Valley Headlines

Making sense of violence data

Modesto Bee. Black people in Stanislaus County over-represented in use-of-force cases by SO.
Synopsis: The numbers used in this story go back to 2016, showing that 9% of contacts that required use of force involved people of African American descent. That’s high considering they make up only 1.4% of Modesto’s population. While less force was used against white people, more of them were arrested – 40.2% of all arrests compared to 35.7% of the population. Asians make up 7.8% of the population but only 4.1% of those arrested. “These figures reflect trends observed across the state and nation,” the report says.  
MAD Note: A different headline – perhaps more important in terms of actual violence occurring in Stanislaus County – is that since 2018 use-of-force incidents have fallen dramatically, like off a cliff. In five of the past six years, the number of use-of-force incidents by deputies are down at least 25% to 35% from the peak year of 2017. The exception was the COVID-19 year, 2020, during which use-of-force incidents spiked nationwide. But even in 2020, Stanislaus numbers were 14% off the 2017 peak. For comparison, we see that in 2022 there were only 234 such incidents – 35% fewer than occurred 5 years earlier. What created such a dramatic change? Could it be a new sheriff? The NAACP’s Wendy Byrd said such statistics reflect broader issues of racial bias, employment, economic development, education, healthcare, etc. The most important component, she says, is to determine “what are we going to do about it?” She’s right on all counts. It appears something is being done.

UC Merced celebrates Kashian

Valley Sun. UC Merced awards Ed Kashian with Chancellor’s Medal.
Synopsis: The CEO of Lance-Kashian & Co. was among the earliest supporters of a UC campus in Merced. He was given the award on Oct. 9. He and wife Jeanne recently gave the university $5 million for its new medical education building, and the atrium in the building will be named after them. Among those who have been awarded Chancellor’s Medals by UC Merced is former commencement speaker Michelle Obama. Good company.

The economics of cotton

Successful Farming. Hurricane slashes Georgia cotton crop by 20%.
Synopsis: The pre-Helene estimate for Georgia’s cotton crop had been for 2,005,000 bales (at 480 pounds each). Now, that’s fallen to 1,650,000 bales. It could be worse, with another 200,000 bales in jeopardy. High winds did more damage than water. In all, Hurricane Helene’s ag impact in Georgia was $6.4 billion. North Carolina also lost a significant percentage (5 to 7%) of its cotton crop.
MAD Note: Why should we care about cotton rotting in Georgia? Because cotton is once again a major crop in Merced, Madera and Fresno counties with plantings up 70% from last year to 165,000 acres statewide. If there is less cotton in Georgia, the price should go up in California -- if that the guy Adam Smith still makes sense. Interestingly, the website barchart.com shows Tuesday’s price down about 11 cents per 100 pounds since Thursday. Go figure.

Duarte gets it not-quite right

McClatchy DC / Modesto Bee / Merced Sun Star. Democrats try to link Valley House Republican to Project 2025; is that fair?
Synopsis: Reporter Kathleen Quinn writes about a billboard and long-time Trump supporter John Duarte’s denial that he supports the most extreme components of the Trump agenda. Quinn quotes Duarte saying he is the least “consistent” Republican when it comes to supporting the Heritage Foundation’s agenda. “However,” Quinn writes, “this does not appear to be true.” There are at least 13 other Republicans whom the Foundation ranks lower than Duarte in providing support. And about 212 Democrats.
MAD Take. Not that it matters especially to this story, but I’m wondering if this reporter has ever been to the 13^th District. She concentrates her reporting on Stanislaus County, noting that the district includes Modesto’s Airport District and Twin Rivers. Twin Rivers? The only Twin Rivers I can think of is a crossroads bar near a gas station surrounded by about 5,000 almond trees. What about Patterson, Newman, Grayson, or all those communities 150 miles south of Twin Rivers – including Los Banos, where the billboard in question is located? This story notes that the billboard doesn’t even mention Duarte by name. Meanwhile, Republicans have tried to link Adam Gray to higher grocery prices and alleged sweetheart deals that weren’t; is that fair? And after two years, not a word about the 650,000 defective pistachio trees sold to Valley farmers or, a year later, the scheme to sell cheap water to Duarte’s cronies on the East side. Real stories are out there; instead, we’re getting stories about billboards.

More Valley politics

KSEE / CBS47. ‘False and misleading’: Costa sends cease-and-desist to Maher over campaign ad.
Synopsis: Longtime US Representative Dennis Costa is furious at Mike Maher’s weird misrepresentation of Costa’s career. He wants clearly misleading ads pulled down. At question is Maher’s contention that Costa has spent 50 years in Washington. It’s not even close. Costa arrived as a congressman in 2005. But Maher says points to a college internship back in 1973. No mention of the 30 years in between the internship and his election.
MAD Note: Maher should have asked Mitch McConnell, he had been in Congress for 20 years by the time Jim Costa arrived.

Merced Sun-Star. Los Banos mayor faces two candidates in bid for reelection.
Synopsis: Reporter Andy Kuhn asked the three candidates for Los Banos mayor basic questions about their plans to deal with homelessness, economic development, housing affordability, etc. And he got basic answers in return.
MAD Take: The city’s most important issues – the leadership of city manager Josh Pinheiro, the $1.8 million payment given him by the city council, threats against a sitting councilmember, grand jury investigations, etc. – didn’t’ come up.

Merced Sun Star. Merced School board Area 2 seat to remain vacant after trustee’s resignation.
Synopsis: The story explains that Jessee Espinoza’s resignation from his Area 2 seat came too late to appoint a temporary fill-in, so the seat will remain vacant until either Audrea Tuhn or Tsia Xiong wins it next month. What follows is a Q&A with the remaining candidates.

Mixed message on water

Ag Net West. CA groundwater levels show improvement, but challenges remain.
Synopsis: DWR’s Fall Semi-Annual Groundwater Conditions update shows incremental improvements statewide, which the department attributes to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014. Others might see it as residual impacts of an extremely wet year followed by a merely wet year. The state is especially happy that it now has 6,000 wells to monitor, said DWR Deputy Director Paul Gosselin. There is still too much subsidence taking place, says Gosselin. He also notes improvements in drinking water availability.
MAD Note: If you go to the actual report, it’s less rosy – at least for the Valley: “Despite recent wetter conditions leading to some recovery in groundwater levels, long-term trends show persistent concerns, particularly in the San Joaquin and Tulare Lake hydrologic regions, where more than 50% of wells reported below-normal levels…” Such language portends more restrictions, reductions and reversals.

Bird flu: 100 herds, 11 humans

Farms.com.  New H5 cases emerge in CA dairy farms.
Synopsis: The number of infected herds reached 100 Monday, up 1 from Friday. But the number of human cases hit 11, “marking a significant increase in the (human) spread of the virus.” None of the humans required hospitalization. The federal holiday delayed confirmation of additional cases.

Murderer coming home?

ABC30. Call to keep Merced murderer in prison after early parole granted.
Synopsis: Rodolfo Romero stabbed his wife Diane to death in 2012, and was sentenced to 16-years-to-life. But before serving even the minimum, he was paroled in September. Esmeralda Soria is furious, as is DA Nicole Silveira. They don’t want him sent back to Merced, and making sure Gov. Newsom hears that message.

Trucks, cars, kids: A bad mix

KSEE / CBS47. 17-year-old steals, crashes parents’ car in Merced.
Synopsis: The car had been reported stolen when police spotted it near a school. When they turned on the lights, the driver took off reaching speeds of 100 mph. He was going slower when he crashed, but the woman with him in the car received major injuries.

KCRA. School bus hit by big rig in Stanislaus County.
Synopsis: There were 17 elementary-school kids aboard the Chatom Union bus that had stopped to pick up more at Crows Landing and El Katrina -- red lights flashing stop sign deployed. A big rig hit the car stopped behind the bus then clipped the bus itself. The drivers of the car and big rig were taken away by ambulance; the kids were just shaken up.  

Class projects you can eat

Modesto Bee. New program cultivates kids’ gardening skills and ties to Stanislaus County ag.
Synopsis: Reporter Julietta Bisharyan’s focus is on Empire Elementary, where the Junior Farmer program has taken root, along with Junior Chef instruction. It began on Sept. 27 with discussion of soil health. Coming up is planting, nurturing and harvesting then preparing the food. Mariam Jacobs of the East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District is managing the program.
MAD Note: Not mentioned in the story is a similar program being conducted in Modesto schools by the Modesto Garden Club – the largest such club in the nation.