Labor shortages are starting to hit California farmers/growers hard.
Sacramento Bee's ROBERTO RODRIGUEZ: "Reports of worker shortages and millions of dollars in crop losses are getting lots of attention these days."
"One case that has raised some concern comes from a grower-shipper association in Santa Barbara County that estimates at least $13 million in strawberries, broccoli, leafy greens and other produce was left in the field to rot last year because there weren’t enough workers to harvest them, according to the Santa Barbara Independent."
"In the Northern California wine country, farmers are paying more for workers while trying to plug the leak of workers to competing industries, especially marijuana production. Some farmers are seeing a larger number of female farmworkers as well."
Trump's Twitter antics amped up over the weekend when his attacks on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' hosts continued; the president also targeted CNN in an odd video.
Sacramento Bee's ADAM DARBY: "President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted a fake video of a wrestling match in which he takes down one of his media targets, CNN."
"The tweet escalates an ongoing war of rhetoric between Trump and the cable news outlet, The Hill reports. The video appears to show Trump attacking and subduing a figure whose face is obscured by a CNN logo."
"Trump tweeted the video with the hashtags #FraudNewsCNN and #FNN."
Speaking of Trump, Californians marched over the weekend to bring attention to a movement to have the sitting president impeached over his alleged obstruction of justice in the FBI's Michael Flynn investigation.
AP: "Demonstrators hoisting signs and chanting anti-Donald Trump slogans marched through downtown Los Angeles to urge Congress to impeach the president."
"The Los Angeles march was one of several similar gatherings Sunday across California, including at the State Capitol, and the nation."
"Organizers say they believe the president has violated the U.S. Constitution and obstructed justice."
READ MORE related to Beltway/Kremlingate: Vice President Mike Pence stays loyal to Trump, but it could come at a cost -- LA Times' NOAH BIERMAN; From LA to NY: What Trump impeachment marches around the country look like -- Daily News
Sacramento may soon see a $30m city infrastructure upgrade that could be echoed across the state.
Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "McKinley Park in East Sacramento is one of the city’s busiest summertime playgrounds. It may soon become a gathering spot in winter for a less savory visitor – sewage."
"City officials are talking about building a massive storage tank beneath the park’s baseball field as a temporary detention basin for rain and sewage during bad storms to reduce street flooding, city officials say. The water vault, or cistern, could be as deep as three or four stories underground."
"The $30 million project would be partly funded by a 2016 city utility fee hike, which the city has used to help finance decades-long upgrades of one of its worst infrastructure shortcomings, an antiquated plumbing system that carries stormwater and sewage mingled together in the same pipes."
Silicon Valley will soon be home to Denmark's newly appointed ambassador to the United States, increasing the already famous region's profile.
McClatchy DC's TIM JOHNSON: "Sometime in August, Denmark’s newly appointed ambassador to high tech will settle into Silicon Valley and staff up his embassy, a novel kind of diplomatic outpost that recognizes the global clout that U.S. high tech companies now wield."
"Then he’ll begin some unusual quasi-diplomatic meetings."
“We don’t know what the tech companies will say when we come knocking on their doors,” said Casper Klynge, the Danish diplomat. “I won’t be handing over my credentials. I won’t be handing over a letter from the Danish queen to, you know, the CEO of Facebook or Google."
Lawmakers may soon add public parks and beaches to the list of the state's no-smoking zones.
OC Register's LAYLAN CONNELLY: "Public parks and state beaches would be added to the list of no-smoking zones in California under a bill from a Democrat that cleared another legislative hurdle last week."
"The proposed restrictions — which would apply to cigarettes, cigars, marijuana and e-cigarettes — will prevent wildfires, curb pollution and protect animals that mistake life-threatening cigarette butts for food, supporters say."
“Smoldering cigarette butts have caused major wildfires,” Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, said in a statement. “They are a major polluter on our beaches and oceans.”
2016 saw a spike in hate crimes across the country.
Daily Bulletin's BEAU YARBROUGH: "It’s not your imagination: Hate crimes were up last year — across the nation, state and closer to home."
"In 2016, 230 hate crimes were committed in Los Angeles, according to the FBI, up 15 percent over the year before. In Orange County, there were 50 hate crimes, up 13.6 percent over the year before. Of the local communities in the FBI’s 2016 hate crimes statistics, Long Beach saw a decrease in hate crimes, with eight committed in 2016, down 33 percent from the year before."
"Nationally, the FBI reports 2,173 hate crimes were committed nationally in 2016, up 8.81 percent from the year before."
Social media activity may have a bigger influence in your day-to-day life than you realize.
Valley Tribune's KEVIN SMITH: "We’re living in an increasing connected world, and social media is playing a big part in that."
"Anyone’s who has ever monitored Facebook or Twitter with any regularity knows this. The recent spate of brushfires we’ve endured here in Southern California is a case in point. You’ll obviously hear about these blazes on the news and you’ll read about them through a variety of online sources."
"But sometimes the best — and most immediate — news comes in the form of a Facebook or Twitter post from a friend or acquaintance who just happens to be caught up in the chaos of a fire that suddenly expands into their area."
OP-ED: Cap-and-trade key to green energy future.
CHRIS BUSCH in Capitol Weekly: "Clean energy is taking over the world, driven by a combination of climate change policies and market economics. California has paced America in seizing this opportunity, building a thriving green economy through smart policy."
"But the fate of California’s cap-and-trade program, a cornerstone of the state’s green growth strategy, depends on the state Legislature extending the program beyond 2020. California’s economy has recently notched billion dollar gains from clean tech exports, and data show even larger future potential. If California fails to lock in the program’s long term future, we risk failing to fully exploit the opportunity presented by surging global markets for clean technologies."
Lampreys, commonly known as eels, are making a comeback along various state rivers.
The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER: "This year’s historic gush of water through California’s rivers brings the dawning of a renaissance for lampreys, a peculiar fish that migrates upstream to spawn but without the fanfare of its salmon and steelhead compatriots."
"On a recent afternoon in wooded hills some 150 miles north of San Francisco, dozens of lampreys — commonly called eels because of their snake-like figures — were doing something that can be startling to the uninitiated: They were using their sucker mouths and thorny teeth in an attempt to hoist their slippery bodies up and over the concrete face of 50-foot Van Arsdale Dam."
"The climb at the Eel River, an appropriately named waterway that is just one of many the fish are storming this summer after years in the open ocean, marks the end of their far-reaching journey to the mountains to reproduce."
The University of California is implementing a new rule to expedite sexual harassment investigations.
The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "At the University of California, investigations of sexual harassment claims against employees often take more than a year and cause extended periods of stress for the accuser and the accused."
"But beginning Sept. 1, campus officials will have 60 business days to complete their investigations — and another 40 days to issue disciplinary decisions, according to new rules issued last week from UC President Janet Napolitano meant to clarify the cumbersome, emotional process."
“We have an obligation to respond promptly and effectively,” said Kathleen Salvaty, UC’s Title IX coordinator, a job that refers to the federal law barring gender discrimination on campuses."
