The San Joaquin Valley sits like a bowl at the base of the southern Sierra. Close to the middle of that bowl is the historic lakebed of Tulare Lake, which was once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. Since the 1920s, the rivers that fed the lake...
State Will Pay up to $20 Million for Latest Rebuild of Corcoran Levee
The state will front Kings County $17 million to $20 million to pay for raising the Corcoran levee but said it didn’t want to throw “good money after bad” and would require local groundwater agencies to do more to stem sinking land. Gov. Newsom’s administration made the announcement Thursday as...
Grand Jury Asks, When Will the New Clovis Library Open?
The Fresno County Grand Jury came knocking, wondering when the new Clovis library would open. In its report on the Fresno County library system this week, the Grand Jury recommended that the library market itself better and said that the Board of Supervisors pay more attention to library operations. But, no...
Should Foreign Governments Own CA Farmland and Water Rights?
A Valley legislator has reworked a bill to stop foreign powers from owning ag land and having rights to water and food production. But concessions made to the bill could have little impact on what lawmakers hope to solve. Senate Bill 224 from state Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Bakersfield) will ban...
Two More Join Crowded Race for Bredefeld’s City Council Seat
Two residents known for their service to the community want to become the next city councilmember representing northeast Fresno. Longtime banker and former city planning commissioner Raj Sodhi-Layne tells Politics 101 she intends to run. So does Fresno Police Sgt. Danny Kim. They join a field of three other candidates...
Cost to Maintain ‘Clovis Way of Life’ Has Council Searching for Options
How much should Clovis residents pay to maintain the "Clovis Way of Life?" That is a question Clovis City Councilman Vong Mouanoutoua posed at Monday's respectful, but slogging debate over how to increase development impact fees. "How much are you willing to keep it?" Mouanoutoua asked. The council delayed any...
Fresno State Unveils ‘Elevate’ Campaign to Raise $250M for Sports Facilities
Fresno State announced Tuesday a new plan to raise more than $250 million to modernize the university's athletic facilities, including Valley Children's Stadium. These upgrades, university officials say, are needed for the Bulldogs to compete and win at the national level. "The time is now," Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval...
State Prisons in Corcoran Dry for Now, but Flood Water Is Creeping Up
As Tulare Lake flood water creeps ever closer to the small city of Corcoran, officials at the two state prisons there have stopped accepting inmate transfers while they develop larger evacuation plans. Together, the prisons house 8,000 people, many with severe mental health and substance abuse issues as well as...
More Skilled Migration Can Solve a Global Problem
If politicians were truly serious about ending global inequality, many economists would say there is one obvious policy: allow greater global migration. A nurse is paid $1,900 annually in poor countries and $32,000 in rich countries. A McDonald’s worker in India earns 16 times less than their counterpart doing the...
California Politicians on Verge of Next ‘Bullet Train’ Boondoggle
Decisions by governors, legislators and bureaucrats have consequences, some intended and some not. Were politics a rational exercise, decision-makers would fully explore potential effects before acting, thereby minimizing chances that what they have wrought would backfire. However, politics and politicians tend to act in the here and now, rather than...