Valley Headlines

Valley rushes to help in LA

Merced Focus. Merced County firefighters respond to devastating SoCal wildfires.
Synopsis: Assistant fire chief Mark Pimentel led a contingent of eight Merced firefighters into the inferno Wednesday as personnel from across the state responded. Two engineers from Merced will assist with drone surveillance, and a battalion chief will lead an engine strike team to battle house fires. Additional equipment has also been dispatched. CalFire has sent at least 60 firefighters south from its Madera-Merced-Mariposa unit. The five separate fires are expanding rapidly.

Cal Matters. LA County wildfires underscore CA’s growing threat of disaster.
Synopsis: Dan Walters checks in on the feud between “Donald Dump” and “Gavin Newscum.” Of the two, Trump has created a more vivid fantasy world in which the Governor rejected a water plan that Trump says could have helped California avoid the fires. But as Walters points out, the fires are driven by unusual winter drought conditions and normal Santa Ana winds. There is no lack of water, only inadequate pumping facilities to get the water where it’s needed. The real danger, says Walters, are the increases in insurance fees that are certain to follow the flames.

SF Chronicle. Dry hydrants, grounded aircraft: LA struggled to get enough water to fight fires.
Synopsis: The hydrants ran dry and the fire-created weather grounded the water tankers, leaving the Palisades Fire to rage. The head of LA’s public utilities said there are four million-gallon tanks in the Pacific Palisades area, but even such a large system is not designed to fight such a massive fire. Because of demand on the trunk system, the water wasn’t getting to the tanks so they could be refilled. The Dept of Water & Power sent 20 tankers into the area, but they carry only 4,000 gallons each.

Actor thanks Fresno firefighters

Fox26. Hollywood actor Dennis Quaid gives shoutout to Fresno Fire for saving his home.
Synopsis: There are 4,700 firefighters from across the state assisting the LA County department, along with 6 air tankers, 31 helicopters and 1,000 engines on scene. Among those is a crew from Fresno that was assigned to the area where Quaid lives. He introduced himself, learned their names then called them out for saving his home. “They’re the guys that are running in, when everybody else is running out. They made a difference right here in my block.”

Will excess trees become power?

Modesto Bee. Valley air advocates question plan to generate power from wood pellets.
Synopsis: Especially dense forest in Tuolumne and Lassen counties will be thinned and the wood turned into pellets to power generation facilities. Those pellets will be shipped by rail to the Port of Stockton and exported. Developed by nonprofit Golden State Natural Resources, the plan is to reduce wildfire risk and lessen the reliance on coal and oil. The NRDC says this project “must be stopped” because, among other issues, it will eventually consume 25% of the port’s current capacity. So why not just burn the pellets here? Carolyn Jhajj says no one in the US really understands the pellets-to-power plan, but maybe someday. GSNR was formed by the Rural County Representatives of California and funded by the Golden State Financing Authority. The pellets would be transferred from the Sierra Northern Railway line onto BSNF in Riverbank.

Fewer new students at UCM

Merced Sun Star. UC Merced sees decline in new student fall enrollment.
Synopsis: Despite an increase at UC campuses across the rest of the state, there were 310 fewer undergraduates enrolling in the fall of 2024 than in the fall of 2023 – a drop of 11%. That’s the largest decline since 2006. The university offered all the usual caveats – highest number of first-gen students, highest number of financial-aid recipients, etc. But the drop in enrollment was disappointing. Of UC Merced’s 2,318 new students, 95.7% were Californians.

Los Banos council adds 2

Westside Express. Los Banos city council at full strength as Sanders, Chavez fill empty seats.
Synopsis: Self-described full-time commuter Evan Sanders and Morning Star team leader Marcus Chavez were chosen to fill the seats that voters emptied by recalling Brett Jones and Doug Begonia Jr. in November. They join reformers Mike Amabile and Deborah Lewis on a council that includes Ken Lambert – who tried to throw a wrench into the proceedings. The council had decided the week prior to use a two-step, weighted voting process to choose new members. But in the first vote, Lambert refused to comply. It wasn’t until city attorney Bill Vaughn explained that Lambert’s vote would be rejected that he caved in.

Planada lawsuit survives

ABC30. Lawsuit filed by Merced County flood victims moving forward.
Synopsis: ABC30’s excellent coverage of the Planada floods continues as it follows a ruling Tuesday that residents can sue the state. Residents claim the CA Dept of Fish & Wildlife knew – or should have known – that big floods were coming, and thus should not have delayed the granting of permits to clear debris and brush along the county’s streambeds. It was debris and brush that backed up Mile Creek, which jumped its banks and swamped Planada.

Modesto’s new Hindu temple

Modesto Bee. New, bigger home and new priest with ‘extraordinary’ past for Hindu Temple.
Synopsis: The Hindu Temple of Modesto has moved from its cramped quarters on Tully Road to the old College Avenue Church of Christ. The 50 families who attend the temple raised the $1.5 million for the purchase, led by former Stan State professor Harish Mehra and his wife Vidhu. Naveen Sharma is the new priest. He spent nearly 9 years living alone in a cave. He is now responsible for adorning the gods, singing, talking and teaching yoga.

More hot air from activist

Maven / C-WIN. Bay-Delta Plan is against the law.
Synopsis: Max Gomberg insists the state-and-federal Bay-Delta plan violates state law. He says the state should negate all water rights, declare itself in charge of every river and dedicate all its power to furthering environmental goals.
MAD Take: Anything coming out of C-WIN must be taken with a boulder of salt. Spokesman Gomberg is the former state water board employee who sabotaged state water policies from within, then acted the martyr when forced to resign. Now he’s insisting the state should use authoritarian power to pursue his priorities – which do not include growing food. He calls Voluntary Agreements “morally indefensible,” ignoring the fact that all progress being made in salmon habitat restoration on this region’s rivers is due to those agreements.

Border Patrol sweeps Valley

Fresno Bee. Border patrol detains dozens of immigrants in Valley, advocates say.
Synopsis: US Customs and Border Protection swept into Kern County, alarming folks as video went viral on TikTok and elsewhere. There was no data on who or how many were detained. ICE and local law enforcement said they were not involved. The UFW says 192 people were detained in Kern County on Monday and Tuesday. The ACLU said it didn’t want to “alarm folks, but it’s happening.” When questioned, the Border Patrol says its targets were smugglers. But one TikTok video showed agents pulling workers out of trees in a mandarin grove. Another showed 15 people being gathered in a Home Depot parking lot.  

Fox26. Border Patrol apprehends 2 child rapists in Kern County.
Synopsis: The Border Patrol sector chief went on Instagram to announce that his team had caught two child-rapists and confiscated a lot of weed. He offered no details on who the rapists are or if they’ve ever been convicted or where. As for the weed, photos showed quite a large haul.

Crash survivor’s plight

Ceres Courier. Lourenco daughter faces uphill recovery.
Synopsis: Emma Lourenco is the sole survivor of the crash that killed her mother, Jennifer, father and two siblings. She suffered severe brain injuries and will require long-term rehab and ongoing intensive care. Her uncle is hopeful, but grimly realistic. A month after the accident, “she is able to respond to basic commands and she is able to move fingers and toes.” He says his family is having difficulty emotionally processing the tragedy. He thanked Jennifer’s coworkers at Ceres Unified and members of Our Lady of the Assumption Church for their fundraising efforts.

GOP infighting gets nasty

GV Wire. Chaos reigns at Fresno GOP as 2 leaders are voted in.
Synopsis: Reporter David Taub looks at the turmoil as two different groups of Fresno County Republicans fight for control of their party. The central committee voted 16-15 to keep Liz Kolstad as chair. But the 15 disappointed members walked out and selected Peter Halajhian to lead them. Kolstad says all will be forgiven if those rebels return to the fold. But Halajhian’s backer – supervisor Garry Bredefeld – says Kohstad “should be ashamed of herself” and says she stole the election, calling it “an absolute, complete disgrace.” The Fresno County Young Democrats found it all very entertaining.