California
The California Jazz Conservatory’s Degree Program Comes to an End | KQED
Pham loves the school so much that he enrolled in as many classes as he could, from theory to bebop to jazz history. He’s learned from musicians he admires at the school, including Jeff Denson, Gerald Cleaver, and Mimi Fox, one of his favorite guitarists.
Students and alumni say the CJC gave them the chance to build a foundation in jazz, play alongside talented faculty, and grow into the musicians they are today.
The opportunity to earn a degree at a place like the CJC is rare. The institution is the only private music conservatory in the country solely devoted to the study and performance of jazz. The school, which gained accreditation in 2013, is the vision of Susan Muscarella, an educator and pianist who has sought to establish “the Juilliard of jazz on the West Coast.”
But the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns caused a major dip in enrollment, said Nick Phillips, who became president of the California Jazz Conservatory in October of 2023. The high cost of living in the Bay Area also makes it difficult to recruit students to a smaller California school offering only jazz.
Phillips said in 2014, about 70 students were enrolled in CJC’s degree program. By the fall of 2023, that number had dropped to 20 students.
“For a degree program to be sustainable, you need to have students enrolled in it. That’s just the bottom line,” said Phillips.
About one university or college per week on average this year has announced that it will close or merge, according to an April report from the Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.
The CJC announced the end of the degree programs in July, but made the decision to offer it one final semester to give students and faculty enough notice. The school is also helping students transfer credits.
The organization is also turning its attention to the Jazzschool, the CJC’s community education program, where enrollment numbers are rebounding.
“A place where people can explore and learn jazz — that’s what we want to continue,” Phillips said.
The legacy of the jazz program
As the CJC transitions into its next chapter, students and alumni are reflecting on how the degree program shaped their lives as musicians. Ruthie Dineen, a pianist, composer, and the executive director of the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, was part of the school’s first graduating class.
“I think about the Bay Area music scene as one large band. I feel like I’m still finding my voice, but that was really how I became part of it,” Dineen said.
The CJC made jazz education accessible for students like Dineen. She remembered being awestruck as a kid seeing Berkeley High’s jazz band perform.
“The group was so diverse. I vividly remember that, because as a young girl coming from a family from El Salvador, none of this seemed very accessible,” Dineen said. “My mom was a nurse, my dad was a firefighter. So it’s just a whole other world.”
Around 2009, Susan Muscarella asked Dineen if she would attend the new jazz degree program she was starting up in Berkeley.
The school offered Dineen a scholarship. She enrolled, taking private piano lessons with Susan, who pushed her hard.
“I cared so much about Susan, and I was so grateful to her in particular for providing that education to me,” Dineen said.
Out with a bang
Now the remaining students at the CJC are preparing for their final concerts and next chapters. Phạm, the international student from Vietnam, plans to continue studying in the United States, and wants to be a teacher one day.
His classmate, pianist Abner Robles, is determined to go out with a bang. He’s also an apprentice at Callahan Piano Service, a shop offering piano care, tuning, and rebuilding. He’s living the life of a tradesman, a musician and — for now — a student.
Robles grew up singing in church choir, and discovered jazz during the pandemic after hanging around musicians in Sacramento who loved to improvise.
“Improvising doesn’t have to mean that it’s this crazy advanced thing that only the chosen ones can do. You can boil it down to the simplest thing ever,” Robles said.
He has no regrets about taking the leap to study at the CJC.
“I knew I wanted to be in a Hogwarts of music,” Robles said. “I enjoy this semester more than the other ones because with the professors, all their focus is on us, and they want to build us up. Now is as intense as it gets and as cool as it gets.”
He knows attracting students is a challenge, especially when so many aspiring jazz musicians want to move to New York. But he’s proud he got the chance to study in Berkeley.
“What I have learned up to this point, and people that I’ve met, I wouldn’t trade that for anything,” he said. “I have a lot of love for that school.”
He’s looking at other schools now, like the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His friends at CJC are doing the same.
Like any good jazz musician, these students know how to improvise.
Vance says Trump cares about Americans finances amid Iran debate
Vance pushes back on claims about Trump and says Americans finances matter as the administration weighs Iran and nuclear diplomacy.
Vice President JD Vance announced on Wednesday, May 13 that the Trump administration will be deferring $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements from the state of California, as part of a new initiative to root out fraud in federal health programs.
The topic of California’s hospice care fraud has been a major focus of scrutiny by state leadership, members of President Donald Trump’s administration, and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s critics. In his announcement, Vance claimed that the administration was set on deferring these funds “because the state of California has not taken fraud very seriously.”
“There are California taxpayers and American taxpayers who are being defrauded because California isn’t taking its program seriously,” Vance said during a press conference.
Notably, this decision was part of Vance’s Anti-Fraud Task Force’s plan to implement a six-month nationwide, data-driven moratorium on new Medicare enrollment for hospices and home health agencies.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is led by Dr. Mehmet Oz, is set to use this six-month moratorium to conduct investigations and review data on Medicare programs, with the hopes of removing hospice and home health agencies that are suspected of committing fraud.
“Today we’re shutting the door on fraud — preventing new bad actors from entering Medicare while we aggressively identify, investigate, and remove those already exploiting them,” Oz said. “This is about protecting patients, restoring integrity, and safeguarding taxpayer dollars.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the administration’s action “unlawful” and noted that his office would be “carefully reviewing all available information” and may challenge the administration’s decision to threaten “Californians’ rights or access to critical services.”
“Once again, California appears to be targeted solely for political reasons,” Bonta said on X.
“The Trump Administration is planning to defer over $1 billion in Medicaid funding for vital programs that help seniors and people with disabilities remain safely in their homes.”
Bonta and his office have attempted to counteract criticism that the state does not take action against hospice fraud.
In April, Bonta announced that the California Department of Justice had arrested five people in connection with a major health care scheme in Southern California that defrauded taxpayers of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars.
“For years, California has led the charge to protect public programs from fraud and abuse,” Newsom said in the press release on April 10. “We hold accountable to the fullest extent of the law anyone who tries to rip off taxpayers and take advantage of public programs, particularly those as sensitive as hospice care.”
Newsom has yet to publicly respond to the administration’s decision to defer California’s Medicaid reimbursement.
However, shortly after Vance made the announcement, Newsom’s press office blasted the decision on X.
“We hate fraud. But that’s NOT what this is,” Newsom’s press office posted on X. “Vance and Oz are attacking programs that keep seniors and people with disabilities OUT of nursing homes. Pretty sick.”
Noe Padilla is a Northern California Reporter for USA Today. Contact him at npadilla@usatodayco.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social. Sign up for the TODAY Californian newsletter or follow us on Facebook at TODAY Californian.
California
California girls’ track and field stars speak out as Gavin Newsom’s Title IX crisis grows
Reese Hogan would have a very different set of medals if the rules were different in California.
It’s her third straight year competing against a trans athlete in the California girls’ track and field state tournament. She would have taken first place in the high jump all to herself in the sectional preliminaries last Saturday, if only biological females were allowed to compete.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Now she’ll compete against a trans athlete in the sectional finals this weekend, representing her Christian high school, Crean Lutheran. It will mark one year since she went viral on social media for stepping up from the second-place spot on a medal podium up to first place, after a trans athlete who took first place stepped off.
“This is my third year competing against a transgender athlete, and last year I was stripped away of a CIF Title, and I basically worked my whole career to get to that point,” Hogan said on “Fox News at Night” on Tuesday. “It’s just really dissapointing to go into a competition knowing you already lost.”
CALIFORNIA TRACK ATHLETE BRIEFLY POSES ON 1ST-PLACE PODIUM AFTER LOSING TO TRANS ATHLETE, RECEIVES PRAISE
Her Crean Lutheran teammate, Olivia Viola, has been right there with Hogan throughout the three years of competition against trans athletes.
“I haven’t heard nearly enough adults come out and say anything. A lot of them like to say that they agree with you, that they’re proud of you for speaking up now, but they won’t do it themselves,” Viola said. “Just because it doesn’t affect every adult out there doesn’t mean it’s not worth standing up for.”
California has legally allowed biological males to compete in girls’ sports since a state law was enacted in 2013. The state’s education agencies are engaged in a federal Title IX lawsuit with President Donald Trump’s administration for commitment to upholding that state law.
A source at Governor Gavin Newsom’s office previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital in response to news that a “Save Girls Sports” rally, which the two girls attended, would be held at last Saturday’s meet.
“The Governor has said discussions on this issue should be guided by fairness, dignity, and respect. He rejects the right wing’s cynical attempt to weaponize this debate as an excuse to vilify individual kids. The Governor’s position is simple: stand with all kids and stand up to bullies,” the statement read.
“California is one of 22 states that have laws requiring students be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school sports consistent with their gender identity. California passed this law in 2013 (AB 1266) and it was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown.”
At the rally, Hogan spoke and fired back at Newsom’s office for the statement.
“The recent statements coming from Governor Gavin Newsom’s office have made it clear that there is no intention of creating a safe, fair, and equitable environment for female high school athletes. Him and his office have gone as far as calling young girls bullies for speaking up for what we believe in,” Hogan said.
“The governor himself has admitted that males competing in women’s sports is unfair, yet nothing is being done to protect girls who train every day to compete on a level playing field.”
CALIFORNIA ATHLETE SAYS SHE CHANGES CLOTHES IN HER CAR TO AVOID SHARING A LOCKER ROOM WITH TRANS ATHLETE
California high school girls wear “Protect Girls Sports” shirts at a postseason track meet at Yorba Linda High School on May 10, 2025. (Reese Hogan/Courtesy of Reese Hogan)
Viola also rejected the “bully” assertion in Tuesday’s interview.
“I think his statement is manipulative, and it’s just completely untrue,” Viola said. “He’s saying stand up for all kids, yet he’s essentially trying to silence us… these girls are not bullies. They make a point, we all make an point to say we are not against any individual athlete, we are against California’s policies,” Viola said.
“We believe athletes deserve dignity and respect, and that’s why we believe women deserve the dignity of having their own category.”
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Crean Lutheran High School senior track and field star Reese Hogan speaks at a ‘Save Girls Sports’ rally. (Courtesy of Alyssa Cruz)
Both Viola and Hogan will compete at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Final on Saturday in Moorpark, California.
And just like last year, there will be a podium ceremony after the competitions.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
With California’s June 2nd primary election nearing, Republican candidates for governor, Steve Hilton and Sheriff Chad Bianco, are set to appear at a forum in Clovis.
The Fresno County & City Republican Women Federated is hosting its “Celebrating 250 Years of America Dinner” and a gubernatorial forum on Friday, May 22nd, at The Regency Event Center, 1600 Willow Ave., in Clovis.
The forum will be moderated by State Senator Shannon Grove.
The discussion is expected to focus on major issues facing Californians, with questions presented via video by a panel of state and local figures, including Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp on public safety and crime; former Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims on border control and citizenship; William Bourdeau of Bourdeau Farms LLC on water rights and agricultural issues; California state Assemblymember David Tangipa on taxation and fiscal responsibility; Jonathan Keller of the California Family Council on parental rights and education; and Matthew Dildine, CEO of Fresno Mission, on homelessness and mental health.
Clovis Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce and Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig are listed as masters of ceremonies.
Doors are scheduled to open at 4:30 p.m., followed by a social hour at 5 p.m. Dinner and the program are set for 6 p.m.
Attire is listed as cocktail or business formal. Organizers said a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Veterans Home of California – Fresno.
GOP California governor candidates to face off at Clovis forum ahead of primary (Courtesy: Fresno County & City Republican Women Federated)
[RELATED] Top-two primary could pit same-party rivals as crowded Democratic field fractures votes
“This forum comes at a pivotal moment for our state,” FCCRWF event organizers said. “Bringing the top Republican gubernatorial candidates to Clovis allows Valley families, farmers, and business owners to get real answers on the issues that affect their daily lives, from water infrastructure to public safety and the skyrocketing cost of living.”
Individual tickets are $150, with discounts offered to FCCRWF members.
Table sponsorships are available at the $1,500, $2,500 and $5,000 levels.
Tickets and sponsorships are available online at FresnoRepublicanWomen.org.
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