Today's Headlines

Covering the canals … finally

Merced Focus. Construction begins on new solar project to preserve Valley canal water.
Synopsis: Cement is being poured for Project Nexus, which will put solar panels atop a few miles of TID canals. It’s all to see if the plan by UC Merced researcher Brandi McKuin to conserve water and generate power will work on a large scale. Her calculations show that if we can cover 4,000 miles of CA canals we can save 63 billion gallons (190 TAF) of water – or enough to supply 2 million residents for a year. When first announced, this project made news from the New York Times to the San Francisco Chronicle. Fingers crossed.

Heat is on tomato growers

Ag Alert. Heat hurts tomato haul as harvest begins.
Synopsis: Growers in Sutter, Colusa, Fresno, Merced and San Joaquin counties all say this year’s harvest will be mediocre, or average at best. Lauren Caldas of Stanislaus Food Products said “the crop has been a bit light” from Kern County, but she’s hoping for better as the harvest moves north this week. Even with lighter crops, prices have fallen from last year’s near-record $138 to $112.50 per ton; organics are taking a real beating. Influential grower Don Cameron said the 110-degree heat for continuous days caused problems, but if he gets an average crop, he’ll be profitable.
MAD Take: Just for context, each of those tomato trucks carries about 50,000 pounds – worth $2,800.

She’s changing labels

Sacramento Bee / Modesto Bee. Fed-up CA lawmaker switches from Democrat to Republican.
Synopsis: Marcos Breton, the Sac Bee’s editorial page editor, writes approvingly of Marie Alvarado-Gil, whose mountain district dips into Stanislaus and Merced counties. She says she got fed up with efforts to neuter anti-crime Prop 47 with poison pill amendments to her legislation. Breton points out that some folks might believe she is more worried about winning re-election in California’s deepest-red district in 2026. But revered strategist Mike Madrid says this is a “significant moment that neither party should dismiss.”

Valley Sun. Alvarado-Gil leaves Democrats, joins the Republican Party.
Synopsis: Daniel Gligich reports on the Alvarado-Gil switch, saying it “may turn out to be a shrewd move for her reelection campaign in two years.” Gligich does not mention that many believe she will be labeled a RINO – Republican in Name Only – and dismissed by both parties. Said Democrat Mike McGuire, “MAGA Republicans are gaining a pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ+ rights, anti-Trump colleague. We wish her the best of luck.”

Merced incumbent bows out

Merced County Times. Perez reveals she won’t make re-election bid to stay on council.
Synopsis: Bertha Perez, described as “never afraid to speak her mind” (sometimes profanely), isn’t interested in a second term on the city council. Says she’s tired. Without an incumbent, the filing period will be extended. Cynthia Kelly, Michael Harris and Sair Lara have announced for her council seat.

Merced County Times. Retired chief probation officer seeks Atwater council seat.
Synopsis: Kalisa Rochester, who teaches at Merced College, wants to represent District 2 on the city council. Tyler Button has that seat now.

Fresno med center sued

Fresno Bee. Community Healthy System sued in Fresno over alleged misuse of Medi-Cal money.
Synopsis: Cultiva La Salud and Fresno Building Healthy Communities have sued in Fresno superior court, saying the giant healthcare provider deprived Fresno city dwellers by expanding some services at its Clovis operation as opposed to the downtown hospital, 12 miles away. “The lawsuit echoes The Bee’s reporting and alleges CHS operates in a way to ‘further developer interests.’” The lawsuit also blames CHS for healthcare access problems in Madera.

GV Wire. Lawsuit alleges Community Health diverted $1B from the need to ‘whiter’ Clovis hospital.
Synopsis: Edward Smith writes for the news site owned by Darius Assemi, whose brother sat on the CHS board until last year. The GVWire steadfastly defended CHS against the Bee’s original charges. The two organizations who are suing refused to talk to GV Wire, but CHS says it is “extremely disappointed in this baseless lawsuit. Addressing inaccurate claims only serves to take time and resources away from our nonprofit healthcare mission.” Lawyer Patience Milrod recently won a settlement against the city of Clovis over housing.

Fire and salmon

Sacramento Bee. Park Fire is tearing through some of CA’s last wild habitat for threatened salmon.
Synopsis: Reporter Ari Plachta quotes unnamed scientists who fear the drainage along Mill and Deer creeks has been damaged by the Park Fire. She writes that the CA Department of Fish & Wildlife “counted only 167 of the fish in the Central Valley’s Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems” last year. She then lists several of the issues plaguing salmon – from higher temperatures to loss of habitat to ag diversions. Eventually, Plachta explains the only difference in fall-run and spring-run salmon is found in their DNA, not their physiology.  
MAD Take: Plachta fails to mention until very, very deep in the story that she is writing about “spring run” salmon – not salmon in general. So that number of 167 fish is for the smallest of four annual “runs.” She also fails to mention there were 133,638 salmon counted on the Sacramento River last year – a disappointing number, but roughly a thousand-times higher than her number. Also no mention of the 28,614 salmon counted on the Mokelumne or the 24,000,000 raised and released in CDF&W hatcheries or the 850,000 killed by CDF&W at the hatchery on the Klamath. Loss of wildlife is tragic, but wildfire has occurred in CA forests for thousands of years. Somehow, salmon have persevered. Perhaps by altering when they swam to the ocean.

He's working on the railroad

Fresno Bee. High Speed rail agency gets new CEO; what experience does he bring?
Synopsis: Ian Choudri has helped build railroads in Europe, Asia and the Middle East; now he’s adding California to the list. Choudri replaces Brian Kelly, who is retiring after 6 years at HSRA CEO. Choudri called this a “once-in-a-lifetime project that has the attention of the nation.”  

Merced voters consider tax

Merced Focus. Merced County voters to consider public safety tax amid critical shortage of deputies.
Synopsis: A half-cent sales tax is expected to generate $25 million a year, 52% of which will go to the SO. The rest will go to fire, emergency response and the DA’s office. The Supes are asking for a 30-year tax. Sheriff Warnke, DA Nicole Silveira and Merced Fire’s Mark Pimentel all are speaking in favor.  
MAD Take: Unreported is the impact on current sales tax rates. If this passes, rates would rise to 6.75% in county jurisdictions and 8.75% in Merced city (which already has a half-cent tax to pay for police and city fire coverage). In Atwater, Winton, Snelling and Los Banos a half-cent bump will take sales taxes to 9.25%. In Livingston, Delhi, Hilmar, Le Grand, Planada, El Nido and Dos Palos will range from 8.25% to 8.475%.

What’s coming to old Walmart?

Ceres Courier. Empty Walmart building in escrow, but city remains mum on buyer.
Synopsis: The big husk of a building at Hatch and Mitchell has been empty since 2021. Someone, the city won’t say who, will remodel about three-quarters of the building. Walmart insisted it would not turn over the building to a competitor.
MAD Take: Wonder if the remodelers will be buying lots of green paint?

In praise of private vendors

Valley Sun. Op-Ed. CA must reject unnecessary policies that threaten critical services.
Synopsis: Merced Supervisor Scott Silveria and Fresno Supervisor Buddy Mendes wrote of their opposition to Assembly bills 2561 and 2557 that would make it difficult to hire private vendors to provide vital county services. In Merced County that includes addressing homelessness through non-profits, says Silveria.

Fresno’s really big payday

Merced Sun Star / Fresno Bee. Fresno State getting big payday for game at Michigan.
Synopsis: Fresno State’s guarantee is $1.8 million, one of the largest in the nation. The Dogs are rescheduling UCLA to make room for the Aug. 31 game in Ann Arbor. Other big paydays this year will go to football teams like Western Kentucky ($1.9M) at Alabama, UMass ($1.9M) at Georgia and New Mexico ($1.9M) at Auburn.
MAD Take: The time-honored tradition of sacrificing your pride (and sometimes players) in big football towns like Ann Arbor and Tuscaloosa is also that first step on the slippery slope to insignificance. Just as UOP – undefeated since 1995 – eventually gave up the game. Remind me, didn’t Fresno State and UOP play in the same league?