelm the positives of living and doing business here and the state begins to experience economic and social erosion.

Walters: Democrats want to kneecap ballot measures

CALmatters

Democrats own virtually every lever of government in California, including the governorship, both U.S. Senate seats, 46 of the state’s 53 congressional members, and three-fourths of state legislators.

EDITORIAL: California’s ballot initiative process was supposed to get the money out of politics. Ha!

Los Angeles Times

Led by Republican Gov. Hiram Johnson, back when his party stood for something very different than it does today, California progressives not only regulated the railroad but also established three forms of direct democracy: the initiative, the referendum and the recall.

Federal:

Here’s what you missed while Donald Trump dissed California this week

Sacramento Bee

Overlooked amid all the uproar over those decrees, reports and court filings, the Trump administration also took some smaller actions that might end up having a practical impact on the water Californians drink and the way they save for retirement.

Trump farmer $28 billion bailout more than double Obama's automaker payout in 2009 — and farmers are calling it a “band-aid”

Business Insider

Farmers are slamming Donald Trump over his trade war with China, saying his administration's bailouts to the agricultural industry are like a 'Band-Aid' when it comes to helping those affected by the tariffs.

EDITORIAL: Judicial Make-Up Call

Wall Street Journal

The White House keeps nominating talented lawyers to fill judicial vacancies, and on Friday it included an important make-up call in selecting Patrick Bumatay for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

See also:

● EDITORIAL: The Lawyer Enrichment Act Wall Street Journal

● To respect Civil Rights Act, Supreme Court must bar discrimination against LGBT people Sacramento Bee

Elections 2020:

Trump suggests he raised Biden with Ukraine’s president

Fresno Bee

President Donald Trump suggested Sunday that he raised former Vice President Joe Biden and Biden's son in a summer phone call with Ukraine's new leader, as Democrats pressed for investigations into whether Trump improperly used his office to try to dig up damaging information about a political rival.

● The story behind Biden’s son, Ukraine and Trump’s claims Fresno Bee

● Trump appears to acknowledge Biden was topic in call with Ukraine president Los Angeles Times

● Trump Says He Discussed Biden in Call With Ukraine’s President Wall Street Journal

● Democrats Intensify Calls For Potential Impeachment Over Whistleblower Complaint Capital Public Radio

● EDITORIAL: Trump’s Ukraine Call Wall Street Journal

● EDITORIAL: Americans need to know what whistle-blower said San Francisco Chronicle

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg to stump in Sacramento next weekend

Sacramento Bee

Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic presidential hopeful, will hold his first public appearance in Sacramento next weekend, according to a campaign website.

● Buttigieg’s Health Plan Gets One Big Thing Right Bloomberg

Why many Muslims treat Bernie Sanders like a rock star

Los Angeles Times

Sanders has maintained a fervent following as he campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination and tries to attract key voting blocs such as African Americans and Latinos. He has found success among a smaller group rarely on the radar for White House hopefuls: Muslims.

● Bernie Sanders unveils plan to cancel $81 billion in U.S. medical debt Los Angeles Times

Cory Booker may leave presidential race soon if he doesn’t hit fundraising goal

Los Angeles Times

In a frank admission of his failure to gain much voter support, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker suggested Saturday that he might quit the race for the Democratic presidential nomination if he falls short of his fundraising goal for September.

Obama is more popular than ever. So why are the Democratic candidates running so far to his left?

Los Angeles Times

How does a political party replicate the electoral success of its most revered member even while repudiating a whole host of his policies? That’s the riddle facing Democrats in 2020.

The Electoral College Flips Elections More Than We Thought

Bloomberg

Advocates for reforming the Electoral College find that in close presidential elections, the probability of an “inversion” — the popular vote going one way and the electoral vote another — is far higher than most of us suppose.

Other:

How To Fix Politics: Bold Solutions to America’s Problems

POLITICO

Everyone agrees something is broken. Can we make it better? POLITICO Magazine asked.

Cybersecurity and digital trade: Getting it right

Brookings

The expansion of the internet globally and use of data flows globally by businesses and consumers for communication, e-commerce, and as a source of access to information and innovation, is transforming international trade.

Key facts about U.S. Hispanics and their diverse heritage

Pew Research Center

The U.S. Hispanic population is diverse. These nearly 60 million individuals trace their heritage to Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America and to Spain, each with distinct demographic and economic profiles.

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

Chemical exposures in California’s vast cropland spark fear for growers and workers

Fresno Bee

Dozens of workers at a Tulare County vineyard on June 18 who were exposed to a chemical used in pesticides. The chemical was sprayed at a nearby peach orchard owned by Peters Fruit Farms.

Lemoore City Council to consider cannabis project agreement in public hearing

Hanford Sentinel

The Lemoore City Council announced Thursday that a public hearing will be held on Oct. 1 focusing on the project development agreement and regulatory permit for cannabis company Valley Pure Lemoore.

Trump farmer $28 billion bailout more than double Obama's automaker payout in 2009 — and farmers are calling it a “band-aid”

Business Insider

CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime:

Using the Internet for grooming teens for sex trafficking

Fresno Bee

Computers, smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices offer kids easy access to the Internet. And they provide predators easy access to kids.

See also:

● California pivots toward criminal justice reform Visalia Times Delta

Teens faced life sentences, now only six years under California's new juvenile offender law

Desert Sun

A California law enacted this year raised the age at which juvenile offenders can be tried as adults from 14 to 16. For two Coachella Valley men, the new law means the 65-years-to-life sentence they were each facing when convicted of armed robbery last year likely will be reduced to six years, due to limitations on juvenile sentences.

EDITORIAL: President Trump is right: This undocumented criminal should be deported

Fresno Bee

California leaders passed the sanctuary-state law two years ago to keep local law officers from becoming de facto extensions of federal immigration agents.

EDITORIAL: Police, prosecutors and courts are keeping California’s criminal justice data a secret

Los Angeles Times

For decades, California has acknowledged the public’s right to inspect arrest records and other essential documents. Yet retrieving useful information about California’s justice system is nearly impossible.

Public Safety:

BPD to deploy body cameras to all officers in three-year rollout

Bakersfield Californian

The Bakersfield Police Department will soon begin outfitting its officers with body-worn cameras, fulfilling a request that community activists have long lobbed at city leaders.

Madera County Sheriff Deputy shines at 2019 World Police and Fire Games

Madera Tribune

Imagine traveling across the globe for a strength and weightlifting competition, but as you arrive before the competition, you tear a muscle in your chest. And one of your main events is the bench press. For Ryan King, Deputy with the Madera County Sheriff’s Office, not only did he participate in his events anyway, he won the entire event.

As police and firefighter numbers fall across the US, officials urge prep

Sacramento Bee

Throughout the country, many emergency units have fewer people to navigate disaster response, meaning they have to do more with less.

Do Cash Rewards For Crime Tips Work?

NPR

In more recent times, rewards are less about bounty hunting and more about persuading people to provide information that can help solve a crime. It's an attempt to use money to overcome fear and apathy, and sometimes that can be difficult.

In gun buyback talk, how do you round up so many weapons?

Fresno Bee

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke's recent vow to take away people's AR-15 and AK-47 rifles raised one big question: How is it possible to round up the millions of such guns that exist in the United States?

Fire:

PG&E may shut off power in Sierra foothills due amid red flag warning Monday night

Fresno Bee

● Late September heat, wind bring severe wildfire danger across Northern California this week Sacramento Bee

Commentary: With a little help from the Legislature, family forest landowners can help reduce wildfire

CALmatters

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wildfire plan is aimed at fire victims and energy providers, and addressing wildfire safety and accountability. But work remains to support the families and individuals who own and care for half the forests most at risk for wildfire.

ECONOMY / JOBS

Economy:

2019 California Economic Summit Registration Opens

CAFWD

Fired CFO alleges age discrimination, pattern of promoting younger workers at Clinica Sierra Vista

Bakersfield Californian

Clinica Sierra Vista’s former longtime chief financial officer has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit alleging the health-care organization and its embattled chief executive fired her in April because he wanted someone younger in the position.

For California to thrive, Latinos must be included

Visalia Times Delta

The good news is that the last decade has been better economically for Latinos living in California. But challenges persist. While Latino poverty rates are shrinking, Latinos still make up the largest ethnic group in the state who live in poverty.

At 10,000 and Counting, This Company Is Flooding the U.S. With Tariff Appeals

Wall Street Journal

U.S. companies have filed more than 16,000 requests for exemptions from the $200 billion tranche of tariffs on Chinese goods that the Trump administration imposed one year ago. Of those appeals, over 10,000 have come from just one company: Arrowhead Engineered Products Inc. of Blaine, Minn.

Jobs:

Central Valley Correctional Facility in McFarland to lay off 130 employees

KERO

According to a notice released by GEO Secure Services, the company will be conducting a "mass layoff" at the Central Valley Correctional Facility in McFarland. Eighty-four corrections officers, as well as 46 administrative and program employees, are being affected.

Labor Had A Banner Year In California — Now Will Workers Unionize?

Capital Public Radio

Turning paper victories into a meaningful labor movement with more private-sector members could take work, even in pro-labor California.

Uber, Lyft Drivers Torn as California Law Could Reclassify Them

Wall Street Journal

California lawmakers have hailed the law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom this week that could require drivers of ride-hailing companies to be labeled as employees rather than independent contractors, saying the measure could raise wages and provide new workplace benefits.

● New California law will redefine who is an employee. What does it mean for you? Sacramento Bee

California job growth was healthy in August, but the labor force is shrinking

Los Angeles Times

California’s record job expansion accelerated in August across broad sectors of the economy and unemployment remained low as the state weathered the challenges of slowing global growth.

See also:

● Kern's unemployment falls a full point in August to 7.4% Bakersfield Californian

● How veterans and non-veterans fare in the U.S. job market Pew Research Center

● Households headed by less-educated adults have seen significant income gains during U.S. recovery Pew Research Center

● EDITORIAL: The Real Cure for Inequality Wall Street Journal

Investment incentives and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

AEI

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s (TCJA) centerpiece was reforming the taxation of business investment returns, as this process addressed the largest domestic economic weakness.

EDUCATION

K-12:

Warszawski: At this Fresno high school, everyone gets an ‘A’ in drama. That’s not necessarily good

Fresno Bee

Since 1955, they’ve been called the Bullard High Knights. In 2019, Bullard High Drama Queens might be a more accurate depiction. Quick, someone start an online petition. We need signatures. Stat!

Program offers resources for students to improve school attendance

abc30

The training is just one part of a collaboration between the Merced County Office of Education, the District Attorney's Office, and all 20 school districts in the county called the "Here to Learn" program.

Local training teaches skills to use in active shooter situation

abc30

Mass shootings can happen anywhere, from schools to businesses to churches. That's why Assemblyman Jim Patterson said he teamed up with local safety training company, Knowledge Saves Lives, to offer a free training course.

Community provides insight to school ground needs: PUSD hosts second open house meeting about Master Facilities Plan

Porterville Recorder

Between 30 and 40 people attended the school facilities open house at Bartlett Middle School on Wednesday, to review and make suggestions for Porterville Unified School District’s (PUSD) Facility Master Plan.

Six BCSD schools piloting visitor system that checks for sex offenders

Bakersfield Californian

The Bakersfield City School District is increasing security by implementing a pilot check-in system that screens visitors to make sure they aren’t sex offenders.

Safety concerns at center of new LUSD program

Stockton Record

The Lodi Unified School District will begin implementing an anonymous reporting system that will provide students and adults another outlet to submit safety concerns and halt any potential violence.

California education panel tackles ethnic studies curriculum. A revised draft is coming

Merced Sun-Star

Dozens of teachers, activists, former officials and community members from all over California packed the California Department of Education on Friday to give their input on how the state should move forward with the ethnic studies curriculum.

Commentary: The Truth about Teacher Pay

National Affairs

Moreover, focusing on across-the-board raises distracts from less costly but more useful reforms, such as differential pay for hard-to-staff subjects, increased teacher mobility through experience credits and portable pensions, loosened tenure protections, and a reduction in non-teaching staff.

EDITORIAL: Would starting school later in the day actually help teens? Let’s find out before making a rash decision

Los Angeles Times

Puberty does weird things to kids. Many of those effects are well understood, but what’s less widely known is that the body’s sleep rhythms change, leading teens to nod off a couple of hours later at night.

Higher Ed:

Fresno State unveils new Mobile Tiny Office for students

abc30

Fresno State's newest addition to campus is all about convenience. The Mobile Student Services Tiny Office is designed to provide easily accessible student services wherever they're needed.

Fresno State wins sixth HEED Award for excellence in diversity

Fresno State News

Fresno State’s commitment to diversity and inclusion has earned the University its sixth Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, one of the oldest and largest diversity-focused publications in higher education.

CSUB gets part of $2.5 million grant to increase STEM graduation rates

KGET

Cal State Bakersfield and two other Valley CSUs have received a combined $2.5 million to develop new teaching strategies to help increase the number of STEM graduates. CSUB, as well as Fresno State and Stanislaus State, are recipients of a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Gandhi visit to CSUB culminates yearlong celebration

Bakersfield Californian

The Grand Finale of the yearlong observance of the 150th anniversary of Gandhi’s birth for the is on Sept. 28. The Kegley Institute of Ethics at CSUB is hosting Arun Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, to deliver its 15th annual Fall Lecture. KIE, in collaboration with Gandhi Committee for Truth and Non-Violence, which works on behalf of the Ravi and Naina Patel Foundation, is organizing this event.

See also:

● Flores: As Gandhi said, your life is your message Bakersfield Californian

PC at top in meeting AB705 requirements

Porterville Recorder

When it comes to meeting the recommendations of new legislation on offering transfer-level courses, Porterville College is second to none.

Iranian Students Set to Start at U.S. Universities Are Barred From Country

New York Times

At least a dozen Iranian students who were set to begin graduate programs in engineering and computer science say their visas were abruptly canceled and they were barred from their flights to the United States this month.

Is an M.B.A. Still Worth It?

Wall Street Journal

Any halfway-on-the-ball undergrad could construct a virtual M.B.A. himself by taking a finance course and some in marketing and psychology, plus any course that teaches how to use spreadsheets.

EDITORIAL: The University of California Divests

Wall Street Journal

Climate change and college affordability are said to be the top political issues for young Americans. But what happens when they have to choose between the two? The University of California apparently wants to find out.

ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY

Environment:

Young and old take to Fresno streets on worldwide day of strikes for climate action

Fresno Bee

On a day of global strikes for climate action, young people in Fresno skipped school to bring awareness to the issue locally.

● ‘Our Planet, Our Home’: Sacramento Youth Join Global Climate Strike With Demonstration At The California CapitolCapital Public Radio

● ‘Scolded by a 13-year-old girl’: Global climate strike hits California Capitol steps Sacramento Bee

Local lawmakers back off refinery bill after meeting with environmental activists

Bakersfield Californian

Activists pushing for cleaner air in the Lamont area have succeeded in stalling last-minute legislation that would have exempted a local refinery from having to install new emission monitors.

Valley Air District Approves Community-Led Plans To Improve Air Quality In Shafter, Fresno

VPR

● Progress on climate change is happening — everywhere but DC San Francisco Chronicle

● EDITORIAL: Health of Stanislaus County residents is more important than Trump’s ego Modesto Bee

● EDITORIAL: Clean air is worth emission waiver fight Stockton Record

Interactive: Danger zones for earthquakes, fires, floods

San Francisco Chronicle

California’s natural cycles of drought, wildfire and flash flooding will only continue to intensify as climate change disrupts our land and oceans. This map highlights the risk areas for three major natural disasters.

Oil Companies, Pushed to Address Climate, Disagree on How

Wall Street Journal

As global leaders prepare to debate action on climate change at the United Nations on Monday, big oil companies are aiming to show investors and government officials that they are part of the solution to a problem they helped cause.

● Does science say time is running out to stop climate disaster? PolitiFact

Energy:

Price: State's new energy blueprint can't leave Kern County in the dark

Bakersfield Californian

How to Cut Emissions Without Wrecking the Economy

Wall Street Journal

In a major shift, the Business Roundtable recently embraced the idea that the purpose of a corporation should go beyond serving shareholders and include responsibility to the environment and the broader community.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Health:

Return of Measles in Central California

abc30

Action News investigates how many students have the measles vaccination as health officials fight the resurgence of the deadly disease that was once all but eradicated in our country.

West Nile virus showing up in county

Madera Tribune

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced that on Sept. 7, a 2-year-old unvaccinated Andalusian stallion began experiencing clinical signs of West Nile virus (WNV), including fever and recumbency (down and unable to rise).

See also:

● Invasive mosquitoes plunge deeper into California San Francisco Chronicle

How growing screen time is impacting teens’ mental health. What you can do.

Modesto Bee

Smartphones are overtaking teens’ time, their mental health and even their lives. Teens average at least nine hours a day of screen time, excluding time spent at school or for homework, according to a 2016 study by Common Sense Media.

The hidden battle over California’s new vaccine law

Los Angeles Times

Senate Bill 276 was the legislative equivalent of a Rorschach test. Some saw it as government overreach, others as a victory for science over social media-fueled skepticism.

Hope, frustration mark new era of sickle cell disease

San Francisco Chronicle

The coming decade may completely transform treatment for sickle cell disease. More than a dozen new drugs are in various stages of development to treat the inherited blood disorder — some may be on the market as early as next year.

'Like a Sunburn on Your Lungs: How Does the Climate Crisis Impact Health?

KQED

The climate crisis is making people sicker – worsening illnesses ranging from seasonal allergies to heart and lung disease.

Human Services:

The Valley lacks mental health resources for kids. This new hospital could help

Fresno Bee

For years, most Valley parents of children with serious behavioral mental health issues have had to travel to Bakersfield, or cities even farther away, to find inpatient psychiatric care for their children.

California AG to challenge Sutter Health’s pricing practices as antitrust trial begins Monday

Fresno Bee

Sutter Health and the California Department of Justice will begin what’s expected to be a months-long antitrust trial on Monday in San Francisco as state attorneys attempt to prove that Sutter is using its market dominance to drive up health care prices in Northern California.

U.S. Voters Support Expanding Medicare but Not Eliminating Private Health Insurance

Wall Street Journal

Democratic presidential candidates are presenting policy ideas that are broadly popular with Americans, including tuition-free state colleges, but other proposals—such as Medicare for All—could complicate the party’s prospects next year.

How One School Is Tackling the Youth Vaping Epidemic

The Pew Charitable Trusts

The hallways at South Portland High School were buzzing last week with talk of the mystery disease that has struck hundreds of young adults who vape. Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram have been filled with grisly photos of severely damaged lungs and stories about vaping-related deaths.

IMMIGRATION

Fresno joins cities supporting DACA immigrants, as Supreme Court date looms

Fresno Bee

E-2 visas force migrant kids of foreign investors to leave U.S. at 21. Options to stay are few

Los Angeles Times

The E-2 visa was created in 1952 to encourage business innovation and commerce in the United States. Granted to foreign citizens of certain treaty countries, over 200,000 visas have been granted since 2014, predominantly to citizens of Japan, Canada and Mexico.

Immigrants afraid of Trump’s ‘public charge’ rule are dropping food stamps, MediCal

CALmatters

A looming change in what is known as the "public charge" rule is sowing confusion and fear within the immigrant community, causing many people to abandon programs they need for fear of retaliation from immigration authorities.

For undocumented workers, demanding better work conditions could mean deportation

PRI

In early August, more than 600 immigration agents descended outside of Jackson, Mississippi, and raided several poultry processing plants. Nearly 700 people were apprehended and bused away. Many people remain in detention centers.

LAND USE/HOUSING

Land Use:

Fresno's Expositor building construction continues after minor halt

abc30

The renovation project on downtown Fresno's oldest building is moving to its next step. The old Expositor building at Fulton near Tulare dates back to 1881.

Does Oildale need another supermarket? Residents say yes, please!

Bakersfield Californian

When retail powerhouse Walmart Neighborhood Market moved into Oildale in 2014, it dramatically changed the retail grocery landscape.

Despite climate crisis, California continues to embrace exurban sprawl

San Francisco Chronicle

Beyond the Altamont Wind Farm, on former grazing fields that slope down to the flat floor of the San Joaquin Valley, builders are framing houses for the first wave of Tracy Hills.

Housing:

Fresno’s short-term rentals have gone unregulated. The City Council aims to change that

Fresno Bee

New housing in downtown Modesto? We’ve heard it before, but this feels different

Modesto Bee

Downtown Modesto is poised for new housing based on natural evolution, experts say. Renaissances often begin with new entertainment projects — such as Brenden Theatres at Tenth Street Place — and lead to business rebirth seen in a plethora of restaurants and offices in the past few years.

Donations might be down, but shelter’s not out

Stockton Record

Your intuition might tell you that with homelessness reaching crisis proportions, an institution like the Stockton Shelter for the Homeless would have little difficulty raising funds. But your intuition would be mistaken.

California has a crisis of homelessness. Here’s why it’s worse than you think

Sacramento Bee

We are facing a homelessness tsunami in our future. The reality is even worse than that number reveals. The way we count people leaves out a significant number of homeless women and children.

Mathews: Housing-starved Golden State, you should chase 'Forestiere's' vision

Desert Sun

In our search for inspiring new ideas for solving California’s housing crisis, we must dig deeper.

EDITORIAL: President Trump, if you really care about homelessness, help California house homeless people

Los Angeles Times

Responding to a request for help with California’s homelessness crisis, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom this week saying that California’s problem is of its own making — so forget about an increase in rent assistance for poor people.

PUBLIC FINANCES

Fannie, Freddie Poised to Keep Profits in an Initial Privatization Move

Wall Street Journal

Mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expected to start keeping their earnings as early as this week, pausing a yearslong arrangement in which they handed nearly all of their profits to the Treasury Department.

Opinion: Social Security Expansion Could Shrink Economy by $1.6 Trillion

Forbes

Congressional Democrats are poised to pass the first Social Security reform bill in 35 years, with House passage predicted by Congress’s summer recess.

TRANSPORTATION

Modesto’s downtown train depot will get makeover to welcome ACE. Ceres has plans, too

Modesto Bee

Not Lucky 7, But...: City assures alternatives will be provided before routes are eliminated

Porterville Recorder

The City and Transit have stated they will make it a priority to implement the Transport program before cutting any routes, making sure the community will not be without public transportation at any time.

CA Hints It May Weaponize Electric Car Rebates In Its Emissions Battle Against Trump

Capital Public Radio

With California enmeshed in a bare-knuckled battle over clean air with the Trump administration, carmakers could soon have to sign onto the state's pact to cut air pollution if they want to offer customers the state's EV rebate.

To fight climate change, car-loving California must overhaul transportation. Can it?

San Francisco Chronicle

Emissions from transportation are going up, not down. If California cannot change that, it will not be able to meet its climate goals.

● How decades of L.A. smog led to California’s war with Trump over car pollution Washington Post

Smog checks required for big trucks, under new law signed by Newsom

Mercury News

In a move aimed at reducing air pollution, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed a law that for the first time will require most large trucks in California, including 18-wheel tractor trailers, to pass a regular smog check.

How I Learned to Cycle Like a Dutchman

The New Yorker

In the bike-friendly Netherlands, cyclists speed down the road without fearing cars. For an American, the prospect is thrilling—and terrifying.

WATER

California's chronic water overuse leads to sinking towns, arsenic pollution

CBC

A 2019 study by researchers at Arizona State University found that the aquifer system in the San Joaquin Valley at the heart of the Central Valley lost up to three per cent of its storage capacity from 2012 to 2015.

Commentary: Gov. Newsom should sign SB 1 into law. Without its environmental protections, Californians will suffer

CALmatters

I, along with many proponents, believe that Senate Bill 1 would safeguard our state from the anti-science, anti-environment and anti-worker deregulation derby taking place under the Trump administration.

They’re big, furry and Congress might help California kill them all to save the Delta

Sacramento Bee

“Xtra”

Bulldogs, staring at 0-3 start, put pieces together to pull away from Sacramento State

Fresno Bee

Fresno State and FCS Sacramento State were tied up in the fourth quarter, 11:58 to go, and to that point the Bulldogs were not getting much done with the football.

Brothers baking for a good cause

Fresno Bee

Corcoran siblings Bentley and Elliott Allen raised $500 at their bake sale on Sept. 21 to help feed the cats and dogs at Valley Animal Haven in Lemoore, California.

Face tats and all, Post Malone performed to a packed crowd. Did he live up to the hype?

Fresno Bee

Post Malone is kind of a big deal right now. So, the hype for his tour stop at Fresno’s Save Mart Center was real.

Blue Angels' heralded Valley return a 'poorly-managed disaster'

Visalia Times Delta

After weeks of anticipation and buildup, reports out of the Lemoore Air Show suggest that the Blue Angels' long-awaited San Joaquin Valley return is a traffic-snarled, mismanaged disaster.

50th Annual Mountain Heritage Days Parade: Volunteerism Leads the Way

Sierra News

The importance of volunteerism and preservation of local history were the themes of the 2019 Mountain Heritage Days Parade — which took place Saturday morning in Oakhurst.

Bakersfield Built: An Earthquake, A High School Teacher And A Pipeline For Architects

VPR

Bakersfield is well known in the arts for its contributions to country music, notably the Bakersfield Sound. But it’s not as well recognized for its architecture. A new exhibit at the Bakersfield Museum of Art may help change that.