POLICY & POLITICS
North SJ Valley:
‘All out brawl.’ Merced FoodMaxx fight ends with councilman pulling gun on suspects
Fresno Bee
A melee that erupted Tuesday night at a Merced FoodMaxx took an unusual turn after a member of the City Council pulled a gun on some suspects who were involved in a fight. At 9:38 p.m. officers were dispatched to the 1300 W. Olive Avenue store for a report of multiple subjects fighting and a report of shots fired.
Hear the candidates running for Modesto mayor discuss the issues
Modesto Bee
Seven Modesto mayoral candidates – Kristi Ah You, Ted Brandvold, Rick Countryman, Naramsen Goriel, Doug Ridenour, Erin Sommer Tenoria and Sue Zwahlen – squared off in a debate before The Bee’s Editorial Board on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020.
Central SJ Valley:
Fresno residents demand auditor resign after withholding police brutality investigation
Fresno Bee
The Fresno City Council asked Thursday for a workshop briefing the members on the process of the city’s independent police reviewer following his admission to withholding a completed report and the subsequent public outcry.
See Also:
● Police Chief Andy Hall urges Fresno officers not to lose faith in community abc30
● Fresno council wants info on independent police reviewer Fresno Bee
Fresno County issues $3 million to help rural cities struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic
Fresno Bee
With the looming deadline for federally-issued coronavirus relief funds, Christmas came early for small Fresno County cities dealing with pandemic-related economic uncertainty. On Thursday, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors gathered mayors and city managers from 14 rural cities to formally announce a $3 million spending package to help local communities.
Should Turlock raise sales taxes amid financial issues? Measure A lets voters decide
Modesto Bee
Turlock residents will decide whether the city enacts a three-quarter cent sales tax by voting on Measure A on their November ballots. If passed by a simple majority, the measure will raise the sales tax rate from 7.875% to 8.625%, generating about $11 million per year until voters repeal or amend it in another election.
Becker announces candidacy for Council
Madera Tribune
Long time Madera resident, businesswoman, and freelance investigative news reporter DJ Becker is announcing her candidacy for the Madera District 2 City Council race. The seat is currently held by Jose Rodriguez.
Hear the candidates: Turlock City Council hopefuls discuss the issues
Modesto Bee
Five candidates running for two Turlock City Council seats discussed the issues Thursday night in the Zoom call with the Modesto Bee’s Editorial Board. Vying for seats are Gil Esquer, Rebecka Monez and Ruben Wegner in District 2 and Pam Franco and Bob Puffer in District 4.
County’s small business assistance program nears end of Phase 1
Hanford Sentinel
Just five weeks into its launch, Kings County’s small business assistance program has gone above and beyond its limits. Lance Lippincott, CEO of Kings County Job Training Office and Kings County Economic Development Corporation, presented an update on the program to the Kings County Board of Supervisors at its meeting Tuesday.
Fresno State
Costa will be the featured speaker for a first-ever virtual version of the President’s Lecture Series at Fresno State, less than a month before the 2020 presidential election. The President’s Lecture with Costa is scheduled from 6 to 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8. It’s free to participate, by visiting Zoom at the time of the event.
South SJ Valley:
COVID-19 appears to be falling in Kern County as officials eye business reopenings
Bakersfield Califn
As Kern County’s coronavirus metrics continue to improve, local officials are holding out hope that the county may begin to start the process of entering into a lower tier under the state’s reopening guidelines.
See also:
· Kern officials slam governor’s climate order Bakersfield Califn
Bakersfield City Council votes to allow backyard hens for most homeowners
Bakersfield Califn
Urban hens are now allowed in most backyards throughout Bakersfield after a vote by the City Council on Wednesday. In a 4-3 vote, with Councilmembers Willie Rivera, Andrae Gonzales, Bob Smith and Jacquie Sullivan in favor, the council gave the green light for up to 12 hens to be raised by families in single-family homes.
Grapes no longer king in Kern — for now at least, according to latest crop report
KGET
It used to be that Southern Valley agriculture meant grapes, cotton and then everything else. Not anymore. At least not this year. The latest Kern County crop report is out, and there’s been a change at the top. A few changes, actually.
Talks between Delano, Wonderful Co. focus on moving city’s airport
Bakersfield Califn
Discussions are underway between Delano officials and the Wonderful Co. to move the city’s airport hundreds of yards to the east, potentially allowing the region’s largest agricultural employer to expand and create new jobs in the area.
State:
Calif’s Deadliest Spring in 20 Years Suggests COVID Undercount
Capital Public Radio
And the grim milestone encompasses thousands of “excess” deaths not accounted for in the state’s official COVID death tally: a loss of life concentrated among Blacks, Asians and Latinos, afflicting people who experts say likely didn’t get preventive medical care amid the far-reaching shutdowns or who were wrongly excluded from the coronavirus death count.
WALTERS: Is Newsom serious about banning gas-powered cars?
CalMatters
Gov. Gavin Newsom flatly declared Wednesday that “In the next 15 years we will eliminate in the state of Calif the sales of internal combustion engines.” It was the latest example of Newsom’s fondness for headline-grabbing pronouncements of “big hairy, audacious goals.”
See also:
· OPINION: Gov. Newsom has taken a big step to solve the climate emergency, but more work remains Fresno Bee
· OPINION: Is Newsom’s gas-powered car ban enough to fight climate change? Sac Bee
Climate Action Day + Firefighters back Prop 15 + Spotting election misinformation
Sac Bee
One day after his announcement banning the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035, Calif Gov. Gavin Newsom is set to host a virtual Calif Climate Action Day event, kicking off with a 9 a.m. one-on-one with Van Jones.
Federal:
What if Trump loses but won’t concede? How a constitutional crisis could play out
LA Times
As President Trump, backed by his army of attorneys, has laid groundwork to undermine an election result that does not cast him as victor, Republican lawmakers found themselves in the astonishing position Thursday of having to reassure Americans there would be a peaceful transition of power should he lose.
See Also:
● President Again Declines to Say He Will Accept Election Result, Questions Reliability of Ballots WSJ
● Trump’s team plots his departure — even if he won’t Politico
● Commentary: The Rocky Road To Election Day Gets Rockier Fox & Hounds
Trump promises to protect sick Americans. Does his new order do that?
LA Times
Less than six weeks before election day, President Trump traveled to North Carolina on Thursday to announce his commitment to protecting Americans with pre-existing medical conditions and to issue another round of executive orders related to healthcare.
See also
· Trump Says Discount Cards Will Soon Be Mailed to Seniors to Help Pay for Prescription Drugs WSJ
● Commentary: Trump’s desperate, extraconstitutional, and probably illegal ploy to lower drug prices AEI
Supreme Court Vacancy Makes Health Care Leading Issue in 2020 Elections
WSJ
The vacancy on the Supreme Court after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has made the future of the Affordable Care Act one of the top issues in the 2020 campaign.
See Also:
● Justice(s) on Obamacare U.S. News
● Why Obamacare might survive the Supreme Court Roll Call
Gallup: 61% support abolishing the Electoral College
The Hill
A strong majority of Americans support amending the U.S. Constitution to replace the Electoral College with a popular vote system, according to a new poll from Gallup. The survey found that 61 % support moving to a popular vote system, up 6 points from 2019 and up 12 points from 2016.
See Also:
● Alternative proposal to Electoral College could make matters worse CalMatters
● The apocalypse scenario Axios
Idea of court packing gains traction among some Democrats; are there alternatives?
ABAJournal
Some Democrats are considering the idea of court packing—adding seats to the U.S. Supreme Court—as President Donald Trump moves quickly to fill the seat vacated with the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
See also:
· Focus on SCOTUS already fades as Trump changes subjects abcNews
· Commentary: McConnell’s fabricated history to justify a 2020 Supreme Court vote Brookings
The Democrats are threatening the country again. Chuck Schumer says that “nothing
· History shows how SCOTUS nominations play out in election years ABAJournal
Census Response, Civic Engagement and COVID-19
U.S. News
A Healthiest Communities analysis shows a strong link between responding to a key Census Bureau survey and lower coronavirus case rates, underscoring the importance of social inclusion.
Court Orders Census Counting To Continue Through Oct. 31; Appeal Expected
NPR
A federal court has ordered the Trump administration to abandon last-minute changes to the 2020 census schedule and extend the time for counting for an additional month. The preliminary injunction issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in the Northern District of Calif requires the Census Bureau to keep trying to tally the country’s residents through Oct. 31.
See Also:
● Federal judge says 2020 census must continue for another month LA Times
Coronavirus Trackers:
Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Calif
COVID-19 is a new illness that can affect your lungs and airways. It’s caused by a virus called coronavirus.
See also:
● Calif Department of Public Health
● Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic – WHO
● John Hopkins University & Medicine John Hopkins University
● Tracking coronavirus in Calif LA Times
● Coronavirus Tracker San Francisco Chronicle
● Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count NY Times
● How many coronavirus cases have been reported in each U.S. state? Politico
● Coronavirus Daily NPR
● Coronavirus tracked: the latest figures as the pandemic spreads Fin Times
● Coronavirus in Calif by the numbers CalMatters
Elections 2020:
Should Turlock raise sales taxes amid financial issues? Measure A lets voters decide
Modesto Bee
Turlock residents will decide whether the city enacts a three-quarter cent sales tax by voting on Measure A on their November ballots. If passed by a simple majority, the measure will raise the sales tax rate from 7.875% to 8.625%, generating about $11 million per year until voters repeal or amend it in another election.
Californians divided on party lines about climate change’s role in fires, poll finds
LA Times
Reeling from the worst fire season in Calif’s history, 3 in 4 state voters say wildfires pose a greater threat today than ever before, yet they are divided sharply along party lines about what role climate change plays in the infernos, according to a new poll.
Californians could sign ballot measures online if group has its way
San Francisco Chronicle
A consumer advocacy group wants to pull most of the rickety card tables, dog-eared paper petitions and pushy initiative signature gatherers from Calif’s shopping centers and sidewalks and move it all to the internet.
Californians Are Voting On Another Dialysis Ballot Measure. What To Know About Prop. 23.
Capital Public Radio
Calif voters are again being asked to weigh in on regulations for dialysis companies and the clinics they operate. November’s Proposition 23 would create new rules for these clinics, which provide blood replacement therapy for people whose kidneys are not functioning properly.
CalMatters
Calif Sen. Dianne Feinstein is in the hot seat. She will lead the Democrats’ attempt to block Republicans from appointing President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, despite concerns that she may be incapable of doing so due to her age.
Trump and Biden Trade Barbs on Social Security but Avoid Substance
WSJ
Social Security has become a flashpoint in the presidential campaign in recent weeks, with both candidates accusing the other of undermining the program, and each insisting he won’t cut benefits.
See also:
· Obama to join Kamala Harris for 2 Democratic fundraisers Bakersfield Califn
● Calif favors Biden, but Trump still raised $61 million. Who are the donors? LA Times
Three Trump ads in Spanish, many distortions
Wash Post
With Florida an intense battleground in the presidential election, President Trump’s campaign has been running ads in Spanish-speaking television markets and uploading them to YouTube (“Donald J. Trump En Español”). In many cases, the ads simply repeat false or misleading claims first uttered in English about his Democratic opponent, former vice president Joe Biden.
How Does Biden’s Catholicism Play to a Polarized Electorate?
WSJ
Arriving a few minutes late for 9 a.m. Mass, former Vice President Joe Biden slipped into a pew near the back of St. Anthony Catholic Church last October in Florence, S.C. When two Communion lines formed, he entered the one opposite where the Rev. Robert Morey was distributing what Catholics consider the body of Christ. As Mr. Biden approached the altar, “Father switched lines,” recalled parishioner Doug Amon.
Could Newsom’s big, bold car ban hurt Biden in swing states?
CalMatters
Yesterday Gov. Gavin Newsom leaned over the hood of an electric car and signed an executive order to phase out new gas-powered vehicles in Calif by 2035 and halt new fracking projects by 2024.
ABA leads effort to recruit lawyers as poll workers to ensure ‘free and fair elections’
ABAJournal
Steve Sandvoss knows from experience that attorneys are well-suited to serve as poll workers. “They understand the law,” he says. “Election judges are trained to follow the election code in the state, and lawyers being who they are might be (a) more familiar with it in general, or (b) will pick up on it really quickly.”
RSVP to ‘Disinformation in Local Elections: How to spot it and what you can do’
Sac Bee
America’s architects viewed the press as essential to our democracy, including it in the first article of our Bill of Rights. And yet today we are faced with consistent attacks on credible news and information. Factual, accurate reporting is literally being replaced by Russian bots feeding us false information via our social media feeds.
Actually, We Will Know a Lot on Election Night
WSJ
Pundits are warning that election night in November may turn into election week or even election month. Amid the pandemic, election officials are bracing for a flood of ballots sent by mail, and Americans may need to wait an unusually long time to know for sure who won and by how much.
Other:
AP-NORC poll: Support for racial injustice protests declines
AP News
As the decision in Kentucky to bring charges against only one of three police officers involved in the raid that killed Breonna Taylor sparks renewed protests nationwide, a new survey finds support has fallen for demonstrations against systemic racism.
Commentary: Join us as we look toward the future
CAFwd
What is the future of the Bakersfield-Kern region? That is the question that keeps us up at night. Not because we fear it, but because, despite the very best efforts of well-intentioned organizations and hardworking individuals, every day we see the consequences of decisions, actions and policies that shape that future.
MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING
Sunday, September 27, at 10 a.m. on ABC30 – Maddy Report: Calif Utility-Caused Wildfires: Who Pays? – Guests: Dr. Ross Brown, Calif Legislative Analyst Office. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.
Sunday, September 27, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report – Valley Views Edition: “Calif Wildfires: Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later” – Guests: Pedro Nava, Chair of Calif Little Hoover Commission and Dr. Ross Brown, Calif Legislative Analyst Office. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.
AGRICULTURE/FOOD
Grapes no longer king in Kern — for now at least, according to latest crop report
KGET
It used to be that Southern Valley agriculture meant grapes, cotton and then everything else. Not anymore. At least not this year. The latest Kern County crop report is out, and there’s been a change at the top. A few changes, actually.
Foster Farms reports COVID-19 rate under 1% for turkey plant workers in Turlock
Fresno Bee
Foster Farms said fewer than 1% of its turkey workers in Turlock tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month. Wednesday’s announcement came a few weeks after a serious outbreak among the company’s chicken plant employees in Livingston.
Berkeley becomes 1st in CA to ban junk food from grocery checkouts with ‘healthy checkout’ ordinance
abc30
Berkeley is set to become the first city in the state — and possibly the nation– to pass an ordinance removing foods high in sugar and sodium from the checkout line at grocery stores. The Berkeley City Council unanimously passed the “healthy checkout” ordinance Tuesday night.
Tasty to the core: Tehachapi growers report lighter apple crop this season
Bakersfield Califn
Tehachapi has long been known for some of the best tree-ripened apples in the country. Local growers, however, are reporting a lighter crop this year due to a number of mitigating factors such as the recent heat waves as well as area critters feeding from the orchards.
Calif’s largest-ever fire threatens cannabis farms worth millions. Many won’t evacuate
LA Times
Nate Trujillo sat on a windy ridge and watched Calif’s largest wildfire, the August Complex, work its way toward the cannabis-growing enclave of Post Mountain-Trinity Pines, where many of the locals are refusing to evacuate.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/FIRE/PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime:
Fresno residents demand auditor resign after withholding police brutality investigation
Fresno Bee
The Fresno City Council asked Thursday for a workshop briefing the members on the process of the city’s independent police reviewer following his admission to withholding a completed report and the subsequent public outcry.
See Also:
● Police Chief Andy Hall urges Fresno officers not to lose faith in community abc30
How losing RBG could shape criminal justice for years to come
ABAJournal
In the wake of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, a newly reconfigured Supreme Court is expected to consider a raft of hot-button issues from Obamacare to abortion. But it is also set to hear several less widely anticipated criminal justice cases dealing with police accountability, juveniles sentenced to life behind bars and other key issues.
Comparing the Breonna Taylor and Justine Damond cases
PolitiFact
Since Kentucky’s attorney general announced on Sept. 23 that the officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor would not face criminal charges in her death, the grief over what some people consider a miscarriage of justice has manifested in more protests in Louisville and around the country.
See also:
· Breonna Taylor protests sweep across Calif CalMatters
Commentary: Calif setting a positive tone for criminal justice reform
CalMatters
For some time, Calif has set the tone for how this country responds to crime. In the 1990s and 2000s, the state led the way ramping up mass incarceration with harsh three strikes and truth-in-sentencing laws and as prosecutors pushed sentences to the max. Unfortunately, states across the country emulated our draconian tactics.
Public Safety:
Anti-vaccine group aided effort to overturn COVID order in county where health officer quit
Fresno Bee
As the Placer County Board of Supervisors was meeting Sept. 8 to discuss rescinding its emergency COVID-19 order, a Calif anti-vaccine group that’s promoted inaccurate coronavirus information online was rallying their followers – some from outside the county – to call in support for the effort.
‘A wound that never closes’: Racism, police violence and the toll on Black mental health
Fresno Bee
The drumbeat of it all has seemed never ending. Ongoing police violence against Black men and women has inflamed racial tensions. A global pandemic has killed Black people in disproportionately high numbers. And these extraordinary traumas come to a community whose mental and physical health already suffer because of anti-Black sentiment.
Commentary: Changing Views of Police and Race Relations
Fox & Hounds
Califns’ perceptions of police treatment and race relations have shifted—dramatically, in some cases—in the wake of nationwide protests over police brutality and systemic racism. But these changes are far from uniform and reflect deep cleavages in public opinion today.
Fire:
Creek Fire updates: Crews mopping up near Shaver, Huntington lines; wildfire at 291,426 acres
Fresno Bee
Thursday marked the 20th day of the Creek Fire, burning in the Sierra National Forest near Shaver and Huntington lakes and toward the southern border of Yosemite National Park. The wildfire grew by some 1,700 acres overnight.
See Also:
● Creek Fire updates: Containment at 36%; burns near Kaiser Road toward Mono Hot Springs Fresno Bee
● Creek Fire Reaches 291K Acres, 34% Contained Clovis RoundUp
100 firefighters from Mexico coming to help fight SQF Complex Fires in Tulare County
abc30
Mexico is sending 100 firefighters to Central Calif to help fight the SQF Complex Fires. The Mexican firefighters will be arriving at San Bernardino International Airport on Wednesday afternoon. They will then undergo training for a couple of days, after which they will join the ranks of fire crews battling the SQF Complex Fires raging in Tulare County.
See Also:
● SQF Complex Fire: 144,826 acres burned, 35% contained, latest evacuation orders abc30
● Sequoia Complex up to 35 % contained Porterville Recorder
Can You Handle The Truth?: PolitiFact Calif Fact Checks Wildfire Misinformation
Capital Public Radio
Misinformation is continuing to spread on social media about the wildfires in Calif, Oregon and Wash. To talk about that, CapRadio’s PolitiFact Calif reporter Chris Nichols joins us for “Can You Handle The Truth?” a weekly conversation about his latest fact checks.
‘If you think it’s bad now, just wait’: Calif faces new fire threats, further straining resources
LA Times
Calif has already endured its worst fire year in recorded history, but with more heat and wind in the forecast, officials say conditions could get even worse as the state enters the peak of its traditional burning season.
See also:
· Calif wildfires map LA Times
· Wildfire danger in West to escalate as intense heat dome builds this weekend Wash Post
Warszawski: So Cal Edison forester talks about managing forests against devastating fires
Fresno Bee
Retired forester John Mount worked to reduce overgrown tree fuels in the Shaver Lake area forest managed by So Cal Edison to effectively reduce widespread damage, which occurred on nearby national forest land in the Creek Fire.
Warszawski: Why didn’t Shaver Lake get torched by Creek Fire? One man’s belief in healthy burning
Fresno Bee
The Creek Fire burned so many acres of forest in the mountains northeast of Fresno (291,426 and counting), areas that didn’t succumb stand out. Shaver Lake is among them. Not just Shaver Lake village — still standing thanks to the efforts of brave firefighters, three of whom lost their homes — but also large expanses of mixed-conifer forest around the lake owned and managed by one of the state’s major utilities, Southern Calif Edison.
ECONOMY/JOBS
Economy:
How about a little al fresco dining? That’s the plan at 19th and Eye streets
KGET
One of downtown Bakersfield’s liveliest areas is the corner of 19th and Eye and its vicinity — a section of the city with a number of restaurants, pubs, galleries and boutiques. At least that was the case prior to this year.
App-based food delivery companies must work with restaurants under new Calif law
LA Times
Two new Calif laws will require app-based delivery companies to more closely work with local restaurants before advertising their menu options and drivers to ensure the safety of meals while the orders are in transit.
Calif Exodus: An online industry seizes COVID-19 to sell the Red State Dream
CalMatters
At first, Stephanie Morris was nervous about leaving Modesto. She’d lived in the Central Valley her whole life, but her family couldn’t keep paying $850-a-month for her sons to share a living room while she, her husband and the baby slept in their apartment’s only bedroom.
Calif Economic Summit
The Summit’s bipartisan network of business, equity, environmental and civic organizations is unique in championing solutions that meet the triple bottom line — balancing equity, environmental sustainability and economic growth – for the prosperity of all.
Six Months of Economic Crisis: What Is Next?
PPIC
Calif is now six months into the COVID-19 economic crisis. Between February and April, the state lost over 2.6 million nonfarm jobs, largely erasing gains from a decade of continuous job growth. Although growth quickened in May and June, it slowed again in July and August. Calif’s unemployment rate has now fallen to 11.4%, a rate that masks a sizable number of underemployed workers.
Commentary: Corporate boards have been too slow to diversify; it’s time for bold change
CalMatters
Publicly held corporations have dragged their feet long enough when it comes to diversifying their boards. It’s 2020, and despite Latinos being the largest ethnic group in the state, they, along with African Americans, Asians and Native Americans, remain woefully underrepresented in the boardroom. And it’s not for a lack of talent.
Commentary: What’s the big idea? 3 proposed solutions for reducing economic inequality
AEI
Some people, looking at what hedge fund managers make and what security guards make, believe the disparity to be unjust. However, it is one thing to document economic inequality, it is another to show that those inequalities have negative consequences.
Jobs:
Fact check: Will Uber, Lyft drivers get paid less than min.wage under Prop 22?
Fresno Bee
Proposition 22 proposes that gig drivers for companies such as Uber, Lyft and Doordash will get paid 120% of the area’s minimum wage for the time they spend picking up and driving goods or passengers, plus 30 cents a mile.
Jobless claims at 870,000 as fraud and backlogs cloud data
LA Times
The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment aid rose slightly last week to 870,000, a historically high figure that shows that the viral pandemic is still squeezing restaurants, airlines, hotels and many other businesses six months after it first erupted.
See Also:
● New jobless claims stay steady as Calif faces unemployment ‘reset’ San Francisco Chronicle
● Coronavirus unemployment: Calif jobless claims rise, statewide recovery is elusive Mercury News
● High Jobless Claims Suggest Slowing in Labor Market’s Recovery WSJ
COVID-19 Recession at Six Months: Calif’s Unemployment Remains High
Calif Budget & Policy Center
Millions of Californians are struggling to pay for basic necessities like housing and food amid the worst recession in recent history. Calif’s unemployment remains extremely high, particularly for Black and brown Californians.
See also
· Commentary: Unemployment claims have fallen faster since the $600 unemployment bonus expired AEI
WARN ACT + Unemployment Data Update: March through September
Calif Center for Jobs & the Economy
Initial claims in the regular unemployment insurance program were little changed at both the state and national levels. While layoffs are not accelerating, they remain at high levels compared to the pre-pandemic level. The previous peak nationally was 695,000 claims the week of October 2, 1982 during the recession that caused state and local revenues to drop in the post-Prop 13 period.
Commentary: Has the Paycheck Protection Program succeeded?
Brookings
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) substantially increased the employment, financial health, and survival of small businesses during the COVID-19 lockdowns of April and May and as the economy began reopening in June, finds a paper to be discussed at the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (BPEA) conference on September 24.
EDUCATION
K-12:
Some Fresno Unified students could return to school in a few weeks. What you need to know
Fresno Bee
Although COVID-19 cases are easing across the region, bringing with it the optimism that schools could soon open again, Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson offered words of caution on Wednesday night during a town hall meeting: Not so quick.
Clovis Unified votes to submit waiver to bring students back to campus
abc30
Clovis Unified will be the Central Valley’s next school district to apply for permission to bring students back to campus. After almost five hours of discussion and public comment on Wednesday night, the board unanimously voted to move forward with the waiver application.
See Also:
● CUSD to Submit Waiver for In-Class Instruction Clovis RoundUp
VUSD board candidates struggle to set themselves apart during an online forum
Visalia Times Delta
Eight of the nine candidates vying for seats on the Visalia Unified School District Board of Trustees struggled to set themselves apart during an online forum on Wednesday night.
BCSD unveils plan to gradually reopen its doors for in-person learning
Bakersfield Califn
Bakersfield City School District released details about its plan to gradually open up its schools to special education, foster youth and homeless students, and English learners at a board meeting on Tuesday night. Deputy superintendent Mark Luque shared details with trustees of a plan that would involve bringing back up to 7,500 students and staff on school campuses in four phases that would take place over the next three months.
Patterson, Stanislaus school districts latest, largest to file applications to reopen
Modesto Bee
Past print deadline for this story, two more Stanislaus County public school districts submitted waiver applications Wednesday. They are Riverbank Unified, seeking to reopen three schools, and Hughson Unified, to reopen five.
Calif for all? Few public schools pursuing elementary waivers
CalMatters
Almost every waiver application for in-person instruction for grades K-6 has been approved by the state for schools in counties deemed a high risk. But private schools comprise an overwhelming majority of those schools, creating an equity problem.
‘Keep Learning Calif’ helps struggling families navigate distance learning
Bakersfield Califn
The Parent Institute for Quality Education, also known as PIQE, had been offering workshops to parents who need help navigating the school systems. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the organization realized it needed to rethink how it was reaching out to the families it serves, who are often low-income, immigrants and refugees and don’t speak English.
See also
· Calif schools, agencies to receive bulk of $116 million settlement over wireless charges Fresno Bee
Waiting lists for home-school programs as parents grow weary of distance learning
EdSource
San Juan Unified in Sac had 38 students in its home-school program in March, when the state closed school campuses because of the spread of Covid-19. Now, it has more than 700.
School Attendance In The COVID Era: What Counts As ‘Present’?
VPR
From shiny red pencils reading “My Attendance Rocks!” to countless plaques and ribbons and trophies and certificates and gold stars: For as long as anyone can remember, taking attendance — and rewarding kids for simply showing up — is a time-honored school ritual.
OPINION: AB 841 will make schools safer with better ventilation for when students return
Fresno Bee
It has been six months since Gov. Gavin Newsom first issued school-related executive orders as a result of the COVID-19 health emergency. Since that time, we have seen most of our public schools shift successfully to distance learning, while parents and students across the state are anxious for a return to in-person instruction.
Higher Ed:
Cal State chooses first Mexican American chancellor
Capital Public Radio
The Cal State system’s new leader, Joseph I. Castro, starts next January and is the first Calif native and first Mexican American to hold the post. The next head of the Calif State University system — with 480,000 students, largest public four-year university in the U.S. — will be the first Calif native and the first Mexican American chancellor to oversee it.
state’s array of public education systems, the C.S.U. doesn’t get as much attention.
See Also:
· Cal State Chancellor Talks Public Education New York Times
· Meet the New Chancellor of the Cal State System New York Times
Mountain West board approves fall football. Ready or not, Fresno State will play
Fresno Bee
The Mountain West Conference board of directors voted Thursday night to dive into a fall football season. After postponing the start of the season in August due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it plans to play an 8-game schedule starting Oct. 24 — subject to approval from state, county and local officials.
Local law firm supports the CSUB Roadrunner Scholarship Fund
KGET
Joel Andreesen, Senior Partner at Rodriguez & Associates stopped by to discuss his involvement with the CSUB Roadrunner Scholarship Fund on Thursday. Andreesen said he is currently serving his second year as President of the CSUB Roadrunner Scholarship Fund, adding it’s a passion of his to support college athletes.
Increasing Community College Transfers: Progress and Barriers
PPIC
Community college transfers are an essential route for underrepresented groups to achieve a bachelor’s degree, and students who reach key early milestones are much more likely to succeed. Recent reforms have the potential to significantly increase student success and transfers. PPIC researchers Marisol Cuellar Mejia and Hans Johnson will present key findings and discuss takeaways for improving transfer rates.
Wash Post
University officials planned for months for the resumption of fall classes amid the pandemic, with experts advising them on the rapidly evolving understanding of the novel coronavirus. They spent tens of billions of dollars creating massive testing programs, clearing out dorm space for quarantines, sticking reminder dots six feet apart on sidewalks, overhauling ventilation systems and crafting public health campaigns centered around feisty mask-wearing mascots.
Editorial: The University of Calif admissions disgrace
LA Times
First things first: Who is the UC regent who improperly helped the child of friends get admitted to Berkeley, and when will an explanation — or resignation — be forthcoming?
Commentary: The Biden agenda: What could be ahead for higher education
AEI
When it comes to domestic policy, the question is which President Biden would emerge: the affable Obamaphile centrist or the AOC sock puppet? In higher education, it’s something of a difference without a distinction. Biden may have been the most centrist top-tier candidate in the 2020 Democratic field, but his higher-ed agenda is also the most expansive, expensive, and intrusive proposal ever offered by a major party nominee.
ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY
Environment:
Kern officials slam governor’s climate order
Bakersfield Califn
Kern County officials pilloried Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order Wednesday accelerating Calif’s transition away from oil and gas production and calling for a ban on most in-state sales of new internal-combustion vehicles within 15 years.
Creek Fire’s ‘Fire-Breathing’ Cloud To Aid Research On Wildfires And Climate
VPR
In the early days of the Creek Fire, photographs went viral of what looked like a mushroom cloud billowing into the atmosphere over the blaze. It’s no wonder that type of cloud, known as pyrocumulonimbus, was dubbed by a NASA writer as “the fire-breathing dragon of clouds”: Each one is a towering thunderstorm, complete with thunder, lightning and rain, generated by a wildfire.
Calif faces dire consequences if climate change unaddressed, report warns
San Francisco Chronicle
More than 500,000 Califns could die prematurely and the state could lose $4.5 trillion in the next 50 years if rising climate temperatures go unchecked, a new congressional report warns. If the planet’s warming is kept below 2 degrees Celsius, however, those deaths could be avoided, and in 10 years, premature deaths caused by climate-change-fueling air pollution could be cut by a third.
See also:
· Incoming: heat wave CalMatters
WALTERS: Is Newsom serious about banning gas-powered cars?
CalMatters
Gov. Gavin Newsom flatly declared Wednesday that “In the next 15 years we will eliminate in the state of Calif the sales of internal combustion engines.” It was the latest example of Newsom’s fondness for headline-grabbing pronouncements of “big hairy, audacious goals.”
See also:
· OPINION: Gov. Newsom has taken a big step to solve the climate emergency, but more work remains Fresno Bee
· OPINION: Is Newsom’s gas-powered car ban enough to fight climate change? Sac Bee
State Climate Change Efforts Stall During Pandemic
U.S. News
As the federal government pulled back from international agreements, pressured climate scientists and promoted oil drilling, a clutch of states pushed initiatives aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The winter of 2019 saw state after state roll out plans putting them on track to curb carbon pollution while preparing for climate change’s pains.
Calif passes first-in-nation plastics recycling law
Mercury News
In a move aimed at reducing huge amounts of plastic litter in the oceans, along roadways and other parts of the state, Calif Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a first-in-the-nation law requiring plastic beverage containers to contain an increasing amount of recycled material.
Commentary: Legislation will provide environmental justice to protect communities from toxics
CalMatters
Communities like ours are called environmental justice communities. That’s an elaborate way of saying that – among other things – our children are suffering from asthma at abnormally high rates because they literally don’t get clean air to breathe.
Energy:
Can I keep my gas-powered car? What you need to know about Newsom’s climate change order
Sac Bee
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday debuted a plan to ban sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035 with a goal of reducing the state’s air pollution and combating climate change. The executive order represents a big shift for car manufacturers and will likely change how many Califns get from point A to B.
See Also:
● Calif is ready to pull the plug on gas vehicles AP News
● Commentary: Can One Individual Tell Us What We Can Drive? Fox & Hounds
PG&E safety shutoffs: About 21,000 Northern Calif customers may lose power this weekend
Sac Bee
About 21,000 Pacific Gas and Electric customers in portions of Butte, Plumas and Yuba counties could lose their electricity this weekend in another round of the utility’s public safety power shutoffs.
Wiener says he’ll move to ban fracking in Calif, following Newsom’s lead
San Francisco Chronicle
A trio of Calif lawmakers plans to introduce a bill to ban the controversial fossil fuel drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in an effort to expand the state’s fight against climate change.
HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES
Health:
1 death, 73 new COVID-19 cases in Kern on Thursday
Bakersfield Califn
Another death and 73 new cases of COVID-19 were reported Thursday in Kern County, bringing total deaths to 361 and total cases to 31,785. The state reports that 75 people were hospitalized as of Tuesday, with 21 in the intensive care unit.
See Also:
● Kern ranks in Top 10 among Calif counties for COVID-19 deaths as a share of population Bakersfield Califn
● Coronavirus reported at Atwater nursing, rehab center. No new Merced County deaths reported Merced Sun-Star
● Coronavirus update: Stanislaus County numbers continue to stabilize Modesto Bee
● Coronavirus update: Stanislaus County sees infection rate drop after Labor Day Modesto Bee
Young adults have surpassed older Americans for most COVID-19 infections, study says
Sac Bee
Coronavirus cases were highest among older Americans at the start of the pandemic, but that changed this summer as health officials saw higher incidences of the virus among young adults.
See Also:
● Coronavirus: Uptick in cases among young people could spread to more vulnerable, CDC says Mercury News
Calif’s Deadliest Spring in 20 Years Suggests COVID Undercount
Capital Public Radio
And the grim milestone encompasses thousands of “excess” deaths not accounted for in the state’s official COVID death tally: a loss of life concentrated among Blacks, Asians and Latinos, afflicting people who experts say likely didn’t get preventive medical care amid the far-reaching shutdowns or who were wrongly excluded from the coronavirus death count.
Human Services:
Calif warns flu, COVID could overwhelm hospitals
Fresno Bee
A severe flu season this fall and winter could overwhelm Calif hospitals that are preparing for an uptick in COVID-19 cases as the economy further reopens, officials said Thursday. They urged people to get vaccinated to prevent that from happening.
See Also:
● Calif health leaders: Get flu shot to prevent ‘twindemic’ of influenza, coronavirus Fresno Bee
● Trump Admin Plans Crackdown On Hospitals Failing To Report COVID-19 Data VPR
● Do Schools Have Enough Nurses to Fight the Pandemic? PPIC
Covid-19 Vaccine From Novavax Begins Phase 3 Trial in U.K.
WSJ
Novavax Inc. said Thursday it has started a final-stage, 10,000-person study of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine in the U.K., where a recent surge in cases could hasten an answer about whether the inoculation safely protects people from the new coronavirus.
See also
· How Trump is undermining his own vaccine race Politico
Calif Mandates COVID-19 Exposure Notifications Requirements Starting Jan 1, 2021
aalrr
On September 17, 2020 Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 685(“AB 685”), which expands Cal/OSHA’s authority with respect to workplace COVID-19 cases and imposes new COVID-19 reporting requirements on ALL Calif employers (both private and public sector employers) starting January 1, 2021. This law shall remain in effect for two years (through December 31, 2023).
Don’t Cite Pre-Pandemic Screen Time Guidelines For Distance Learning, Pediatricians Say
Capital Public Radio
When Sac City schools started back up again just before Labor Day this year, parents were scrambling to figure out their kids’ online learning schedule for the fall. The teachers union and the Sac City Unified School District still hadn’t agreed on a distance learning plan during the pandemic. So the school system sent out the schedule as they wanted it, and the teachers moved forward with their own.
Commentary: Reading the Props 14 Stem Cell Bonds Reproduce Themselves
Fox & Hounds
Every two years, I read the full text of all statewide ballot propositions—because at least one Califn should. OK, it’s possible that others may read the text, but I’m the only one stupid enough to admit to doing so publicly.
Creating Equal Access to Oral Health Care
CAFwd
Calif has made great progress in providing healthcare for its people. The number of uninsured Califns dropped by 3.7 million since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the biggest decline of any state. Yet, the oral health needs of underserved and underrepresented populations are significantly unmet compared to the general population.
IMMIGRATION
This Calif Republican sponsored the DREAM Act. Democrats say he’s against immigrants
Fresno Bee
Few Republicans have wanted to wade in to the political minefield of immigration reform. Those who have done so say Democrats have counter-intuitively made it harder to persuade other Republicans to join them by painting GOP candidates who were open to compromise as hard-liners.
House report: Medical neglect, falsified records harmed detained immigrants
Roll Call
Medical mismanagement and falsified records may have contributed to the deaths of immigrants held at for-profit detention centers that are run under contract with the federal government, according to a report released Thursday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
LAND USE/HOUSING
Land Use:
Yosemite will reopen to visitors Friday after closing due to smoke
San Francisco Chronicle
Yosemite National Park, which closed Sept. 17 due to hazardous air quality, will reopen on Friday, according to a park announcement. The Creek Fire burning south of Yosemite had sent smoke into the park for days before the closure. Yosemite Valley’s grand landscape was essentially hidden to visitors behind an impenetrable smoky curtain and the air had become a public health issue.
See Also:
● Yosemite to reopen Friday with more campsites open LA Times
Housing:
120 pallet shelters built for Fresno’s homeless outside of Poverello House
abc30
Construction will soon be completed on dozens of new shelters outside of the Poverello House in downtown Fresno. One hundred and twenty pallet shelters will soon be available as a clean place for homeless people in the community to stay in, at no cost to the public.
Newsom extends Calif commercial eviction moratorium through March 2021
San Francisco Chronicle
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Wednesday allowing local jurisdictions to continue banning commercial evictions of tenants affected by the coronavirus pandemic until the end of March 2021.
Calif will vote again on rent control. What makes Prop 21 different?
San Francisco Chronicle
Two years after Calif voters soundly rejected an initiative to roll back state limits on rent control, supporters are trying again with a scaled-back approach that they hope will resonate in a new political environment.
See also:
· Rent survey CalMatters
Report: Does state tax policy discourage housing production?
Calif Economic Summit
Tax policy is one of the driving factors limiting the production of housing that is affordable in Calif. That’s the conclusion of “Does State Tax Policy Discourage Housing Production?,” a report from SPUR and Calif Forward (CA FWD).
PUBLIC FINANCES
Fraud, backlogs disrupt US unemployment benefit payments
Bakersfield Califn
Many American workers applying for unemployment benefits after being thrown out of a job by the coronavirus face a new complication: States’ efforts to prevent fraud have delayed or disrupted their payments.
The IRS Sets a Trap for Cryptocurrency Tax Cheats
WSJ
Cryptocurrency holders, beware: A surprising change to your 2020 tax form is about to strip away excuses for ignoring the tax rules on bitcoin, ether or other digital currencies.
TRANSPORTATION
United Airlines to test passengers for COVID-19 on Hawaii flights. How much will it cost?
Fresno Bee
United Airlines will offer rapid and mail-in COVID-19 testing for travelers on San Francisco-to-Hawaii flights in October, the first carrier in the nation to roll out a passenger testing program.
See Also:
● United first airline to launch rapid COVID-19 testing program for travelers abc30
Talks between Delano, Wonderful Co. focus on moving city’s airport
Bakersfield Califn
Discussions are underway between Delano officials and the Wonderful Co. to move the city’s airport hundreds of yards to the east, potentially allowing the region’s largest agricultural employer to expand and create new jobs in the area.
Follow these tips to hit the bike trail safely — and politely — during the pandemic
WSJ
If you spot Jeff Wetzel biking through the District, you should know that he’s probably trying to get home for dinner. “I’m a food-motivated person,” says the Wash Area Bicyclist Association’s youth and family education coordinator. Of course he’d prefer not to arrive late. “But we’re all going somewhere,” Wetzel says. “We’ve got to share the space.”
See Also:
● The Pandemic Bike Boom Hits in Some Unexpected American Cities Bloomberg
WATER
Gov. Newsom told this Calif town they’d get safe drinking water. It’s been a year
Fresno Bee
It’s been four years since safe drinking water flowed from the tap at Jovita Torres-Romo’s home. When the well at her rental house went dry in 2016, the only running water available to her family came through a hose stretched across the street from a neighbor’s house.
“Xtra”
Día de los Muertos won’t be the same in the pandemic. Here are safe ways to celebrate
Fresno Bee
As Día de los Muertos approaches, a Sac organization is stepping in to provide an alternative way to celebrate in the midst of the COVID-19 health crisis a holiday when relatives and friends would normally gather in close quarters.
Fresno Chaffee Zoo Breaks Ground On New $38m Project — Kingdoms Of Asia
Business Journal
A new project for Fresno Chaffee Zoo will be its current CEO’s last and a chance to significantly update the zoo’s interior. What started as a way to renovate the tiger habitat transformed into Kingdoms of Asian — a celebration of Southeast Asian culture and its animals.
Live music returns to Crystal Palace, crowd watches from home
Bakersfield Now
Live music returned to Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace, Thursday night. For months the iconic music venue has sat silent and empty. KUZZ radio knew that needed to change. “This place was born for music and to not have it in this building any at moment is a crime,” Cliff Dumas, a KUZZ morning host said.
Concerts in the age of COVID-19: What to expect as some states allow venues to reopen
Modesto Bee
After COVID-19 became widespread in March 2020, venues and musicians canceled concerts across the country. The pandemic isn’t over but a lot of places are starting to open up venues to hold live concerts, according to media reports. In the age of the coronavirus pandemic, concerts will look quite different, depending on the jurisdiction.
What’s showing? At Central Valley drive-ins opened because of coronavirus, plenty
Modesto Bee
For more than a decade, if you wanted to see a movie at a drive-in in the Central Valley you had to travel more than 70 miles to Madera. But now, in the age of coronavirus, the region has multiple drive-in options to choose from for safe family fun.
Trick-or-treating doesn’t have to be scary this Halloween. How it can still be safe and fun
Sac Bee
Can Halloween be saved in 2020? Yes, and it can be safe, too. Trick-or-treating during the coronavirus pandemic will be touch-and-go. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified trick-or-treating as “high risk,” and it remains on a high-risk level in the Sac area, lodged as it is in a restrictive state tier.
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