Exactly a year ago, Oasis City Center Executive Director Heather Green and her team established a drive-thru food distribution center at Oasis Cares, 848 E. Hammer Lane. 

After 12 months, they’ve collected and delivered over 1 million pounds in pantry products to 250,000 community members. 

Because of her work, Green was recently named Woman of the Year for District 13 by State Assemblyman Carlos Villapudua.  

The recent announcement by the governor's office that 40% of upcoming vaccine allocations in the state will be distributed among the most vulnerable residents that have been impacted by COVID-19, is welcome relief to the cherry industry, where vaccinating staff is an urgent need.

The cherry industry has not only worked through a year of COVID-19 protocols, but will be packing and exporting its second harvest during the pandemic. 

A new bill would move the office of California’s powerful public utilities regulator to Stockton and encourage the selection of commissioners from the Central Valley. The bill’s author, Asm. Carlos Villapudua (D-Stockton), says that it could create as many as 1,000 jobs in the Stockton region.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which is currently located in San Francisco, oversees the state’s natural gas, telecommunications, water, and power utilities like PG&E. The agency also has field offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

A state lawmakers is pushing for homeless shelters to allow pets. Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua introduced Assembly Bill 258, which would require shelters that receive money from the state to accept people living on the street and their pets.

The bill is modeled after a Stockton pilot program, where the shelter for the homeless in Stockton allows individuals to take in one pet as long as it’s vaccinated.

Villapudua says about 5% of the homeless in the state own pets.