Some water districts would like to keep negotiating with state officials over river flows. But lawsuits replaced settlements as the most likely path forward, the day after a crucial vote in Sacramento approving the “water grab.” The Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts had no agreement for flows on the Stanislaus River before Wednesday’s […]
“Fully automated home framing is coming to the Central Valley, which could mean big savings for home buyers and builders in the future. The new Ripon-based business Entekra specializes in off-site wood framing for home construction. The company opened its offices and pilot manufacturing plant in the Central Valley city in early 2017 and has […]
PHS is one of the first high schools in the nation to launch a truck driving program for students. Eight seniors began the yearlong program in August and the seven who remain are getting 180 hours of instruction in driving skills, safety standards and inspections. . . . The Patterson Unified School District secured technical […]
In a pair of affluent coastal California counties, the canary in the mineshaft has gotten splayed, spatchcocked and plated over a bed of unintended consequences, garnished with sprigs of locally sourced economic distortion and non-GMO, “What the heck were they thinking?” The result of one early experiment in a citywide $15 minimum wage is an ominous sign for the state’s poorer inland counties as the statewide wage floor creeps toward the mark. Consider San Francisco, an early adopter of the $15 wage. It’s now experiencing a restaurant die-off, minting jobless hash-slingers, cashiers, busboys, scullery engineers and line cooks as they get pink-slipped in increasing numbers. And the wage there hasn’t yet hit $15. As the East Bay Times reported in January, at least 60 restaurants around the Bay Area had closed since September alone.
Over time, however, complying with CEQA became not only a torturous slog through very expensive red tape – one that elevated complex process over final product – but a tool for interest groups to engage in what can only be described as extortion. Do something for us, they could and sometimes would implicitly threaten, or we’ll tie up your project in court for years or even decades and it will die an expensive, lingering death. Many payoff demands have absolutely nothing to do with environmental protection.
The good news is California’s economy will keep growing this year. The bad news is it will be more of the same lackluster growth the state has seen since the recession ended in 2009.
Company: Amazon.com Inc.CA Net Job Gain/Loss: 350Reason: Expand, From Out of StateCity/Region Losing Jobs: Seattle, WACity/Region Gaining Jobs: Patterson, CA