Valley Headlines

Gray stands for more storage

Office of Adam Gray. Rep. Gray offers amendment to increase water storage.
Synopsis: Rep. Adam Gray offered an amendment to a spending bill to increase federal funding for water storage projects in the San Joaquin Valley. But he is going against his own party to do it. Clearly frustrated, Gray called Washington “the busiest place I’ve ever worked where nothing gets done.” He pointed out that “political courage is lacking in this institution.” The amendment would provide $8 billion for storage and conveyance projects in the San Joaquin Valley. He provided a list of 24 projects that would increase storage by 2-million-acre feet instead of the 500,000 acre feet favored by Republicans – whose plans are limited to increasing storage in Lake Shasta. He also warned that if Republicans continue trying to “remove food from the mouths of children or cut Medicaid, I will be a hard no.”

Farm bankruptcies are rising

Ag Alert. Farm bankruptcies up 55% from 2023; CA leads nation. 
Synopsis: Farm bankruptcies are up 17% in CA, year over year. That amounts to a total of 6 additional farm bankruptcies. Little noticed in this story is that over the previous four years, farm bankruptcies had fallen to their lowest levels in this century. Meanwhile, an attorney in Fresno County says dairy farmers are in an especially tough bind and many are considering Chapter 7. Almond farmers are looking at Chapter 12 protection. Many growers in the Fresno region blame the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which limits pumping and has crushed the value of land without surface-water resources.

Ag Net West. CA farmland value depreciating.
Synopsis: Story quotes Nick Foglio of Foglio Commodities saying the value of farmland is falling, though holding steady where there is reliable water. He said some families are selling out because they bought the land using adjustable loan rates and now can’t create the cash flow necessary to operate.

Help for farmworkers rejected

Ag Alert. Tax credit aiming to offset overtime dies in committee. 
Synopsis: In a refusal to address the unintended consequences of their overtime law, CA legislators failed to fix the overtime rules for farmworkers. An effort to make OT a deductible expense for farmers was defeated 4-1 in committee on a party-line vote despite having support from labor groups as well as the Farm Bureau. Instead of helping workers, UC studies have shown the new rule hurts workers as farmers hire different crews to replace those who have “timed out.” The average worker brings home about $100 a week less than in previous years.
MAD Take: If there’s a better idea out there to resolve this problem, then Democrats could justify their votes to kill this plan. But that doesn’t appear to be the case. Instead, they appear heartless, cruel and utterly oblivious to the problems the legislature has created for people in our Valley. At the end of the day, it’s not the farmers who are suffering; it’s the farmworkers.

Hendrickson gets promotion

Merced County Times. Board of Supervisors name Hendrickson as interim County Executive.
Synopsis: Mark Hendrickson will temporarily fill the County CEO job vacated by Raul Lomeli Mendez last month. Hendrickson has worked for the county for 20 years, including as director of Community and Economic Development. The board voted 5-0 to hand him the reins. In other board news, Esperanza Pulido, Lisa Coffey, Dora Garcia, the Delhi Parents Committee and Morning Star packing were named the county’s volunteers of the year.

Bublak responds to Gov. Newsom

Turlock Journal. Prioritizing practical solutions that serve Turlock residents first. 
Synopsis: Mayor Amy Bublak responds to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who accused the city council majority of a moral failure in refusing to make even a token gesture to help secure state funding for the We Care shelter. Bublak points to failures on the state level before saying that We Care spends 40% of its funds on administration, well above the national standard of 10% to 15%. She also says the shelter serves too many non-Turlock residents.

Trafficking dust-up explained

Sacramento Bee. The Sacramento political drama over sex trafficking punishment explained.
Synopsis: Columnists Marcos Breton, Tom Philp and Robin Epley weigh in on the shouting match over efforts to punish those caught trying to pay teens for sex. This issue got ugly last week as Democrats fought each other, and Republicans tried to paint virtually every Democrat as a pervert. Bottom line says Epley: “No one here was out to hurt kids. No one seems to realize that the only part of the bill that changed … is the age limit between parties to qualify for a felony: From 5 years to 3 years.” Philp points out that Democratic leadership insisted that all changes were agreed on in advance, making the legislative process “purely performative.” And that’s wrong. As for Republicans, “they made a mountain out of a molehill on this score. Great politics but based mostly on fiction.”

Ceres Courier. Democrats keep stabbing themselves in the throat.
Synopsis: Columnist Jeff Benziger wades into the aforementioned “fiction” and sides with the loudest voices. But then he offers Congressional candidate Javier Lopez some advice on saying difficult words: Practice them before you attempt to pronounce them.

‘Pink Boots’ will be showing off

Turlock Journal. Women brewers focus of 2025 Central Valley Brewfest. 
Synopsis: The Pink Boots Society will feature beer brewed by women in a festival at the Stanislaus Fairground Saturday. In a partnership with Dying Breed and Last Call, Pink Boots founder Vernoica Camp is hosting the 8^th annual festival featuring women brewmasters. It gets started at 1 pm.

Cost of tomatoes rising soon?

Ag Net West. US withdraws from long-standing trade agreement – tomato tariffs to skyrocket.
Synopsis: Starting in July, tomatoes imported from Mexico will carry a 17.09% tariff after Donald Trump withdrew the US from a long-standing agreement that he says will spur domestic tomato production in Florida. Industry observers say that 65% of fresh tomatoes consumed in the US come from Mexico, and the tariffs will do nothing more than raise prices. Worse, many of those growing the tomatoes in Mexico are actually California farmers.

Valley has highest power bills

Fresno Bee. Fresno has highest electric bills in the US; here’s how much people pay and why.
Synopsis: The analysis was provided by CashNetUSA, which looked at the US cities where you pay the most for power. Fresno ranked No. 1, but three CA cities ranked in the top 10. The statewide annual average for electricity is $2,172, but in Fresno the cost is $3,123. That beats Bakersfield ($2,928) and Stockton ($2,790).
MAD Take: This is bad enough, but the survey isn’t even using the latest PG&E rates.

Street Faire ‘outstanding’

Ceres Courier. Thousands enjoy pleasant 35^th Ceres Street Faire.
Synopsis: Lisa Mantarro Moore calls this year’s 35^th annual event “outstanding. … All our vendors reported excellent sales both days, many of them selling out of food items on Sunday afternoon.” The Lions, Chamber and city hosted the event, with a car show, petting zoo and live entertainment. There were roughly 20 awards given to cars, trucks and booths.

CA best place to be a cop

Sacramento Bee. CA named best state to be a police officer; what makes it No. 1?
Synopsis: WalletHub offered this list, saying pay is the best reason to be a cop in California but “solid training that helps minimize the chances of deadly violence” also helps. CA has 82,104 sworn officers, each having received 560 hours of field training. Of all US states, CA spends the most on state and local police, at $22.9 billion. The starting pay of $67,200 per year is ranked only fifth in the nation, but the median annual wage of $85,600 is No. 3. The hourly wage of $53.74 is No. 1.

Housing snags in Patterson, Fresno

Modesto Bee. Housing developer files lawsuit against Patterson over ‘water shortage.’
Synopsis: The developers trying to build the first 800 houses on 1,300 acres adjacent to Patterson are suing the city over its decision to require supplemental environmental impact reports before agreeing to provide water. Keystone Corp. says the city has all the water it needs to make this work and is asking the state to override the city’s demand and approve the development under provisions of SB 330. The city says it is trying to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which limits pumping to the amount of water that can be maintained in an aquifer. It wants the developers to fully fund recharge projects.

Fresno Bee. With $1B price tag, Fresno’s newest growth area gets chopped down to size. 
Synopsis: Columnist Marek Warszawski looks at the unincorporated area of Lonestar along Fowler Ave and Jensen Ave in southeast Fresno. It was thought to be capable of having 45,000 new homes on 9,000 acres someday. Now, that’s been changed after the city said it would take $1 billion to front-load the services needed for that many homes. Mayor Dyer says maybe 15,000 homes would be more appropriate.

A pink cow hanging in Capitol

Modesto Bee. Modesto High School student’s art to hang in US Capitol for a year.
Synopsis: Golden poppies, a pink cow and a burst of sunshine is how Andrea Valencia Zepeda sees her Valley. Her artwork won the hearts of Rep. Adam Gray and the art teachers and professionals who judged the contest. Andrea’s art will hang in the US Capitol with the winners of the other 49 states and territories. She said her work was inspired by her family’s work in agriculture. The contest was open to students in Fresno, Madera, Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties who live in the 13^th District. The story left out San Joaquin, but they entered, too.