Valley Headlines

1.7 million Valley eggs recalled

Valley Sun. CA egg company recalls 1.7 million eggs due to salmonella concerns.
Synopsis: Eggs from August Egg Co. in Hilmar, carrying sell-by dates of June 6, and were sold in Walmarts in Nevada and CA. August Egg Co. voluntarily recalled the eggs and has now stopped selling fresh shell eggs and is sending all its eggs to be pasteurized. 
MAD Note: Not in the story, the eggs were sold as brown cage-free and certified organic and the actual number hit 20 million across several brands. The recall was initiated by the FDA and CDC after 79 people were sickened and 21 hospitalized. Brands included Clover, First Street, Nulaid, O Organics, Raley’s, Simple Truth and Sunnyside; they were also sold at Save Mart, FoodMaxx, Lucky, Smart & Final, Safeway, Raley’s and Food 4 Less stores.

$12 million for Crows Landing

Turlock Journal. Stanislaus County invests ARPA funds to advance Crows Landing industrial park.
Synopsis: Stanislaus County supervisors voted to spend $12 million in federal funds to develop the Crows Landing industrial facility between Patterson and Crows Landing. The county acquired the 1,529-acre site from the federal government in 1999 then embraced a plan to create an inland port with rail and air links to the Port of Oakland. That fizzled with the recession and the project has advanced in fits and starts since. In 2018, the county envisioned a 14 million square feet business park with a 370-acre airport and rail connections. The infrastructure phase was estimated to cost $42 million for water lines, storage tanks and pump stations.

Fire makes family ordeal tougher

Fox26. Merced family battles son’s illness and fire devastation; finds hope in community.
Synopsis: Five-year-old Luke Medina-Benson suffers from a rare medulloblastoma cancer of the brain and spine. He also has a serious blood disorder that hampers treatment. Last week, his family’s rental home caught fire and all five are now living in a motel. He is no longer able to walk but Luke “keeps fighting,” said his mother Jallussee. Sam tried to put out the fire, but flames consumed most of Luke’s meds. The family had no renter’s insurance.

Good news for grapes, nuts

Ag Net West. CA table grape season begins with optimism and strong quality.
Synopsis: Ian LeMay, CA Table Grape Commission CEO, says good conditions and strong demand are creating a strong outlook. As with most ag predictions, he is hedging: “We know the frailty of the industry that we operate in. But we’re going into it optimistic.”

Ag Net West. Pistachios surge in global popularity as market outlook strengthens.
Synopsis: Rich Kreps, who chairs American Pistachio Growers, says American nuts are expanding into new markets in India, Brazil and South Korea. From “what we’ve seen around the world, this is by far the hottest nut.” The nut even has its own color, “Pistachio Green,” used in haute couture.

Mayor invites Gov to Turlock

Turlock Journal. Legislative Roundup: Bublak returns fire in feud with Newsom. 
Synopsis: Mayor Amy Bublak has responded to a second round of criticism from Gov. Gavin Newsom over the city’s refusal to show token support for a non-profit facility housing 49 homeless men. She accused the governor of inaccuracy in his “continued public criticism” which is not helpful in creating “the collaboration you claim to seek.” She concluded her open letter by inviting the Governor to Turlock so questions around the We Care Shelter could be answered in public. The controversy involves a state grant for $267,000 that would have kept the shelter operational for six months if the city had made a token show of approval – which Bublak and the council majority refused to do. She says keeping the shelter open would result in unfunded city costs to mitigate impacts on neighborhoods and businesses. … Other political notes: Turlock Unified’s Patrick Shields wants to eliminate the CIF code that guarantees transgender athletes an opportunity to compete. … Rep. Adam Gray and the Blue Dog Coalition are calling out the fiscal irresponsibility of the Big Beautiful (Budget) Bill, which would add roughly $4 trillion to the deficit over 10 years and require severe cuts to Medicaid.

Sex ed fight hits Modesto

Modesto Bee. Modesto City Schools trustee is critical of sex-ed plan for 5^th graders. 
Synopsis: Ken Carlson writes about Jolene Daly, who delivered a “scathing critique of the curriculum” Modesto City Schools is considering for fifth graders. Speaking at Celebration Center church, she said it “oversexualizes 10-year-olds.” The school board will consider two competing programs -- “Puberty Talk for Grades 5 & 6” and “Puberty: The Wonder Years, Grade 5.” A group of 16 educators, parents and board members is recommending the latter. Daly dislikes content that mentions “different sexualities and genders” and wants less latitude for teachers.

Homeless: Tale of 2 cities

Merced Focus. Merced County’s unhoused population dips nearly 15% in 2025. 
Synopsis: The last Point In Time count found a 14.3% reduction in Merced County’s unhoused population, from 837 to 717. The count has ranged from 514 in 2018 to 855 in 2022 with large swings. But only 346 are considered “unsheltered,” meaning they are living on the streets, down from 428 last year. Mayor Matt Serratto says increased shelter capacity and “tough love” led to the improvement. Merced has 200 unsheltered, Los Banos 114 (down from 149) while Livingston has 9, up from 1 last year.

Fresno Bee. Hundreds of Fresno shelter beds at risk without state money, Mayor Dyer says.
Synopsis: Mayor Jerry Dyer led a group of big city mayors to explain how a plan to delay state funding will harm their communities. Dyer said Fresno is at risk of losing 247 shelter beds, including 30 for youth – a 30% reduction in shelter capacity. The most recent PIT count showed a 10% uptick in homeless people in Fresno. Others decrying delays in payments from the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program were LA, San Diego and Riverside.

Legislators OK hidden fees

Cal Matters. CA car buyers face a 600% higher fee under bill Senate just passed. 
Synopsis: Car dealers are currently allowed to charge $50 or $80 for processing the paperwork needed to buy a car – even if you pay cash. But under legislation authored by Sen. Dave Cortese, that fee will rise to 1%, or around $500 on the average car. The Consumers for Auto Reliability & Safety calls this fee what it is -- a hidden junk fee. Dealers say they need the money to cover the cost of preparing loan docs and DMV registration – though such documents have always been involved in buying cars. The real reason, according to some, is that such the fees are being used to paper over the added costs of tariffs. The story includes a list of legislators who voted for the bill in committee and how much they received from the Dealers Assn of CA. In the Valley, Melissa Hurtado did not vote, which constitutes a “no” vote, while Maria Alvarado-Gil and Anna Caballero voted yes. All 7 Republicans voted for it, including those insisting CA is getting too expensive. Democrat Carolyn Menjivar asked: “Why are we looking at helping an industry that is making a healthy profit?”

Another fire in downtown Merced

ABC30. Investigation under way following fire at Merced Thrift store.
Synopsis: A blaze broke out in a thrift store at the corner of U and Main streets, requiring firefighters to enter the building to extinguish it. The business was closed when the fire broke out and it is not yet known what sparked it.
MAD Note: It wasn’t quite a year ago that Minerva’s Furniture Gallery in downtown Merced caught fire suspiciously. And it wasn’t that far away, either.

Turlock honors Abe Rojas

Turlock Journal. Rojas to serve as Independence Day parade grand marshal. 
Synopsis: Abe Rojas was Turlock’s Parks & Rec director, served on the TUSD and YCCD boards and coached all kinds of youth sports. At 90, he will be the parade’s grand marshal. The parade kicks off several days of celebrations culminating in a drone show over Turlock.

Busy time for Valley officers

Modesto Bee. Cal Fire employee arrested at Patterson station in child porn case.
Synopsis: Joseph Trevor Forney, 41, is facing multiple felony charges after the Manteca Internet Crimes Against Children unit uncovered sexually explicit material on his computer. The department was tipped by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Forney was arrested at the Del Puerto station in Patterson.

Merced Sun Star. Solo vehicle rollover crash injures five, including three children.
Synopsis: A Toyota Corolla rolled over around 8:30 pm on Hwy 152 near I-5 as it attempted to take the northbound connector ramp. The three children were not belted in, and two were possibly ejected. The kids were taken to Valley Children’s. 

Merced Golden Wire (Facebook). CHP arrests driver on meth charges.
Synopsis: Friday evening, the CHP pulled over a 2024 Ford Expedition on Hwy 165, and a K-9 officer sniffed out around 50 pounds of meth – worth $680K -- hidden in the car. The driver was booked. 

Changes for Los Banos?

Westside Express. Los Banos public works director will be leaving city; two in running for D1 seat.
Synopsis: Former city manager Josh Pinheiro hired Chuck Bergson as the city engineer and public works director, a position that had once been two jobs. Bergson has been asked to resign so the city can go back to having someone in each position. Bergson’s most recent employment before coming to Los Banos was as city manager of Isleton – one of CA’s smallest cities and most broke. Since his departure, the city has laid off all employees and even sold off its firefighting equipment. Bergson is said to be considering his options; there is no timetable for his replacement. Meanwhile, two women met the deadline for filing to fill the city council seat left vacant by the resignation of Ken Lambert. Voters will choose between Mitzy Perez and Virriy Sanchez.

SJ salmon set a record

SJ River Restoration Program. SJ River set new record for returning adult spring-run salmon.
Synopsis: Exactly 448 salmon were returned to the river this year, the highest number since the program began reintroducing juvenile salmon in 2014. The previous record was 93 in 2021. Because of instream structures, the fish are trapped and brought to the area near Friant for release. 

FishBio. Fighting for floodplains: Evaluating benefits of floodplain habitat for juvenile salmon.
Synopsis: Salmon depend on floodplains to grow strong enough to run the Delta’s gauntlet of rip-rapped channels filled with striped bass. The more floodplain we restore, the more salmon we’ll have say studies like the one recently published in Restoration Ecology. It focused on the Yolo Bypass north of Sacramento, but the conditions are the same wherever restoration takes place.
MAD Take: Floodplain restoration is the one strategy that virtually everyone agrees works – it also restores aquifers, provides fish and fowl habitat and reduces the risk of flooding in nearby communities. But this year’s state budget eliminates funding for floodplain restoration. Why?