Valley Headlines

Behind in ballots, they go AWOL

Westside Express. 3 members skip meeting, city council can’t function.
Synopsis: Two city council members who appear headed for removal and one who is losing in a race for his seat decided not to attend last Wednesday’s city council meeting – meaning there was no quorum. Coincidentally, there were roughly 170 people packed into the chamber and hallway expecting to see loved ones presented with awards and certificates from the FFA, VFW and the city. The awards were handed out, but the two councilmembers who were there – Deborah Lewis and Paul Llanez (who is also trailing) – could not participate in handing them out. Of the votes counted so far, 80% voted to remove Doug Begonia Jr., 73% voted to remove Brett Jones and Ken Lambert trails newcomer Tommy Leyva by 40+ votes. The council hasn’t met since Oct. 2.

Westside Express. Los Banos animal shelter to undergo significant upgrades.
Synopsis: The prefab buildings for the new shelter were lowered into place last week, part of a $1.8 million shelter upgrade. The shelter was supposed to get a $10,000 grant for medical supplies, but that could not be accepted because the council didn’t have a quorum.

Ruling goes against Keating

Valley Citizen. Irrigation District presses claim for attorneys’ fees against board member.
Synopsis: Judge John Mayne ruled that Janice Keating’s allegations of harassment against John Frobose were meant to intimidate him and ruled that Keating must cover the legal costs of Frobose and the district of $53,000. Two MID staff members apparently failed to back up Keating’s claims of verbal abuse and attempted intimidation, which occurred away from public view. Keating is the only woman ever to serve on the MID Board and has vigorously fought the sale of water at give-away prices ($60 an acre foot when it would fetch $800 on the open market) to farmers outside the district, the rehiring of a lawyer who sued the district and on other issues such as putting the vast majority of the district’s operational burdens into the electricity budget rather than sharing them across electricity and water. She has until Dec. 6 to further explain her side.
MAD Take: How does a lawsuit involving two people already serving on an elected board constitute a SLAPP – Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation – and discourage public participation? Aren’t they already participating? Who is being discouraged? How? Did this lawsuit have more to do with Keating being willing to explain what happens behind MID’s notoriously tightly closed doors?

Garbage burner a hot topic

Modesto Bee. Why is garbage burner closing in Stanislaus County? Waste-to-fuel option considered.
Synopsis: Ken Carlson reports on the updated termination contract with Covanta (aka Reworld), which lets the vendor out of the deal 2 years before it was to expire in 2027. Decommissioning of the plant should be complete by 2027, and other uses are being considered. Meanwhile, the county is looking for new ways to reduce the waste stream at the landfill, which will fill up faster than anticipated now that 400,000 tons of refuse is not being turned into ash (and pollution). The supervisors talk it over today.

Lessons from a dry October

CA Water Blog. October is over – what it means for this water year and other musings.
Synopsis: Dr. Jay Lund writes that this has been the 16^th driest water year (November-October) in the last 103 years. He says that doesn’t mean much for the immediate future – water predictions from this point into the winter are often wrong. Meanwhile, we’re doing better in compiling groundwater information. As for salmon, the state does a poor job compiling and parsing its data, he says. “If the system is ever to mature in terms of success … we will first need to assemble real time operations data for environmental conditions.” Finally, Dr. Lund worries that with the loss of the Los Vaqueros expansion that we are entering a “collaboration drought.” “And we hope we can keep collaborations afloat through these turbulent and sometimes selfish times.”  

Controversy follows Hanson

Fresno Bee. Fresno Unified fired him; now he’s chairman of Valley Children’s and under scrutiny.
Synopsis: Michael Hanson chairs the board that approved those huge compensation packages for Todd Suntrapak and other members of the executive team at Valley Children’s Hospital. Back in 2005, Hanson was the deputy superintendent of FUSD, which was facing a takeover by the state. He fired 12 principals and righted the ship. But in 2017 allegations of bid-rigging and other issues cost him his job.

The return of ‘Fountain City’?

Merced Focus. Merced’s iconic Laura Fountain returns to splendor following $300K restoration.
Synopsis: Way, way, way back in the day, Merced was known as “Fountain City.” The restored Laura Fountain is part of that legacy. Mayor Matt Serratto was at Applegate Park to rededicate the fountain originally built to honor the third wife of Merced founder Charles Henry Huffman. Originally, it greeted those getting off the train. Donations covered $123,000 of the cost.

Expansion of reservoir Headline

Mercury News. Deal reached to expand massive reservoir near Bay Area to increase water supplies.
Synopsis: San Luis Reservoir is already the fifth-largest reservoir in the state, and the largest “off-line” water impound. It will grow by 130,000-acre feet as the federal government spends $1 billion to raise the height of the dam 10 feet. Eight agencies are contributing. The agreement is “set to be commemorated” Wednesday in DC. Santa Clara Valley WD would get most of the new storage capacity. Both others benefiting include Del Puerto, San Luis, Pacheco and Byron Bethany water districts, the city of Tracy and San Benito County.  This expansion has little opposition from environmental groups.
MAD Note: Not sure why the Mercury News presented this as “news,” since the decisions were made months or years ago. The first big announcement – complete with a helicopter flying 10 feet above the top of the dam showing how much higher it would be – came three years ago. Perhaps it’s setting in stone who gets how much water and pays how much money.

Are we testing enough?

KVPR. As feds recommend ramping up bird flu testing, are human cases being undercounted? 
Synopsis: Kerry Klein writes about the 21 human cases of bird already confirmed. They were found on 259 dairies nationwide where cows have been sickened; of those, 110 are in California. Since symptoms are often manageable – flu-like coughing, fatigue, pink-eye – many workers ignore them and continue to earn. That could explain why testing has shown antibodies in the blood of 115 farmworkers in Michigan and Colorado who never called in sick. The United Farm Workers is calling for mandatory testing and coverage of lost wages for those who are ill. Farmers are fine with having workers tested and having them file workers’ comp claims, but the cost of testing is an issue. The feds want a single lab to do it all, but insurance companies insist their preferred labs be used. So, who pays?
MAD Note: Previous testing has shown the most likely way bird flu spreads is via humans moving from farm to farm.

Religions class into the dustbin

Modesto Bee. Modesto City Schools phases out world religion class next year.
Synopsis: World Religions, which had been required for graduation from Modesto City Schools, is out and ethnic studies is in. The religion class will remain an elective, but the program’s top teacher feels it will eventually fade away. The district says it must comply with the CA Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, and religions per se are not part of that.

Get your banned books here

Fresno Bee. Banned books find a home in Fresno at new store; step inside Judging by the Cover.
Synopsis: Cool name for this Chinatown store that carries books banned in places like India, China, Vietnam and in classrooms near you. Ashley and Carlos Mireles-Guerrero came up with the idea; she runs the store. There are also books that haven’t been banned.