Maddy Institute – November 22, 2017

22Nov

TOP POLITICAL STORIES

Local/Regional Politics:

Area’s diverse community lacks agency representation

Vida en el Valle

You know there’s a problem when the chair of the San Joaquín River Conservancy Board starts a 7-hour hearing – yes, 420 minutes of public resources – by referring to the need to “wash away the white noise” in determining if the fine citizens of Fresno will get immediate access to the river bottom or wait longer than the 10 years it has already waited.

District attorney accused of abusive conduct but he denies it, says ‘it’s political’

Fresno Bee

The Madera County Board of Supervisors has accused District Attorney David Linn of “abusive conduct” and scheduled a special meeting Monday to consider publicly censuring him and calling on him to resign. But Linn denies the allegations and said “the developer-controlled board” is retaliating against him because two members are under investigation by his office for potential wrongdoing. The Board of Supervisors issued a statement Tuesday that it had “recently been made aware of allegations of serious workplace misconduct” including “allegations of racist comments; sexist, lewd and offensive comments; and generally abusive, threatening and profane comments.”

Tulare County DA serves search warrants at TRMC

Visalia Times-Delta

A federal judge scolded both sides of the aisle Thursday morning during another hearing where Tulare Local Healthcare District attorneys asked for an expedited end to the hospital’s management agreement. Originally, the judge ruled Healthcare Conglomerate Associates had until Nov. 27 to pack up and leave. Hospital officials wanted the keys back sooner.

Arvin City Council approves cannabis cultivation ordinance

Bakersfield Californian

Despite pushback from Arvin residents and others from throughout Kern County, the Arvin City Council unanimously approved an ordinance allowing for the indoor cultivation of recreational and medical marijuana, with Councilman Jess Ortiz absent. Arvin is now the second city in Kern County to allow some kind of cultivation; California City approved an ordinance last year that pertains only to medical marijuana cultivation. Bakersfield and Kern County have both banned commercial pot activity.

High-profile cannabis foe with medical marijuana card sues pair who allegedly disclosed it

Bakersfield Californian

Matthew Martin, treasurer of the Kern County Young Republicans, has sued former Bakersfield mayoral candidate T.J. Esposito and former Bakersfield City Councilman Mark Salvaggio for releasing his private medical records.

The Vineyards, a $42 million expansion of California Armenian Home, preparing to open

Fresno Bee

Dennis Bacopulos, The Vineyards developer, talks about highlights of the community, which features 12 resort-style independent living villas with two-car garages, 60 spacious independent living apartments, and 50 assisted living and 36 memory care apartments.

Small Business Saturday encourages public to shop local

Bakersfield Californian

Big retail chains might get all of the attention on Black Friday, but next Saturday is dedicated to the little guys.

State Politics:

California’s most recent cap-and-trade permit auction raises more than $800 million

Los Angeles Times

California’s cap-and-trade program received another boost Tuesday, with its most recent permit auction reaching record-high sales, according to details released by regulators Tuesday. The regular auctions are a key feature of the program, which requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Cap and trade is one of the state’s main strategies to combat climate change.

California’s uninsured rate drops again to new low of 6.8 percent in 2017

Sacramento Bee

California continued to realize gains in signing people up for health insurance in 2017, according to new statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control showing that the Golden State’s uninsured rate dropped to a new low of 6.8 percent in the first six months of the year. Moreover, the states that operate their own health insurance marketplaces had an uninsured rate of 8.3 percent, compared with 16.1 percent for those states in the federally facilitated exchange, the CDC data show.

· Possible return of a troubled healthcare model has California officials worried Los Angeles Times

What new jobs? California program to entice hiring falls short

CALmatters

Four years after Gov. Jerry Brown launched his signature program to boost California jobs by awarding tax credits to the businesses that create them, businesses have left two thirds of those available credits unclaimed—a sign that most expected jobs have yet to materialize. Nor can the state say for sure how many of the administration’s 83,414 projected jobs over five years have actually been created. State offices responsible for awarding and monitoring the California Competes tax credits say they aren’t keeping count.

Here’s how Antonio Villaraigosa made millions since leaving the mayor’s office

Los Angeles Times

Since leaving the Los Angeles mayor’s office in 2013, Antonio Villaraigosa has made more than $4 million by advising companies such as Herbalife, Banc of California and natural resources company Cadiz, teaching at the University of Southern California and earning speaking fees, according to tax returns his gubernatorial campaign released on Tuesday. In addition, Villaraigosa earns an annual pension payment worth around $100,000 from his years serving in local government.

Walters: Distorting ballot measure title undermines electoral system

CALmatters

Efforts by Republicans to repeal California’s new gas taxes may be ill-considered, but they deserve a fair chance at persuading voters. Attorney General Xavier Becerra, however, is emulating the tendencies of his most recent predecessors, such as U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, by distorting the language of a repeal ballot measure. The initiative is the handiwork of Republican Assemblyman Travis Allen, who fancies himself a candidate for governor next year. It’s also backed, at least in concept, by the state Republican Party, whose leaders see it as a way of motivating their voters next year.

The art of the deal — Capitol style

Capitol Weekly

We often read about the “wheeling and dealing” among elected officials that occurs in state capitols across this country, including Sacramento. While some Capitol observers refer to it as lawful deal-making, others characterize it as improper, or even unlawful, vote trading. So which is it? The key question is whether there is anything improper about a legislator agreeing to vote for one bill because of promises that are made to that legislator, to another lawmaker, or even to the governor.

California may make hosing off your driveway a permanent “prohibited” practice

ABC30

The State Water Resources Control Board is considering a number of regulations that could impact how and when you use water. According to their notice of a public workshop, there are several items up for discussion to eliminate water waste.

Federal Politics:

FCC plans total repeal of net neutrality rules

POLITICO

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai will reveal plans to his fellow commissioners on Tuesday to fully dismantle the agency’s Obama-era net neutrality regulations, people familiar with the plans said, in a major victory for the telecom industry in the long-running policy debate. The commission will vote on the proposal in December, some seven months after it laid the groundwork for scuttling the rules that require internet service providers like Comcast or AT&T to treat web traffic equally.

· Net Neutrality Repeal: What Could Happen and How It Could Affect You The New York Times

Congress speeds toward shutdown over Dreamers

POLITICO

Concern is growing in both parties that a clash over the fate of Dreamers will trigger a government shutdown this December. House conservatives have warned Speaker Paul Ryan against lumping a fix for undocumented immigrants who came to the country as minors into a year-end spending deal. They want him to keep the two issues separate and delay immigration negotiations into 2018 to increase their leverage — which both Ryan and the White House consider reasonable.

Trump administration rejects California lawmakers’ criticism on wildfires aid

San Francisco Chronicle

Answering angry state lawmakers, White House officials denied Monday that they had omitted money for Northern California fire victims from their $44 billion disaster aid request to Congress

For stories on “federal tax reform,” See: Public Finance, below.

Other:

Tehama deputies were called 21 times to gunman’s neighborhood

Sacramento Bee

Tehama County sheriff’s deputies were called to gunman Kevin Janson Neal’s rural neighborhood 21 times in the year leading up to Neal’s fatal shooting rampage last week. Neal’s neighbors called six times to complain that Neal was firing a gun unsafely or directing gunfire at them. Three of those calls were made in August – six months after Neal, 44, was supposed to have surrendered all of his firearms because of a court order stemming from his arrest on assault charges.

· Northern California shooter exploited ‘honor system’ in telling court he had no guns Los Angeles Times

· Mandalay Bay and concert promoter sued by hundreds of Las Vegas massacre survivors Los Angeles Times

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

Sunday, November 26, at 10 a.m. on ABC 30 – Maddy Report: California’s Top Ten – Guest: John Howard, Editor of Capitol Weekly. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, November 26, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) –Maddy Report – Valley Views Edition: “Most Influential Leaders in California and the Valley” – Guests: Tim Sheehan with the Fresno Bee, Paul Hurley, formerly with the Visalia Times Delta and Mike Dunbar with the Merced Sun Star and the Modesto Bee. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, November 26, at 7:30 a.m. on UniMas 61 (KTTF) – Informe Maddy– Gov’s Twin Tunnels Project: Planning Snafus? Guest: Margarita Fernandez from the office of California’s State Auditor. Host: Maddy Institute Program Coordinator, Maria Jeans.

Support the Maddy Daily HERE. Thank you!

Topics in More Detail…

EDITORIALS

There’s a grim reality behind your Thanksgiving turkey

Los Angeles Times

Observing an annual pre-Thanksgiving rite, President Trump pardoned two big white fluffy turkeys Tuesday in a photo op at the White House. (Named Drumstick and Wishbone, the birds will end up at an enclosure on the campus of Virginia Tech.) That leaves 46 million other turkeys that won’t get pardoned….

Our sweet potatoes aren’t just tasty; they’re healthy, too

Merced Sun-Star

An ode to sweet potatoes. Not California’s most glamorous, but this time of year, no feast would be complete without a helping of them

This holiday season, let’s thank José Arnulfo Arias, and the Reagan-era judge who gave him justice

Sacramento Bee

When dairy worker José Arias asserted his rights, the dairy’s lawyer called the immigration. The law should protect Arias, but does it?

Trump the trustbuster? Not likely

San Francisco Chronicle

The Justice Department’s lawsuit to block AT&T’s proposed purchase of Time Warner asks us to believe that the Trump administration has suddenly joined the trust-busting vanguard, lurching not …

Sanctuary cities clear another legal hurdle

San Francisco Chronicle

President Trump’s threat to strip billions of dollars in federal funding from cities and counties that refuse to fully cooperate with immigration officers is unconstitutional, according to a new ruling …

After audit debacle, fire UC President Napolitano

San Jose Mercury News

The Office of the President should be run to better the UC system, not to protect Napolitano’s reputation.

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

Unmanned spray rig built in Kingsburg

Fresno Bee

It looks like something out of a “Mad Max” movie. But this shiny, rolling beast isn’t from the future – it’s the latest in agriculture automation. It’s called the Global Unmanned Spray System, or GUSS for short and it’s being made by Crinklaw Farm Services, a Kingsburg agriculture spray company.

Arvin City Council approves cannabis cultivation ordinance

Bakersfield Californian

Cannabis producers will be allowed to grow the leafy drug in Arvin next year. Despite pushback from Arvin residents and others from throughout Kern County, the Arvin City Council unanimously approved an ordinance allowing for the indoor cultivation of recreational and medical marijuana, with Councilman Jess Ortiz absent. Arvin is now the second city in Kern County to allow some kind of cultivation; California City approved an ordinance last year that pertains only to medical marijuana cultivation. Bakersfield and Kern County have both banned commercial pot activity.

Don’t Blame Wildfires for Rising California Cannabis Prices

Leafly

October’s vicious Northern California wildfires, the deadliest and most damaging in US history, also dealt an unprecedented blow to California’s emerging legal cannabis industry—and at a crucial moment. In addition to at least 43 deaths and the destruction of more than 8,900 homes and buildings, the fires’ casualties included at least 47 legal marijuana farms, according to the most recent tally from the California Growers Association. Total damage to legal cannabis crops is now estimated at “$60 million or greater,” according to Hezekiah Allen, the association’s executive director.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY

For stories on Las Vegas mass shooting and ”gun control,” See: “Top Stories – Other,” above

Crime:

Authorities give tips to reduce risk of vehicle theft

Bakersfield Californian

The Kern County Auto Theft Task Force is providing tips in an effort to help reduce the risk of vehicles being stolen during the holiday season — which police said is a time notable for its number of vehicle thefts. Among the tips contained in a Bakersfield Police Department news release were:

Law enforcement makes 76 arrests in operation targeting vagrancy-related crimes in Kern Valley

Bakersfield Californian

A total of 76 arrests were made in the Kern Valley area during a 30-day law enforcement operation targeting public intoxication, illegal dumping and drug-related offenses, among other vagrancy-related crimes, sheriff’s officials said Tuesday. Among those arrested, 15 were taken into custody on suspicion of trespassing, five on public intoxication charges and five on suspicion various felonies committed by vagrants, according to sheriff’s officials.

California prisons failing inmates freed from solitary, advocates charge

San Francisco Chronicle

California prisons no longer hold large numbers of prisoners for a decade or more in solitary confinement, but advocates said Monday that prison officials have failed to provide promised mental health services and other programs for traumatized inmates released into the general prison population

Fire:

Lawmakers to investigate response to Wine Country fires

San Francisco Chronicle

California lawmakers concerned that the state was ill-equipped to fight last month’s catastrophic Wine Country fires plan to hold hearings beginning next month to evaluate the response, including apparent shortcomings in a mutual-aid system designed to quickly rally first responders.

ECONOMY / JOBS

Economy:

Dollar falls broadly on weak data, technicals, inflation worries

Reuters

The dollar fell on Wednesday, touching its lowest level in more than a month against the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc after the release of weaker-than-expected U.S. data and inflation expectations. New orders for U.S.-made capital goods unexpectedly fell in October after three straight months of strong gains and a measure of goods orders that strips out volatile components had its biggest drop since September 2016.

Meg Whitman to step down as CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

San Jose Mercury News

Hewlett Packard Enterprise said Tuesday that Meg Whitman will step down as the tech giant’s chief executive next February – after a nearly seven-year-long roller-coaster term that included the controversial splitting up of Hewlett-Packard, once considered the original Silicon Valley startup

Free Markets: Conservatives Who Repudiate Them Propose No Alternatives

National Review

It is a season of rethinking. Old assumptions are being reexamined. Years of economic stagnation punctuated by crisis; rising nationalist sentiment; shocking political developments throughout the world’s richest countries: All of it has left intellectuals of various stripes disoriented and unsettled.

Jobs:

REI to close its Stockton store

Stockton Record

REI, the member-owned co-op cherished by outdoors lovers for its vast array of equipment, gear and gadgets, will close its Stockton store in 2018, a property manager confirmed on Tuesday.

What new jobs? California program to entice hiring falls short

CALmatters

An important new analysis shows progressive policies don’t hurt, and probably help, growth and jobs

The Washington Post

Ian Perry of the University of California Berkeley Labor Center has a new paper out called “California Is Working” that tests the impact of progressive, market interventions on growth and jobs in a sort of experimental framework by using California as an example of the conservative, anti-interventionists’ worst nightmare.

EDUCATION

VIDEO: How higher education can still deliver on the California Dream

CAFWD

The California Economic Summit is helping connect workforce development to the state’s education systems

Some California state colleges focus on getting students through risky freshman year

EdSource

The letter alerting Cal State Northridge students that they were being put on academic probation was pretty blunt and scary: shape up or risk getting kicked out. Enter a national project called “Re-Imagining the First Year of College,“aimed at reducing college dropout rates during and soon after that first, vulnerable year in college. Cal State Northridge signed on and one of the first things that changed was the tone of the probation letter. Now a more supportive message tells students in academic trouble how to get academic help “as you strive to return to good academic standing.”

ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY

Environment:

California nets $860 million from carbon auction

Sacramento Bee

California will collect $860 million from auctioning carbon-emissions permits after the allowances sold out at a record price for the second straight quarter, according to state data released Tuesday. Auction results released by the California Air Resources Board showed that demand remains strong for pollution permits since California lawmakers renewed the state’s cap-and-trade program in July. The program requires polluters to obtain a permit for each ton of greenhouse gases they release. The number of available permits declines each year.

Huge wildfires can wipe out California’s greenhouse gas gains

San Francisco Chronicle

Most years, the amount of greenhouse gases spewed by California’s cars, factories and power plants drops slightly — a hard-won result of the state’s fight against global warming. And in any given year, one big wildfire can wipe out that progress. Over the course of just a few weeks, a major fire can pump more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than California’s many climate change programs can save in 12 months. Scientists debate whether California’s vast forests are emitting more carbon dioxide through fires than they absorb through plant growth.

CEQA: New Strategies for Streamlining Environmental Review

PublicCEO

Q: Have you heard about the environmental impact report that took seven years?

A: That’s no joke.

And it’s not funny. Over the past 47 years, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has required local and state agencies to analyze and identify environmental impacts before approving projects. For nearly as long, developers, local governments and others have sought reforms to make the CEQA process more efficient and less costly and time-consuming.

CalPERS: Stop investing in deforestation

Sacramento Bee

While the Trump administration has turned away from the Paris Agreement and actively sought to dismantle federal environmental protections, I am proud to see that California’s legislators are boldly stepping up to the challenge of climate change. However, there is one disappointing gap in California’s leadership on climate. The state public employees’ retirement fund, CalPERS, is invested in a number of companies well known for burning and bulldozing the world’s rainforests.

Energy:

Refinery project involving Bakken crude dealt legal setback

Bakersfield Californian

A coalition of concerned citizens, environmental groups and health and safety advocates were claiming victory Tuesday after the California Court of Appeal in Fresno found two errors made by the County of Kern in certifying an environmental impact report that would have allowed the Alon Refinery in Bakersfield to unload more than 100 rail cars of crude oil per day. The groups contended the massive refinery and rail project would further harm air quality in the San Joaquin Valley and subject residents to the catastrophic risks of a derailment involving tanker cars filled with volatile Bakken crude oil. Compared to heavier crudes, Bakken crude from North Dakota may be more likely to explode in a rail accident, the court said.

Embattled former PUC chief Peevey resurfaces with a green energy book

Los Angeles Times

For much of the last three years, former California Public Utilities Commission President Michael Peevey has kept an extremely low profile as investigators reviewwhether the onetime top state utility regulator improperly influenced how much consumers must pay for the premature closure of the San Onofre nuclear plant, an amount that ratepayer advocates have decried as excessive.

Utility regulators used private lawyers to challenge probe

Sacramento Bee

California Public Utilities Commission lawyers sought to suppress court-approved search warrants after utility regulators promised they would cooperate with a state criminal investigation, according to a newspaper report. The San Diego Union-Tribune cited court documents unsealed Monday that show commission lawyers opposed providing records to investigators as required by three different search warrants approved in 2015 and 2016.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

State fines six employers for exposing workers to valley fever in Monterey County

Bakersfield Californian

Six construction outfits working on a solar project in Monterey County were fined more than $240,000 this week for failing to protect their workers from valley fever.

California’s uninsured rate drops again to new low of 6.8 percent in 2017

Sacramento Bee

· California shows its Obamacare support by outspending U.S. 4-to-1 on ads Los Angeles Times

Why It’s Hard to Control Drug Prices at the Ballot Box

Pew Charitable Trusts | Stateline

Voters in California and Ohio have rejected measures meant to limit state spending on prescription drugs. But advocates say they plan to keep trying.

Video: Strategies for Reducing Child Poverty

Public Policy Institute of California

High housing costs and low-wage work make it hard for low-income Californians to meet their basic needs. The result? Nearly a quarter of California’s youngest residents live in poverty—a fact with profound educational, health, and economic repercussions now and in the future. Social safety net benefits help low-income families supplement their incomes but do not reach the working poor in high-cost areas and the very poor across the state.

IMMIGRATION

Judge restores DACA status for L.A. immigrant busted while giving teen a ride to border area

Los Angeles Times

A federal court in Los Angeles has ordered the United States government to restore the protected status of an immigrant in the country illegally who was arrested near the Mexican border earlier this year while giving a ride to a teenager who was later deported. Jesus Arreola Robles, a beneficiary of President Obama’sDeferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, was arrested by Border Patrol agents on Feb. 12 in Campo, Calif., about a mile from the border, and accused of trying to smuggle someone into the United States.

Congress speeds toward shutdown over Dreamers

POLITICO

With prototypes of the border wall in place, both Mexicans and Californians are talking about Trump’s plan

Orange County Register

President Donald Trump’s self-described “big, beautiful” border wall is taking shape with eight 30-foot prototypes rising in San Diego — stark barriers that have not impressed those living on the Tijuana side of the Mexican border. Visually, the prototypes are offensive, said Maria Elena Valenzuela, 40, who was born in San Diego and grew up on both sides of the Tijuana border. “They’re horrible,” she said.

This San Francisco slaying became an immigration battle cry. Now jurors will rule

Los Angeles Times

Jurors will consider dueling arguments Tuesday that either a homeless man killed a woman at a San Francisco pier by accident or while playing a sick game. Lawyers offered both portraits Monday in closing arguments at the murder trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate. The defense was scheduled to finish arguments Tuesday, and jurors could begin deliberations later in the day.

LAND USE/HOUSING

Amid Bay Area exodus to Sacramento, low-income families at risk of being pushed out, study finds

San Jose Mercury News

As Bay Area residents and others flock to Sacramento to escape the housing crisis, low-income renters in the capital find themselves on shaky ground. In its first-ever analysis of gentrification in the city, UC Berkeley’s Urban Displacement Project found that an astonishing 95,000 low-income households live in Sacramento neighborhoods that “are already undergoing or are at risk of becoming hotbeds of displacement.”

Mayor Lee wants to pull 1000 homeless people off SF streets this winter

San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has set his sights on the ambitious goal of pulling 1,000 homeless people off the streets this winter and, to kick-start that effort, he wants to open two new homeless Navigation Centers.

PUBLIC FINANCES

Right and Left React to the Republican Tax Plan

The New York Times

Cites responses from both sides…

· Analysis: GOP tax bill could reduce charitable giving by up to $24 billion TheHill

· Murkowski says she backs Obamacare mandate repeal POLITICO

· Repealing the individual mandate would do substantial harm Brookings Institute

· Analysis: GOP tax bill could reduce charitable giving by up to $24 billionTheHill

Calpers Needs to Think a Few Moves Ahead on Allocation: Gadfly

The Washington Post

The largest U.S. pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, is chasing investing’s holy grail: Buy low and sell high. Calpers will consider at its board workshop on Monday whether to reduce its stock allocation to as little as 34 percent from 50 percent. The temptation to lighten up on stocks is understandable. The MSCI ACWI IMI Index — a collection of large-, mid- and small-cap companies from around the world — is up 40.2 percent since its low in February 2016 through October, including dividends. That’s well above the index’s average 20-month return of 14.7 percent since inception…

TRANSPORTATION

Heading to the coast or LA for Thanksgiving? Better leave early

Fresno Bee

If you plan on taking Interstate 5 or Highway 41 through Kings County for Thanksgiving travel, you might want to leave early. The California Department of Transportation and CHP will control traffic on those routes from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday in hopes of alleviating heavy congestion. Traffic control also will be in effect on Bernard Drive just south of Kettleman City.

The driverless revolution may exact a political price

Los Angeles Times

In its race to embrace driverless vehicles, Washington has cleared away regulatory hurdles for auto companies and brushed aside consumer warnings about the risk of crashes and hacking. But at a recent hearing, lawmakers absorbed an economic argument that illustrated how the driverless revolution they are encouraging could backfire politically, particularly in Trump country.

WATER

Hertzberg: If We Do This Right: SB 231 and Rainwater

PublicCEO

I have spent years studying how California can augment reliance on local water supplies, as concern over the drought reverberated statewide in communities I visited. As Chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee, I have committed myself to tackling the tough issues that will allow us to use and reuse free rainwater and decrease our dependence on costly imported water.

“Xtra”

David Mas Masumoto | Here’s how to break the ice on Thanksgiving

Fresno Bee

Thanksgiving: Time for family to gather, eat food, watch football, go shopping. And maybe, if we’re lucky, tell a story or two. Stories interest me the most. But growing up, I rarely had great Thanksgiving dinner conversation. My family all gathered around a long table, pausing for a moment before we ate all the fixings of a splendid meal. (Of course, for years, I was at the kids table, being the youngest in my family.) Sometimes my father would make an awkward toast. Then we’d dig in, the sound of forks and knives and chewing filling the room. We ate food but missed nourishing the soul with dialogue.

Potatoes And Pies Are OK, But Poll Shows Americans Don’t Want Politics For Thanksgiving Dinner

NPR

Americans may love Thanksgiving — but not the side dish of political fighting that often comes with it. According to a new poll, 58 percent of those surveyed said they dread talking about politics during the holidays.

In a new book by an old stoner, Cheech Marin underscores the diversity of California’s cultural mainstream

Sacramento Bee

This week, California should give thanks for Cheech. Richard Anthony Marin deserves our gratitude not just because his autobiography, “Cheech Is Not My Real Name … But Don’t Call Me Chong,” is the best California book of this year. We should thank Cheech now because his life embodies Thanksgiving itself: a big, robust meal that includes many different flavors but is ultimately for everyone.