Valley Headlines

Blame, flames, rumors raging

Cal Matters. As LA fires rage, Gov. Newsom and Mayor Bass are targets in the blame game.
Synopsis: Dan Walters finds himself in the unusual position of defending Democrats as he writes about the “fact-free finger pointing” taking place. “President-elect Donald Trump started the campaign of misinformation by very quickly pinning the fires on Newsom … But his broadside made absolutely no sense.” As Dan points out, “the weak water pressure that firefighters encountered in the affected communities was mostly caused by simultaneous demands on urban water systems that were designed for fighting house fires one at a time, not huge wildfires.”  

SJV Water. Are the Resnicks ‘hoarding’ water while LA burns? No.
Synopsis: Lois Henry responds to the “out there” emails that accuse the Resnicks of hoarding water that could have been used on the fires. Her response: “This is absolutely false information.” The Resnicks don’t own that much water and what they do own is nowhere near LA. “It’s fairly ironic that the very people often accused of selling the San Joaquin Valley’s water to LA for profit are now accused of keeping it from the region.” JG Boswell company, based in Pasadena, owns as much water but has not been hit with similar accusations.

Western Farm Press. Did climate change fuel the LA wildfires?
Synopsis: Lack of rain is the primary cause for the conflagration, but “hydroclimate whiplash is speeding up globally” and bears much blame. What is “hydroclimate whiplash”? It’s the wild swings between heat, cold, drought and flood. Last summer’s record-breaking heat wave led to rapid drying of soils and vegetation. This hurts growers but leaves cities vulnerable to exactly what we’re seeing in LA.
MAD Note: To answer the question in the headline: “Yes.”

Sacramento Bee. LA fires and Trump make Newsom’s proposed budget meaningless.
Synopsis: Columnist Tom Philp provides a reality check for Gov. Gavin Newsom, who announced he would secure $2.5 billion to help respond to the fires and their aftermath. Philp calls the Governor’s plan a fantasy. “In some respects, this was bound to be a near meaningless document. It assumes incoming president Donald Trump will be a fiscal clone of outgoing Joe Biden …” And that’s not true.

Valley helps save Altadena

Ceres Courier. Local firefighters helping battle LA blazes.
Synopsis: A strike team of 20 firefighters and engines from Modesto, Stanislaus Consolidated, Burbank-Paradise, Denair, Turlock Rural and West Stan were assigned to battle the Eaton Fire that destroyed parts of Altadena and is threatening Pasadena. Modesto battalion chief Jeff Serpa said he’s not “experienced anything like this in my career.” The Santa Ana winds are incredible. “It’s extremely difficult to fight fire when you have 60 to 80 mph winds and 90 mph gusts,” said Serpa. He described pulling up to a grocery store being pelted by softball-sized embers, climbing to the roof and saving the store. He said residents of rest homes were being evacuated on city buses.

Gray gets seat on Ag Committee

Office of Adam Gray. Adam Gray appointed to House Agriculture and Natural Resources committees.
Synopsis: Gray has been appointed to two important committees – Agriculture and Natural Resources. “The San Joaquin Valley feeds families in every state in the nation, but Washington treats our priorities as an afterthought,” said Gray. “The Valley has made it clear they want practical solutions to real problems – not empty political promises.” The key, he says, will be “finding common ground with anyone who’s serious about delivering results.”

Rural schools to lose funding

Cal Matters. Small CA schools brace for layoffs as Congress slashes funding for rural education.
Synopsis: The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act has been approved every year since 1908. But not this year. Republicans killed it. That Act provided $40 million to 39 California counties to pay for everything from roof repairs to new computers. Among those most impacted are Republican strongholds like Siskiyou, where the loss of $4.3 million will “have an undeniable impact on our children.” Trinity County planned to use part of its $3.5 million to fight black mold. At Trinity Alps Unified, the $600,000 makes up 5% of the entire budget, funding field trips and music programs.

Who did cops stop?

Modesto Bee. Modesto police tripled traffic stops, latest data shows who is being pulled over.
Synopsis: Data required under the Racial & Identity Profiling Act shows Modesto PD conducted 9,703 pedestrian and vehicle stops in 2023, or 3x more than in 2022. Interestingly, numbers soared starting in September. The majority of stops were Hispanics, unsurprising since it is the largest demographic group in Modesto. Whites make up 36.8% of the population, but 40.8% of those stopped; Blacks are 3.5% of the population, but 11.3% of stops. Men made up 70.5% of those stopped, and 57% were 25-44 years old.

Modesto Bee. Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office conducts 17% more stops in 2023.
Synopsis: Same statewide report showed that the Stanislaus Sheriff’s Department made 6,479 stops in 2023. June was the biggest month. While Blacks make up 1.6% of the county population (outside Modesto, Turlock, etc.), they accounted for 4.9% of stops. Hispanics make up 55.4% of all residents and 57.7% of all stops; whites are 34.3% of the population, 31% of stops. Men are 3x more likely to be stopped than women.
MAD Note: The similarities found in the two reports tell us several things. Most importantly: Those entrusted with our protection are approaching their tasks in the same professional manner.

Merced Sun Star. Merced Police Dept releases 2023 traffic stop data.
Synopsis: The third story by Julietta Bisharyan, this one shows a 16% decline in stops from 2022. September was the busiest month in Merced. Hispanics, who make up 63% of the population, accounted for 58.3% of the stops; whites, 22.7% of all residents, got 19.2% of stops. Blacks have 4.9% of the population, but 11.5% of stops. Men were stopped 72.6% of the time. The biggest difference in Merced: Young men, 25-to-34, made up 40.5% of all stops.

Bird flu still raging

Successful Farming. US faces bird flu threat as cases surge in early 2025.
Synopsis: Bird flu has been found in all 50 states but has hit hardest in CA. Story includes a list of every infection over the past 30 days nationwide, including 6 in Arkansas, 2 in Colorado, 10 in Iowa and 10 in Stanislaus County. Add 7 in Merced, 2 in San Joaquin and another 14 from other California counties and you see why CA is the hardest hit. Only South Dakota (16 flocks) comes close to CA’s 33 infected flocks.

Farms.com. SF reports H5N1 avian flu in child.
Synopsis: The San Francisco Dept of Public Health said a child was diagnosed with bird flu after suffering a fever and conjunctivitis. The child has already recovered. This was the 67^th human case, and one of only three not directly associated with dairy animals or birds. Meanwhile, backyard flocks have been infected in Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Georgia, Idaho and Texas. There have been 708 CA dairy herds infected – or three-quarters of the 925 nationwide.

Modestan exits White House

Modesto Bee. From Modesto to White House: One Modestan’s journey in public service.
Synopsis: Reporter Julietta Bisharyan writes about Shelby Benz, who worked as an intern in the White House in 2023 then was hired as a staffer in 2024. Her job was working on environmental justice. Her job ended on Jan. 8.

Planning to store, move water

KSEE / CBS47. Pine Flat Dam could be raised, Fresno County leader reacts.
Synopsis: The existing 430-foot Pine Flat Dam holds 124,000-acre feet of water. By adding 12 feet, that could be 1-million-acre feet. Jim Costa is all-in on the plan, though he says it will take at least 10 years. Then he wondered why it takes only 5 years to build a sports stadium.

San Jose Mercury News. Valley Water to vote on helping to fund Gov. Newsom’s $20 billion tunnel.
Synopsis: The story makes it seem like there is a chance the San Jose water supplier will refuse to cough up $9.7 million to help with planning for the massive project. There is no doubt. It will.

Churches helping homeless

Modesto Bee. Modesto-area churches took turns housing families; nonprofit now does it at 1 site.
Synopsis: Family Promise of Greater Modesto – part of a national program -- has been operating since 2005 with 8 churches offering beds, meals and a place to clean up for families in need. With help from an anonymous donor, who put up $110,000, the Church of the Brethren took the lead in creating a single space, which opened Jan. 9. One occupant called it “an absolute blessing.” Miriah Brazil is the program director. Family Promise has 207 chapters nationwide.

Panhandlers hurting businesses

Fresno Bee. Businesses fed up with Fresno’s homelessness crisis; is anti-camping law helping?
Synopsis: Merchants blame loitering homeless folks for the loss of customers. Among the most angry is Vitrucci Lopez, owner of DiCicco’s Italian Restaurant on Blackstone. She notes, “If I can’t pay my bills, I can’t pay my taxes.” Luis Jovel is also angry, saying his older clients have stopped coming to his shop because they are invariably panhandled and are frightened. A former restaurant owner said he shut down in frustration. “I’m done.”

Best photo of farming in ’24

Ag Alert. CA Farm Bureau 2024 photo contest winners.
Synopsis: The top photo was a black-and-white image taken by an FFA member on a dairy in Laton. Said the future farmer: “I wanted to capture (the moment) to show why agriculturists do what we do.” Among the honored photos was one by Julie Elgorriaga of her dog guarding sheep in Madera County. The only other image taken in this region was one taken by Grady Rocca, 11, of a bee on a flower near Kerman.