Valley Headlines

Watching tonight’s CA-13 debate

KRON4. How to watch the CA 13^th Congressional District debate.
Synopsis: Tonight’s trick-or-treat debate will be in the Fox40 studio in Sacramento from 7 to 8 p.m. with no audience. Sacramento’s Nikki Laurenzo (Fox40) and Fresno’s Brian Dorman (CBS47) will be moderating. In Fresno, it will be on CBS47.

Fox26. Talking politics with UC Merced political science professor Nathan Monroe, Ph.D. 
Synopsis: Fox 26 asked the co-founder of the Center for Analytical Political Engagement at UC Merced to talk about the upcoming election – how many have already voted, local trends and more.

Ag’s demise is overstated …

GV Wire. Ag recession? Years of plenty may be over, but reality isn’t as bleak as painted.
Synopsis: Reporter Edward Smith looks at the angst created by the failures of ag companies like Prima Wawona, Vintage Wine Estates, the Assemi family’s $1 billion farming operation, Trinitas and others. The pandemic-fueled recession created part of this, but so did changing consumer tastes. Now, however, ag could be turning the corner. “Price of almonds is up here in the past couple of months, as is walnuts; interest rates are dropping, so we’re seeing a light at the end of the tunnel,” said Doug Phillips, a land broker. While farm income is down from its 2022 peak, it’s still well above where it was in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Trade wars, sparked by tariffs, heavily impacted farm income in CA. The recent drop in land prices is due to institutional investors backing away and local investors being unwilling to touch anything that doesn’t have reliable water. Wells Fargo’s lead economist says land valuations from 2022 were “ridiculous,” but the recent drop in bond yields could push more investors into land.

… So is the demise of salmon

Cal Matters. A third straight year with no CA salmon fishing? Early fish counts say it could happen.
Synopsis: Though it’s early, reporter Alastair Bland writes that there are too few returning salmon to Coleman National Fish Hatchery on Butte Creek near the Sacramento River. He writes this “unwelcome news mirrors last year’s numbers.” Deep in the story, he notes there are a lot of “jack salmon” in the count, an indicator that there could be a lot more salmon in the ocean. One fisherwoman said she switched to fishing for black cod, shrimp, and rock fish when salmon were declared off limits. He notes only 69,000 spawning salmon were counted in 2022 but does not provide a 2023 number.
MAD Take: Bland begins his story comparing farmers who count almond blossoms to predict a crop to commercial fishers counting spawning salmon on Butte Creek. But what if the farmer counts only one tree? She might get a faulty count. Wonder why salmon are not returning to the Coleman Hatchery on Butte Creek? Bland never mentions the PG&E sediment spill on Butte Creek just last year, or that salmon might recognize some residual contamination. (Hey, I’m just trying to think like a salmon.) Meanwhile, on the Mokelumne, the 2023 record run is already being eclipsed as thousands of salmon are swimming past the hatchery. While we have no returns from other areas, it should be noted that last year there were also record returns on Olema Creek, Redwood Creek, Point Reyes Creek, Pine Gulch Creek and Cheda Creek with 50% higher returns on Putah Creek. As always, Bland gives the last word to the Golden State Salmon (Killers) Association, which claims the Sacramento River has been “sterilized.” Seriously? It's true there were only 69,000 spawners in 2022, but the Pacific Fishery Management Council said there were 133,638 spawners on the “sterilized” Sacramento system in 2023 – a year after salmon killing was banned. And over on the San Joaquin, there were another 35,908 meaning 181,488 spawners for both rivers – low by historical standards, but the best number in five years and second-best in 10. And that number does not count coastal creeks and rivers where fish showed up for the first time in generations. I won’t bother providing a link to Bland’s story.

You can’t intimidate all voters

KSEE / CBS47. Fresno Democrats receive threatening letters for having Harris signs.
Synopsis: The letters were sent from a phony group using a fictional address. But someone collected the addresses and then mailed the letters saying houses identified as Harris supporters will be used as a “sanctuary residence” once the new regime is in place. One recipient calls it “un-American.” The deeply conservative Fresno County sheriff was notified. “I’m not going to bow down to cowards,” said one woman. “I’m a mother of seven with six daughters, and I will not stand for living in the 1700s again.”

The heroes of healthcare

Turlock Journal. Honoring local healthcare heroes. 
Synopsis: There were 100 folks at LaMo Tuesday as the Legacy Health Endowment honored 10 people as Healthcare Heroes. Among them were Erin Nelson of Jessica’s House; foster parents Yolanda and Ruben Aldama, Rick and Jasmine Burns and Kim and Fred Estrada; Dr. Jennifer Leoniak, an infectious disease specialist; Chris Martin, Denair school nurse; and Teresa Hodges, executive director of United Cerebral Palsy of Stanislaus.

Now a pig has gotten bird flu

Successful Farming. US detects H5N1 bird flu in a pig for the first time.
Synopsis: Just when we thought we could see the light at the end of the tunnel (Colorado cows are bird-flu free), here comes more bad news. A pig in Oregon has tested positive for bird flu. The last time something similar happened was in 2009. While it won’t make humans sick, pigs on commercial farms are kept in extremely close quarters, meaning disease spreads at warp speed. That’s how an outbreak of African Swine Fever decimated the Chinese pig population a few years ago. But this pig lives on a small farm where it roams freely. Fingers crossed.
MAD Note. One of the reasons even meat-eating activists supported California’s Prop 12 is that it provides pigs more room to move around and to stay away from each other when sick. John Duarte is one of 37 Congressmen to sign the House EATS Act, which makes state laws like Prop 12 illegal and takes away the right of California voters to enact them. It would also set the stage for mass pig die-offs like the one in China that prompted the WH Group to buy up one of Duarte’s benefactors – Smithfield Foods.

If you really want more water

CA Policy Center. Ways CA can have abundant water.
Synopsis: Edward Ring writes about his failed effort to dedicate 2% of the state’s general fund to increasing the water supply until we added 5-million-acre feet. Environmental groups hated the plan. Ring insists (rightly) that: 1) Abundance is sustainable. 2) Reasonable environmentalism is compatible with abundance. 3) We need an all-of-the-above approach to more water. 4) State, federal and private funding is needed. 5) Urban and rural districts must unite. He notes we had plenty of water this year as 10.3 million acre feet flowed out of the Delta into the ocean in just three months – January-March. At the same time, 1.3 MAF was pumped south, even as environmental extremists screamed. Ring is suggesting a giant French Drain on a Delta island, so up to 15 TAF can be diverted daily without causing any environmental damage. It would cost only $3 billion, or about an eighth of the Tunnel.

Fresno County controversies

Fresno Bee. Yokuts Valley road sign vandalized for second time in a month: ‘It’s disgraceful.’ 
Synopsis: Someone in the city of 2,691 is angry over the name change from Squaw Valley. The official state sign put up in September has been stickered and painted over and someone tried to knock it down (but failed). “It only takes one person to make the whole community look bad,” said one resident. Supervisor Nathan Magsig, who fought the name change, will take a look at the situation later. Resident Rick Fischer says the controversy is giving the friendly town a bad reputation.

Fox26. Fresno County supervisor opposes proposed Range of Light National Monument.
Synopsis: A national monument celebrating Ansel Adams’ famous instructions on how to take stunning black-and-white photos – they must contain the full range of light, from total black to total white – would encompass 1.4 million acres in the area between Yosemite and Kings Canyon. Nathan Magsig, also in the news for ignoring the renaming of Squaw/Yokuts Valley, is worried that such a designation would outlaw off-road vehicles, logging and other uses. Proponents say it would create 2,800 jobs and $287 million annually in economic activity.

Levee at risk of failing

Sacramento Bee. San Joaquin County declares state of emergency due to risk of levee failure.
Synopsis: County engineers found a levee “slumping” near Old River on Hwy 4, which crosses the county just north of CA-13. If it fails, it could destroy a section of highway, flood an important island, endanger new homes and compromise Contra Costa County drinking water. So far, $1 million has been spent to shore up the levee, but it’s not working.

Saving the world’s cutest rabbit

Modesto Bee. We tag along as rabbit vet vaccinates an endangered species at Modesto-area refuge.
Synopsis: Roughly 25 years ago, biologists believed there were only 100 riparian brush rabbits left in the wild along the Stanislaus and San Joaquin rivers. Thanks to protections, they have rebounded. But now there is a new threat, rabbit hemorrhagic disease. So, Deana Clifford of the CDF&W led 20 folks onto the San Joaquin River National WR to “gently capture” a few rabbits and inoculate them. Last year, there were an estimated 3,532 rabbits in the refuge, but this year only 352 – though miscounts have happened before.