At its April 15 meeting, the County Board of Supervisors set a public hearing for May 20 to consider increases in the waste collection rates throughout the County. The new rates will be effective July 1. For Hill residents, the new waste collection rate will increase 58 cents, from $19.74 to $20.32. Commercial rates will…
The April 17 meeting of the Fern Valley Water District Board of Directors was busy, productive and long – two hours! The major piece of business was the selection of Dan DeVoy as the new director. He replaces Mike LaFata, who resigned in February. DeVoy lives in El Centro and has a home in Fern…
Last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration jointly published a proposed change to their regulations for implementing the Endangered Species Act. They are proposing to limit the definition of “taking” a threatened or endangered species to the language in the original law. Section 3(19) reads, “The term…
Activity for the 2026 Congressional Election for District 41, which is still 18 months in the future, continued last week. Tim Myers, a lifelong Southern Californian and Grammy-nominated musician-turned-entrepreneur, announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in California’s 41st Congressional District. In his press release, Myer wrote, “I was born and raised in Corona –…
California’s Assembly is considering Assembly Bill 435, which would change when and where 10–13-year-old children and smaller frame teens may sit in a moving vehicle. It raises the minimum age for vehicle child passenger restraints from eight to 13 years old and replaces the current age and height exemption with a 5-Step test. Beginning January…
Last week, the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center announced that the current La Niña weather conditions, which formed in January, have already dissipated. La Niña conditions are associated with cooler surface water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean and stronger trade winds. Typically, this results in drier weather in the southern and southwestern parts of…
Editor’s Note: On April 10, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 22, known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. The legislation goes to the Senate next. If passed, it would require people to prove that they are U.S. citizens when they register to vote. Republicans argued the legislation, is necessary to ensure only…
Last week, President Donald Trump signed another Executive Order promoting domestic energy production and limiting the states’ ability to curb actions encouraging climate change. Trump’s EO is intended to maintain U.S. energy dominance, which he believes some state laws are thwarting. “American energy dominance is threatened when State and local governments seek to regulate energy…
On April 4, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins issued a Secretarial Memorandum declaring an emergency situation in the forested lands of the U.S. National Forest System. Her intent is to expand timber production on these federal lands. Rollins’ memorandum follows President Donald Trump’s March 1 Executive Order which directed the Secretaries of Agriculture and the…
The future of electric power vehicles appears clouded. Although California’s current air resource policies call for prohibiting the sale of new gas-powered vehicles in 2035 or later, over the next 10 years, the percentage of new gas-powered vehicles sold in the State must gradually decline to zero in 2035. A recent Gallop poll found that…
