Valley Headlines

Weederies being persecuted?

Modesto Bee. 2 Stanislaus cannabis retailers close in a month; what’s to blame?
Synopsis: Kathleen Quinn reports that Cali Kosher closed Thursday and left the county holding the bag on $168,000 in unpaid fees and taxes. Owner Darron Silva’s other two weederies in Patterson and Oakdale will remain open. “The county taxed us out of business,” he said. Lone Palm is also closing, meaning two of the county’s four retail cannabis shops are kaput. Owner Mark Ponticelli says the county is trying to collect $380,000.  “They didn’t want to negotiate. They don’t want to do anything to help any cannabis company.” Jason David of Jayden’s Journey is also on the verge of closing. He started his medicinal shop to help with his son’s severe epilepsy. “We are barely hanging on by a thread,” he said.

Bird flu found in raw milk

Successful Farming. CA finds bird flu virus in raw milk.
Synopsis: Raw Farm has issued a recall after tests found N5H1 in one of its unpasteurized products purchased in a grocery store. The CA Dept of Health says drinking or even touching infected milk could cause illness. Meanwhile, the CDC has confirmed that the child sickened in Alameda County last week had bird flu. The child nor its parents have been on a dairy or poultry farm, so it’s unknown how the child got sick. Bird flu has now been confirmed on 402 dairy farms in CA, about a quarter of the total.

Skeptical about that survey

Fresno Bee. Does Fresno embrace warehouses, distribution centers? What survey doesn’t say.
Synopsis: Columnist Marek Warszawski writes about the opinion survey that was distributed two weeks ago purporting to show that 71% of all Fresnans want more warehouses. First, Marek asks who did the surveying. It was done by “INVEST Fresno,” which, it turns out, is an ad hoc group formed by someone named Ethan Smith. It seems that Ethan works for Newark Group, a hedge fund-backed real estate firm. Ethan has been busy the past couple of years selling warehouse space in Fresno. His most recent sale was a $16,500,000 deal for a 44-acre Amazon site. But why did Ethan get the survey done now? Because next month, the city council will review the South Central Fresno Specific Plan, which includes a LOT of potential warehouse space. Marek’s bottom line: “Before buying into public opinion surveys, always sift through who’s doing the surveying.”
MAD Take: And why they’re doing it.

Another energy outrage

GV Wire. Californians pay sky-high utility rates while subsidizing out-of-state residents.
Synopsis: GV Wire points readers toward an LA Times story that explains how over-production of solar energy actually leads to our power being sold off at a loss in Arizona, New Mexico and elsewhere. In other words, we’re producing so much solar that we’re losing money on it. And those incentives being paid by taxpayers to spur solar-power production? Now they’re being used to encourage those states to take it off our hands. Last year, that cost CA taxpayers at least $69 million. Instead of concentrating on improving the grid, which could enable us to better move power to where it’s needed, the state says it will continue to incentivize more solar production.
MAD Take: This all stems from SB 100, which created artificial incentives for solar production while imposing arbitrary penalties on power created by falling water. Instead of letting the market ease us into a sustainable future, we are now paying for Kevin DeLeon’s backroom deal with solar companies. Adam Gray and our irrigation districts tried to warn the state that something like this could happen, but those pushing hardest for big solar – the Sierra Club and NRDC among them – wouldn’t listen. So, people in the Valley pay to sell power in Arizona then pay the highest utility rates in the continental US when they could have buying power produced at their own dams more cheaply. This is screwed.

Call Madera ‘Tequila Town’

Fresno Bee. Agave spirits made in Madera; college investing in crop’s future distillers, farmers.
Synopsis: Inside an old winery in Madera there’s a 1,000-liter still cranking out Tequilla Fregon. Madera College STEM dean Justin Garcia promises the community college will soon become the “place for distillery science and for agave in particular.” All of this got a kick-start from large-scale farmer Stuart Woolf, who has thousands of the agave plants growing in western Fresno County. The distilling space is expanding to occupy Balbas American Winery.
MAD Take: Says Madera College president Angel Reyna, “Agave is attracting a lot of buzz.” Uh, isn’t that the point?

Power pole catches speeder

Merced Golden Wire. Pursuit ends at a power pole.
Synopsis: A man was captured by Merced PD following a high-speed chase that ended abruptly when he drove his SUV into a power pole. It happened around 8:15 Saturday night. At least one of the three passengers was trapped in the vehicle. PG&E had to disconnect everything before the victim could be removed. Power to nearby customers was cut for several hours. The driver was arrested.

With all the fixings

Turlock Journal. A day of hope.
Synopsis: Joe Cortez reports that 270 families will have plenty to eat on Thanksgiving thanks to Enclave Community Church, which is handing out food boxes filled with stuffing, gravy mix, potatoes, canned food, bread, a frozen turkey and more. Church members and high school students filled each box and others helped deliver them. Recipients were chosen with help of the school district or by invitation. The program was started in 2006 by Chris Scott, then a student at Stan State.

Fox26. Merced’s Catholic Charities to distribute 700 turkeys at drive-through event.
Synopsis: It was first-come, first-served to pick up a meal kit that includes turkey, stuffing, canned cranberries and a lot more handed out by Merced’s Catholics. It happened Monday morning.

Loose dogs kill 11 alpaca

Turlock Journal. Vicious dog pack attacks Turlock alpaca farm.
Synopsis: A pack of at least 6 “free-ranging dogs” broke through a gate into a pasture at Macedo’s Mini Acre farm, killing 11 alpacas and 1 llama. They also injured others in the herd that had numbered 82. The Macedos chased off the dogs, but they returned around 4 am. After that, the family kept watch until the uninjured animals could be moved to another farm. It’s the first time the owners have had trouble with roaming dogs. Animal control says it has caught two, but others are still roaming. Wild dogs, says Macedo, are the No. 1 killers of alpacas and sheep. Maureen Macedo says she’s not sure the farm – long a destination for school kids and even “alpaca yoga” events – will ever recover.

Salmon in downtown Campbell

NBC Bay Area. Salmon make way to South Bay creek, draw crowds.
Synopsis: Chinook are being seen in downtown Campbell, drawing crowds to bridges overlooking several creeks. At least 30 salmon – some larger than 45 inches -- are looking for places to spawn. The city has hurriedly put up “No Fishing” signs and urged residents to let the fish go upstream unmolested. But the scene is so unusual that some of the homeless have been pushing shopping carts into the creeks to catch them.