Valley Public Radio News

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a package of bills into law today. The Governor signed 59 bills in all.

One will prevent landlords from requiring online-only rental payments. Another will require sports facilities to post written notices with the text and phone numbers of security so fans can report violence. That law stems from a Los Angeles Dodgers fan beating up and causing brain damage to a San Francisco Giants fan on opening day last year.

A West Virginia resident is the third person to die of hantavirus in the last month after visiting Yosemite National Park. The outbreak of the rare disease, which is contracted through contact with the urine or feces of infected deer mice has prompted a worldwide health advisory for individuals who visited the park earlier this summer. A total of eight cases have been reported so far. All of the cases but one involve people who stayed at the "Signature Tent Cabins" at Yosemite's Curry Village. The other case involves a person who visited camps in the High Sierra.

A Central Valley dairy is once again facing a recall of its milk products, just months after a similar incident resulted in products being pulled off store shelves.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture announced the recall of raw milk, raw skim milk and raw cream from Kerman based Organic Pastures Dairy today after a routine test discovered campylobacter in a sample of cream. The recalled products all bear the date code of September 13.

The weather forecast for Northern and Central California over the next few days has state fire fighters on high alert.
 
CalFIRE’s Daniel Berlant says thunderstorms and strong winds could lead to dry lightning.
 
"When we get lightning-sparked fires, there can be dozens – even sometimes hundreds – of fires spread out through a large area.  That always is a challenge for us, because that means additional resources are needed.” 
 

The operator of California’s power grid says a single-day record amount of energy was harvested from the sun not once, but twice in the past month.  

The California Independent System Operator (Cal ISO)  reports solar production exceeded the one-gigawatt plateau twice in August.  Stephanie McCorkle with Cal ISO says higher production coincides with decreasing costs.

California is working on a plan to balance goals of developing renewable energy projects on desert lands and protect the endangered species that live there. Californians can weigh in at a public meeting on Wednesday

Remote desert areas may seem like the perfect place for wind and solar energy projects. But some projects have already stalled because they threaten endangered species such as the desert tortoise or bighorn sheep.

The state and the federal government are working on a plan to balance those two goals.

It’s often said that Labor Day marks the traditional kickoff to campaign season.  And as California voters begin to turn their attention now to the 11 statewide ballot measures this fall, one initiative is by far drawing the most attention.

Proposition 30 is Governor Jerry Brown’s bid to raise the sales and income taxes to help close the state’s festering budget deficit. The governor has a big fundraising advantage – and he’s managed to keep some powerful opponents on the sidelines. Mark DiCamillo runs the non-partisan Field Poll, and he says Prop 30 holds a steady lead.

Fresno State's Theta Chi fraternity has been suspended following the death of an 18 year old student who spent a night drinking at a fraternity party. 

The university says that freshman fraternity pledge Philip Dhanens of Bakersfield died at an area hospital on Sunday. He had accepted an invitation to join the fraternity earlier in the week.

The university says it learned of the incident Saturday morning. The Fresno Police Department is investigating the death. The official cause of death is not yet know. 

The latest AAA forecast says a higher number of Californians will be traveling over this Labor Day holiday weekend.

According to the auto club, 3.7 million Californians will travel 50 miles or more.

“This is a modest increase of 3.4 percent over last year," said Cynthia Harris, who is with AAA Northern California. She says “modest” increases in travel numbers have been the norm over the past four years.