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Local Roundup - page 21

Balanced budget first step in earning back your trust

in Local Roundup

On May 24, we started the discussion with Turlock stakeholders, including our residents and taxpayers, on the need to balance our budget, do business differently and put Turlock back on sound fiscal ground.

Our immediate job was to stop deficit spending. City Manager Lawton and his staff launched an open budget discussion process on how best to deliver essential City services in the most economical manner.

Initial requests from City Department heads would have required $4.1 million in deficit spending. To most people, spending more money than they have is a foreign concept. In our City, deficit spending unfortunately has been common practice in recent years. No more.

Continue Reading on Turlock Journal

Gay Son Of ‘Straight Pride’ Organizer Slams Event As ‘Dog Whistling To White Supremacy’

in Local Roundup

A gay California man whose mother is one of the co-organizers of a controversial “straight pride” event is speaking out against her plans.

Matthew Mason of Turlock, California, is urging the city of Modesto to reject a permit for the Stanislaus County Straight Pride Parade/Event, which was submitted last month by a group calling itself the National Straight Pride Coalition.

Continue Reading on Huffpost

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The Californians forced to live in cars and RVs

in Local Roundup

The faded, creased photograph shows a 13-year-old Vallie Brown smiling shyly as she pulls back her hair in the back of a large van. She is wearing a white one-piece swimsuit and at first glance, she looks like she’s coming back from a sun-soaked day at the beach.

Looking at the picture of Brown, few people would suspect that the girl in the snapshot was living out of that van with her mother. That each night after it grew dark, she curled up on the backseats to sleep. That she wore that swimsuit under her clothes because she had to bathe in gas station bathrooms.

More than four decades later, and long before government data would ultimately confirm her suspicion, her experiences helped Brown to recognize that California’s housing crisis had taken another complicated turn – that the tenuous existence of her family in her youth had become a reality for far too many in the present.

Continue Reading on The Guardian

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Modesto neighborhood sprayed for mosquito that can spread Zika virus

in Local Roundup

A mosquito that can spread Zika virus is now a confirmed resident of Stanislaus County and will require annual monitoring and a commitment of resources to keep it in check.

Early Friday morning, the East Side Mosquito Abatement District sprayed a 450-acre area of east Modesto for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are able to transmit Zika and other diseases such as dengue and chikungunya.

The first mosquito was found in a trap July 25 just north of the intersection of Lakewood Avenue and Scenic Drive. A second mosquito, confirming a likely breeding population, was discovered nearby Wednesday.

Continue Reading on Modbee

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Yuba County deputies seize over 1K marijuana plants in bust

in Local Roundup

Yuba County sheriff’s deputies trekked winding, bumpy, dirt roads in the foothills earlier this week to seize over 1,000 illegally cultivated cannabis plants and levy $4 million in fines.

The department’s Marijuana Eradication Team Yuba, or METYu, has been conducting fly overs of the hills that entice growers, small and large, from over the state and country with its vast tree coverage, Mediterranean climate and proximity to water sources.

That’s why the department enlisted the help of Code Enforcement, California Fish and Wildlife, California Water Board, California National Guard, Sierra County Sheriff’s Office and California Department of Food and Agriculture’s CalCannabis department.

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California has the most homeless people of any state. But L.A. is still a national model

in Local Roundup

With tens of thousands of homeless people living on the streets, Los Angeles officials have increasingly found themselves as the subject of criticism for what many Angelenos see as a failure to keep up with a problem that seems to be getting worse.

But across the country, L.A. isn’t considered to be a failure. To the contrary, at last week’s National Conference on Ending Homelessness in Washington, D.C., attendees repeatedly held up the city, the county and the state as models of political will for getting people into housing.

Continue Reading on LA times

Report shows 68 percent affordable broadband access in California

in Local Roundup

LAKE COUNTY — A report issued this week by internet connectivity tracking website BroadbandNow shows more California residents have affordable access to wired broadband internet than in most states.

The report, called “The State of Broadband in America,” begins with Federal Communications Commission data showing where broadband connections are offered by providers across the country, and adds in data on price to compile a list focused on affordability.

“Our data shows that less than half of Americans have access to a $60 per month wired broadband internet plan,” BroadbandNow reports, “and half of Americans have access to ultra-high speeds at any price, which we are defining in this report as 500 Mbps download speeds or higher.”

The report states that 68.1 percent of California residents have access to $60 per month broadband, putting the state sixth of all states in that ranking.

Continue Reading on Record Bee

Map: California’s biggest wildfire only 10 percent contained

in Local Roundup

The biggest wildfire burning in California grew by 3,000 acres on Tuesday, and crews are bracing for hotter, windier conditions later this week.

The Tucker Fire, in Modoc County, was at 14,217 acres (22 square miles) and 10 percent contained at 6 a.m. Wednesday. At that time, management was handed over to the California interagency fire team.

After an explosive Monday, the spread slowed down and was largely holding within Tuesday’s fire lines. The Wednesday morning report said that, given a forecast of stronger winds and hotter, drier conditions toward the end of the week, crews will prioritize strengthening lines on the northwest and southeast parts of the perimeter.

Continue Reading on The Mercury News

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Turlock draws stiff competition for cannabis dispensaries

in Local Roundup

After receiving over 30 proposals from candidates vying for a spot as one of Turlock’s four future dispensaries, City staff this week announced the retail cannabis businesses they’ve invited to operate in town.

Following the City Council’s approval of a cannabis pilot program in May, a June meeting at City Hall saw over 70 interested parties convene to hear more information on the selection and application process for opening a commercial cannabis business in Turlock, whether it be retail, manufacturing, testing or distribution. The City then accepted 40 Request for Qualifications packets from commercial cannabis stakeholders, 32 of which were proposals for retail dispensary locations.

Last week, a panel consisting of City Manager Bob Lawton, Assistant to the City Manager for Economic Development and Housing Maryn Pitt and Director of Municipal Services Michael Cooke interviewed each of the 32 dispensary respondents in addition to evaluating and scoring each respondent’s RFQ proposal, ultimately selecting four companies that will be able to apply to operate within City limits: Firehouse, Evergreen, Perfect Union and MedMen.

Continue Reading on Turlock Journal

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Youth on Course Golf Awards Students College Tuition Support

in Local Roundup/Sports

Latest round of college sponsorships propels Youth on Course over the $1.6 Million marker.

Youth on Course, the non-profit renowned for providing affordable golf – awarded $258,000 in scholarships to 18 high school golf graduates, continuing its commitment to provide youth with access to high-quality education.

This year’s scholarship total is the largest amount awarded by Youth on Course per student to date.

Continue Reading on SF Gate

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