Valley Headlines

Valley is tariff war’s ‘ground zero’  

Fresno Bee. Trump’s plan on import tariffs threatens CA farmers with big losses.
Synopsis: Tad Weber writes about Trump’s popularity in the Valley but suggests folks here should “be careful what you wish for.” A UC Davis and North Dakota State study says the biggest losers in a tariff war will be Fresno, Tulare and Merced counties, likely amounting to 25% of their ag export value. That’s about $6 billion annually. If Trump carries through his threats to put a 10% tariff on sales to Canada and Mexico – our two top trading partners – it will be even worse. The most “vulnerable commodities” are dairy, wine and nuts (pistachios, walnuts, almonds). In the previous Trump trade war, the price of almonds fell from $2.50 a pound to around $1.40. While Trump provided ample subsidies to program commodity growers in the Midwest who lost foreign buyers, California farmers got nothing.  

Dispatch dispute gets uglier

Modesto Bee. Stanislaus County won’t pay for outside attorney to assist sheriff in dispatch dispute.
Synopsis: Stanislaus supervisors voted 4-1 not to cover the cost of an attorney to negotiate the departure of the Stanislaus Sheriff’s Office from the Stanislaus Regional 911 dispatch center. The dispute is over a new computer system. Jeff Dirkse arranged a deal that will provide a $7 million system at a cost of $1 million to the county. But the other agencies – Modesto PD, EMS, fire departments, ambulance -- prefer a different platform and got a federal grant to help cover the cost. That prompted Sheriff Dirkse to seek a different solution, but he doesn’t trust the county to do it. Supervisors rejected his request for a lawyer for the SO then renewed the JOA through 2025. Stay tuned.

Turlock Journal. Sheriff, supervisors clash over dispatch services.
Synopsis: Joe Cortez writes about the dispatch dispute, noting that Channce Condit was the only supervisor to vote against renewing the JOA. Cortez noted that the reason the Sheriff is allying with Ceres is that the city is considering the very dispatch system he prefers – the Oracle CAD. Ceres ran a 12-hour test of the Oracle system last week, and says it works well. Also, the Oracle CAD offers a jail and data management system not available in the system chosen by Stanislaus Regional, meaning the sheriff would have to buy other systems in addition to the dispatch system.

Met funds tunnel … for now

LA Times. CA water agency votes to spend $141 million on Delta tunnel project.
Synopsis: After a “heated debate,” Met’s board voted 37-1 to stay the course for a big tunnel. The 1 was Mark Gold of Santa Monica, who worried about the cost of 10 lawsuits trying to block the tunnel and wondered if even the world’s largest water wholesaler can afford to both build a tunnel and an $8 billion water-treatment plant. Most of the story is written from Gold’s POV detailing the problems with a tunnel and the Delta.  The reporter referenced the islands Met purchased back in 2016 to facilitate tunnel construction, a $175 million cost not included in the calculations. Said one critic: “They just keep dumping money for something that’s never going to get built.”

SJV Water. Giant water district approves continued Delta tunnel funding, asks ‘Where’s Kern?”
Synopsis: Metropolitan Water District agreed to spend $141 million on planning and procedures to build the tunnel, but board members had a lot of questions about who else was going to be involved. Chief among them was whether or not Kern County Water Agency, the state’s second-largest water contractor, would come up with the $3.3 million it is required to spend. So far, Kern hasn’t answered.
MAD Note: Should be noted, Met’s own press release included this caveat: “Our board took this step because it allows us to gather critical information about the project’s benefits and costs that will allow us to evaluate whether we will participate in the full construction.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Valley’s poor shorted … again

Merced Sun Star. Is the Central Valley getting shorted on internet access money?
Synopsis: Reporter Erik Galicia writes that the San Joaquin Valley has not been a priority in the state’s efforts to help poor people get affordable broadband. That’s odd, since the Valley is the poorest region in the state. The six-county region from San Joaquin to Kern got only 6.6% of the initial $804 million grant (about $53 million) while LA got $96 million in new grants last month. So far, only Tulare and Madera counties have gotten any funding while projects recommended for San Joaquin, Merced, Fresno and Kern have been rejected by the CPUC.
MAD Note: For some reason, Stanislaus County was not mentioned in this story.  

Smart stuff to helps farms, planet

Ag Alert. In the fields: Gino Pedretti III, Merced County.
Synopsis: The Merced County grower got hit by bird flu at his dairy in October, causing a lot of sick cows and a higher abortion rate. Older, heavier animals were worse off, he said. But the collars he bought will warn him long before cows become symptomatic, allowing separation and treatment. On the farming side, his cotton yields were down so he’s experimenting with a new type of soil tilling that firms up seed beds and uses less water. Then this: “We are trying to improve our environmental footprint by using the airplane less, so we are thinking of getting a drone for spraying applications.”
MAD Take: It is beyond aggravating to see farming and farmers portrayed as anti-environment. When it makes sense to embrace greener technology – drones, medical collars, new tilling methods -- farmers are the first to do it. Not just because it improves their farming, but because it improves their lives.  

Did city reject ‘free money’?

Modesto Bee. Modesto council rejects grant for Cannabis Equity Program, sparks controversy.
Synopsis: The state is offering grants to help those formerly jailed for weed-related crimes go into business selling weed. The program is specific to the Black and Latino communities. Five people in Modesto had been selected to get $75K grants. Nick Bavaro, Rosa Escutia-Braaton and David Wright voted against it and Eric Alvarez abstained. The NAACP’s Wendy Byrd said there was “no logical reason” to refuse state grants.

Strike vote for city of Fresno

KSEE / CBS47. Union president calls for strike against city of Fresno.
Synopsis: The City of Fresno Professional Employee Association approved a strike Monday after suffering through 14 rounds of stalled negotiations. The city has made a “last, best and final offer” of a 2% raise and 1% bonus. Members work at the airport, waste management, maintenance, etc..

Ceres Courier. City manager contract changes OK’d with 2 councilmembers abstaining from vote.
Synopsis: The council voted 3-0 to bump Doug Dunford’s pay by $9,800, or 8%. That’s the same rate members of the city’s 5 unions will get. If fired, Dunford will get 5 months’ severance.

Does Ceres want new biz?

Ceres Courier. Pollo Campero: ‘We’re not coming to Ceres now.’
Synopsis: The restaurant had gotten approval from the planning commission for a location on Hatch Road. But it decided not to build after Mayor Javier Lopez protested the unanimous approval because there were already too many chicken restaurants in the area. Development director Lea Simvoulakis disagreed, saying the city can always use new business.

Ceres Courier. Yogurt Mill testing out Ceres location, but Supermom’s customers are miffed.
Synopsis: Yogurt Mill set up a truck at a specific location for 4 hours on three consecutive Wednesdays to gauge interest in their product. But Supermom’s Frozen Yogurt in the nearby Richland Shopping Center doesn’t want the competition. The development director says there has to be a balance between helping existing businesses and those who want to come to the community. Supermom George Borden says if Yogurt Mill comes to town, his store will be leaving.

The benefits of building Sites

Mercury News. Gov. Newsom urges completion of CA’s largest new reservoir project in 50 years.
Synopsis: Gov. Newsom was west of Colusa on Tuesday, explaining the benefits and necessity of building Sites Reservoir – a huge off-stream facility meant to hold Sacramento River overflow. He even had a message for the incoming president, “Donald Trump, this is your kind of project.” It will provide benefits for 24 million people and help irrigate 500,000 acres of farmland.

Daily Kos. Tribal, environmental groups slam Sites Reservoir as Governor promotes it.
Synopsis: Anti-farming groups said building Sites would be “devastating” for salmon and Delta fish populations. Oddly, one of the uses for Sites will be to backfill flows into the Delta when drought forces reduced flows from Shasta and Oroville.

Best farm dog in California

Ag Alert. Madera County farm dog wins Farm Bureau contest.
Synopsis: Aussie, the Australian shepherd, isn’t just a happy, good dog, he’s deeply invested in protecting his farm. Gophers don’t stand a chance, and neither do coyotes. Aussie has been 15-year-old Kaydence Erickson’s best friend for the past 9 years. “There has been no other dog like her,” she said. Kaydence’s dad, Jason, got the Australian shepherd because they’re protective of their humans. After coyotes wiped out young Kaydence’s chickens, Aussie started sleeping near the coop. Now Kaydence has 70 chickens. “Without her, I would have lost everything.” Aussie also makes rounds checking on the farm’s pigs, horses and goats every day. Did we mention Aussie has only 3 legs? She lost the fourth chasing away coyotes.