Since the 1990s, California’s leaders have promised to make preschool universal for every child. Maybe they’ll actually do it by the time I have grandchildren. It’s already too late for my own kids. The youngest of my three sons graduated from preschool last week. I celebrated by writing my final...
Groundhog Day for Gov. Brown. Legacy Projects Again Face Uncertainty
As Jerry Brown enters the final months of his second go-around as Governor, the status of his two legacy projects — the twin tunnels and high-speed rail — is reminiscent of when he left office the first time. CALmatters columnist Dan Walters looks back to 1982, when Brown's original second-term wound...
Valley Native Is Gov. Brown's New Chief of Staff
Gov. Jerry Brown has picked a longtime loyalist as his chief of staff for the final months of his fourth term. Diana Dooley, a Hanford native and Fresno State graduate, was named to the position Thursday by Brown. She replaces Nancy McFadden, who died of cancer in March after serving...
What Are 40 Years in Prison Worth to Wrongly Convicted Man?
SACRAMENTO — California has awarded nearly $2 million in compensation to a former inmate wrongly imprisoned for almost 40 years. Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed a law giving 70-year-old Craig Richard Coley $140 for each day he was in prison. Coley was wrongly convicted of killing his girlfriend, 24-year-old...
Fresno Sheriff Mims Joins Trump in Blasting California's Sanctuary State Laws
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday hammered California for its so-called sanctuary immigration policies, in what appeared to be his latest push to embolden his base leading into the midterm elections. As the debate over immigration heats up on Capitol Hill, Trump surrounded himself with mayors, sheriffs and other...
Congressman Wants To Ban California Water Tunnels Lawsuits
SACRAMENTO — A California congressman wants to ban environmental lawsuits challenging a plan to build two giant tunnels to divert water from the north to the thirsty south. Rep. Ken Calvert, a Riverside County Republican, inserted the ban in a 142-page draft of an Interior Department spending bill for fiscal...
Vidak: Brown Disrespects Valley Again With Dam Funding
Many of my Central Valley legislative colleagues are furious that the staff at Gov. Jerry Brown's Water Commission have rigged the system so the recently announced proposed funding for Temperance Flat Reservoir is just that — flat. It's not surprising that environmentally-oriented staff at the California Water Commission (and other...
SoCal Agency Agrees to Pay $11 Billion for Tunnels Water Project
Gov. Jerry Brown’s controversial “twin tunnels” Delta water project will receive crucial funding from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The MWD board voted today (April 10) to support the project with $10.8 billion in financing. Member agencies voted by a margin of 61% to 39% to fund the...
Editorial: Want To Rebuild Middle Class? Then Boost CSU Funding.
There is unfinished bipartisan business in the state Legislature that belongs at the top of every lawmaker's to-do list. Members of the Assembly and the Senate must make it clear to their respective leaders that Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed $92 million budget increase for the California State University system is...
Fresno State's 'Be Bold' President Talks Sports, New Projects & Much More
Joe Castro, the studious, affable president of Fresno State, put a scare into his secretary the other day. That's because she heard him yelling in his office around the corner from her desk. She and others rushed to see what in the world was going on. No worries, Castro said,...