ICE says it’s targeting employers but workplace raids impacting more workers [San Diego Union-Tribune]
…The agency was ordered to quadruple immigration enforcement at work sites in 2018, a goal it met across the nation, and continued into 2019. However, statistics show the agency met those targets by increasing enforcement against workers much more than against employers….ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack said the statistics do not mean the agency is focusing on workers rather than the employers who hire them. She said work site enforcement investigations typically involve in-depth probes, and building a criminal case against an employer is often an lengthy process.
Interior watchdog probes agency’s newly confirmed chief [Modesto Bee]
The Interior Department’s internal investigators have begun probing allegations of conflicts of interest involving Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, they confirmed Monday, just four days after the Senate confirmed the former corporate lobbyist to lead the agency….The allegations have centered on charges from Democratic senators, environmental groups and others that Bernhardt was violating ethics standards by involving himself in Interior Department deliberations with his former lobbying clients, including a politically influential California water agency. Interior spokeswoman Faith Vander Voort said in a statement that Bernhardt “is in complete compliance with his ethics agreement and all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.”
https://www.modbee.com/news/business/article229290154.html
EU says it is ready to launch U.S. trade talks, but without agriculture [New York Times]
The European Union is ready to start talks on a trade agreement with the United States and aims to conclude a deal before year-end, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on Monday….But agriculture was not included, leaving the 28-country bloc at odds with Washington, which has insisted on including farm products in the talks….But U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the tax and trade-focused Senate Finance Committee, said a U.S.-EU trade deal that excluded agriculture would be “unlikely” to win approval in the U.S. Congress because so many lawmakers want farm access to Europe.
As bullet train project moves ahead in Valley, many residents still reluctant to get on board [KQED, San Francisco]
When Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in February that, as currently planned, the state’s full high-speed rail project would take too long to build and cost too much, farm bookkeeper Joanna Spence was relieved. For her, that acknowledgement was long overdue….What Newsom did not acknowledge is that when it comes to high-speed rail, some of the most disillusioned and skeptical Californians are Central Valley residents themselves. While some dream of the opportunities a bullet train could bring, others see it as a misuse of funds and believe that it will never be built — or that if it ever is, no one will ride it.
Harris Ranch, buyer quiet on details but stress family-owned roots in wake of sale [Fresno Bee]
The sale of Harris Ranch Beef Co., a well-known brand in San Joaquin Valley business and agriculture built up over decades, to Hanford-based Central Valley Meat Co. seems to have come as a surprise to many observers. Some key questions about the deal remain unanswered….The sale does not include other Harris Farms enterprises: the Harris Ranch Inn and Restaurant off Interstate 5 near Coalinga; Harris Farms’ horse division with ranches in Coalinga and Sanger; and farming operations for a range of crops including nuts, vegetables, citrus and grapes. Harris, 75, has so far declined to comment about his decision to sell or whether he had the company up for sale before negotiations on the deal with Central Valley Meat.
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article229153139.html
California heat waves could be predicted 2 weeks in advance, new UC Davis research shows [Sacramento Bee]
…Summer heat waves in California’s Central Valley are almost always preceded by heavy rainfall over the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans, scientists at UC Davis and in South Korea determined in a recently published research effort. Researchers identified 24 heat waves that took place in California’s Central Valley during summer months from 1979 to 2010, and compared those heat waves to a weather pattern called the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) that brings heavy rain to the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans. The study found a correlation involving each of those two dozen heat waves: each of them came between four and 16 days after an MJO system.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/weather-news/article229267474.html
