First News
Sonoma County First News for August 7, 2024
Clear skies, low fifties out the door. Today will be sunny with highs near 90. I marked Prel. Good morning from the KRCB Sonoma County Newsroom. Here's your first news for Wednesday, August 7th, 2024. California state lawmakers are back in Sacramento after four weeks of summer recess. Cap Radio's Laura Fitzgerald has more August marks the final month of California's legislative session. It's a busy time for lawmakers with over a thousand bills awaiting votes in the Assembly and Senate before the August 31st deadline. Like past years, lawmakers face critical decisions relating to housing, health care, and public safety. But this year's session has also seen a wave of bills seeking to regulate artificial intelligence and combat retail theft. The end of session is a time of difficult choices as lawmakers debate what to pass and how to pay for it. And given the state's $45 billion budget deficit, this year will be no different. I'm Laura Fitzgerald. Well, California put hundreds of millions of dollars worth of federal homelessness funds at risk. That's according to a federal audit out this week. The new report blames chaotic and disorganized anti fraud policies at the state's housing agency. Cal Matters, Marisa Kendall explains. California's Department of Housing and Community Development left nearly $320 million vulnerable to bad actors because the agency lacked adequate policies to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud, according to the audit. The audit comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, and the money was part of a big infusion of COVID relief funds. Despite finding multiple holes in the California agency's anti fraud practices, the audit only provided one specific example of the agency mishandling an actual fraud threat. But another audit underway could uncover more details. In a response to HUD, officials at California's Department of Housing and Community Development pledged to improve its anti fraud measures. That's Cal Matters, Marisa Kendall reporting. A quiet decision to raise the price of building permits in Santa Rosa sparked a loud response from one of the city's advisory boards. Now the city is looking to reverse course. Santa Rosa's city council is looking this week at whether to revisit the cost of construction permits for new homes and buildings in the city's historic neighborhoods. The scaled up fees jumped from around $2,000 to nearly $20,000. The move prompted a backlash from Santa Rosa's Cultural Heritage Board, as reported in the press Democrat. The chair and four of the board members resigned in protest in mid-July. According to that PD story, Cultural Heritage Board members had been hoping to see building fees in the city's historic neighborhoods go down, not go up. Adding insult to injury, the spate of resignations in response to the rate increase means the city can't process major alteration applications that need board review due to a lack of a quorum. Santa Rosa has eight recognized historic preservation districts like Burbank Gardens, Cherry Street, and Olive Park. California leaders are continuing to respond to Kamala Harris's pick of Minnesota Governor Tim Walls as her running mate, Cap Radio's Kate Wolf, as that story. Sacramento Area Republican Congressman Kevin Kylie says he was surprised by the pick and thought Harris would go with someone more moderate, like Philadelphia Governor Josh Shapiro. Instead, she sort of went with someone who I'm honestly not even that familiar with Tim Walts, but who seems to be pretty closely matched with her from an ideological perspective. Kylie says Walls' stances on immigration and public safety are extreme. I don't think he has been advocating for the sort of changes that we need, like raining and spending in a responsible way, and increasing American domestic energy production that will get the inflation prices under control. On X, he called Walls a wannabe Gavin Newsom. Rusty Hicks is the chair of the California Democratic Party. What else would you say when your team is, you know, comprised of a 78 year old convicted felon and a wannabe every man? I think it's been said. Tim Walls is what JD Vance wants to be. On X, Governor Gavin Newsom hailed Harris's pick as brilliant, highlighting Walls' history instituting free school meals and increasing gun safety in Minnesota. In Sacramento, I'm Kate Wolf. Got a gripe about having your power turned off by PG&E in advance of dangerous fire conditions. State energy regulators say they want to hear about it. Today and tomorrow, the California Public Utilities Commission is holding its fifth annual go-around of public briefings on PG&E's divisive public safety power shutoffs. Utilities like PG&E will present the commission with findings and lessons learned from power shutoff events of 2023 and report on their strategies for shutoffs this year. Complaints or comments can be submitted via email or phone during the hearings. You can find more details at cpuc.ca.gov. You're listening to Sonoma County first news. OKRCB News frequently brings you stories produced by our colleagues who cover statewide issues and the state Capitol at Capitol Public Radio. Cap Radio's licensed institution Sacramento State University just released the findings of a highly anticipated forensic examination of Capitol Public Radio's finances. It found more than $700,000 in unsupported payments or payments that could not be backed up by expense reports or receipts. Nearly $400,000 was paid out to one individual whose name was rejected. Cap Radio's Chris Nichols has more. The findings focus heavily on prior leadership and found several instances of misuse of funds and conflicts of interest at Cap Radio, which is an auxiliary of Sac State. University President Luke Wood provided a message attached to the summary. He said the report provides factual findings but draws no definitive conclusions. He also notes that some information has been redacted. In fact, no names are included in the summary. Wood says this is to avoid jeopardizing quote a related investigation by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office end quote. Today's report comes nearly a year after a scathing audit found numerous examples of financial mismanagement at Cap Radio. Those findings focused in part on Cap Radio's costly downtown headquarters project, one that greatly outpaced funding and was eventually scrapped despite ongoing and expensive lease commitments. About three weeks before that report was released Cap Radio laid off 12% of its staff, affecting employees both at Cap Radio and Chico-based North State public radio. It also canceled four music shows all due to the ongoing financial issues. That was Cap Radio's Chris Nichols following NPR's protocol for reporting on itself. No management officials from Cap Radio or Sac State reviewed this story before it was broadcast or posted to capradio.org where you'll find a summary of the forensic audit. Now this. New from the Embedded Podcast. Female athletes have always needed grit and talent but for decades they've also needed a certificate. There was chit chat about is that really a woman? And even now they're still being checked and questioned. Their story is the newest series from CBC and NPR's Embedded. It's called Tested. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Library goers in Hillsburg. I want to pass this along. The Hillsburg Regional Library will close August 25th for a month's long modernization that leaders say will result in a fresh look and improved services to the community. After a week-long hiatus that will allow staff to relocate the Hillsburg mini library will open September 3rd at the Hillsburg Community Center where library services will be offered seven days a week according to a release. Turning down to weather sunny today with highs near 90 tonight we'll see increasing clouds lows around 54. Tomorrow turns gradually sunny look for highs near 84. Friday sunny with upper 80s near 90 on Saturday and then mid 80s return for Sunday with overnight lows mostly in the 50s. At the coast today a mix of clouds and sun west-southwest winds will be just 5 to 10 miles per hour. Bodega Bay you're reaching 64 later. Cloverdale climbing to 98, Hillsburg 96, Windsor 95, Forestville and Sonoma will share 93 for a high. Great 92, Petaluma 91, Subastopol 88, Grenville just 85 and 90 on the way for Santa Rosa. Well thanks for starting your day with us. We are your local member supported public radio newsroom and you can become a member at krcb.org and that's we'll also find more local reporting plus any updates to the stories you just heard. And join us for morning edition and all things considered for more North Bay News coverage weekday mornings and afternoons on krcb 104.9. From Sonoma counties NPR station I'm Mark Prell stay safe out there and have yourself a good day.