Just a month into the budget year, California has already spent more than one-quarter of its annual fire budget, at least $125 million, state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Mike Mohler said Wednesday. Following years of drought and a summer of record-breaking heat, immense tracts of forests, chaparral...
Gov. Brown Pledges Any Resources Needed for Fires
UPPER LAKE, Calif. — A massive wildfire in Northern California has torched more than 1,000 homes in and around the city of Redding, authorities said Wednesday as some evacuees were allowed to return home and new blazes exploded in what has become an endless summer of flame in the Golden...
What Is California Doing Right? Community Colleges.
Dan Walters might be the most high-profile media advocate for community colleges in California. For example, he long has championed allowing community colleges to grant baccalaureate degrees in technical fields — especially in rural regions where students must travel long distances to attend a four-year institution. New Community College Programs In...
Ferguson Fire 29% Contained. Yosemite Valley Closed Until Aug. 3.
UPDATE, Friday, July 27, 6:15 p.m.: ABC30 reports that Yosemite Valley will remain closed until Aug. 3. #BREAKING Yosemite Valley to remain closed until Friday, August 3https://t.co/4Etmzdcb1q pic.twitter.com/hNJaw8PC0A — ABC30 Fresno (@ABC30) July 28, 2018 Some of the crews fighting the Ferguson Fire are focusing on removing potential fuel between...
Gov. Brown Declares Emergency As California Burns
Fire stoked by hot and windy weather raged through a forest in far northern California on Thursday. In mountain communities east of Los Angeles, calmer conditions aided firefighters on the lines of a suspected arson wildfire that forced thousands of people to flee. California Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday issued...
New California Law Requires Free Postage For Mail Ballots
SACRAMENTO — California is requiring counties to provide free postage for vote-by-mail ballots statewide. Gov. Jerry Brown announced Wednesday that he signed the bill requiring that return ballot envelopes have prepaid postage beginning in 2019. 10 Counties Will Pay Postage for November Ballot Currently, 10 of the state's 58 counties...
California Gives $9.7M for Cheech Marin's Chicano Art Museum
LOS ANGELES — Months after California legalized recreational marijuana the state is giving stoner comedian Cheech Marin's Chicano art museum $9.7 million. It must be fate. The money was tucked away in the $139 billion California budget Gov. Jerry Brown signed Wednesday. Museum Scheduled To Open in 2020 The Cheech...
Fresno's Snauffer, Hanford's DeSantos Named to Appellate Court
Gov. Jerry Brown appointed two Valley judges to the Fifth District Court of Appeal on Wednesday. Mark W. Snauffer, 64, a Fresno County Superior Court judge since 2000, will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Stephen J. Kane. Thomas DeSantos, 61, a Kings County Superior Court Judge...
How Big Was Your Last Raise? Gov. Brown Gets 3% Pay Bump.
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown's salary will top $200,000 just before he leaves office. A citizen board on Tuesday approved a 3 percent pay bump for Brown, state lawmakers and other elected officials. Six Straight Years of Raises Tom Dalzell, chairman of the California Citizens Compensation Commission, told The Sacramento...
Voters Will Get To Say 'Yea' or 'Nay' on Gas Tax Hike
SACRAMENTO — California voters will decide this November whether to get rid of higher gas taxes and vehicle registration fees imposed by the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown last year. Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Monday that initiative supporters collected enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. The...