Valley Headlines

Bird seriously sickens a human

Successful Farming. Louisiana patient is first severe case of bird flu in US. 
Synopsis: A Louisiana man has been hospitalized in the most serious case of respiratory illness due to bird flu in the US so far. The previous 61 cases all had mild symptoms – including all 34 in CA. The only previous life-threatening case in North America had been in Canada. Meanwhile, Wisconsin reported its first human case. In the past 20 years, nearly half of all people who have gotten bird flu have died but they lived in Asia. Latest data shows 649 CA dairy herds have been infected, 865 nationwide. Commercial chicken flocks from South Carolina to Iowa to CA have also been destroyed. The USDA says 13 states have enrolled in a stepped-up testing program.

Ag Daily. CDC confirms first severe human case of H5N1 bird flu.
Synopsis: Partial viral genome data shows the infected Louisiana patient has type D1.1 bird flu which is mostly found in wild birds. It’s the same type of flu that put a Canadian teen-ager on life-support. The patient was exposed to dead birds from his backyard flock.

KVPR. In US dairy capital Tulare County, public health officials try to control bird flu.
Synopsis: Reporter Kerry Klein’s audio aired on NPR Wednesday focused on CA’s state of emergency. In this transcript, Klein digs into now-familiar reports that a great many dairy workers (often undocumented) ignore symptoms, refuse to get tested and only rarely use protective gear. That’s why Tulare County is ground zero for bird flu. The CDC calls the situation there “demoralizing.”

Farms.com. Federal order addresses livestock influenza.
Synopsis: The USDA issued a “standard level 5” procedure for the monitoring and eradication of bird flu in cows. The USDA repeats its mantra that pasteurized products pose no danger, but you can get sick from drinking raw milk.  

Trump torpedoes aid to farmers

Successful Farming. Federal funding bill collapses, putting ag aid at risk.
Synopsis: Farm organizations including the Farm Bureau, National Corn Growers and American Soybean Assn are furious after the president-elect killed the deal put together by Speaker Mike Johnson that would have funded the government through Spring. Included in that deal was $10 billion in direct aid for farmers. The increased cost of the bill, which includes funding for disaster relief, concerned Trump. Johnson is nearly out of options and is considering a “clean” bill that will have no new spending for farmers or disaster.

Ag Net West. Farm Bureau pleads for farmer aid as funding bill falters following a Musk tweet.
Synopsis: The Farm Bureau’s Zippy Duvall fired off a letter to Congress on Wednesday after it became clear that Trump had killed the continuing resolution that keeps the government operational. Apparently, Trump-whisperer Elon Musk tweeted out his skepticism over government spending priorities for ag and disasters. Sabrina Halvorson writes, “The future is unclear. Without support, many farmers could be forced out of business, adding to the 141,000 farms already lost in the last five years.”
MAD Take: Musk spent an estimated $260 million to elect Donald Trump. Could that be the reason his tweets carry so much more weight than the plight of a few thousand farmers?

KVPR. Like old times: Trump sends Congress scrambling to avoid a shutdown.
Synopsis: A closer look at Elon Musk’s influence on Donald Trump and his role in killing the continuing resolution to fund the government. Reporter Susan Davis says the fact that so many Republican legislators immediately buckled after a single Musk tweet speaks “to how much power Musk – the richest man in the world – now wields in the GOP broadly and with Trump specifically.” Sen. Rand Paul reveled in the political implosion, saying he gets great “joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-loving minds.” JD Vance said having a shut down on Biden’s watch reflects badly on him, not Trump. Democrats noted this will cost taxpayers millions and farmers millions more.

Strikes in Fresno, SF are over

Fresno Bee. Fresno city employee strike ends after one day of picketing with proposed contract deal.
Synopsis: Mayor Jerry Dyer and Jesse Gonzalez, president of the Fresno Professional Employees Association, reached a deal Wednesday after 425 employees took to the streets. “We hashed it out,” said Gonzalez. “I feel there’s definitely an acceptable offer for my people.” It’s a 1-year deal, which no one likes, but it’s the best that could be reached.

SF Standard. Biggest city hotel chain makes union deal to end strike.
Synopsis: Marriott decided it’s better to deal with workers in San Francisco than fight them. It reached a deal with Unite Here. It means you won’t have to cross a picket line to stay at Marriott’s 7 SF hotels – including the Palace, Marquis and Westin St. Francis -- where 1,500 union members are employed. Among the union’s tactics was “constant drumming” at night, making it hard for patrons to sleep.

New board members take seats

Merced Focus. New board members join Merced County’s largest school district.
Synopsis: Annie Delgado and Tsia Xiong were sworn in Tuesday night, replacing Birdi Olivarez-Kidwell and Jessee Espinosa. Priya Lakireddy was unanimously chosen board president, replacing Allen Brooks. Lakireddy has pushed for more transparency in district operations. With a relatively new superintendent in place, the board is hoping for less tumultuous meetings.

Sheriff’s parade horse passes

Merced Golden Wire. Sad news.
Synopsis: The Sheriff’s Posse of Merced County announced that the big palomino named Cowboy has passed. The horse belonged to Julie Gonsalves and appeared in dozens of parades from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, to the Governor’s inauguration to downtown Merced’s Christmas parade.

Computers competing for water

Sacramento Bee. CA’s next water war won’t concern agriculture, it will be about AI. 
Synopsis: Former state Sen. Dean Florez notes that it takes nearly a bottle of water to cool the computers that run every AI query. A single Google server farm used 6.1 billion gallons in 2023, a 17% year-over-year increase. It’s just one of 270 server farms in CA, and not the largest. This is already happening, so the challenge is not to ban water for AI but to manage it.
MAD Note: Florez trots out the old and incorrect statistic that farming uses 80% of California’s “developed water supply.” If the Bee’s editors lived in CA, not North Carolina, they might know better. That number hasn’t been true for a decade; ag now consumes about 70% to 75% of the state’s “stored” or “diverted” water. But half of the water that arrives in the state is not diverted or stored – meaning more than half of what the state receives in a year stays in the rivers or goes into aquifers. It should be noted that when AI first arrived, it was using 1.5 liters per search. It’s about a tenth of that now and new air-cooled technology is being developed.

College-branded food on sale

Western Farm Press. Chico State plans branded products from campus farm.
Synopsis: The Chico State “Farm Store” will carry organic cheese and ice cream products sourced from the university’s dairy. Associate Dean Kevin Patton says Chico State will also sell pork and beef cuts from the campus meats lab along with products from the CSU system’s four ag universities – Chico, Fresno, Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Ceres considers expansion

Ceres Courier. Public may review environmental impacts of Ceres adding 681 acres.
Synopsis: Comments are due by Jan. 27 on a plan by Stewart Fahmy and Nav Athwal to annex 681 acres west of Hwy 99 and south of Service Road for housing, commercial space, parks and more. Currently, 535 of those acres are being farmed while folks are living on the other 145 acres. It’s being called “Copper Trails.”  

You can’t outrun Renzo

Modesto Bee. 3 armed carjacking suspects arrested after pursuit by deputies ends in collision.
Synopsis: Stanislaus deputies began chasing a 2010 Volkswagen Beetle in Waterford and finally brought the chase to an end after laying down a spike strip near Empire. Two of those inside the car had guns. Suspect Jon Witt, 36, jumped out of the car and tried to make a run for it; K-9 deputy Renzo was faster. Also arrested were Ben Witt and Nathan Green.

Sciabica’s meatball recipe

Modesto Bee. From Italian meatballs to Christmas jam: Modestans share favorite holiday recipes.
Synopsis: Reporters Maria Figueroa and Dominique Williams write about Gemma Sciabica’s meatballs, made with her company’s olive oil and found in one of the Sciabica’s 5 cookbooks. The Sciabicas also contributed a recipe for walnut pasta, which looks pretty tasty. There’s also Grandma Crocco’s Torte di Riso, Devonshire Corn and Christmas Jam.