San Joaquin County Business, Economy & Jobs Digest

California courts have long upheld below-minimum wage pay for prison inmates working a wide range of jobs. A 2024 ballot measure that would ban forced labor could alter those decisions.

A proposal for a truck and freight terminal to be located on Highway 120 has been submitted to San Joaquin County.

A mother picks up her son from daycare in Richmond on Sept. 26, 2022. Photo by Marissa Leshnov for CalMatters

A program for low-income, first-generation STEM students at community colleges is receiving millions of dollars to expand across the state.

Private-sector jobs in California have declined since their post-pandemic peak, while public-sector employment has shown gains, the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office says.

TNT Fireworks donated $15,000 to six Lodi nonprofits who had been unable to operate firework stands because of a clerical error.

On June 19, California YIMBY announced support for the California Forever project going to the Solano County ballot in November.

On June 11, Solano County elections officials announced the verification of necessary signatures for the California Forever sponsored initiative to amend the county General Plan to be on the November ballot.

A panel of labor experts at the CalMatters Ideas Festival say California workers should have more access to more apprenticeships that pay more. Barriers still exist, especially for women and low-income Californians.

In a June 4 vote of 111 downtown Manteca parcel owners, 62% voted in favor of forming a Property and Business Improvement District.

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, flew more 6,000 miles to Rome this month to deliver a brief speech on climate change at a Vatican-sponsored conference.

As Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators spend the next few weeks fashioning a state budget that’s plagued by a multibillion-dollar deficit, they can’t count on a booming economy to make their task easier.

More than half of the U.S. House supports a bill to extend the funds, but it can’t get out of committee.

The April 27 Love Lodi event saw a turnout of nearly 1,000 volunteers completing 60 projects throughout the city.

Calivirgin of Lodi was awarded the 2024 Olive Oil Producer of the Year for the second year in a row.

The Ripon Farmers Market season is open again, Thursdays starting at 5PM from May through September at 929 West Main Street.

During the much-ballyhooed “California exodus” amid the pandemic, remote workers moved to other states where they could live for a fraction of the cost compared to cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco.

A bill to rein in a proposed monthly fee on California electric bills would let California’s largest for-profit utility companies charge customers $24 per month — with fees as low as $6 for lower-income customers — as a kind of membership fee for the power grid.

Dozens of members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, including vocational nurses, social workers, kitchen and janitorial staff, picketed outside the Sutter Center for Psychiatry

Teachers from the Stockton Unified School District demonstrated and spoke out over ongoing labor negotiations at the April 23 board meeting.

The California Public Utilities Commission will consider on May 9 a new proposal that would change how Californians pay for electricity.

A report on the locations of three newly approved marijuana dispensaries in the City of Manteca.

In their April 16 meeting, the Manteca City Council approved a development project at corner of Lathrop and Union roads which will include a gas station, auto part store and new EV chargers.

A coalition of timber businesses filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the embattled Pacific Gas & Electric Co., alleging $225 million in damages caused by the 2021 Dixie Fire.

A California Republican’s bill would exempt low and middle income wildfire victims from solar panels requirements on rebuilt homes that didn’t have them when they burned down.

Ripon High student Aaron ‘Luke’ Ruba has completed the Apprenticeship Reaching Career Horizons program.

Anti-tax groups in California have qualified a measure for the November ballot that would make raising state and local taxes much more difficult. It’s a showdown that’s been building for nearly five decades.

Not filling open positions in state government, cutting a school facilities program and several climate initiatives, delaying funding for public transit — these are some of the first steps that California officials plan to take to deal with a looming multibillion-dollar budget deficit.

Cheema Freightlines has commenced construction of a new terminal and shop at 16200 McKinley Avenue in Lathrop.

Captains of fishing boats on the California coast are bracing for salmon fishing to be severely restricted — or possibly canceled for a second year.

According to emails obtained by CalMatters Capitol reporter Jeanne Kuang in response to a public records request, a range of employers have been trying to figure out if they must pay $20 ever since the law was signed late last September.

Two of three dispensaries issued permits by the Manteca City Council have remodeling plans submitted for review, with the one possibly opening by summer.