Valley Headlines

Reps hiding from constituents  

Turlock Journal. Town hall meeting calls out McClintock’s silence.
Synopsis: Indivisible Stanislaus brought some 200 people to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Turlock to deliver a message to Rep. Tom McClintock. But, following the orders of Republican House leadership, he wasn’t there to hear it. He called the meeting which included “dozens of people from Turlock” “part of a nationally coordinated campaign … to confront members of Congress with the goal of turning a quick interaction into a major headline.” What he missed were complaints about threats to Medi-Cal, Social Security, tariffs, lack of support for Ukraine and anger over the actions of Elon Musk and DOGE. Former Republican and retired fifth-grade teacher Glenis Zuhlke of Turlock said new issues come up every day while the Constitution is “being totally ignored. It scares me to death.”

LA Times. Americans aren’t waiting for the Democratic Party to take on Trump. 
Synopsis: Columnist Robin Abcarian says that the “shock and despair” felt two months ago is giving way to “rage and action.” And at most rallies you cand “voters who helped put Trump back in office.” This is clearly a grassroots effort because “Democrats, as a party, have not yet figured out how to meet the moment.” She writes about “missing member” events such as the one Tom McClintock refused to attend. As one organizer put it: “They’re dismantling our country. They’re looting our government. And they think we’ll just watch.” Many recall Trump’s campaign question, “What the hell do you have to lose?” Now, says Abcarian, they know.

Duarte says he won’t run

Valley Sun. Report: John Duarte won’t run again in 2026.
Synopsis: The Valley Sun cites John Duarte’s interview with the Ceres Courier last week in announcing that he has no interest in regaining the seat voters took away in November. The Sun, operated by a Republican pollster, parroted RNCC talking points about Adam Gray being vulnerable.
MAD Take: Did the commute to District 13 become too much for John?

Garamendi on tariffs, insurance

CA Sun. John Garamendi talks insurance, water and farming under Trump.
Synopsis: The venerable Democrat and California’s first insurance commissioner says Richardo Lara has surrendered his authority to the industry, creating enormous instability in the insurance market. Meanwhile, as a farmer, he’s facing a different kind of instability due to Trump’s on, off and on-again tariffs. Finally, water has become so politicized at the national level that it’s more difficult to get anything done.

County denies any library plan

Modesto Bee / Merced Sun Star. Merced County officials deny plans to privatize libraries.
Synopsis: The Modesto Bee’s Julietta Bisharyan reports on the uproar in Merced County as the board of supervisors got a proposal to turn the county’s libraries over to a private company. After Susan Walsh learned of the proposal, she swung into action and a lively uproar ensued. That prompted the county to announce “no changes to the library operations are currently underway.” Bisharyan noted Walsh’s affiliation with the League of Women Voters and Friends of the Library but left out the part about her being the former president of Merced College and her deep connections to the community (though that might be obvious). Some don’t trust the county’s denials: “Nowhere in this statement do you deny the exploration of privatization for the libraries,” said Emily Wallace. “You just say it hasn’t happened yet.” Others said it was a waste of time to even consider such a proposal.

Shrimp packs ’em in

Merced County Times. Hundreds show up to enjoy Rotary Shrimp Feed.
Synopsis: Served by volunteer high school students, including the MHS football team, about 650 people showed up for one of the season’s biggest events – including Congressman Adam Gray. Proceeds support the Castle Air Museum, Clothes for Kids, UC Merced scholarships and much more.

Crush numbers smaller

CA Ag Net. Final 2024 CA grape crush not quite as small as projected.
Synopsis: The CDFA reports that the total crush was 2,961,433 tons, down 24.1% from 2023 but 43,275 tons above January projections for the smallest crush of the past decade. Reds accounted for most of the crush but were down 25.7%. The leading varietals were Chardonnay (17.8%), Cabernet (15.4%), Pinot Noir (7.4%) and Zinfandel (6.8%). The region with the most wine grapes was District 13 – Madera, Fresno, Kings and Tulare. Grapes in District 4 (Napa) had the highest average price at $6,938 per ton. The second highest was District 3 (Sonoma, Marin) at $2,927.

‘Father’ of EVs now at UC Merced

Merced County Times. Electric vehicle pioneer starts work at UC Merced.
Synopsis: Known as the “father of electric vehicles,” Prof. Eric Cheng has done groundbreaking work on both EVs and autonomous cars. He developed a solar-powered air-conditioning system that allows parked vehicles to remain cool without running down the batteries. He’s concentrating on creating jobs and better vehicles. “We cannot use today’s thinking” to help create the jobs of the future, he said.

Chief: Rape kits are a priority

Merced Focus. Merced police chief says cost of medical exams for sexual assault survivors ‘worth it.’
Synopsis: Forensic medical exams for sexual assault weren’t available in the city of Merced until last year. Anyone requiring a so-called “rape kit” had to go to Los Banos or Fresno to be examined. Merced Police Chief Steven Stanfield said that created unnecessary trauma for victims and defended the expense to the city council last week. “It’s not worth saving a buck to provide a worse service to one of our citizens,” he said. “They deserve to be treated and cared for right here,” said Stanfield.

New boss at ASC; players depart FSU

Turlock Journal. Academica SC tabs Madrigal as men’s head coach, announce tryouts for USL teams.
Synopsis: Desmond Madrigal will lead the USL League Two team, taking over from Merced College coach Sergio Sousa. Madrigal spent 1 season with the Turlock HS Bulldogs before moving to the Earthquakes Academy then played for Stanislaus State. He has been an assistant at Academica and Stan State the past few years.

Fox26. Crawford, 5 other Fresno State players to enter transfer portal.
Synopsis: Alex Crawford, a 6-foot-8 forward, became the sixth player to say he will transfer out of the Bulldog program. The team’s leading scorer, leading rebounder and sixth man are among those transferring from a team that finished 6-26 and was racked with scandal.

Good time in Modesto Marathon

Modesto Bee. Hometown man, woman win when thousands turn out for Modesto Marathon.
Synopsis: After not having written a word about the race in advance, the Bee reports that Michael Mrgudic, 29, won the open division on Sunday with a time of 2:32.0. He said he appreciated the local support and noted his time qualified for the Boston Marathon – a big deal. Eve Schaeffer, who grew up in Modesto but now lives in Novato won the women’s race in 3:17.40 followed by runners from Madera and Cupertino. More impressive than her time was her age -- 45.

Rough weekend in Merced 

Merced Sun Star. Man shot, killed in Merced County neighborhood; two questioned.
Synopsis: A man was killed on Bobbi Avenue in Winton on Saturday night. SWAT surrounded a neighbor’s home. Few other details.

ABC30. 2 suspects arrested for murder of man in Winton.
Synopsis: One of the suspects in the killing on Bobbi Avenue is 17. The victim was Angel Ramirez, 24. The other was Jerardo Ochoa-Aguilar, 20. Apparently a party at the home got out of hand.

Merced Sun Star. Teen struck by gunfire in Merced County; suspect fled scene.
Synopsis: In the first shooting of the weekend, a teen was wounded on Determine Drive in Atwater. The shooter got away; the victim will survive.