Valley Headlines

More dead birds; 44K in Oakdale

Farms.com. Nevada reports first avian flu detection in dairy cattle as virus hits Iowa egg-layer farm.
Synopsis: The first dairy farm in Nevada to report bird flu in cows is in Nye County, which borders California at Death Valley. Nevada has just 20 dairy farms, but one of them has 32,000 cows – one of the largest in America. Meanwhile, the story notes that at least three more poultry operations were hit with bird flu over the weekend – a commercial flock of 44,000 birds in Stanislaus County, a flock of laying hens in Iowa and a backyard flock in Colorado.
MAD Take: Though each confirmation is listed by the USDA, the Stanislaus County flock has not been reported in local media. Apparently, it was the second commercial flock hit in Oakdale in a week.

Successful Farming. Bird flu detected in Iowa flock; disaster proclamation extended.
Synopsis: The Iowa Dept of Agriculture and Land Stewardship says a fifth flock has been found and destroyed over the weekend, pushing Gov. Kim Reynolds to extend a disaster proclamation into Palo Alto County. It had covered only Sioux County previously.
MAD Take: A governor taking bird flu seriously? Too bad it’s the governor of Iowa. Meanwhile, 460 dairy herds have been quarantined in California and millions of birds have been destroyed. Maybe those California farmers and food-processors could use a little help, too.

Students get an A in civics

Merced Focus. Did UC Merced students tip election for House Democrat? What numbers show.
Synopsis: Reporter Rachel Livinal writes about the efforts of Team Gray, which spent a lot of time explaining the importance of CA-13 to UC Merced students then making sure they could find their way to the polls on Election Day. The precinct that includes the campus went for Gray by a margin of 337 votes – higher than Gray’s margin of victory. Registrar of voters Melvin Levey said he isn’t surprised, considering that lines wrapped around St. Patrick’s Church, which had to remain open well past 8 pm to make sure everyone got a chance to vote. Blake Zante of the Maddy Institute and Katie Brokaw, a prof at UCM, were also quoted.  

Dispatch partnership ending?

Modesto Bee. Dispute threatens to rip apart Stanislaus Regional 911 partnership; Sheriff wants out.
Synopsis: Ken Carlson writes about the county’s jointly operated emergency dispatch system, which is having an emergency of its own. Supervisors are expected to extend the JOA for another year, but Sheriff Jeff Dirkse says he intends to partner with Ceres. In its 25 years, the system has been the subject of repeated arguments. This time it involves operating systems. Dirkse wants an Oracle-based platform which would include data, records and jail management applications. Modesto prefers the Central Square system, which doesn’t have those things. Without the Oracle system, the SO would be required to provide a separate system for managing its jail programs and data. The rift has gotten so intense that Dirkse has hired an outside law firm to represent his department.
MAD Note: The Sheriff might want to look closely at Ceres before proposing a marriage. The Ceres dispatch unit was down to exactly 3 staffers earlier this year, working huge amounts of OT. They were barely being paid minimum wage until the city came up with a 12% bump in August. City manager Doug Dunford said the unit was “hemorrhaging” employees. He admitted in August that the staff is still underpaid.

Pulling plug on Delta Tunnel?

Politico. A big moment for the Delta – and Newsom knows it. 
Synopsis: The 38-member board of the nation’s biggest water supplier – Metropolitan Water District – will meet this week and the Delta Tunnel is Topic No. 1. The board will be asked to pony up another $140 million just to continue the pre-construction phase. In all, the tunnel is “expected” to cost $20 billion, with the state providing roughly half. Sec of Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot has been calling board members to bolster support. Since Met began spending its first $50 million on the project, the board membership has changed and now the emphasis is on local storage – not huge projects.
MAD Take: This appears to be a do-or-die moment for the tunnel, which could cave in before the first shovel is turned. The problem is that no one believes the state’s cost projections of $20 billion. The Sierra Club (not exactly reliable) says it will cost $50 billion. Edward Ring says it will cost $35 billion. For that kind of money, you could do a lot more than just dig a hole in the ground.

Will court OK Bay pollution?

Water Finance & Management. Examining City & County of San Francisco v. EPA.
Synopsis: Water attorney Melissa Reynolds examines the city’s legal efforts to continue polluting San Franciso Bay. The EPA has allowed the SF PUC (and affiliated organizations) to dump untreated overflow wastewater from 47 treatment facilities into San Francisco Bay. Now the EPA and the state want the SFPUC to stop. Having heard oral presentations before the court, Reynolds expects a “narrow” ruling that could limit the EPA’s ability to impose fines or requirements. Lots of lawyer-talk in this story, but the bottom line is that “these types of permit limits are much more broadly used than came across in oral arguments,” and “any decision is likely to have significant impact nationwide.” She expects that Trump’s promise of less regulation for polluters will have an impact ... and the polluters will prevail.
MAD Take: If the Supreme Court decides that San Francisco does not have to meet state water-quality standards at the Bay-Delta endpoint, why would any court require Valley water districts to meet water-quality standards at the system’s beginning point? No amount of fresh, clean water from our rivers will allow a polluted Bay to meet the state’s Bay-Delta Water Quality standards. Expect more lawsuits from our region if the City prevails.

Toxic chems found across CA

SF Chronicle. ‘More widespread’: Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ now found in rural CA drinking water.
Synopsis: Story focuses on a small farm in San Juan Bautista where the water tested 8x the limit for PFAs contamination. Unfortunately, the chems are being found almost everywhere state regulators look. The chemicals have been used in an enormous variety of products for generations and now are highly concentrated in sewage sludge, groundwater, rivers, even fish eggs. A study shows 825,000 people using 400 polluted water systems. Even vegetables grown with PFAs-polluted water are contaminated. One study suggests that using biosolids as fertilizer is a problem.
MAD Note: An accompanying ewg.org map shows the problem in CA-13, with polluted wells in Lathrop, Ripon, West Modesto, Patterson, Atwater and Merced. They’re probably in other wells, too, but they haven’t been tested.

1,800 homeless, only 1,000 beds

Fresno Bee. Anti-camping law forces homeless to move; with no shelter beds, where do they go?
Synopsis: When Fresno’s anti-camping ordinance passed in September, Mayor Dyer said the “No. 1 goal” was to get people into shelters. But it appears the shelters are far, far, far too small, and there are simply no more shelter beds available. The anti-camping law was aimed at 1,800 unhoused people identified in last year’s PIT count; but the Fresno region has only 1,000 beds and they’re always full. Even beds reserved for victims of violence and cold-weather emergencies are full. Miguel Arias says, basically, that the bed shortage will force homeless people to ask their families, not the city, for help.

Toddler shoots, kills young mom

Fresno Bee. 22-year-old Fresno mother fatally shot by her toddler; boyfriend arrested.
Synopsis: Jessinya Mena was shot Friday night by her 2-year-old, who was playing with a gun unattended out by Jessinya’s 18-year-old boyfriend. Police are openly questioning how a toddler could have the strength to pull a trigger and why there was no safety on the gun or why it wasn’t locked up. Jessinya left behind an 8-month-old, too.

Save Mart hub in Merced closing

Merced Sun Star. Save Mart shuts down distribution center in Merced County; over 200 affected.
Synopsis: Save Mart-owned Yosemite Wholesale Distribution said it will shutter its distribution center by next September. The state-mandated notice said 254 employees will lose their jobs. Once owned by Modesto’s Bob Piccininni, Save Mart is now owned by the Canadian-based Jim Pattison Group, which also owns several other grocery chains.

Where did you feel the quake?

Merced Golden Wire. Magnitude 5.8 earthquake in Nevada.
Synopsis: The GW website asked folks in Merced County to respond in the comments if they had felt last night’s quake centered near Yerington, and if so, to share their location. To which one reader replied: “No wonder I woke up on my floor.” Well, “my floor” is a location.