News

Sunday, September 30, 2018

Legislation co-sponsored by Eastern Municipal Water District that would improve resources for failing water systems now awaits the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown after gaining widespread support from both houses of California's legislature.

Assembly Bill 2050 – the Small System Water Authority Act of 2018, which is authored by Assemblywoman Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) – passed out of the Assembly on Monday, August. 27, 2018, where it had been taken up for concurrence, after earning support from the State Senate the prior week. Gov. Brown is anticipated to take action on the bill in the coming weeks.

Thursday, September 6, 2018

During his eight years as a state senator, Anthony Cannella rarely speechified on the Senate floor, unlike his more verbose colleagues.

But he did so last Friday, the last day of the 2016-18 biennial session and Canella’s last time on the floor.

Cannella, a Republican from Modesto, rose to talk about a bill that would fast-track an Inglewood arena for the Clippers basketball team through the regulatory thicket of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Cannella read a list of the projects, most of them professional sports venues, that have received such favored treatment recently, to wit:

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Faced with the worst summer fire season in 10 years, Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing broad new changes to California’s logging rules that would allow landowners to cut larger trees and build temporary roads without obtaining a permit as a way to thin more forests across the state.

The proposal — which has the support of the timber industry but is being opposed by more than a dozen environmental groups — would represent one of the largest changes to the state’s timber harvesting rules in the past 45 years.

The legislative session ends for the year next Friday. On Thursday, the details were still being negotiated by legislative leaders and the governor’s office behind the scenes and had not yet been formally introduced in a bill or put up for a vote.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Farmers, laborers, students, citizens and even lawmakers opposed to a plan they believe will disrupt Northern California’s water supply demonstrated on the steps of the State Capitol on Monday, urging the State Water Resources Control Board to reject the proposal that would cut water use for the benefit of fish and wildlife.

Nearly 1,500 people from all walks of life stood shoulder-to-shoulder at the steps of the capitol building on Aug. 20 to fight for the Central Valley’s very lifeblood: Water. Central Valley leaders and candidates from every level of government attended regardless of their party affiliations. Republicans including Jeff Denham, Tom McClintock, Heath Flora, Vito Chiesa and Kristin Olsen stood in solidarity with Democrats like Jim Costa, Rudy Salas, Anna Caballero and Assemblyman Adam Gray, who organized the rally.

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Students in the state’s migrant education program face some of the toughest challenges in trying to finish high school.

Raul Diaz, migrant education director for Stanislaus and Merced counties, told of a student who was diligent in her classroom studies while her family worked in the Central Valley in spring and summer. Unfortunately, her family would leave town in the fall right before final exams.

“They came back the next year and it was like being in the hamster cage again,” Diaz said. “She was going in circles.”

Thursday, December 21, 2017

SOLEDAD — Six agencies came together on the evening of Dec. 13 to distribute over 500 presents and approximately 100 new bicycles to local children and their families at the South County YMCA.

The annual “Cops Giving Tree” saw a special guest appearance from Assembly Member Anna Caballero, who presented all six agencies with special recognitions for the event.

Soledad Police Department, Soledad Unified School District, the California State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Correctional Training Facility, Salinas Valley State Prison and the South County YMCA collaborated on meals for the attending families and gifts for disadvantage youth and their families for the eighth annual “Cops Giving Tree.”

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Thinking about giving a puppy or kitten as a holiday gift? If so, animal welfare advocates advise that you make sure the recipient is eager and ready for a pet, and they strongly suggest sourcing the animal from a shelter or a rescue group.

If you are determined to get one from a breeder or a pet store, you might want to double-check that you are actually buying the fluffy little bundle and not leasing it.

That’s right: Pet leasing is a fairly new but very real industry, and it is getting growing scrutiny from lawmakers and animal organizations such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They say it is a predatory practice for pushing expensive puppies on people who cannot afford them and do not always understand they are essentially renting an animal for months — and paying far more than they might have realized.