News

Pages

Gun Control
2:56 pm
Sat September 29, 2012

Brown Signs Limited Ban On Open Carry of Rifles

Credit Creative Commons licensed from Flickr user Glenngould / http://www.flickr.com/photos/for_tea_too/1957375742/

It will soon be a crime to publicly carry an unloaded rifle in California cities. Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation Friday that makes it a misdemeanor punishable by six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.

Carrying loaded firearms in public is already against the law.

Democratic Assembly member Anthony Portantino says he authored the bill after gun advocates began showing up in restaurants and public places carrying unloaded long guns.

Read more
Government & Politics
11:27 am
Fri September 28, 2012

Soft Drink, Beer, Oil Industries Give Big to Prop 30

Credit Amy Quinton / Capital Public Radio
Governor Brown at the kickoff rally for Prop 30 earlier this year

Supporters of California Governor Jerry Brown’s November tax initiative have raised more than $25 million since the start of the year. That includes large donations not just from traditional Democratic allies like labor unions, but some major industries and corporations as well.

Read more
Artist Interviews
4:47 pm
Wed September 26, 2012

Kelley O'Connor Comes Full Circle in Fresno Return

Credit Zachary Maxwell Stertz
Mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor

Mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor has received international acclaim performing with the world’s premier orchestras and conductors, premiering exciting new works, and breathing new life into familiar favorites.

Read more
Technology
6:35 pm
Tue September 25, 2012

California Governor Signs Driverless Car Bill

Credit Official Google YouTube channel
State Senator Alex Padilla, Google co-founder Sergy Brin (center) and California Governor Jerry Brown answer questions from the crowd at Google headquarters in Mountain View

Legislation aimed at getting the first driverless vehicles on the road in California was signed into law today. Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill at Google headquarters in Mountain View.

Google has a dozen computer controlled cars – most of them Toyota Priuses -- equipped with self-driving technology. Designers say the robotic vehicles could make roads safer, since most car accidents are the result of human error.

Read more
Food
5:58 pm
Tue September 25, 2012

California School Staff Meet To Strengthen Fresh, California Foods in Schools

California school lunch staff want to include more state-grown food into cafeteria meals. They met in Oakland yesterday to share ideas on how to make that happen.

The Center for Ecoliteracy helped bring together school lunch directors and chefs from Los Angeles to Sacramento. The advocacy group says that fresh, Californian food is good for kids’ health, and the state economy.

“Real kids need real food to learn and grow.”

Read more
Environment
5:35 pm
Tue September 25, 2012

Governor Brown Signs Environmental Bills

Credit Photo used under Creative Commons from Andy Patterson / Modern Relics / http://www.flickr.com/photos/modernrelics/4461010654/

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a number of bills Tuesday that he says are designed to help the environment and improve state parks.

The Governor signed two bills that will keep state parks open and improve their management. One of them places a two-year moratorium on any park closure. It designates 30 million dollars to prevent parks from closing, to match private and local donations, and for park maintenance.

Another bill requires the state parks department to create a plan to generate revenues and calls for tighter accounting practices.

Read more
Valley Edition
4:27 pm
Tue September 25, 2012

On Valley Edition: Dueling Tax Measures, Scholarships for FUSD students

Today on Valley Edition we look at the competing tax measures on the November ballot, Propositions 30 and 38. Both promise to protect funding for schools but critics have questioned both, and some political observers have said that the presence of both on the ballot could mean neither will pass. We also talk with a Fresno couple who donated $1 million to fund scholarships for students at Fresno's Tehipite Middle School. And we also learn more about plans for a walk and series of events to raise awareness about asthma in the Central Valley. 

Education
9:52 am
Mon September 24, 2012

Molly Munger Criticizes California Governor Jerry Brown's Tax Measure

Proposition 38 proponent Molly Munger says California Governor Jerry Brown’s tax initiative doesn’t do enough for schools. But she also says she understands if voters cast their ballots for both measures.

Munger’s Proposition 38 would generate about 10 billion dollars annually for schools by taxing all but the poorest Californians. The Governor’s tax initiative, Proposition 30, raises about $6 billion a year primarily by taxing the wealthy, and through a sales tax increase.

Read more
Just One Breath
6:05 am
Sat September 22, 2012

Valley fever costs mount for patients and taxpayers

Berenice Parra was sick for eight months before doctors realized she had a severe form of the fungal disease valley fever.

“I was literally dying without a cure,” said Parra, a 25-year-old mother of three from Arvin, in Kern County.

Desperate for relief and concerned that doctors in the Bakersfield area weren’t taking her illness seriously, she drove 245 miles to Tijuana, three times, to see a doctor recommended by relatives.

Read more
Just One Breath
5:23 am
Sat September 22, 2012

Valley fever forces police captain to give up his badge

Credit The Bakersfield Californian
In this 2005 photo, Capt. Archie Scott leaves the scene of an armed roberry at a Chevron Valley Credit Union in Bakersfield.

When Archie Scott came down with valley fever, he was 52, extremely fit and a captain in the Bakersfield Police Department. 

One day in 2007, he started feeling feverish and lethargic with joint aches. He went to his physician, but the diagnosis was inconclusive. Weeks later, when he still had a fever, he went to a neurologist for additional testing. 

“We didn’t know what we were dealing with,” Scott said. 

Read more

Pages