Posts Tagged: millions

Opinion

Drought takes toll on birds, Pacific Flyway

Birds take flight in the Pacific Flyway near Sacramento. (Photo: Department of Fish and Game)

OPINION: Summer is a relatively quiet time for birds in California’s Central Valley, as most of the ducks and geese are breeding in the north. But this year is more quiet than usual. According to a recent survey conducted by the Department of Fish Wildlife, the number of breeding ducks remaining in California this season is 23 percent below the long-term average. The decline speaks to the significant degradation of habitat in the Central Valley due to lack of precipitation.

News

Lawmakers eye NSA’s conduct

A former military prosecutor, a Democrat, and a conservative San Diego-area, a Republican, are jointly authoring legislation that would bar the state — and private companies that do business with the state, including utilities — from helping the NSA collect so-called “metadata” or electronic data on Californians without a warrant.

Opinion

Brown threatens to take vital services from counties

“Respect for other people’s rights is peace.” Benito Juarez’s words have rang in my ears ever since I organized farmworkers in the Central Valley, and most recently, as I reflected on the work that remains to be done to protect the health and well-being of all Californians, especially the most vulnerable.

 

Peace cannot exist

News

New law blocks supplemental public pensions

A little-known private firm that has sold customized supplemental pensions to dozens of California cities, including bankrupt Stockton and San Bernardino, is prohibited from selling more by a pension reform bill that took effect this year.

 

Public Agency Retirement Services or PARS, sounding close to the “PERS” in CalPERS, can continue to offer other

News

Schools grab millions of dollars from poorest students’ food funds

California school districts are illegally dipping into student meal funds, misappropriating millions of dollars intended to feed the state’s poorest children, according to a new report by the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes.

 

The California Department of Education recently ordered eight districts to repay nearly $170 million to their student meal programs. But

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