Valley Headlines

Dan Walters’s sour grapes

Cal Matters. UC Merced turns 20 years old yet remains CA’s awkward stepchild.
Synopsis: Dan Walters takes another shot at UC Merced, the booming campus now located within the Merced city limits. He writes the campus has “repeatedly failed to meet its campus enrollment targets.” He also notes that each UC Merced student costs the state more than they pay in tuition and the campus costs more than other UCs. Half of UC Merced’s 10,000 students, writes Dan, could have been supported on the other UC campuses that have capacity. Dan quotes himself from 20 years ago, blaming UC for bowing to developers – whom, he says, are still making a killing off the campus location.
MAD Take: So many problems with Dan’s reporting, starting with the stench of sour grapes. Start with the complaint about UC Merced’s enrollment. If half the campus’ students could have been accommodated on other campuses, what about the other 5,000 students – many of them first-generation students – who couldn’t be? Where would they be “accommodated”? And if there is additional capacity at those other UC campuses, why not drench UC Riverside or UC Irvine or UC Davis in similar bile? As for the developers Dan says made a killing developing land around the campus, exactly who is he talking about? The ones who went bankrupt after over-building? Or the “developers” still grazing cattle and raising nuts on the land between the campus and town? Dan Walters is still trying to justify his earlier criticism and prove he was smarter than everyone else in the room – which Dan does every so often to mask the insecurity that has always permeated his smuggest opinions.

Vital river habitat restored

Modesto Irrigation District. Tuolumne River Partners complete habitat restoration.
Synopsis: Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts and the San Francisco PUC put up $8 million to restore 7.5 acres near the La Grange Bridge. It includes instream spawning habitat and 2.5 acres of floodplain restoration that could create a five-fold increase in salmon and trout nesting habitat. Applied River Sciences, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, CA Dept of Fish & Wildlife and Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk all took part. It is part of an $80 million commitment from the river’s three major diverters to create Healthy River Landscapes. By 2030, the districts will work with River Partners and others to develop 77 acres of salmon rearing and floodplain habitat.

Covanta burner has gone cold

Modesto Bee. Stanislaus County garbage burner stops receiving waste from cities; demolition next.
Synopsis: The Covanta incinerator way out Crows Landing Road has stopped operations, ending 36 years of turning refuse into electricity. It was the last remaining waste-to-energy incinerator in the state. Instead of turning garbage into ash, then burying the ash in the adjacent Fink Road Landfill, haulers are now taking the refuse directly to the landfill. This larger volume will reduce the landfill’s lifespan by about 15 years, meaning it will reach capacity in 2040.

Gray in on House revolution

Washington Examiner. 187 shades of Gray: CA Democrat’s win part of major House turnover.
Synopsis: Reporter David Mark describes Merced County’s farmland as “sprawling” then segues to describes the sprawling turnover rate in Congress. Of 70 new members, 15 won defended seats by ousting incumbents. Considering the usual number of new members is around 30 to 40, having 70 new members is a remarkable turnover. Writing for an ultra-conservative publication, Mark finds the GOP loss in CA-13 “particularly agonizing.”

Did raw milk kill the kitties?

Fresno Bee. Raw milk from Fresno dairy linked to cat deaths from bird flu in Los Angeles County.
Synopsis: Apparently, someone fed their cats Raw Farms unpasteurized milk and the caught bird flu – which killed them. Cats are especially susceptible to bird flu. To avoid getting H5N1, or giving it to your cats, health authorities “strongly suggest” consuming only pasteurized milk products.

Farms.com. Bird flu in CA child similar to strain seen in livestock.
Synopsis: The child in Alameda County has had no contact with cows, so it is unknown how it got sick. The child was given antivirals and recovered fully. But scientists are still investigating vigorously because they fear the virus might have found a way to jump human-to-human – which would be a bad thing. The good news: None of the child’s family got sick.

State disaster money goes unspent

Cal Matters. CA got millions to train workers in disaster relief, but it’s leaving money on the table.
Synopsis: After the floods recede, floods of money are often promised to repair disaster damage. But most of that money comes 5, 6 or even 12 months later and the most crucial repairs have already been made. So, the money can’t be spent for the purpose intended. Among the examples offered by reporter Adam Echelman was Planada in Merced County. Echelman wrote that only $4 million of the $20 million state allocation has been spent. He quotes Erick Serrato, director of Merced County Workforce Investment, saying the money arrived too late and federal aid was restricted to repairing only public property even though most of the damage occurred on the community’s 800 private residences.
MAD Take: Echelman points out that most of the state’s $20 million “remains largely unspent due to the county’s planning process.” But there’s more to the story. Forty percent of that money -- $8 million -- was claimed by the county itself. And while county facilities surely needed repair, there is no mention of how that work is coming or how much of the $8M is left. Of the $20 million earmarked for Pajaro, half was claimed by Monterey County.

District’s posh retreats disallowed

GV Wire / SJV Water. Friant agrees to hold water board retreats in Valley, not distant resorts.
Synopsis: Lisa McEwen writes about the Friant Water Authority, which has been hosting annual meetings and retreats in places like the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego and in Paso Robles wine country. Interestingly, those resorts are outside the institutional boundaries, which means going to them violates the Brown Act. Johnny Amaral, the board’s COO, said they’ll meet in Valley resorts from now on – though he thinks the court case was frivolous. Judge Bret Hillman didn’t agree.

Fire stations to remain open

Merced Focus. Leaders approve stopgap agreements to keep Merced, Livingston fire stations open.
Synopsis: Facing budget shortfalls, supervisors made contingency plans to shutter fire stations in Merced and Livingston. Now, they’ve found a way to keep them open for at least another year mainly by having the cities pick up larger portions of staffing costs. If Measure R had passed, the stations would not be in danger.

Ruling silences MID’s Keating

Valley Citizen. Irrigation district board member must pay in anti-SLAPP suit, says judge.
Synopsis: Judge John Mayne required outspoken Modesto ID board member Jancie Keating to pay a $40,000 legal bill after having ruled that her lawsuit against fellow-board member Bob Frobose was frivolous. The district claimed it spent $53,864 defending itself and Frobose. Keating’s attorney argued that was excessive. The judge lowered the bill to $40,000 – a 25% reduction.
MAD Take: Eric Caine, who wrote this story, is often among the wisest voices in the Valley. Not this time. The fight between Keating and Frobose is important precisely because the district was able to effectively silence the only voice from within MID that was demanding transparency and accountability. Who else is willing to discuss MID’s ties to a real estate investor currently under a restraining order? What about the proposed water deal that would help landowners outside the district but cost ratepayers up to $20 million? Janice Keating is the only member willing to draw back the curtains on behalf of 220,000 Stanislaus County residents. If the judge had required Keating to pay only a nominal amount, he could have made his point but not chilled an important voice.

Valley funny guy makes Colbert

Modesto Bee. Central Valley comedian gets debut on Stephen Colbert Show.
Synopsis: Saul Trujillo appeared Tuesday night on network TV. One of the founders of Manteca’s Deaf Puppy Comedy Club, Trujillo was voted “Best Comedian” in the 2013 MAMA awards. He appeared at The State earlier this year and has opened for Felipe Esparza. He riffs on picking cherries and Taco Bell. He’ll have his own special, “Yolanda,” next year.