High-speed rail was supposed to connect California’s urban hubs: Los Angeles and San Francisco. Now, it’s struggling to muster enough political support to connect the tiny towns of Madera and Shafter by a 2030 deadline. Thirteen years since California voters approved $10 billion to build a bullet train, Democrats who...
More Seats on River Conservancy Board Could Turn the Tide on Access
It may be hard to imagine, but many families in Fresno and Madera counties never get to enjoy the pleasures of the San Joaquin River, the beautiful waterway in our own backyards in an area starved for green space. According to the Trust for Public Land, Fresno ranks 97th among...
What’s Next for Fresno’s Multimillion Dollar Motels-to-Housing Effort?
State-funding efforts to shelter unhoused residents in converted motels could be a game-changer for Motel Drive, an area of Fresno that city leaders say has long been overrun by drugs, human trafficking, and prostitution. Local city leaders say Project Homekey has been a success in Fresno, providing shelter for about 1,500 people...
California Makes $61 Million Bet on Highway Crossings to Keep Wildlife Safe
It’d be just another normal day, nearly 17 feet above Highway 101 in Agoura Hills. A southern alligator lizard and a western toad hide from the heat in the greenery of restored native vegetation. Mountain lion cubs pounce on rocks and spring into the nearby canyons. The sun glints on...
Opinion: California’s Budget Plan Doesn’t Do Justice to Needed Water Storage
Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative Democrats had the opportunity to alleviate the state’s twin crises of drought and wildfire by including resources for ongoing funding, prescribed burning and water storage in this year’s budget. These solutions are not new, but they require political will. In light of the haunting memories...
Timing of State Reservoir Activity Needs Scrutiny: Reader Reaction
Re “California Drought sharpens perpetual water conflict”; Commentary, Dan Walters, June 16, 2021 Thank you for the excellent article setting the table for what’s coming politically, legally, and in reality. I think one paragraph deserves more elaboration. You state that “the export limit’s effect on Southern Californian water users would...
This Central Valley Town is Without Running Water — in a Heat Wave
This is how California’s water crisis is going these days: The only functioning well in the rural community of Teviston broke in early June, leaving more than 700 residents without running water as temperatures in the Central Valley soared to triple-digits in a drought. “It’s day to day” for the...
Opinion: Housing Reform Bill Would Right Some of Redlining’s Wrongs
Misperceptions about proposed land use reforms in Senate Bill 9 — which would make it legal to build duplexes in California — paint an entirely inaccurate picture of developers rushing into middle- and working-class communities of color to tear down homes and build expensive apartments in their place. To the...
Opinion: California Must Keep High-Speed Rail on Track
Although I work in Chicago, I have spent the last few months laser-focused on California, communicating with dozens of assemblymembers and senators from all over the state. Why is a national nonprofit in Chicago so focused on your state? Because what happens in California is a precursor for what changes...
California’s Affordable Housing Efforts Meet Wall of Union Resistance
California lawmakers introduced several bills this year that would rezone empty strip malls and big-box stores across the state to allow for new housing development without undergoing lengthy and costly local approvals. Two are sailing through the Legislature. The other died early on. A key difference? The successful bills had...