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- Written by: Editor
Hours are Friday, noon to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.: and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The event is open to the public.
Admission of $7 is valid for the entire weekend.
Exhibitors from all over the world will be on site with the largest selection of fine jewelry, crystals, gemstones, beads, minerals, fossils and much more.
Take advantage of buying direct from the importers and wholesalers. From loose gems, raw minerals and millions of bead strands, to finished jewelry, fashion accessories, supplies and tools, find them all under one roof.
Jewelry repair, cleaning and ring sizing service is available while you shop. Free door prize drawings are conducted every hour throughout the weekend.
For more information, visit www.gemfaire.com or contact Gem Faire Inc. at 503-252-8300 or
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- Written by: State of California
Funding associated with this program will support trade development and enhancement activities that help small businesses enter or expand their exporting activity to additional markets.
As the program administrator, CDFA is seeking project proposals from qualified entities to conduct export development activities in foreign markets to assist California businesses in trade expansion.
Activities may include foreign trade missions and trade show exhibitions. Suitable promoted product categories include, but are not limited to: aircraft /automotive parts; construction; manufacturing equipment/technology; medical devices; pharmaceuticals; health and beauty; food and agricultural products; and green/sustainable technologies.
Grant funds will not be awarded for projects that directly benefit or provide profit to a single organization, institution or individual. Federal funding is dependent on a competitive grant award by the U.S. Small Business Administration to the State of California.
Total available federal funding for California activities is estimated at $900,000.
Applications must be submitted online at https://citd.org/step-2018-2019-export-promotion-concepts/ , no later than April 18, 2018, 5:00 p.m. (PST).
Further information on the grant program, including timeline and application criteria, are available at: https://citd.org/step-2018-2019-export-promotion-concepts/.
CDFA will host a webinar to provide an overview of California STEP on Monday, April 9, 2018 at 10:30 am PDT. Prospective applicants interested in attending can RSVP at
The California State Trade Export Promotion (STEP) Program is a partnership between the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), CDFA, the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office and the California Centers for International Trade Development.
The program brings together state, federal, private and non-profit trade promotion organizations to promote export activities among targeted industries. California STEP is funded in part by a U.S. Small Business Administration Grant.
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- Written by: California State Fair
SACRAMENTO – California is known for its wine, and the California State Fair's Commercial Wine Competition is a coveted award that has been a key part of the state's robust wine industry.
The California State Fair is also the oldest wine competition in the country, which means winning top honors at the fair's competition is quite an achievement.
This year, 2,705 California wines from 691 wine companies were judged over three days. The wine judges are selected from respected winemakers, wine merchants, writers, promoters and educators from across the country. Once again, the judging was led by Mark Chandler.
"Consumers should find lots to celebrate among our string of medal winners," said Chandler.
And he's right. In all, 98 double gold medals, 267 gold medals, 1,033 silver medals and 1,156 bronze medals were awarded.
There were also 320 best of class of varietal awards, 24 best of California awards, 22 best of region awards, three best micro winery awards, the best value award, the Golden State Winery of the Year Award and five best of show awards.
The 2018 Top California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition winners are:
Best of Show Red: Double Gold 99
St. Amant Winery
2016 Touriga, The Old Soldier
Amador County
Best of Show White: Double Gold 99
Picchetti Winery
2017 Sauvignon Blanc
Cedar Lane Vineyard
Arroyo Seco
Best of Show Sparkling: Double Gold 99
Gwinllan Estate
2016, Pinot Noir Rose, Brut Sparkling Wine
El Dorado
Best of Show Pink: Double Gold 99
Malene
2017 Rosé
Santa Barbara County
Best of Show Dessert: Double Gold 98
Stephen & Walker
2012 Botrytis Chardonnay, Late Harvest
Mendocino Ridge
Golden State Winery of the Year
Imagery Estate Winery
Golden State Vineyard of the Year Award
Paraiso Springs Vineyard
Wine Lifetime Achievement Awards
Greg Boeger
The Bogle Family
California All Stars Awards
Ken Fugelsang
Dennis Martin
A searchable list of the 2018 CA State Fair Commercial Wine Competition winners can be found here.
The awards for Golden State Vineyard of the Year, Wine Lifetime Achievement, and California All Stars were awarded during a Wine Judges Dinner at the Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg on March 27th. See more about the winners and the awards here.
The Best of Show commercial wine competition winners will be acknowledged the morning of Thursday, June 21, on the west steps of the Capitol.
Later that evening, the winning winemakers will sample their wines at the Best of California Tasting event at Cal Expo, held prior to the California State Fair Gala benefiting The Friends of the California State Fair. You can find more information about the Best of California Tasting Event at http://CAStateFair.org/gala.
The commercial wine competition winners will also be presenting during the CA State Fair Taste of California Experience Classes July 13 to 29.
Fair guests can learn how to taste and pair the best California wines during these classes taught by wine experts. Registration for these classes begin in May at http://CAStateFair.org.
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- Written by: ATTOM Data Solutions
The average property taxes of $3,399 for a single family home in 2017 was up 3 percent from the average property tax of $3,296 in 2016, and the effective property tax rate of 1.17 percent in 2017 was up from the effective property tax rate of 1.15 percent in 2016.
The report analyzed property tax data collected from county tax assessor offices nationwide at the state, metro and county levels along with estimated market values of single family homes calculated using an automated valuation model (AVM).
The effective tax rate was the average annual property tax expressed as a percentage of the average estimated market value of homes in each geographic area.
New Jersey, Illinois, Vermont, Texas, New Hampshire post highest property tax rates
States with the highest effective property tax rates were New Jersey (2.28 percent), Illinois (2.22 percent), Vermont (2.19 percent), Texas (2.15 percent), and New Hampshire (2.06 percent).
Other states in the top 10 for highest effective property tax rates were Pennsylvania (2.02 percent), Connecticut (1.99 percent), New York (1.92 percent), Ohio (1.72 percent), and Wisconsin (1.67 percent).
Among 217 metropolitan statistical areas analyzed in the report with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest effective property tax rates were Scranton, Pennsylvania (3.93 percent); Binghamton, New York (3.14 percent); Rockford, Illinois (3.03 percent); Rochester, New York (2.93 percent); and El Paso Texas (2.63 percent).
Property taxes increase faster than national average in 58 percent of markets
Out of the 217 metropolitan statistical areas analyzed in the report, 125 (58 percent) posted an increase in average property taxes above the national average of 3 percent, including Los Angeles (7 percent increase), Dallas (11 percent increase), Houston (10 percent increase), Philadelphia (4 percent increase), and Miami (5 percent increase).
"Across California, it's not the percentage of property tax increase that is as concerning to consumers, as it is the net effect to cash flow, especially for an aging population on fixed incomes,” said Michael Mahon, president at First Team Real Estate, covering Southern California. “This erosion of disposable income for many homeowners coupled with an aging housing inventory stock in need of repair across many areas of the state puts some homeowners in a difficult position where they have ample housing equity on paper but aren’t able to realize home value gains until a future sale of the property.”
Other major markets posting an increase in average property taxes that was above the national average were Atlanta (up 4 percent), Boston (up 5 percent), San Francisco (up 6 percent), Riverside-San Bernardino (up 5 percent), and Seattle (up 6 percent).
“The increase in property taxes in the Seattle region is not surprising given the number of voter approved measures that add to homeowners’ property taxes as well as rising home values,” said Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate, covering the Seattle housing market. “That said, this rapid rise in values of housing more than offsets this increase — therefore the relatively small effective tax rate.
“Passage of the McCleary Bill (to fully fund K-12 basic education) means that 2018 property taxes are going to jump quite dramatically before dropping back in 2019 with the recently passed one-time property tax cut of 30 cents per $1,000 of assessed value,” Gardner added.
Hawaii, Alabama, Colorado, Tennessee, West Virginia post lowest property tax rates
States with the lowest effective property tax rates were Hawaii (0.34 percent); Alabama (0.49 percent); Colorado (0.51 percent); Tennessee (0.56 percent); and West Virginia (0.57 percent).
Other states in the top 10 for lowest effective property tax rates were Utah (0.58 percent), Delaware (0.61 percent), South Carolina (0.66 percent), Arkansas (0.68 percent), and Arizona (0.68 percent).
Among the 217 metro areas analyzed for the report, those with the lowest effective property tax rates were Honolulu (0.33 percent); Montgomery, Alabama (0.36 percent); Tuscaloosa, Alabama (0.41 percent); Colorado Springs, Colorado (0.42 percent); and Greeley, Colorado (0.45 percent).
Nine counties with average annual property taxes of more than $10,000
Among 1,414 U.S. counties with at least 10,000 single family homes, those with the highest average property taxes on single family homes were all in the greater New York metro area, led by Westchester County, New York ($17,179), Rockland County, New York ($12,924), Essex County, New Jersey ($11,878), Bergen County, New Jersey ($11,585), and Nassau County, New York ($11,415).
Other counties with average property taxes of more than $10,000 — the cap on state and local tax deductions for federal income taxes under the tax reform legislation signed into law by President Donald Trump in December — on single family homes were Marin County, California ($11,295), Union County, New Jersey ($10,863), Fairfield County, Connecticut ($10,612), and Morris County, New Jersey ($10,294).
Average property taxes nearly twice as high in blue counties as in red counties
Among the 1,414 U.S. counties analyzed in the report, the average property tax on single family homes in the 327 “blue” counties won by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election was $4,528, nearly twice the average property tax on single family homes of $2,462 in the 1,087 “red” counties won by Donald Trump.
There was not as much difference in the effective property tax rates between the blue counties and red counties because of higher average home values in the blue counties — $377,142 compared to $210,753 in the red counties.
The effective property tax rate was 1.20 percent in the politically blue counties compared to a 1.17 percent effective property tax rate in the politically red counties.