Valley Headlines

Vineyards being abandoned

Fresno Bee. SJ Valley farmers face wine industry downturn; vineyards being abandoned.
Synopsis: Reporter Robert Rodriguez talks to Allied Grape Growers’ Jeff Bitter and learns that 30,000 acres of vineyards are being “mothballed” – which is not the same as abandoned, but just untended and unirrigated. “There is a feeling of desperation out there,” said Bitter. Last year, wine sales fell 6% from 2023, which was down from 2021. Now, an unstable export market is lowering expectations further. An estimated 15% to 25% of winegrapes don’t have buyers statewide. Experts say the downturn will continue into 2027. A lot of former grape growers are becoming pistachio farmers.

Westside Connect / Ag Alert. Abandoned crops bring pest plague to adjacent farms. 
Synopsis: The Westside Connect picked up the Ag Alert story focused on Randy Baranek, a project manager for Waterford-based Fowler Brothers Farming. “Everywhere you turn there’s an abandoned vineyard,” he said. “It’s a mess.” The farmers who once kept the vineyards (and a few orchards) going for three years have accumulated losses that make continuing untenable. Burning bans have meant the dead vines and trees are left in place and now they’re becoming hosts for pests – from navel orangeworm to moth larvae to fungus. “If you’re right next door” to an abandoned orchard, “you’ve got to spend more because you get a lot of pest pressure,” said one farmer. Then there are the rats. AB 732 would allow county ag commissioners to fine landowners up to $500 an acre to remedy nuisances. The Farm Bureau figures that’s a good idea.

Cracking down on bad landlords

Merced Sun Star. Merced considers putting tougher rules on landlords. 
Synopsis: Reporter Caleb Sprous talked to Shane Smith about the “disturbing” condition of apartments in Merced – black mold, water damage, cockroaches. Now, “chronic offenders” are going to be penalized as the city moves to upgrade rentals. If a landlord gets three violations in a year, their property can be deemed unhabitable. Sarah Boyle is onboard; city attorney Craig Cornwell is writing the ordinance.

What’s happening at Castle?

ABC30. CalFire opens first Central Valley training facility in Atwater. 
Synopsis: Cal Fire opened its fourth training complex in the state on Monday, this one at Castle Airport. Students will be certified in the latest fire suppression techniques while learning the characteristics of wildfire. The Cal Fire facility is next to the Merced County Fire Dept Castle Training Center, which opened in 2022. The facility will train firefighters from across the state, according to Cal Fire.

Merced County Times. Special Report: Auto tech center impacts Castle Airport.
Synopsis: Freelancer Robin Shepard talks to Jeff Sweet, who managed the airport for 11 months, for part two of this series. Sweet says former development director and current County CEO Mark Hendrickson told him to bring in aviation companies but then refused to help. “Basically, I was 10 years too late for that job,” said Sweet. He says county supervisors and Hendrickson aren’t really interested in developing the airport. In his first installment, Shephard relied heavily on former Atwater mayor Jim Price – who is, like Sweet, disgruntled. Price is quoted again for this story. Shepard quotes Supervisor Daron McDaniel but doesn’t appear to have talked to him. The quotes are from an interview in the Times done in 2024.

UC class of ’29 breaks record

SF Chronicle. UC admits more CA freshmen than ever – but fewer at top campuses. 
Synopsis: UC has admitted 100,947 students – a record – for all of its campuses this fall. It accepted 77% of applicants. Most of those acceptances are for the Merced, Riverside, Davis and Santa Cruz campuses. UC Merced saw “a whopping 71.9% surge in admissions of in-state students after a 45% increase in applications.” If all chose to attend, it would mean 41,785 students would descend on Merced in September – which won’t happen. Riverside saw a 46% bump, having admitted 53,579 students. Throw in out-of-state students, and the UCs admitted 149,368 students. Typically, only about 9% of accepted students enroll at UC Merced or Riverside.

Hidden costs of losing a dam

SF Gate. Will dismantling a dam for one CA river doom another?
Synopsis: PG&E has submitted plans to remove the two dams on the Eel River that make up the Potter Valley Project. The dams created Lake Pillsbury and typically divert water to the Russian River. PG&E admits in its documentation that decommissioning Scott Dam will drain Lake Pillsbury and that will create “unavoidable adverse effects” on farmers and ranchers in the Russian River Valley, which have relied on the water since 1922. Salmon advocates on the Eel say water is needed there to restore populations. Other environmentalists say draining the lake will deprive osprey and bald eagles of crucial hunting areas and could strand protected Tule elk in sediment. The Lake County treasurer says losing the lake will cost the region $1 million a year, which can “hardly be characterized as negligible.”

Do-it-yourself teriyaki

Modesto Bee. New teriyaki restaurant opening in Modesto; how to get free bowls for a year.
Synopsis: Teriyaki Madness will open in the Wood Colony Plaza on Pelendale on Friday – the first of 160 franchise locations planned for the Valley. The restaurants feature “do-it-yourself” teriyaki allowing patrons to assemble bowls with all their favorites ingredients and none of the stuff they hate. BTW, “a year” of teriyaki bowls amounts to 24 free meals, according to the restaurant. To win one, be among the first five in line on Friday.

Bee: Stop Trump at all costs

McClatchy Newspapers. Should CA redraw congressional districts to derail Trump? It may have to.
Synopsis: The combined editorial boards of the Sacramento and Fresno Bees and the San Luis Obispo Tribune hold their collective nose and say that bad politics might be necessary to avoid worse politics. In  “this extreme circumstance” the governor is right to redraw congressional districts to counter a similar move in Texas. But in California, unlike Texas, that requires taking the redistricting process away from the citizen committee and such a move would be “earth-shaking.” The Bee says Gov. Gavin Newsom’s arguments “are compelling” to “avert more Trumpian chaos.” As the editors write: “It’s a dirty fight, to be sure, but what’s the alternative?”
MAD Take: No mention of the impacts on Valley districts and the people in those seats. Adam Gray has spent the past seven months putting enormous effort into learning and meeting the needs of voters – red and blue -- in a vast purple district that was redrawn for the 2022 election. There will be a political cost if those lines are redrawn yet again. Disenfranchising 35% of California voters is a bad plan.

LA Times. Political ploy or bold move to save democracy? Columnist debate redistricting threat.
Synopsis: Columnists Mark Barabak and Anita Chabria go back and forth and back again in discussing pros and cons of redrawing California’s congressional districts. Gov. Gavin is “surfing a political wave” says Chabria. But, says Barabak, this is “nothing more than a partisan headline-grabber.” But “gerrymandering becomes a form of peaceful resistance.” And finally, “Those who fight fire with fire risk getting badly burned.”

ICE lied in making arrests

Guardian. Dropped cases against LA protesters reveal false claims from federal agents.
Synopsis: ICE and Border Patrol agents made false and misleading statements in their reports about many of the protesters they detained in LA in June. So far, only 26 people have been charged with “impeding” or “assaulting” officers. In 8 cases, all charges were dropped due to misleading or inaccurate reports. Some of those dropped charges appear to be “the result of an unusual series of missteps by the justice department” under the direction of Bill Essayli. Of the 9 cases filed within a day of the first protest, 7 were dropped. In cases that led to detention of protesters, 5 were dropped when agents were found to have fabricated events captured on video. One person was accused of shoving an officer when the exact opposite was shown in the video. One indictment named the wrong person. Most of those arrested were Latino. Former prosecutors say it is unusual for charges to be filed then dismissed before reaching court. A former state prosecutor says it appears arrests were simply “a way to detain people, hold them in custody, instill fear and discourage people from exercising their first amendment rights.”
MAD Take: As infuriating as it is that officers fabricated charges, it is heartening to know they are being found out. Apparently, there are safeguards that are working.

Politico. The state where immigration raids are becoming a problem for Republicans.
Synopsis: Having unidentifiable armed and masked men sweep into neighborhoods is beginning to put conservatives on edge. Republican state Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares has written a letter urging the administration to stop arresting working people. Six of her 29 legislative colleagues signed her letter. GOP strategist Jon Fleischman says the “waters are getting more muddied” because enforcement has moved away from the border. “Whether you’re Valadao or Young Kim or anyone else … trying to embrace the center necessarily means that you may alienate the right.” Meanwhile, as their businesses are harmed, Republicans are getting angry. As one put it, “the only reason (an employee is) undocumented is because America has failed to provide a program for them be here legally.”
MAD Take: Republicans insist this is a “both sides” problem without admitting that three years ago both sides -- Republicans and Democrats -- worked together to create a bill that would protect workers while providing stronger border enforcement. Donald Trump demanded that Republicans not vote for it so that he would have a campaign issue. Don’t take my word for it, the Brookings Institute says the same thing. Adam Gray has reintroduced that legislation with several Republican co-sponsors.

Dolly, the headless Rocker

Patterson Irrigator. Headless doll causes stir at Walmart.
Synopsis: Someone set up a doll-sized rocking chair in the Walmart parking lot in Patterson. Sitting in the chair was a headless doll dressed in a pink dress and holding a black plastic bag. Employees were spooked and called police. Bomb-squad protocols were followed, but officers found nothing posing any danger. Some folks online wondered “if there was a connection to the recent death of a paranormal investigator who allegedly died while in possession of a ‘haunted doll.’” Haunted doll? That would Annabelle.