Redding Council candidates talk the great outdoors, well not really … as North State Public Radio’s Kelly Frost reports the candidates were much more focused on public safety than open space, hiking and biking trails at last week’s candidate forum. The event was cosponsored by the Sierra Club, the Wintu Audubon and California Native Plant Society, Trails and Bikeways Council of Greater Redding, and Ride Redding. All four Council candidates – Lea Tate, Julie Winter, Adam McElvain, Gary Cadd – were present. They are vying for two open seats on the city’s council.
Crime on the rise: The California Police Chiefs Association predicts a rise in violent and properties crimes based on the year so far. According to Capital Public Radio, the state has seen a 2 percent rise in violent crime since 2014, and a more than 7 percent rise in property crime. While researchers from for the nonpartisan Public Policy Agency of California say it’s hard to find an exact factor contributing to the increase in property crimes, the police chiefs point to the passage of Proposition 47 in 2014, which reduced some nonviolent felonies to misdemeanors.
Time to vote: Today vote-by-mail ballots will be getting sent out by county registrars. According to Capital Public Radio, in the state’s June primary nearly 60 percent of California’s voted by mail. October 24 is the last day to register to vote in California. November 1 is that last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot from your county elections office.
State Senate race fact-checked: Capital Public Radio’s Politifact reporter Chris Nichols fact checked last week’s state Senate debate in Los Angeles. He found flaws in statements made by both candidates: Nichols reports Attorney General Kamala Harris took Loretta Sanchez’s legislative work out of context when she stated the congresswoman only authored one bill during her career. While he found that Sanchez made some misrepresentative claims about Proposition 57 when she said it would be a “get out of jail free card” for those incarcerated for gun crimes.