Valley Headlines

Entirely fed up with PG&E

KSEE / CBS47. ‘Give me a break’: PG&E customers in the Central Valley upset over energy bills.
Synopsis: Business and homeowners gathered in Fresno to call the ever-rising rates “unfair” and “outrageous.” One customer says he has a garage building with a separate line, and the bill went from literally zero in some months to $250 per month even though he doesn’t use the building. One café owner said his bills went from $7,000 in June of 2023 to $21,300 this past June. He pays only $9,000 for rent.  These angry residents have formed a movement called “Stop PG&E Now.” PG&E responded with a statement explaining its costs and noting that the CPUC approved the increases.
MAD Take. First order of business: Demand removal of the CPUC.

If you need more politics

Modesto Bee. Homelessness, business growth top mind of NW Modesto Council candidates.
Synopsis: Rosa Escutia-Braaton, John Gunderson and Joel Campos are running for District 1 council seat. Escutia-Braaton is part of a council that is more or less functional, opposed to previous councils which devolved into factions, anger and infighting. Civility, she says, has restored public trust, which manifested in passage of Measure H. She supports Camp2Home and Downtown Street Teams and bringing a pro soccer team to the city. Campos, a planner in San Joaquin County, wants to force property owners to find tenants for vacant downtown buildings. Gunderson was on the council for 4 years and previously worked as a substitute teacher. He supports micro-housing.

KVPR. Dolores Huerta rallies voters around critical House races.
Synopsis: The Dolores Huerta Action Fund has been working in districts from Bakersfield to Patterson. They are focused on Latinos and young voters, said one of the foundational members of the UFW.

Not business as usual

Modesto Bee. Former Bed Bath & Beyond location is getting a new tenant.
Synopsis: Burlington’s second Modesto location will be on Sisk Road. Meanwhile, Big Lots is closing its location in the same center.

Merced Daily. Furniture store to move into former Barnes &Noble location.
Synopsis: Mor Furniture for Less will occupy the store at 1720 W. Olive in Merced. The company has 39 stores in 7 states, but mostly CA. No date was announced.

Merced Daily. Opening date for Atwater ice-skating rink announced.
Synopsis: The Old Town Atwater rink, sponsored by Razzari Motors, will open Nov. 15 at 5 pm. It will remain open through Christmas.

Congress lets farm bill expire

Ag Net West. Key farm programs end as farm bill extension expires.
Synopsis: The one-year Farm Bill extension ended Monday night, meaning the Conservation Reserve, Environmental Quality Incentives, Grasslands Conservation and Market Access programs and many others are no longer operational. The Farm Bureau is warning that if Congress doesn’t pass a new farm bill, or at least extend the old by Jan. 1, outdated laws will kick in forcing the government to pay $49 per hundredweight for milk (currently around $23) and $4.75 a pound for honey, sparking more inflation.
MAD Note: Congress has had two years to get the farm bill done, but this “Do-Nothing Congress” has failed. Among the many items holding up passage of this most bipartisan of bills are two deal-killers for Democrats: Removing food assistance to children (the GOP wants it out of the Farm Bill, where it has been since 1936), and a provision sponsored by John Duarte that would deprive voters in every state of their right to set food standards – the so-called EATS Act, funded by Midwestern pork growers.

‘Threat’ turns into arrest

Modesto Bee. School violence threat targets a Stanislaus high school; teen detained is 8^th.
Synopsis: A Waterford High student was picked up Monday morning after posting a “warning” on Snapchat to other students that they should either not to come to school or “hide during third period.” The SO was not amused, with Lt. Dave Mullins saying: “We take every threat of violence … with a no-tolerance stance.” He added “There’s no such thing as anonymity online.”

What’s a ‘pluvial’?

PPIC. Is CA getting drier? 
Synopsis: PPIC writer and former Cal Trout staffer Sarah Bardeen has a Q&A with Dr. Benjamin Cook of the NASA Goodard Institute about drought. His focus is soil moisture and its relation to temperature. As temperatures rise, soils become drier and resistant to water infiltration, meaning less rain will be retained. He says there are “clear pain points” coming for CA and the Western US. He says 70% of water is used for ag – which is good that he recognizes the old 80% figure is outdated, but he’s leaving out the vast amount of water that remains in the environment and is not “used.” He also talks about “pluvials,” or extended wetness. He notes that in the West, the 1980s and 1990s was “one of the wettest 20-year periods in the last thousand years.”

Pumping injunction appealed

SJV Water. State appeals Kings County judge’s groundwater injunction.
Synopsis: Reporter Monserrat Solis writes that the State Water Board has appealed a county judge’s injunction blocking the water board’s decision to put growers in the Tulare Lake subbasin on costly probation. Because the districts do not have a plan to reach sustainability, the Board’s action would require fees of $300 per pump and $20 per acre-foot of pumped water. The board says “SGMA is clear” in giving the board “the statutory authority it needs to implement” it. If upheld, growers in Chowchilla and Delta-Mendota are next on the block.

No jail time for Falaschi

Fresno Bee / Merced Sun Star. No jail time for ex-chief of water district once accused of water theft.
Synopsis: Former Panoche Water District GM Dennis Falaschi, 78, won’t spend any time in jail even after admitting to “stealing” $1.5 million worth of water. He will pay $10,000 in fines. Prosecutors wanted a year behind bars, but the judge said no. Falaschi had originally been accused of stealing much more water, but the government backed away from its case. In fact, all of the water he “stole” was used to help flush salts out of soils that belong to client growers. The judge said Falaschi should have worked within the rules to accomplish his goals.

GV Wire. No prison time for Fresno County water thief who took plea deal.
Synopsis: David Taub writes about Dennis Falaschi’s sentencing in federal court. Along with the fines, he got 5 years’ probation and six months of home detention. GV Wire’s Bill McEwen originally reported on Falaschi’s decision in 1992 to take water that was leaking out of a parallel CVP canal and divert it into a Panoche canal.

Birder paradise: Sewage ponds

Modesto Bee. This unexpected gem for bird watchers offers uncommon, even rare, sightings.
Synopsis: The “gem” is the sewage-treatment settling ponds on Jennings Road. Among the most rare sightings found there are surf scoters, Eurasian wigeons and Arctic terns, says Sal Salerno, long-time head of the Stanislaus Audubon Society. The facility has a designated area for birders. Best time to go is now.