Valley Headlines

Why so many suicides in Valley?

Merced Focus. Suicide among leading causes of Valley deaths.
Synopsis: The suicide rate in the eight-county San Joaquin Valley is “significantly” higher than the state, writes Tim Sheehan. Each year, roughly 10.8 people per 100,000 commit suicide in our Valley. Across all of California, it’s 9.4 per 100,000 meaning our Valley numbers are 15% higher than the state. “It’s a huge problem,” said Amanda Nugent Divine of Kings View Behavioral Health in Fresno. The number is so high that suicide is among the 15 most common causes of death in the last 7 years – about the same as kidney disease and Parkinson’s. Victims range from under 14 to over 80 and include white, Black, Asian and Native Americans, though most were white. Suicides are 4x more likely to be men. There are 30 suicides for every 100,000 veterans in the Valley or triple the rate for everyone else. San Joaquin, Fresno and Kern have the highest rates; Kings has the lowest.

Two prize-winning pizzas

Morning Ag Clips. 12 professional chefs named finalists in making pizza with Real CA Cheese.
Synopsis: The Milk Advisory Board announced its 12 finalists for the most innovative pizza recipes using Real CA Cheese. Of the 12, eight are in California. In the Innovative Wildcard category, Ryan Mondragon’s Sanctuary Pizza in Modesto is one of four finalists along with Hella Pie Pizza in Tracy. There are also pizzas from Pleasanton, San Leandro, Oceanside, Dana Point and Lompoc in different categories. The big pizza bake-off will be July 29 in Napa. The winner in each category gets $5,000.

How a water deal went bad

SJV Water. Deal that relied on Kern County water for housing 200 miles away sours.
Synopsis: Water writer Lois Henry does a tremendous job figuring out how the deal between Western Hills Water District (aka Diablo Grande) and the Kern County Water Agency was supposed to work but didn’t. She notes that the water used in Diablo Grande’s 600 homes doesn’t come from Kern County, but from the agency’s State Water Project allocation and moved south through the California Aqueduct. Most importantly, she points out that the community used only 19,500 of the 105,200-acre feet it contracted to buy back in 2005. “That means Western Hills had excess water – up to 86,022-acre feet – that went somewhere. What happened to that water?” After working through all the past machinations of the water deal, she compares Western to “Ebeneezer Scrooge – haunted by the ghosts of its past, present and future.”

ABC10. Diablo Grande residents face water shutoff without massive rate hike approval. 
Synopsis: The development in the foothills west of Patterson will have to raise rates from $145 a month to $569 to avoid having its water turned off by the Kern County Water Agency. The agency says the community has until June 30 to make up its mind. KCWA says the community stopped paying its water bills in 2019 and now owes $13 million. Stanislaus County officials say their hands are tied in the deal. The state calls it a “local matter” and won’t help.  

Another scheme to sell water

PPIC. Groundwater markets 101.
Synopsis: The PPIC continues its crusade to convince people that selling groundwater is a great way to conserve it. The only reason it isn’t working, says writer Bradley Franklin, is that the state has too many obstacles to making sales. He’s hoping to “demystify water markets: to “help farmers adjust” to the thought of selling their water.
MAD Take: Well-funded organizations have long insisted that the “market” can solve all our water problems. These sometimes well-meaning people believe a properly constructed and regulated market can serve all sorts of altruistic purposes. OK. That’s why Enron was such a wonderful corporate partner when CA instituted “markets” to deregulate energy use. Enron’s CEO must have gone to prison for altruistic reasons. If water becomes a commodity sold to the highest bidders, farmers will inevitably be priced out at some point in the life of an almond tree or even a tomato. It will mean the wholesale change of how agriculture is done in our Valley. We can alter the Modesto arch to read: “Water Wealth For Sale.”

Fresno ‘folds’ in park lawsuit

GV Wire. ‘They folded,’ Terance Frazier says after city halts Granite Park eviction attempt.
Synopsis: Reporter David Taub reports on the city’s 10-year effort to remove Central Valley Community Sports Foundation from the Granite Park Sports Complex in Fresno. The city and CVCSF were supposed to be in court Monday, but the city has withdrawn its lawsuit. CVCSF founder Terance Frazier says, “they folded. … Why? Because they knew they were going to lose.”
MAD note: Frazier is married to Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria.

Sex-ed curriculum approved

Modesto Bee. Modesto board approves 5^th-grade sex ed curriculum amid strong debate.
Synopsis: City Schools trustees voted 5-2 in front of a packed board room Monday night to approve the fifth-grade sex-ed curriculum with the addition of information about human trafficking and internet safety. Jolene Daly and Cindy Marks voted no. The approved courses cover hygiene, nutrition, growth, internet safety, social influences, communication and relationships. Of the 62 people who signed up to speak, at least 21 were there to support the program including a doctor and mental health professionals. Those against it questioned the need to teach about sex at all and another said some of material amounted to indoctrination. Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil sent a statement opposing the curriculum. Trustee Abel Maestas said he has a fifth grader and would be comfortable talking to his child about everything in the material.

Drivers kept ‘license to kill’

Cal Matters. They were convicted of killing with their cars; no one told the CA DMV. 
Synopsis: A CalMatters investigation found CA’s courts “have failed to report hundreds of vehicular manslaughter convictions” to the DMV over the past 5 years, allowing “roadway killers to improperly keep their driver’s licenses.” As CalMatters started asking questions, county courts became motivated and started issuing orders to surrender licenses. Reporters found 400 cases over 5 years in which convictions were not added to DMV records, meaning the courts never saw them. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. In LA County, a third of manslaughter convictions were missing. A few counties, including Fresno, admitted their errors and started sending out orders. This same issue arose in the 1990s when police agencies raised a stink. There are several cases of killers getting in more accidents after their convictions.

Bureau: Show some compassion

Ag Alert. CA Farm Bureau urges common-sense, compassionate approach to immigration.
Synopsis: The Farm Bureau says it is “closely monitoring” the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement activities and has asked that raids on farms be stopped. “To be clear, the CA Farm Bureau stands with the men and women who plant, cultivate, harvest and process the crops that make CA the leading producer of fruits, vegetables and nuts in the United States,” said bureau’s senior policy advocate Bryan Little. The ICE and Border Patrol raids have “caused disruptions” on farms. The bureau is asking the Trump administration to focus on “bad actors or lawbreakers, not our valuable and essential farm employees.”

They’re ‘scared to be brown’

LA Times. ‘Scared to be brown’: CA residents fearful amid immigration raids.
Synopsis: Thousands, if not millions, believe immigration agents are detaining people based on the color of their skin.  The host of LA radio program “The Cruz Show”, says “You’re scared to be brown.” The Dept of Homeland Security denies racial profiling, but no one in the community believes that. Many US citizens have started carrying passports. As one third-generation lawyer put it, “To my brothers and sisters – I’m so sorry. This country is failing you.” Filipinos are also being picked up. A group of Native Americans reported threats from ICE agents in a letter to nine Congressional Democrats. Among those who have been detained by ICE is a US marshal, a church pastor, dozens of veterans and active-duty military. LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis says she feels her community is “under siege.” She said that during COVID Asians were targeted, “now it’s Latinos.” A pastor who works on the border observed “no one from Ukraine, no one from Russia is being detained and deported. And they shouldn’t be.” Instead, people from Central and South America are targeted. Said one Latino: “People like to allude to Nazi Germany and it kind of is. Capture first, ask questions later.”

LA Times. Most nabbed in LA raids were men with no criminal convictions, picked up off streets.
Synopsis: LA has become the epicenter of President Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants with criminal records. But a review of early data shows that of 722 men arrested, 499 had no criminal record or any previous contact with police. Of the others, 11.4% were convicted criminals and 0.6% had charges pending. The DHS insists “we know who we are targeting ahead of time.” The Cato Institute says only 7% of those swept up by ICE are “violent offenders” and the vast majority of those with criminal records have only immigration violations.
MAD Note: If lying to the public was a crime, ICE would have to arrest themselves.

A torch for Special Olympics

Ceres Courier. Police hold Torch Run Special Olympics fundraiser.
Synopsis: Chief Trenton Johnson was among those who helped kick off the Special Olympics of Northern California with a fundraising run Wednesday. There were similar runs throughout Northern CA. The games will be this weekend at Santa Clara University. Lt. Jeff Godfrey organized the event with officers from Modesto, Turlock, Ceres and Oakdale and the Stanislaus Sheriff’s Office running. Ceres PD kept its 4-year streak alive by raising the most money among all NorCal agencies with $21,421. A distant second was San Quentin at $14,883 and San Jose with $9,150.

Merced Daily (Facebook). Merced hosts law enforcement Torch Run supporting Special Olympics.
Synopsis: Some 130 people helped kick off the Special Olympics with the Torch Run.

Officers shoots his own leg

Modesto Bee. School officer wounded in leg when weapon fires unexpectedly in Ceres.
Synopsis: A school resource officer on the Blaker-Kinser Junior High campus was in the parking lot when his duty weapon discharged. It was still in his holster. The wound was not life-threatening. Students had already left the campus.

Ragged camp now ‘tent city’

ABC30. Los Banos sets up tent city as transition to permanent housing. 
Synopsis: The encampment near police headquarters has been transformed. Instead of a motley mess of trash and tents, it now “looks like a mini subdivision with neat rows of tents.” The city set up the camp in a central location so that services could be provided. Bethel Community Church is providing a shower trailer on site. Police Chief Ray Reyna expects residents to keep their areas neat and said his office will provide foot patrols to keep the peace. Mayor Michael Amabile says this is an interim step. The city is in the process of building 58 tiny homes thanks to a state grant of nearly $12 million.