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Public Notices 8/13/2025

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Solar panels that fit on your balcony or deck are gaining traction in the US

When Terrence Dwyer received a knock on his door and a flyer for a solar panel system small enough to fit on his deck, he was quickly sold. Solar systems that plug into regular wall outlets have been popular in Europe for years and are gaining traction in the U.S. for their affordability and simple installation.

“We thought absolutely, let’s do this right away,” said Dwyer, who lives in Oakland, California.

These small-scale solar systems could become attractive to more homeowners now that President Donald Trump’s sweeping budget-and-policy package will scrap residential rooftop solar tax credits and may shift interest to cheaper alternatives. Even before the GOP bill passed, manufacturers of the smaller systems known as plug-in or balcony solar were seeing increased demand and other positive signs such as a new Utah law streamlining regulations for homeowners to buy and install them. The systems about the size of a door haven’t been as widely adopted in the U.S. as in Europe because of lack of awareness, patchwork utility rules and limited availability.

The $2,000 plug-in solar system installed on Dwyer’s backyard deck in March consists of two 400 watt panels, an inverter, a smart meter and a circuit breaker. It saves him around $35 per month on his power bill because he is consuming less energy from the grid, but he said reducing his carbon footprint was his primary motivation.

“We like the environmental benefits of solar and wanted to engage with solar in some fashion,” Dwyer said.

Had Dwyer opted for rooftop solar, he would have paid $20,000 for the system and $30,000 to upgrade his roof to support the panels.

Installing a plug-in solar system requires some homework. What power companies let customers do with energy-generating equipment varies, which is why prospective purchasers should check their utility’s policies first. Building permits might be required depending on the municipality. Some systems can be self-installed, while others may require an electrician. For example, some kits have meters that must be wired into a home’s circuit breaker.

Removing hurdles for plug-in solar

Dwyer bought his system from Bright Saver, a nonprofit company in California that advocates for plug-in solar. In addition to the type Dwyer bought, the company also offers a smaller model costing $399 that recently sold out in six days.

“The interest and demand have been overwhelming,” said Cora Stryker, a founder of Bright Saver. “It is clear that we are hitting a nerve — many Americans have wanted solar for a long time but have not had an option that is feasible and affordable for them until now.”

Kevin Chou, another founder of Bright Saver, said wider adoption of the systems in the U.S. has been hindered by utility policies that create uncertainty about whether they’re allowed and a lack of state and local policies to make clear what rules apply.

Some utilities contacted by The Associated Press say plug-in solar systems require the same interconnection applications as rooftop panels that send electricity back to the wider network. But Steven Hegedus, an electrical engineering professor at University of Delaware, said he doesn’t understand why a utility would need to require an interconnection agreement for plug-in solar because, unlike rooftop systems, they are designed to prevent energy from flowing to the grid.

Still, if in doubt, a customer should follow their utility’s policy.

During the early days of plug-in solar’s growth, some opposition from utilities is likely since customers are buying less energy, said Robert Cudd, a research analyst at the California Center for Sustainable Communities at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“Utilities really prefer everyone being a predictable and generous consumer of the electricity they sell,” Cudd said.

This year, Utah enacted a novel law supporting plug-in solar by exempting certain small-scale systems from interconnection agreements and establishing safety requirements such as being certified by a nationally recognized testing organization such as Underwriters Laboratories. It appears to be the only state that’s passed legislation supporting plug-in solar, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Republican state Rep. Raymond Ward, who sponsored the legislation, said the smaller systems allow people to better manage where their energy comes from and what they pay.

“Europe has these things. You can go buy them and they work and people want them. There is no reason why we shouldn’t have them here in the United States,” Ward said.

Bright Saver says they are lobbying other states for similar legislation.

Alexis Abramson, dean of the University of Columbia Climate School, also applauded Utah’s move.

“We actually need more localities, more states putting in allowances for this type of equipment,” she said.

Plug-in solar availability and savings potential

Some questions remain about how much customers could save. Severin Borenstein, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, said the cost of some portable solar systems in the U.S. would make it hard for customers to come out ahead on their utility bills over the time they own them. He estimates the price of a $2,000 system in the U.S. works out to paying about $0.20 a kilowatt-hour over a 25-year period, which only saves people money if they have high utility costs. By comparison, Borenstein said the cost of systems sold in Europe, typically around $600, is equivalent to paying about $0.05 or $0.06 per kilowatt-hour over 25 years.

Baltimore resident Craig Keenan said saving money was only part of why he installed one of the smaller Bright Saver models on his balcony in July.

“I’m interested in renewable energy because the amount of carbon emissions that we produce as a species is very, very unsustainable for our world,” he said.

He said he expects the system will save him about $40 per year on utility bills, so it would take him about 10 years to recoup the cost of the kit.

Keenan, a mechanical engineer, said installation took him 10 to 15 minutes.

“I think anyone can install this,” he said. “It’s not complicated. It doesn’t require a technical degree.”

Other companies selling plug-in solar kits include Texas-based Craftstrom. It has sold about 2,000 systems in the U.S. since 2021, mostly in California, Texas and Florida. The company’s basic kits contain a solar panel that can fit in a backyard or other sunny space, along with equipment to maintain and regulate the flow of energy including an inverter and smart meter.

Kenneth Hutchings, Craftstrom’s chief revenue officer, said their U.S. sales rose this year even before the passage of the GOP tax bill, and he expects demand for plug-in solar to increase further as federal rooftop solar credits expire.

The company advises customers to notify their power company before installation, but it has “never had any pushback from any utility,” said Michael Scherer, one of the founders of Craftstrom.

China-based EcoFlow plans to begin selling plug-in solar systems in Utah and expand to other states if supportive legislation is passed, said Ryan Oliver, a company spokesperson.

“This is an example of where technology is sort of ahead of the regulators,” Oliver said, adding: “As this rolls out to more of a nationwide product, we expect it will become more mainstream as people understand it better.”

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Associated Press video journalist Mingson Lau in Baltimore contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Failure of talks for plastic treaty turn focus back to reduce, reuse, recycle. How’s that going?

Talks aimed at a global treaty to cut plastic pollution fizzled in Geneva this week, with no agreement to meaningfully reduce the harms to human health and the environment that come with the millions of tons of plastic water bottles, food containers and packaging produced today.

Though as many as 100 countries sought caps on production, powerful oil-producing nations like Saudi Arabia and the United States stood against them. They argued the caps were unnecessary and a threat to their economies and industries.

That means any progress continues to depend on efforts to improve recycling, reuse and product design — the very things that powerful nations argued were sufficient to address the problem without resorting to production cuts.

Here’s what to know about how successful those efforts have been.

Just how big is the problem?

The world makes more than 400 million tons of new plastic each year, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that could increase by about 70% by 2040 without meaningful change. A great deal of that ends up in landfills or, worse, the environment.

Pollution isn’t the only problem. Plastics, made almost entirely from fossil fuels, are a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Plastics generated 3.4% — or 1.8 billion tons — of planet-warming emissions across the globe in 2019, the United Nations says.

So, how effective has recycling been so far?

Not very.

It’s notoriously difficult to recycle plastics; only 6% of what’s made gets recycled, according to the OECD. That’s largely because different kinds of plastic cannot be recycled together. They have different chemical compositions, making it costly and time-consuming, and requiring a lot of manual sorting.

“There are many different colors of plastics, many different types of plastics called polymers, and 16,000 to 17,000 different chemicals used to make plastics, so by design, plastics are not easily recyclable,” said Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, an organization that works to cut plastic pollution.

Experts say plastic is different from materials like paper, cardboard, metal and glass, which all get reused at much higher rates. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates glass recycling at about 31%, and things like steel cans at about 71%. As much as 64% of paper and 74% of cardboard get recycled, according to the American Forest & Paper Association.

But “If you just think of your own home or apartment, you might have a bright orange hard plastic detergent container on top of your washing machine, and then you might have a plastic bag,” Enck said. “Those two things cannot get recycled together.”

What strides are being made to improve recycling?

The plastics industry says innovations in material science are helping to incorporate more recycled plastics into products and enable more plastic products to be recyclable. Ross Eisenberg, president of America’s Plastic Makers, noted the need for an “all-of-the-above approach.”

He said this also includes upgrading recycling infrastructure or improving sorting to capture more used plastics. This also means making recycling more accessible and helping consumers know what can and can’t go in the recycling bin.

But there are a lot of limitations to this.

Depending on consumers for accurate pre-sorting is a lot to ask. And cities may hesitate to make costly infrastructure improvements to their recycling programs if there is little financial incentive or market for the recycled material.

“Local recycling facilities, or markets for the recycled material, don’t always exist. Where the collection and processing infrastructure does exist, the recycling plants are essentially plastic production facilities, with the same air, water, and soil pollution problems that are harmful to local residents,” said Holly Kaufman, director of The Plastics & Climate Project and senior fellow at World Resources Institute.

Further, mechanical recycling mixes used plastic with new plastic, and the addition of more chemicals. It also requires other steps that shed much smaller plasticparticles into the environment.

Plastics recycling also usually requires plastic that’s never been recycled before — called virgin plastic — as used plastic is weak, Kaufman said. “It does not make much of a dent.”

California is currently suing oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil, alleging deception about the possibilities of plastic recycling.

Because of this, Kaufman says, “The aim should be to significantly reduce plastic production, use, and waste, not recycle more.”

What about reusing and redesigning plastics?

“Reuse means creating packaging or products designed to be used multiple times, like refillable containers, or more durable zippered bags that can be washed and refilled many times, extending their lifespan and reducing waste,” Eisenberg, of America’s Plastic Makers, said.

Experts say reuse is extremely important, but reusable products shouldn’t necessarily be used for consumables because of the risk of microplastics.

Redesigning plastic often means making it easier to recycle. That can be using one material in packaging instead of several, or printing labels directly onto a container rather than using a separate one that is glued on, but that is more complex.

Alternatives to plastics could also be made out of sustainable, less harmful and even regenerative materials, such as seaweed, Kaufman said. There has been progress on this front, but most solutions have not scaled up yet.

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Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

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Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment

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Man struck and killed on freeway after fleeing immigration agents, California official says

A man fleeing immigration authorities outside a Home Depot store in Southern California was struck and killed by an SUV when he ran across a nearby freeway, officials said.

Monrovia police received a call Thursday about the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. A responding officer saw ICE agents approaching the store and conducting enforcement activity there, City Manager Dylan Feik said in a statement.

Monrovia is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles.

One man fled on foot and headed toward the nearby freeway, where he was struck by a vehicle, Feik said. He was taken to a hospital, where he died, the statement said.

“We extend our condolences for the individual and his family,” Feik said.

The California Highway Patrol said the man was running across the lanes of eastbound Interstate 210 when he was struck by an SUV traveling about 50 or 60 miles (80 or 97 kilometers) per hour.

The man’s name was not immediately released pending the notification of family. The CHP said the crash is under investigation.

Feik said he did not have information about the immigration operation or whether anyone was arrested.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security wrote in an email that the agency was not notified of the incident until hours after operations in the area had concluded. “This individual was not being pursued by any DHS law enforcement,” said the spokesperson, who was not named.

The spokesperson did not respond to questions about the operation.

The report is the second of a person being killed in Southern California while fleeing federal immigration enforcement authorities. Last month, a farmworker fell from a greenhouse roof during an immigration raid at a cannabis facility northwest of Los Angeles and died from his injuries.

A vigil was planned for Friday by immigrant advocates, who denounced the widespread raids since President Donald Trump took office this year.

Trump has stepped up enforcement in a crackdown on immigration with raids and a surge in immigration detention. Arrests have been reported at Home Depot stores, car washes, garment factories and other sites across Southern California, stoking widespread fear in immigrant communities.

Last month, a federal court in Southern California temporarily blocked the Trump administration from carrying out indiscriminate sweeps. A hearing on the issue is set for September.

George Lane, a Home Depot spokesperson, said in an email that the company isn’t notified when immigration operations will take place and is not involved in them. Lane deferred questions to ICE.

Valley Children’s prepared to step up as Community backs away from pediatric specialty care

Update: This version clarifies Valley Children’s lease at Community Regional Medical Center.

Both Community Regional Medical Center in Downtown Fresno and Clovis Community Medical Center will begin to sunset specialty pediatric care services over the next six months, according to a statement from Community Health System.

Valley Children’s Hospital has signed a lease on clinic space at Community Regional Medical Center and will begin exploring opportunities to provide pediatric outpatient services downtown early next year. The shift will enable Community Health System to maintain its primary focus on adult services.

Community Health System officials said the continued expansion of Valley Children’s quality pediatric care has allowed both hospitals the opportunity to work closely and coordinate all levels of care for children in the Valley.

Valley Children’s Healthcare is committed to ensuring continued access to pediatric specialty care in the Central Valley, said Valley Children’s Spokesperson Zara Arboleda.

“We are working closely with impacted families and their primary care physicians who want to move their child’s care to Valley Children’s as Community Health System transitions away from operating its pediatric outpatient clinics,” she said.

Valley Children’s and Community Health System will continue to work with patients and their primary care providers/pediatricians to secure referrals to new facilities for specialty treatment. Many services currently offered by Community Health Systems are available at Valley Children’s Hospital, which operates both tertiary and quaternary level care — it is equipped to handle some of the most serious and rare pediatric cases.

Valley Children’s will work closely with parents of patients who transition their services to the hospital.

The decision for Community Health System to move away from specialty care is due to financial challenges, including federal and state health care spending cuts that have forced the hospital to make difficult decisions, according to the statement.

“We constantly evaluate the mix of individuals we serve, patient care trends, and community health needs to help us determine how we can best invest in high priority healthcare services in our community,” said Danny Davis, division president of hospitals with Community Health System. “Making this decision, although difficult, allows us to better focus our resources in the areas of healthcare that Community is uniquely well suited to provide.”

Davis added that the capacity of other providers in the Valley has enabled the provider to commit to the difficult decision.

“The health of the children of the Central Valley continues to be important to us, but as we considered the healthcare landscape, we saw capacity for other providers to support this patient population,” Davis added.

In addition to affecting patients, Community Health will provide the opportunity for 18 clinicians and 44 team members affected by the sunsetting of the programs to transfer to other providers or other positions within the system, according to ABC30.

Wall Street finishes its latest winning week with a fade

U.S. stocks edged back from their record levels on Friday in a quiet finish to another winning week.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% from the all-time high it set the day before, as it closed its fourth winning week in the last five. The Dow Jones Industrial Average flirted with its own record, which was set in December, before ending just below the mark with a rise of 34 points, or 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite dipped 0.4%, though it’s still near its record set on Wednesday.

The U.S. stock market reached all-time highs this past week as expectations built that the Federal Reserve will deliver a cut to interest rates at its next meeting in September. Lower rates can boost investment prices and the economy by making it cheaper for U.S. households and businesses to borrow to buy houses, cars or equipment, but they also risk worsening inflation.

A disappointing report about inflation at the U.S. wholesale level made traders pare back bets for coming cuts to interest rates on Thursday, but they’re still overwhelmingly expecting them. Such anticipation has sent Treasury yields lower in the bond market, though they inched higher Friday following some mixed updates on the economy.

One said shoppers boosted their spending at U.S. retailers last month, as economists expected, while another said that manufacturing in New York state unexpectedly grew. A third said industrial production across the country shrank last month, when economists were looking for modest growth.

Another report suggested sentiment among U.S. consumers is worsening because of worries about inflation, when economists expected to see a slight improvement.

“Overall, consumers are no longer bracing for the worst-case scenario for the economy feared in April,” when President Donald Trump announced his stunning set of worldwide tariffs, according to Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan’s surveys of consumers. “However, consumers continue to expect both inflation and unemployment to deteriorate in the future.”

On Wall Street, UnitedHealth Group jumped 12% after famed investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway said it bought nearly 5 million shares of the insurer during the spring, valued at $1.57 billion. Buffett is known for trying to buy good stocks at affordable prices, and UnitedHealth’s halved for the year by the end of July because of a run of struggles.

Berkshire Hathaway’s own stock slipped 0.4%.

Applied Materials helped lead Wall Street lower with a decline of 14.1% even though it reported better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The focus was on the company’s forecast for a drop in revenue during the current quarter.

Its products help manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays, and CEO Gary Dickerson pointed to a “dynamic macroeconomic and policy environment, which is creating increased uncertainty and lower visibility in the near term, including for our China business.”

Sandisk fell 4.6% despite reporting a profit for the latest quarter that blew past analysts’ expectations. Investors focused instead on the data storage company’s forecast for profit in the current quarter, which came up short of Wall Street’s.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 18.74 points to 6,449.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 34.86 to 44,946.12, and the Nasdaq composite sank 87.69 to 21,622.98.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose 0.8% in Shanghai but fell 1% in Hong Kong after data showed China’s economy may have slowed in July under pressure from uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariffs.

“Chinese economic activity slowed across the board in July, with retail sales, fixed asset investment, and value added of industry growth all reaching the lowest levels of the year. After a strong start, several months of cooling momentum suggest that the economy may need further policy support,” ING Economics said in a market commentary.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.7% after the government said its economy grew at a better-than-expected pace in the latest quarter.

European stock indexes finished mixed before Trump began his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which could dictate where the war in Ukraine is heading.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.31% from 4.29% late Thursday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, rose to 3.75% from 3.74% late Thursday.

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AP Writer Teresa Cerojano contributed.

Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will again get less Colorado River water in 2026

Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will again live with less water from the Colorado River as drought lingers in the West, federal officials announced Friday.

The Colorado River is a critical lifeline to seven U.S. states, 30 Native American tribes, and two Mexican states. The cuts are based on projections for levels at federal reservoirs — chief among them Lake Powell and Lake Mead — released every August by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Arizona will again go without 18% of its total Colorado River allocation, while Mexico loses 5%. The reduction for Nevada — which receives far less water than Arizona, California or Mexico — will stay at 7%. California won’t face any cuts because it has senior water rights and is the last to lose in times of shortage.

Decades of overuse and the effects of long-term drought worsened by climate change means there’s far more demand for water than what actually flows through the river. Low reservoir levels at Lake Mead have triggered mandatory cutbacks every year since 2022, with the deepest cuts in 2023, which hit farmers in Arizona the hardest.

Meanwhile, the states are working to reach agreement by next year on new long-term rules to govern the river in dry years. The Trump administration gave a mid-November deadline for states to reach a preliminary agreement, or risk federal intervention. Negotiations have faced delays as states push back against how much water they should each give up.

The original 1922 Colorado River Compact was calculated based on an amount of water that doesn’t exist in today’s climate. That leaves the Upper Basin states of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah to share far less water after the required amount is sent to the to the “Lower Basin” states of Nevada, Arizona and California. Lots of water is also lost to evaporation and leaky infrastructure.

Fairly splitting the river’s water in the era of climate change has been vexing for years, with all of the major users hesitant to give anything up as they anticipate a drier future. There has to be enough water in the reservoirs to reach the tunnels that usher water downstream, and ideally, even more water for hydropower generation. Key infrastructure like the Hoover Dam rely on certain water levels in Lake Mead to generate electricity.

Mandatory cuts and emergency water releases are “reactive,” said John Berggren, a regional policy manager at Western Resource Advocates, a nonprofit focused on climate change.

“If we are going to be able to have a sustainable Colorado River and not just be responding to crisis after crisis, we need large amounts of flexibility built into this new set of guidelines,” he said.

“We can and must do better. Nature isn’t waiting for us,” said Becky Mitchell, Colorado’s commissioner in the Upper Colorado River Commission.

States are considering a so-called natural flow approach to managing the river — where the Lower Basin would receive a certain percentage of the average natural flow from the prior few years.

The Lower Basin states have helped stave off deeper cuts by coming up with voluntary conservation plans.

“Absent all of those measures, the river would be in a very bad place,” said J.B. Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California and a board member for the Imperial Irrigation District, the largest user of the river’s water. Still, he knows California, like others, will likely have to give up more in the negotiations.

Dozens of conservation projects along for Upper Basin states and tribes are in limbo. President Donald Trump froze yet-to-be-distributed Inflation Reduction Act funds on his first day in office, which included nearly $400 million for those projects. The entire Colorado congressional delegation signed a letter earlier this month urging the release their portion of those funds.

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This story has been corrected to remove a reference to the third year of cuts in the headline. The cuts announced Friday are set for 2026, which will be the fifth year. ___

Associated Press journalists Amy Taxin in Tustin, California, and Mead Gruver in Fort Collins, Colorado, contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Rapper Sean Kingston sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for $1 million fraud scheme

Rapper Sean Kingston was sentenced to three and a half years in prison Friday after being convicted of a $1 million fraud scheme in which he leveraged his fame to dupe sellers into giving him luxury items that he then never paid for.

Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, and his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, were convicted in March by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. Turner was sentenced to five years in prison last month.

Before U.S. Judge David Leibowitz handed down Kingston’s sentence, the singer apologized to the judge in the South Florida courtroom and said he had learned from his actions. His attorney asked if he could self-surrender at a later date due to health issues, but the judge ordered him taken into custody immediately. Kingston, who was wearing a black suit and white shirt, removed his suit jacket and was handcuffed and led from the courtroom.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton described Kingston as someone addicted to his celebrity lifestyle even though he could no longer afford to maintain it.

“He clearly doesn’t like to pay and relies on his celebrity status to defraud his victims,” Anton said Friday.

The federal prosecutor described a yearslong pattern by Kingston of bullying victims for luxury merchandise and then refusing to pay.

“He is a thief and a conman, plain and simple,” Anton said.

Defense attorney Zeljka Bozanic countered that the 35-year-old Kingston had the mentality of a teenager — the age he was when he vaulted to stardom. The attorney said Kingston had almost no knowledge of his finances, relying on business managers and his mother.

“No one showed him how to invest his money,” Bozanic said. “Money went in and money went out on superficial things.”

Bozanic said Kingston has already started paying back his victims and intends to pay back every cent once he is free and can start working again.

Leibowitz rejected the idea that Kingston was unintelligent or naive, but the judge said he gave the rapper credit for accepting responsibility and declining to testify rather than possibly lying in court. That was in contrast to Kingston’s mother, whose trial testimony Leibowitz described as obstruction.

Kingston and his mother were arrested in May 2024 after a SWAT team raided Kingston’s rented mansion in suburban Fort Lauderdale. Turner was taken into custody during the raid, while Kingston was arrested at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California’s Mojave Desert, where he was performing.

According to court records, Kingston used social media from April 2023 to March 2024 to arrange purchases of luxury merchandise. After negotiating deals, Kingston would invite the sellers to one of his high-end Florida homes and promise to feature them and their products on social media.

Investigators said that when it came time to pay, Kingston or his mother would text the victims fake wire receipts for the items, which included a bulletproof Escalade, watches and a 19-foot (5.9-meter) LED TV, investigators said.

When the funds never cleared, victims often contacted Kingston and Turner repeatedly, but were either never paid or received money only after filing lawsuits or contacting law enforcement, authorities said.

Kingston, who was born in Florida and raised in Jamaica, shot to fame at age 17 with the 2007 hit “Beautiful Girls,” which laid his lyrics over Ben E. King’s 1961 song “Stand By Me.” His other hits include 2007’s “Take You There” and 2009’s “Fire Burning.”

Applications to open for new liquor licenses. See how many in Central Valley

The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) will open its application window for new liquor licenses this September, giving applicants a two-week period to apply.

ABC Director Paul Tupy announced the state will issue a limited number of new on-sale general licenses—which allow alcohol sales for on-premises consumption—and off-sale general licenses, which allow sales for off-premises consumption. The department has also authorized intercounty transfers of certain licenses during this time.

License Allocations by County

Fresno County: 25 new on-sale licenses, 10 new off-sale licenses, and 25 intercounty transfer on-sale licenses
Kings County: Four new on-sale licenses and four intercounty transfer on-sale licenses
Madera County: Five new on-sale licenses, one new off-sale license, and five intercounty transfer on-sale licenses
Tulare County: 16 new on-sale licenses, two new off-sale licenses, and 16 intercounty transfer on-sale licenses

Applications will be accepted Sept. 8–19 at local ABC offices. The same period applies to both new licenses and priority applications for intercounty transfers.

Applicants may submit only one application per county for each license type. Fees are $19,315 for new licenses and $7,320 for intercounty transfers.

If the number of applications in a county equals or is fewer than the available licenses, applicants will have 90 days to file a formal application for a specific premises. If applications exceed available licenses, ABC will hold a virtual drawing to determine recipients.

Applicants must have been California residents for at least 90 days prior to the drawing date. Those selected will have 90 days to complete their formal applications.

Unsuccessful applicants will receive a refund of their application fee, minus a $100 service charge, within 90–120 days of the priority drawing. However, they will retain their priority ranking until Aug. 1, 2026.

ABC encourages applicants to apply early to avoid delays.

For more information and application instructions for both original and intercounty transfer licenses, visit the ABC website.

Rep. Valadao travels to Porterville to talk airport expansion

Local leaders met with Rep. David Valadao Wednesday to discuss expansion of the Porterville Municipal Airport to bolster the region’s ability to combat wildfires and manage U.S. lands.

Porterville Mayor Greg Meister, Vice Mayor Ed McKervey and Interim City Manager Rich Tree met with Valadao along with his Field Representative Rachel Clement to discuss the potential of airport expansion and to celebrate the nation’s oldest Veteran’s Day parade. The meeting also underscored the city’s unique role in regional safety, as well as its economic growth and community tradition, according to a news release from the city.

The expansion of the airport is a major priority for the city in terms of economic growth; supporting the needs of the U.S. Forestry Service and CalFire Air Attack positions the city for future air freight operations and has the potential to attract regional distribution centers, according to the release.

Additionally, leaders also discussed the widening of Highway 65, Highway 190 and Spruce Road, aiming to reduce congestion and strengthen regional mobility.

“Our role as City staff is to carry out the Mayor and City Council’s vision,” said City Manager Tree. “These discussions help ensure we have the tools and support needed to make that vision a reality for the people of Porterville.”

Along with discussions of infrastructure, leaders also addressed the topic of denied FEMA funding for a critical river embankment project; during flooding in 2023, 11,000 cubic feet per second of water threatened neighborhoods such as Rio Vista, where water erosion claimed some residents’ backyards.

Valadao was asked to advocate for FEMA funding to help protect from future flood damage.

“We are committed to building a stronger Porterville, and that requires the right resources and partnerships,” Meister said. “Congressman Valadao’s support is vital to moving our projects forward and securing long-term benefits for our residents.”

Wednesday’s meeting also saw the leaders discuss recognitions of the 100th anniversary of Porterville’s charter status and the 250th anniversary of American independence. Marking these milestones, the city continues its revitalization of Main Street, repaving roads, planting new trees and completing various improvements around the city.