The latest North State and California news on our airwaves for Friday, May 20.
Butte College training program aims to ease labor shortage
In the aftermath of the Camp Fire, Butte College established a program to help train new workers in utility line clearance and vegetation management to help prevent devastating wildfires. Demand for workers in the industry continues to outpace supply and the college is still trying to ease that shortage.
The college’s Utility Line Clearance Arborist Training program is working closely with private contractors to meet the region’s needs. Its five-week program covers entry-level skills like first aid, tree climbing, and heavy equipment operation. Annie Rafferty is the Director of Contract Education, Training, and Development at the college.
“There are utility line-clearance arborist positions that require a certification that an individual can earn here at the college,” she said.
Rafferty said her goal is to train 950 students for jobs with local arborists.
The next session is from June 6 through July 15. Registration is currently open, and classes are tuition-free.
— Ken Devol, NSPR
Bill for court-mandated behavioral treatment moves forward in the legislature
Hundreds of bills in the California Legislature cleared a major hurdle Thursday, but lawmakers held back others, including one that would have banned offshore oil drilling.
Bills that would cost more than $150,000 have to be approved by legislative Appropriations Committees. These committees often release hundreds of bills at once, but others are held back with little or no explanation.
One bill not advancing this year is a measure by Orange County Senator Dave Min that would have banned oil drilling along the coast. It was inspired by last fall’s oil spill off Huntington Beach.
Legislation that did pass includes the bill creating Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal for court-mandated behavioral treatment, known as CARE Court. A bill that would allow private citizens to sue ghost gun makers and sellers — modeled after a new abortion law in Texas — also passed and will be debated by the full Senate in the coming weeks.
— CapRadio Staff
New state program helps support monarch butterflies
Scientists say a $1 million state-funded project to boost the Western monarch butterfly population in California by restoring their habitat appears to be working. Hillary Sardiñas, pollinator coordinator with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said they're seeing caterpillars on recently planted milkweeds and other flowering native species.
"It is a really good sign and shows that where we planted are important locations that the monarchs are finding and using," she said.
The latest monarch count — announced earlier this year — was 250-thousand butterflies, a 100-fold increase from the previous count 12-months earlier. Most of the monarchs were concentrated along the Central Coast between Monterey and Los Angeles counties.
— CapRadio Staff
State lawmakers in a stalemate over gas price relief
In California, the average gallon of gas has surpassed six dollars. State lawmakers want to use part of a $97 billion budget surplus to send out rebate checks, but they’re in a stalemate over the details.
Democratic leaders want to send out tax rebate checks to help families struggling with high gas prices and inflation.
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to tie the rebates to car ownership, meaning anyone with an active DMV registration would get $400, or $800 for two vehicles. He’s also proposing free public transit for three months.
But top lawmakers point out his plan could mean a family that can’t afford a car wouldn’t get any cash. Instead, they want to target tax relief to lower- and middle-income families and distribute it through the state’s Tax Board. Gov. Newsom said that would take months. Read the full story.
— CapRadio Staff
Stories from NPR partner stations are edited by NSPR Staff for digital presentation and credited as requested.
In other news
- Chico school district sued again for alleged abuse by former Spanish teacher: “For the second time since former Bidwell Junior High School Spanish teacher Jennifer Lynn Smith, 50, was sentenced to five years in state prison in March 2021 for sexually abusing the former student, Chico Unified School District has been sued.” — Chico Enterprise-Record
- Redding’s rapid and secretive sale of public land violated state laws and city policy, court finds: “A small parcel of land that provided important access to the Redding Rancheria’s proposed new casino site off I-5 was declared surplus and sold within eleven days by the City of Redding in mid-2020. New court documents indicate city staff engaged in behind the scenes conversations with a local land holder before negotiating a property sale in closed session in a process that violated both state laws and city policy.” — Shasta Scout
- Controlled burns to be conducted in Shasta County next week: “Multiple small "training burns" will be conducted on Monday and Tuesday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has announced.” — Redding Record Searchlight
- Positive Covid cases jump in Plumas over the past week: “Plumas County Public Health announced today, May 19, that there have been 35 new cases reported over the past seven days; a jump from the six cases reported on May 12. This follows the state and national trends reporting increases in COVID cases.” — Plumas News
- Council rejects mayor’s request to put commercial cannabis question on the ballot: “As election day nears for the Susanville City Council candidates in the June 7 primary election, the division over commercial cannabis activities with the city limits grows increasingly more intense — on the council and in the community.” — Lassen County Times
- South Main Street work to begin Monday in Red Bluff: “With the city beginning the South Main Street rehabilitation project Monday, there may be some traffic impact and delays throughout the area for the foreseeable future.”— Red Bluff Daily News
In case you missed it
- Red flag warning issued for much of the North State — NSPR (Headlines, May 19)
- Redding city council moves forward with housing site for homeless — NSPR (Headlines, May 19)
- Woman, dog attacked by mountain lion near Big Bar — The Trinity Journal
- Coronavirus in Shasta County: 11 people die of COVID; death numbers rise in May — Redding Record Searchlight
- Wildfire Preparedness Tour set for May 21 — Plumas News
- Evita Fire: Sheriff’s Office issues, lifts evacuation warning near Palermo — Chico Enterprise-Record
- Parks to open earlier in Red Bluff — Red Bluff Daily News
- Gas leak causes utility shutdown in Colusa — Colusa Sun Herald
- Yuba City to begin penalizing delinquent utility accounts — The Appeal-Democrat
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