Valley Headlines

Chronic illness worse in Valley

Modesto Bee. Heart disease, diabetes still top health problems in Stanislaus County.
Synopsis: Setting aside the COVID-19 pandemic, chronic disease is still the biggest problem attacking area residents over the past decade. Heart disease hits 10.5% of county residents compared to 6.5% statewide. Diabetes hits 11% and only 9% statewide. Good news: 85.9% of pregnant women get prenatal care and only 6.5% of babies are born with low birthweight – actually better than the state average of 7.3%. All this data was found in a county report presented to the Board of Supervisors. The County Health Dept is using the data to make more home visits and plan its programs.

Tiny dip in almond acreage

Western Farm Press. CA almond acreage continues to decline.
Synopsis: Farmers have pulled out about 40,000 acres of trees, though “bearing acreage” remains at an all-time high of 1.5 million. Low prices and lack of reliable water are driving their decisions. Demand for nuts remains strong, as does the supply. This year’s harvest was either 1.85 billion pounds (based on receipts) or 2.8 billion pounds based on USDA estimates. LandIQ reports that 30,000 acres of trees were abandoned last year, all of it in Fresno, Merced, Stanislaus, Kern and San Luis Obispo counties.

Faculty slams college president

Fresno Bee. ‘No confidence’ vote against Madera college president says he disregards faculty input.
Synopsis: Madera Community College president Angel Reyna lost the faculty’s trust when he ignored their advice on curriculum and creation of educational programs, or so says the Academic Senate. The members voted 12-2 against him. Some teachers, however, say the beef is personal and could have negative impacts on students. A senate member said they did not call for his firing, they just wanted to be heard. Madera CC is part of State Center Community College along with Fresno City, Clovis and Reedley colleges. Reyna says this is all because he supports Madera’s participation in the Competency Based Education Collaborative, and the Senate does not.

Another island nearly lost

Sacramento Bee. A Delta island came dangerously close to flooding; how CA is ignoring the risk.
Synopsis: Tom Philp writes about Victoria Island, west of Stockton and north of Tracy. The island’s 7,200 acres are being farmed and is near the Clifton Court Forebay (the holding area for water being pumped south). If it floods, Hwy 4 will be unpassable. Philp says the state provides woefully inadequate funding for levee repairs and maintenance – a fact noted by the Delta Stewardship Council when Randy Fiorini was its chair. The Council documented $33 billion in levee and infrastructure needs. Meanwhile, as farming continues the island soil compacts, making them more vulnerable to flooding and the floods more damaging when they occur. If you think Prop 4 will help, guess again. It only designates $150 million for the Delta and $400 million for flood protection. Band-Aids.

Tariffs on biggest customers

Successful Farming. Trump promises 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico.
Synopsis: Trump says the new tariffs will remain in place until Canada and Mexico stop the flow of immigrants and drugs into the US. Oh, and he’s going to jack up tariffs on China another 10%. For the record, Canada, Mexico and China are our top three trading partners, in that order. And they are the top three markets for ag exports from California. Economists warn that such tariffs will upend the auto, oil, natural gas and retail industries. Other corporate economists say tariffs will drive inflation through the roof, send bond prices higher and equities prices down. It will also violate our trade treaties. In reaction, wheat and soy oil prices went up.

Immigration has farmers nervous

LA Times. CA farmers were big Trump backers; they may be on collision course over deportation.
Synopsis: This story uses UC Merced estimates that half of the state’s 162,000 farmworkers are undocumented, and that the majority of them are in danger of being deported. Instead of making waves over the potential loss of their workforce, farmers are quietly counting on Trump to fix the problem — not make it worse. One way would be to issue more H2-A visas to keep workers, but those are the same visas used by other industries. Among those quoted is UC Merced’s Orozco Flores, who says it’s likely Trump will have to make a big show of deporting lots of people, just as Eisenhower did in 1954. Dolores Huerta says those deportations are what propelled her into activism.  Others say the Bracero program of the 1950s fostered exploitation of workers with shorted paychecks, unpaid travel and unsafe working and living conditions. Manuel Cunha of the Nisei Farmers League says he is working on legislation to get workers already in the US authorized to stay. Joe Del Bosque of Firebaugh has a message for Trump: “A country can’t be strong if it doesn’t have a reliable food supply. And we can’t do that without a reliable workforce.”

Salmon swim into Oakland

East Oakland. Dead salmon in Lake Merrit could point to healthier waters, researchers say.
Synopsis: Several dead salmon have washed up on the banks of downtown Oakland’s Lake Merrit, which scientists say is a good sign. It means salmon are swimming up the waterway to spawn – which means the water is getting clean enough to entice them. It’s similar to the salmon’s reappearance in Los Gatos Creek and San Tomas Aquino Creek in the town of Campbell this week.
MAD Take: For the past two spawning seasons, salmon have been showing up in lots of places they haven’t been seen in generations. Why? In part, it’s because they aren’t being slaughtered in the ocean, so more of them are spawning. It’s going to take a while for salmon populations on our rivers to overcome the devastation of wholesale slaughter by the commercial fishing industry, but if the goal is more salmon, the salmon-fishing bans should remain. Apparently, they’re working.

Putting problems on a bus

Cal Matters. Busing people out of homelessness: How CA’s relocation programs really work.
Synopsis: San Francisco continues to buy bus tickets for its homeless, supposedly sending them “home.” Even if “home” is not where they live. It’s not just the city by the Bay. Non-profits are doing the same thing. So far, SF has purchased 1,039 one-way tickets. In the city’s defense, 41% of SF’s homeless say they moved to the city after becoming homeless because programs there are better for their lifestyles. City officials say no one is forced to leave town. Now San Jose, Sacramento and nonprofits in LA are launching or increasing their own busing programs.

This didn’t work for Nixon

Sacramento Bee. Kamala Harris for CA governor? Democrats say she’s best choice to fight Trump.
Synopsis: Name recognition, a tough-on-crime persona, becoming the state’s first woman governor – there are lots of positives to a Harris run. Plus, she’s told aides that she is not giving up this fight for the soul of the nation. Based on name-recognition, she would be the front-runner.

Comedian’s take on Motown

Modesto Bee. Comedian Bill Burr explores Modesto after his sold-out show; what did he see?
Synopsis: Reporter Marie Figueroa provides an interesting view of our Valley, this time through the eyes of a popular comedian’s Instagram posts. Bill Burr, who hosted SNL a few weeks back, played the State then walked around downtown. He visited the arch, which he complimented for including the word “Health” but noted there’s “a f---ing McDonald’s right next to it.” As for his show, “He killed it,” said one person who attended. The only complaint: Not enough tickets.