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Standard & Poor’s upgraded its rating from A- to A, while affirming its stable outlook on the bonds. Moody’s affirmed its A3 rating for the same bonds, and assigned a rating of Baa1 to several other HMRB series.

The California Strategic Growth Council today unanimously approved $121.9 million in competitive grants and loans to 28 housing and transit-friendly infrastructure projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) is seeking potential additional victims of a man charged with publishing fraudulent home improvement ads on Craigslist and defrauding over $11,000 from clients. Eric Clifton Miller, 35, Buena Park, is charged with seven felony counts of residential burglary, one felony count of grand theft, and six misdemeanor counts of petty theft. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 17 years and eight months in state prison

California State Parks continues implementing water conservation measures within its state park system. Effective July 15, all state parks and beaches will shut off outdoor rinse stations. “California is facing extremely severe drought conditions,” said California State Parks Director Lisa Mangat.

Many economists and academic studies have chronicled the harms of rent control including stunted property values, exacerbated shortages of available units and increased deferred maintenance issue

Coronal Group LLC (Coronal) and Panasonic Eco Solutions (Panasonic) announced the completion of the 220-acre Coronal Lost Hills Solar Project, which generates enough emission-free solar energy to power approximately 5,200 Southern California homes through a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement with Southern California Edison (SCE).

The San José Department of Housing will host the Housing 2.0 Symposium in 2016 to help develop a better system for creating housing that will address the broad needs of residents, employees and businesses in one of the most expensive housing markets in the world. The symposium is supported by $45,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced that Los Angeles had been awarded three major grants from the federal Corporation for National & Community Service. The grants, totaling $4.4 million, would recruit 119 AmeriCorps members, 94 to be stationed throughout Los Angeles, and over half in the Promise Zone established by President Obama in 2014.

The ambitious Enhanced Watershed Management Plans (EWMPs) are the result of a multi-year collaboration between the state, county, and the majority of local cities to improve local and regional water supplies and waterways

Mayor Eric Garcetti today nominated Joel Jacinto to the Board of Public Works. Jacinto currently serves on the Affordable Housing Commission and is Executive Director of Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), a community-based organization that empowers youth, families, and businesses through health and human services, community economic development, and through a community center that serves as a place for collaboration and community engagement

Recognizing that water recycling is a critical part of a larger, comprehensive approach to addressing California’s drought crisis, Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-09) today announced that he would introduce legislation calling on Congress to authorize 27 additional regional water recycling projects. To highlight this announcement, Rep. McNerney toured Delta Diablo, the site for one of the water recycling projects he believes needs to be authorized

The City of Sacramento Department of Utilities announces a Spare the Water Alert through July 3, 2015. Spare the Water Alerts are typically declared when three consecutive days of 100+ degree temperatures are forecasted. However, with these extreme temperatures over the week, the City is asking customers to cut back on their non-essential water use, only water on their scheduled watering days, and to water only before 10 a.m. and after 7 p.m.

Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA3) met with U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in Sacramento. They were also joined by Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA7), Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA6), and officials from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG). Garamendi, Bera, and Matsui all represent parts of the Sacramento region

Elk Grove will lead the region in a new evolution of business forward thinking as it launches the Permit Simplicity Program today, a streamlined building permit process expected to cut the time it takes to secure certain building permits to a single day. Elk Grove is the first city in California to adopt the permit simplicity approach

Yesterday California State Parks and Google Maps unveiled panoramic street view imagery collected by Trekker cameras of 90 additional state parks and beaches. This partnership with Google allows people from all over the world to experience California’s state parks and beaches in the comfort of their own home

Nearly 700 low-income and homeless veterans and their families will benefit from affordable housing opportunities announced today by three state agencies. Seventeen projects throughout California will receive funding through Proposition 41 and the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Program (VHHP)

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), co-chair of the Invasive Species Caucus, and Scott De Leon, Director of the Lake County Water Resources Department were honored last week in Washington, D.C. at the second annual Reduce Risks from Invasive Species Coalition (RRISC) Congressional Reception and Awards Program. Thompson, along with co-chair Dan Benishek (R-MI), received the “Outstanding Leadership by an Election Official in Protecting America’s Environment and Economy” award. De Leon received the “Outstanding Achievement by a Local Government Agency” award.

hristy Romero, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP); Benjamin B. Wagner, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California; Wade Walters, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG); Birgit Fladager, Stanislaus County (Calif.) District Attorney; and Leslie DeMarco, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG), today announced

Continuing with its 20-year history of advocating for home buyers, the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents filed an Amicus Curiae or “friend of the court” brief on behalf of the plaintiff in a case currently before the California Supreme Court. In his suit Horiike v. Coldwell Banker, plaintiff Hiroshi Horiike contends that even though the listing agent was originally contracted by the seller, because the listing agent was an agent of the same broker and in the same brokerage as his buyer agent, the listing agent also owed him, the buyer, representation as well.

Congressman Kevin McCarthy released the following statement on the introduction of new California water legislation. H.R. 2898, the Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015 achieves four main goals: it moves water through the Delta, creates a path for new storage, protects the State Water Project, and preserves water rights.