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Valley Solutions offers a look at the top headlines appearing on media websites across the San Joaquin Valley and beyond. It is compiled by Mike Dunbar, a former editor at The Modesto Bee, documentary filmmaker and press secretary for Adam Gray when he was in the California Assembly.
Reach Mike Dunbar at [email protected].
Would Sacramento politicians like farmers better if Tom Hanks was involved in food production?
What if Tom Hanks was farming?
Cal Matters. CA politicians ignore agriculture’s troubles, but boost movie business.
Synopsis: Dan Walters writes about Sacramento’s preference for movie stars over farmers. While doling out tax breaks to movie studios, the state has been burying farmers under regulations, fees and higher wages leading many to believe they are “at a tipping point” for the entire industry. Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass says we’ve lost 20% of our farmers in the last decade as farms have consolidated in the hands of large corporations. Now, the industry is at a tipping point. The state is now charging fees of $1,600 per acre to grow lettuce – two-thirds more than it charged in 2017 when the price of lettuce was just about where it is now. Now we have tariffs cutting markets for some of our top crops and sweeps of fields deporting workers. The Almond Alliance’s Alexi Rodriguez pointed out that China was the No. 1 market for almonds until 2018 when the first round of Trump tariffs went into effect; with this second round it will not be in the top 10. BTW, Sacramento, the movie industry generates $30 billion a year; farming produces $55 billion.
Some of the 9,500 acres proposed for a solar panel site.
Can’t farm it, then cover it
SF Gate. Dried-up CA farmland to become site of world-record solar facility.
Synopsis: As thousands of solar panels are installed across the state, massive battery facilities and transmission lines are following. The largest envisioned yet is the Darden Clean Energy Project on 9,500 acres in western Fresno County near Cantua Creek, about 30 miles south of Dos Palos. It will have 3.1 million panels and enough power to supply 850,000 homes for 4 hours. Once irrigated, the land now can’t grow anything due to alkaline. Since the land has no crops or wildlife, Intersect Power wants to cover it with panels. A lot of local politicians are onboard, including Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco and Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria.
MAD Take: Not mentioned is a smaller site in Merced County, about 12 miles west of Dos Palos, being considered for a panel-battery site by PG&E. It has been approved by the board of supervisors but has some opposition in Los Banos from people who fear a fire similar to the one that occurred at PG&E’s Moss Landing battery-storage facility. Another massive facility sits in the foothills west of Crows Landing in Stanislaus County; it has been built to roughly half of planned capacity without any opposition and very little notice. It should be noted that NONE of the power generated by these facilities is destined to be used in the Valley; all of it will flow over the hills to data-processing centers near San Jose.
The Business Journal. Energy project could bring relief to CA ratepayers, reclaim farmland.
Synopsis: The Valley Clean Infrastructure Plan, developed by Golden State Clean Energy based in Newport Beach, is working with Westlands Water District for a “master-planned transmission and renewable energy project” in Fresno County. It will repurpose 130,000 acres of “drainage impaired and subsidence prone agricultural land” for solar panels and batteries serviced by high-voltage transmission wires. It would generate 20 gigawatts and be serviced by a 500-kilovolt transmission line and substations. The first phase is scheduled to go online by 2030. According to one study, the project could save ratepayers $9 billion by 2050, including $850 million on the cost of electricity. Promoters say it will create 6,000 construction jobs over 10 years.
Covering farmland is betrayal
Ag Net West. Solar panels, farmland and the fight to keep farming.
Synopsis: Interviewer Nick Papagni continues his conversations with Fresno County Farm Bureau exec Ryan Jacobsen, who is adamantly opposed to covering farmland with solar panels. “Ultimately, the end game for some is just to not see us farming or living here anymore.” Jacobsen adds: “A country that can’t feed itself, can’t defend itself. You can’t replicate the God-given gifts this region provides.” He calls American farmworkers and farmers the nation’s “unsung heroes.”
How a reservoir would look if covered by floating panels.
What about floating panels?
Maven’s Notebook. What will the rise of floating solar panels mean for wildlife?
Synopsis: Floating solar panels, aka floatovoltaics, don’t cover up important land, reduces evaporation and produces power. The water even acts as a natural coolant for the panels, increasing their efficiency. But what about the fish who depend on sunlight to produce algae that they eat? In water-treatment ponds, that won’t be a problem. But in lakes or reservoirs, the panels would need to be rafted up or spread out. Then what about ducks and geese colonizing the panels? Engineers say any such problems can be worked out.
Message to mayor: Resign
Fresno Bee. By shunning gay groups, Madera mayor betrays her city’s residents and her role.
Synopsis: Columnist Tad Weber writes about Madera Mayor Cece Gallegos, who walked out of a city council recognition ceremony for the Madera High School Gay Straight Alliance. She has avoided all of the city’s Pride Month events. Gallegos once identified as a Democrat but now has transitioned to a Republican. Weber suggests Gallegos take a cue from Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, who has gone out of his way to be supportive of gay constituents. “I love people right where they are,” he said. “Which is why I will be attending the Pride flag-raising ceremony.” Gallegos’s predecessor, Christian Santos, understood that “our community is made up of all different kinds of residents. Madera welcomes everyone.” Writes Weber: “If Gallegos is unwilling to do that, then she is unfit to be mayor. There is only one thing left for her to do: Resign.”
Adam Gray on bombing Iran
KFSN (Fresno). Congressman Gray addresses Iran strike.
Synopsis: Rep. Adam Gray speaks about last weekend’s strike on fortified nuclear-weapon production facilities in Iran.
Mercy Medical Center in Merced rated an A for safety
Rating Valley hospitals
Merced Sun Star. 2 Merced-area hospitals among safest in US, report says.
Synopsis: The Leapfrog Group has been rolling out its ratings in various categories over the past few weeks. This week’s ratings are for Hospital Safety. Mercy Medical Center and Memorial Hospital in Los Banos both got A’s for safety and cleanliness. Emmanuel Med Center got a C and Memorial Med Center in Modesto got a B, both due to lack of attentiveness to hand-washing. Doctors Med Center in Modesto got a D because staff was unresponsive.
Fresno Bee. 3 Fresno-area hospitals got C grades for safety in 2025.
Synopsis: The Leapfrog Group also rated hospitals in the Fresno region. Clovis Community Med Center got a C for staph infections and an infection after colon surgery. Community Regional Med Center and Saint Agnes also got C’s. Kaiser Permanente and the three Adventist Health units in Selma, Hanford and Tulare all got A’s.
Soccer stadium is hot topic
Modesto Bee. Modesto soccer stadium location could be decided this week.
Synopsis: The city council is conducting a second workshop to discuss building a stadium for a professional soccer team. The first workshop was in March; this one will be Wednesday in Centre Plaza. One site being discussed is Centre Plaza, which would require significant demolition and might cause some traffic jams downtown. Another would be near John Thurman Field, which the Modesto Nuts will vacate after this season. The problem there, say some, is that it could lead to “gentrification.”
Ag trade deficit hits record
Successful Farming. Ag trade deficit reaches record high $20 billion through April.
Synopsis: Farm exports have always offered a bright spot in the US trade picture; no longer. The USDA says that from January through April, the US imported $78.2 billion in food while exporting just $58.5 billion. The $19.7 billion deficit is the largest ever recorded for a single quarter. The only category where US exports are growing is “horticulture products,” which includes tree nuts and wine.
Bird flu shot is ready
Ag Daily. USDA eyes poultry vaccination plan as bird flu toll mounts.
Synopsis: Reuters reports that the USDA is being pressured to allow the vaccination of poultry. Bird flu has necessitated the destruction of 175 million birds since 2022 resulting in record-high egg prices and increased meat imports from Brazil, Turkey and South Korea. The company Zoetis has been licensed to produce a poultry vaccine, but its use is not yet authorized. Since the outbreak began, the USDA has paid producers $1 billion for lost animals.
Water pumped from the aquifer below.
That’s a lot of water
LA Times. CA achieved significant groundwater recharge last year, state report says.
Synopsis: Across the state’s 98 groundwater basins, about 2.2 million-acre feet of water – about the amount held in New Melones Reservoir when full – was added to storage last year. Of that, 90% was added via “managed aquifer recharge” projects. While the amount is good, it’s only a quarter of that added during the super-wet 2023 water year. Unfortunately, roughly 11.5 million-acre feet of water was pumped last year, up from 9.7 MAF in 2023. The San Joaquin Valley accounted for 84% of all pumping.
The man wearing this “gear' wasn’t exactly official.
Uh, he’s not really a cop
GV Wire. Madera County authorities arrest man for impersonating US marshal.
Synopsis: Andrew Biscay, 40, was arrested as law enforcement responded to a family disturbance at Avenue 12 and Road 22. That’s where they found Biscay, who presented a fake badge. He was carrying zip-ties and a homemade gun. His “uniform” was also homemade. He had painted a large star on the side of his pickup truck. Bail was set at $70,000.
A proposed 1.2 million square foot facility in Patterson.
Another big box in Patterson
Modesto Bee. Patterson approves big distribution center; more jobs, goodbye corn maze.
Synopsis: Planners have approved a 74-acre expansion of the business park on the northwest side of the city near I-5 and hard against the Delta-Mendota Canal. The big-box warehouse will have 519 big-rig stalls and 600 parking spaces for cars. The building will have 1.2 million square feet, but no tenant has been identified by developer Buzz Oats Construction. Not everyone is happy with the announcement with several complaining about the number of trucks already going down city streets.
UC Merced police were able to help this kayaker to safety.
Happy ending for kayaker
Golden Wire News (Facebook). UCMPD pulls kayaker to safety.
Synopsis: A call came into the UC Merced dispatch, but the caller hung up before speaking. Using geolocation, dispatch sent officers to Lake Yosemite where they found two kayaks – one occupied and one empty. The man in the kayak said his sister had fallen into the water and he couldn’t find her. Looking around, officers saw a woman struggling in the current near the LeGrand canal’s steep embankment. They ran to the area, cut through the fence and “successfully pulled her to safety.” The siblings “were extremely thankful to the officers.” UCMPD called the actions of Sgt. Rafael Chavez and officer Raymond Valadez “outstanding.”
