In the News
Ceremony Saturday To Mark 5 Years Since Deadly North Bay Wildfires
by Staff writer
Sonoma County and the city of Santa Rosa are holding a ceremony Saturday to mark the five-year anniversary of the deadly and devastating 2017 wildfires. The ceremony is planned for 10 a.m. at Coffey Neighborhood Park, part of an area of Santa Rosa that burned in the North Bay fires of Oct. 8, 2017. ... Saturday's event will include several speakers, including Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Rogers, county Supervisors James Gore and Susan Gorin, U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, state Sen. Mike McGuire, … Continue Reading
October 05, 2022
Fire, rain and Jared Huffman
by TIM CURLEY
Jared Huffman has been the U.S. Congressman from California’s 2nd Congressional District since 2013. The most picturesque district in all of Congress, it runs from the Golden Gate Bridge all the way to the Oregon Border. Huffman represents the thoughts and wishes of the residents of most of Sonoma County, and Marin, Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity and Del Norte counties. Before being elected to Congress, Huffman spent six years in the California Assembly. It was there that he developed his … Continue Reading
October 04, 2022
Yurok Tribe hosts summit on missing and murdered indigenous people
by Staff writer
On Tuesday, October 4, the Yurok Tribe will host the first-ever statewide policy summit on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP). The 1st Annual Northern California Tribal Summit on MMIP will bring together tribal leaders, law enforcement officials and MMIP survivors as well as state and federal lawmakers, academic researchers and victim advocates to identify solutions to stop the crisis. Starting at 8:30am, the summit will take place at the Arcata Community Center in Arcata, … Continue Reading
October 01, 2022
Editorial: Highway 37 plan makes sense, timeline does not
by Editorial Board
Caltrans’ recommendation that Highway 37 be replaced with a four-lane elevated causeway makes sense, both for accommodating growing traffic and for the environment. But its estimated 20-year timeline to get it built doesn’t. Especially for those motorists who are regularly stuck in a time-killing traffic jam on the mostly two-lane road from Highway 101 in Novato to Vallejo and Interstate 80. State Sen. Mike McGuire, who has paid close attention to this issue, says he has … Continue Reading
September 29, 2022
House panel adds climate to fisheries law for first time
by Rob Hotakainen
A group of 27 progressive House Democrats on Thursday called on President Joe Biden to press the World Bank Group to remove its president after recent comments put into question his belief in human-caused climate change. The lawmakers' letter to Biden — led by Reps. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Sean Casten (D-Ill.) — was in reaction to David Malpass saying, "I’m not a scientist,” in response to a question about whether he believed climate change was caused by … Continue Reading
September 29, 2022
House Dems Urge Biden to Push for Removal of Climate-Denying World Bank President
by KENNY STANCIL
Over two dozen House Democrats sent a letter Thursday urging U.S. President Joe Biden to "advocate for the removal or forced resignation" of World Bank president David Malpass, who has come under fire for his recent refusal to acknowledge the indisputable connection between planet-heating fossil fuel emissions and increasingly catastrophic wildfires, hurricanes, and droughts. Last week, when asked at a climate policy summit whether he accepts the scientific consensus that the … Continue Reading
September 28, 2022
Senate GOP, liberal Dems find common cause: Sinking Manchin's bill
by Leigh Ann Caldwell, Theodoric Meyer, Tobi Raji
Manchin plans next moves on permitting bill after Tuesday's defeat Congress is on a glide path to avoid a partial government shutdown — and there are still three days to spare before the deadline. But the relatively drama free funding debate did claim one casualty: Sen. Joe Manchin III's (D-W.Va.) energy project permitting bill. Manchin announced Tuesday afternoon he was pulling his proposal from the stopgap funding bill, or continuing resolution (CR), as he faced down the … Continue Reading
September 28, 2022
Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization steams on amid partisan shoals
by Kirk Moore
It has been 16 years since the last comprehensive update of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the overarching federal fisheries law, in 2006. The new effort, called the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act, has taken a major step forward. Also known in Congress as H.R. 4690, the legislation went through a day-long markup session on 20 September in the House Committee on Natural Resources, to consider changes and proposed amendments. The … Continue Reading
September 27, 2022
Lawmakers set for another run at overhauling fisheries law
by Rob Hotakainen
The House Natural Resources Committee plans to meet again this week to consider a proposed reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, a 1976 law that sets the rules for fishing in all federal waters. If approved, the law would include a mention of climate change for the first time in history. The panel last week began a debate on H.R. 4690, the "Sustaining America's Fisheries for the Future Act," a bill that would require NOAA to create plans for … Continue Reading
September 26, 2022
Yurok Tribe to host inaugural summit on missing, murdered Indigenous people
by Sonia Waraich
Tribes have been limited in how they can respond to the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people in their communities, but the Yurok Tribe is leading an effort to find solutions that will empower tribes across the state and the country. Next week, the Yurok Tribe is set to host the inaugural Northern California Tribal Summit on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, where the topics of discussion will include the root causes of the crisis, ways to reduce the risks to Indigenous … Continue Reading
September 24, 2022
Caltrans favors elevating Highway 37 to address flood risks
by Will Houston
In an effort to protect Highway 37 from rising sea levels, a new state study calls for elevating the route onto a causeway within the next two decades. Presenting its findings this month, Caltrans said its preferred solution is to build a 30-foot-high, four-lane causeway along the current alignment of the highway, a 21-mile corridor connecting Highway 101 in Marin County to Interstate 80 in Vallejo. The plan would include a pedestrian and bicycle path and might include an extension of SMART … Continue Reading
September 22, 2022
Vote on climate-focused fisheries overhaul goes into overtime
by Rob Hotakainen
The House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday moved toward approving an overhaul of the nation's premier fishing law but ultimately decided it needed more time to do so, postponing a final vote. The panel planned to advance H.R. 4690, the "Sustaining America's Fisheries for the Future Act," a bill that would require NOAA to create plans for "climate ready fisheries" to manage the nation's shifting stocks. But after spending hours debating a series of controversial amendments - on issues … Continue Reading
September 21, 2022
'Not a crisis': Panel hosts heated debate on climate bill
by Heather Richards
Legislation to tether oil and gas drilling on public lands to national climate targets sparked a fight Tuesday over whether climate change is a "crisis." A Natural Resources subcommittee met to probe the "Public Lands and Waters Climate Leadership Act of 2022," H.R. 8802, from Chair Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.). The bill would have the Interior Department and the Forest Service to suspend coal, oil and gas leasing and permitting while the agencies develop a strategy to align fossil fuel … Continue Reading
September 19, 2022
Alaska Democrat’s arrival signals change in fisheries debate
by Rob Hotakainen
As the first Alaska native elected to Congress, Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola will bring a new twist to a long-running fisheries debate when the House Natural Resources Committee votes on a proposed overhaul of the nation’s premier fishing law this week. It’s a top issue for Peltola, who was sworn in last week and promptly won a seat on the committee. It’s also an issue that Peltola knows well, having served as director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission and … Continue Reading
September 15, 2022
With Peltola on board, Dems revive fisheries law overhaul
by Rob Hotakainen, Timothy Cama
House Democrats on Thursday revived a long-delayed overhaul of the nation’s primary fisheries law with one big change: Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat who was sworn in this week as Alaska’s newest member of Congress, is backing the effort. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife, had put his bill to reauthorize the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act on hold after the death of Alaska … Continue Reading
September 14, 2022
Yurok, Karuk chairs testify in support of House bills returning land
by Sonia Waraich
North Coast tribes have been working for years on restoring their ancestral land, and the federal government seems poised to return some of that land to the Yurok and Karuk tribes in the near future. At a hearing of the U.S. Natural Resources’ Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States on Wednesday, Yurok Chairman Joseph L. James and Karuk Chairman Russell “Buster” Attebery spoke about the ecological and cultural significance of the U.S. Forest Service land … Continue Reading
September 14, 2022
California Lawmaker Unveils Bill To Legalize Direct-To-Consumer Marijuana Sales Nationwide
by A.J. Herrington
A California lawmaker on Wednesday introduced a federal bill that would allow small, licensed cannabis operators to sell and ship their products directly to consumers, including across state lines. Known as the Small and Homestead Independent Producers (SHIP) Act, the legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday by Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California. If passed, the SHIP Act would allow small cannabis farmers to send marijuana purchases to … Continue Reading
September 14, 2022
Small Marijuana Growers Could Sell Directly To Consumers Across State Lines Under New Congressional Bill
by Kyle Jaeger
A pair of congressmen filed a bill on Wednesday that’s intended to help small marijuana growers compete against large corporations when cannabis is federally legalized, proposing to give them the ability to ship and sell products directly to consumers within and across state lines. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) is leading the legislation—titled the “Small and Homestead Independent Producers (SHIP) Act”—alongside Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). As Congress continues to … Continue Reading
September 13, 2022
‘Sleazy backroom deal’: Progressives tangle one more time with Manchin
by Sarah Ferris and Burgess Everett
After nearly two years of watching Joe Manchin tank some of their biggest priorities, House progressives finally have sway over one of his. And they have every intention of using it. Dozens of House Democrats are now threatening Manchin’s proposal to streamline energy project permits — even if it breaks a commitment that paved the way for the party’s massive climate, tax and health care victory earlier this summer. Now that President Joe Biden has signed that … Continue Reading
September 12, 2022
Progressive opposition grows ahead of permitting bill release
by George Cahlink
Congress could unveil stopgap spending legislation this week that could carry a contentious permitting reform overhaul and aid to address the water crisis in Jackson, Miss. The House will return from August recess with progressives eager to derail a plan to attach permitting overhaul legislation to stopgap spending legislation that Congress needs to pass by the end of this month to avert a government shutdown. The funding measure will likely last until mid-December to give lawmakers time to … Continue Reading