Valley Headlines

CA homeless numbers still rising

Cal Matters. CA’s homeless population grew again this year, especially in these counties.
Synopsis: The latest data shows 186,000 unhoused people in CA, based on January’s point-in-time counts. The only good news in that is that the rate of increase has slowed, from 13% in 2022 to only 8% in 2024. Some experts don’t trust the numbers, saying they are more akin to the Christmas bird count than an actual census. The biggest increase was in San Joaquin County, up 160% (4,723 up from 2,319), calling into question previous data. Some say the increase is due to homeless folks gravitating toward the Central Valley. Others note that the county used a professional firm to count this year, not volunteers. Sac showed a drop of nearly 30%, and almost no one feels those numbers are credible.

Valley Sun. Homeless huff: Santa Cruz blames Hanford for relocating homeless to the coast.
Synopsis: This is a switch. Instead of coastal cities like San Francisco and San Jose sending their homeless to the Valley, Hanford has apparently turned the tables. At least once. Two Hanford officers dropped off a woman at a Santa Cruz shelter back in June, and were caught in the act by Santa Cruz police. Santa Cruz is considering a law that would fine other entities up to $1,000 a day for dropping off homeless folks. The city of Hanford said the woman came to the police and asked for a ride to Santa Cruz.

Hospital shutting doors

Modesto Bee. Modesto surgical hospital to temporarily close due to removal from Medicare.
Synopsis: Ken Carlson reports that Stanislaus Surgical Hospital on Oakdale Road has suspended operations because Medicaid has terminated its contract. Losing that certification makes it impossible to carry on with the roughly 1,800 procedures done each month. Some 60% to 80% of all of the hospital’s patients are covered through Medicare. Hospital admin is considering an appeal. Layoffs of all 160 employees will begin Sept. 15. The hospital faced a similar situation in May after Medicaid found it out of compliance in 9 areas, but intervention from John Duarte’s office delayed the termination. There is no mention of whether or not the hospital has come into compliance with Medicaid criteria.

More trouble for senator

KCRA. CA state senator who switched parties faces federal lawsuit for First Amendment violations.
Synopsis: Marie Alvardo-Gil is being sued by Kelly Coelho, who says the senator had her kicked out of a meeting in Turlock in June. Coelho, a register private investigator, says potential candidate Jack Kelly was kicked out of the same meeting. So far, Coelho is representing herself in the matter.

Who really gets the water?

Fresno Bee. Huge San Joaquin Valley reservoir is expanding; much of the water is headed elsewhere.
Synopsis: Columnist Marek Warszawski writes that the biggest investor in the San Luis Reservoir expansion plan is Santa Clara Water – the biggest supplier of water to Silicon Valley and its super-thirsty AI servers. Of the 130,000 additional acre feet of storage SCW has already spoken for 60,000 AF. That’s why the district is putting up 70% of the estimated $500 million price tag. The feds are putting up 30% of the money, and anticipate getting 30% of the additional storage, dedicating it all to environmental purposes. All this might explain why Westlands and other large districts are not exactly enthusiastic about the project.
MAD Take: That $500 million figure does NOT include seismic improvements. Those improvements – the real reason for the construction -- will add another $500 million (at least) to the total cost. The seismic retrofits will elevate the height of the dam 10 feet. That is expected to provide roughly 90,000 AF of additional storage. To create even more water storage – the estimated 35,000 acre feet -- will require another 10 feet of dam, and $500 million. As Marek points out, the environmental community doesn’t believe the additional 10-feet of dam will ever be built because it just doesn’t pencil out for anyone except Santa Clara. And what Marek doesn’t point out is that Santa Clara Water is already paying to expand its Pacheco Dam from a storage capacity of 5 TAF to 140 TAF just a few miles north of San Luis. And that is expected to cost $2.5 billion.

Drinking-water problems

Cal Matters. ‘I won’t let them drink the water’: CA towns where clean drinking water is out of reach.
Synopsis: Last year’s state report saying that 735,000 CA residents lack clean drinking water is the point of departure for this story. Arsenic, 1,2,3TCP and nitrates are the most common pollutants. Among the 15 failing Stanislaus water systems are Ceres, Turlock, Hughson, Denair and something called Cobles Corner. In Merced County, Dos Palos, Livingston, Grace Mennonite School, Le Grand, and Winton are among 9 entities that have failed tests. In Fresno, the cities of Fowler, Huron, Caruthers, Kerman and Parlier are among 29 other entities that have failed. In Madera, the list includes Hidden Lake, Oakhurst, Chowchilla, Valley State Prison, the women’s prison, Yosemite High School and North Fork.
MAD Note: Earlier this summer, the city of Dos Palos broke ground on a new water-treatment plant that will remove it from this list. A significant portion of the funding came from state grants secured by former Assemblymember Adam Gray, who was at the groundbreaking with a shovel in his hand.

A builder’s view of the tunnel

Construction Briefing: Can CA’s $20B water utility construction curb a climate-change catastrophe?
Synopsis: Climate change is pushing the state’s “fragile water conveyance system and existing infrastructure” to the limit. So, the state water department wants to build a tunnel to make certain the folks at the other end of the state will have enough water to drink as their sources, including the Colorado, evaporate. Interesting discussion of the where, when and how the tunnel would be built, starting in 2034 with a gigantic boring machine. But there is nary a word about any other solutions, disagreements over how and whether it should be done, etc.

A meeting just for show

Modesto Bee. Six GOP congressmen ask why parts of the Valley have water cutbacks.
Synopsis: A “real dog-and-pony show,” in the words of one reporter, was put on by John Duarte, Tom McClintock, et al in Santa Nella last week. It provided a pulpit for a few elected officials to vent or fantasize about water-storage projects. Instead of actual solutions or announcements, we heard Tom McClintock insist we need more reservoirs, GOP candidate Chris Mathys say the Delta smelt should be declared extinct and Doug LaMalfa wax poetic about expanding Lake Shasta.

More pro soccer for Stanislaus?

Modesto Bee. Men’s and women’s pro soccer teams could come to Modesto, plus a new stadium.
Synopsis: Kevin Valine reports on a letter of intent between the city of Modesto and the United Soccer League to investigate the possibility of bring men’s and women’s teams to a stadium seating 5,000. It appears the city has a year to get it done. The new stadium would double as a home for the Nuts and an entertainment venue.
MAD Note: Not mentioned in the story is that Turlock’s Academica men’s and women’s soccer teams play in the USL. From one perspective, having teams in Modesto could mean a natural rivalry. Or, it could be seen as one USL team too many in the county.

Big pig still fighting Prop 12

Farms.com. Pork producers continue to fight for 2024 Farm Bill, Prop 12 fix.
Synopsis: Big pig farmers based in Iowa, North Carolina and Beijing are insisting that the EATS Act be included in the House version of the farm bill this year. The farm bill is two years overdue and still under negotiation over GOP efforts to include the EATS Act and get rid of money used to pay for school lunches in poor schools.
MAD Take: EATS was co-sponsored by John Duarte, and would make it illegal for voters in any state to establish standards for foods sold in their states. Basically, Duarte’s EATS Act would take away the rights of the 63% of Californians who rightly or wrongly voted for Prop 12 in 2018.

Sikhs, Hindus suffer hate crimes

Cal Matters. Hate Crimes rise against Indian Americans, deepening divide between Hindus and Sikhs.
Synopsis: The anger that has arisen over the Kurdistan independence movement in India has manifested in CA with temples being spray-painted and confrontations increasing. Sikhs point to attacks on Sikh leaders visiting the state as evidence of violence targeting them. A hotline established last year has marked 2,000 calls. Of those, 24 actions against Hindus have been verified (of 101 total). Others have occurred at the Fremont gurdwara. Among those quoted is Dr. Jasmeet Bains, who says California should be a safe haven. Unfortunately, she has reported threats to her office.