Valley Headlines

Gray reaches across the aisle

E&E News / Politico newsletter. CA Blue Dog seeks GOP allies, pushes water issues.
Synopsis: Rep. Adam Gray is asking 10 Republicans, any 10 Republicans, to join him in trying to get things done. “Imagine if 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats could get together in a Congress where there’s a margin of 3 or 4 votes and say, ‘you know what? We’re gonna sit down and we’re gonna craft bipartisan solutions.’” He asked, rhetorically, about a Republican counterpart to the Blue Dog caucus. There isn’t one. “I think we’d better off if we had one.” Unlike many folks across the political spectrum, Gray didn’t criticize Donald Trump for releasing water-to-nowhere. “We seem to have found ourselves in an interesting time where both Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump are both talking about getting more water to the Valley. So, I welcome that attention.” Other Democrats on the Natural Resources Committee are optimistic about Gray’s approach. “Adam Gray has been a real champion for floodplain restoration in California … so we’ll have plenty of common cause.”

Waiving fees didn’t hurt

SF Chronicle. What led to this UC’s ‘remarkable’ 45% jump in applications? A last-minute maneuver.
Synopsis: Nanette Asimov writes about UC Merced, which she says has always been considered a “reliable safety school” in the past but this year got 16,000 applicants – a spectacular jump over last year. “Short of magic, how did it happen?” she asks. The “magic” was created by Scott Hagg, the new vice chancellor of enrollment, who said the big change-maker was a “direct invitation to a key group of students” telling them they could apply for free – waiving the $80 fee. Also, he sent out that invitation came in December, not March when most schools are mailing out applications. He also sent out financial aid packets in February (not March), created a parent portal and is working with local high schools to create a direct pipeline. How many of those 16,000 will actually enroll? Normally, it’s about 7% of all applicants, which would mean 1,120 new UC Merced students.

Too much heat; ‘kitchen’ closed

Turlock Journal. McClintock cancels office hours amidst ‘heated’ disruptions.
Synopsis: Tom McClintock, who lives in Elk Grove, has several offices in his sprawling congressional district. As of this weekend, he has closed the doors at all four offices. Last week he also canceled three town halls. He told reporter Joe Cortez that it’s not because he’s afraid to face constituents, but his staffers have work to do and couldn’t get it done with all those angry visitors. Cortez asked Rep. Adam Gray if he planned to close his office. Gray is not, but said he’s not surprised to see the blowback aimed at Republicans. “They just passed a budget (blueprint) that would make devastating cuts to healthcare access via programs like Medi-Cal in California. Access to healthcare is life or death. It makes sense to me that people would be mad about that.” Gray said he is “moving quickly” to set up public events.

Modesto Bee. Letters: Kudos for protesters outside McClintock’s Modesto office.
Synopsis: Gabriella Heredia read the story about the protest last Monday at McClintock’s Oakdale office, and wishes she had known in advance so she could have been there. … Kent Michell echoed similar sentiments. … The Trump version of DEI: Division, Exclusion and Intimidation, says Glenore Flanders. … Alex Tolley wants the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau saved.

DOGE cuts blocks water

Politico. DOGE hobbling Trump’s plan to unleash CA’s water.
Synopsis: Elon Musk ordered massive firings across government. That included 10% of the staff at the Bureau of Reclamation’s California facilities. Those still on the job are paralyzed either from fear of being fired or even noticed. Among those laid off were mechanical engineers, plant mechanics and resource managers responsible for permitting. The department can’t function without those folks and they were exactly the wrong people to dismiss. Interestingly, the department has had a 30% vacancy rate for the past two years, so folks still on probation were hired into critical jobs. Trump PR folks say there will be only “short-term” impacts and any problems will be “mitigated.” But 7 of the 11 staffers at at the Jones Pumping Plant near Tracy were laid off, making impossible to “physically operate” the plant. A group of 14 water managers sent a letter to the Dept of Interior last week asking that the people be rehired. They pointed out that they are the ones actually paying for the pumping – not taxpayers – so DOGE didn’t save taxpayers any money.

Planned project is growing

Modesto Bee. Riverbank low-income housing project goes from 39 to 67 units; it’s ready for NIMBYs.
Synopsis: When the developer found that an adjacent lot was available for the 39-unit project, it asked for permission to expand even before building began at Oakdale and Morrill. The project will provide housing and a host of on-site services. To ward off NIMBY objections, co-manager Deanna Garcia has gathered 200 signatures of support for the $20 million project. Just east of the project will be the Riverbank Sports Complex for soccer and football. Brad Hawn says the project is “going to be something that Riverbank can be proud of.”  

Where’s Gavin’s insulin?

Cal Matters. CA made a big bet on producing its own insulin; there’s no ‘date certain’ for delivery.
Synopsis: Gov. Gavin Newsom promised cheap insulin for the state’s 3.6 million diabetics by 2024. It could be 2030 before that promise is kept. “We are more than a year behind schedule with no end in sight,” says Christine Fallabel of the American Diabetics Association. Civica, the company that is supposed to create 5 types of insulin, hasn’t even applied for approval or started trials. The insulin would be made in Virginia and CA.
MAD note: Not mentioned in the story, but a lot of Valley folks suffer from diabetes -- a disease that often accompanies poverty. A list on Stacker says Stanislaus County is No. 11 in the state with 12% of its population afflicted, or around 66,000 people. San Joaquin is No. 9 (92,000), Merced is No. 6 (36,400), Madera No. 5 (20,500) and Fresno is No. 3 (140,000). In CA13, that means there are roughly 120,000 diabetics. For the record, Imperial County, at 15%, has the highest percentage of diabetics.

Deputy arrives just in time

ABC30. Madera County deputy helps save toddler’s life.
Synopsis: Deputy Jessica Martinez was called to a home on Avenue Nine on Saturday afternoon and found a dad giving CPR to a toddler. She rushed back to her car, got an external defibrillator and soon the boy’s heart was beating. He was taken to a hospital for treatment. No other details.

You can run, but …

Modesto Bee. Two arrested following sideshows and pursuits in Stanislaus, San Joaquin.
Synopsis: Very early Saturday morning, some people were doing donuts and stupid stunts at West Hatch and Dallas when deputies arrived. The miscreants took off, but with all the noise hadn’t noticed the helicopter flying above them. Some drove toward Manteca, where the CHP was waiting. Others went toward Jackson, but along the way their tires were blown by spike strips laid down by other CHP officers.

Solar project draws protests

Merced Focus. Proposed Merced County solar and battery project faces resistance.
Synopsis: A group of Los Banos residents are concerned that the same kind of fire that spewed toxic fumes into the air near Moss Landing in Monterey County could happen just 9 miles from their city. Regardless, the Merced County Planning Commission unanimously approved the Zeta Solar project on 622 acres of private property. The power will connect to PG&E’s Mercey Springs substation. Among those in opposition were Julie Creighton. Longroad Energy said their project is 17x smaller than the Moss Landing project and “fundamentally different.” It would be second lithium-solar project in the region. Merced County supervisors get the final say this month.

Blame profits, not solar

McClatchy. Californians pay too much for electricity; guess who’s getting blamed.
Synopsis: McClatchy editorial writers – Tom Philp, Tad Weber, Juan Esparza Loera, Stephanie Finucane, et al – looked at the report released last week by the CPUC that says the real reason electricity prices are so high is because too many people are making their own in rooftop solar panels. The best way to lower costs, says the CPUC, is to make those people pay more than the state promised they would have to pay. Writes the ed board: “Reneging on an agreement with legacy solar customers is not the answer.” The ed board has a better idea: “Instead of merely shifting costs, rein in profits earned by investor-owned utilities like PG&E, which reported a record breaking $2.4 billion in profits in 2024.” The editorial continued: All of the CPUC’s suggestions “are weak at best.”
MAD Note: Nowhere is it mentioned that in other states where investors own the power companies, the returns for share and bond holders is legally limited – usually to the “market average.” In California last year, we allowed PG&E and SoCal Ed to pay 3x the market average. It’s not solar-panels powering PG&E’s soaring rates, it’s greed.

Boxer makes national team

Turlock Journal. Turlock’s Orlando Zamora to represent US on international stage.
Synopsis: Orlando, 19, is a member of USA Boxing’s Elite High Performance team, which is sort of an Olympics team in waiting. The only Californian on the team, he fights at 121 pounds. Zamora’s training gyms are in Fresno and Winton while he does strength work at The Truth Boxing Gym in West Turlock. The gym was created by Adrian Palacio, who unexpectedly died in January while Zamora was at a month-long USA Boxing camp. Palacio was the last person Zamora saw before taking off for Colorado. Zamora will fight in Brazil later this month then in the World Boxing Challenge in the Czech Republic in June.