Valley Solution

Measles: an ‘embarrassment’

LA Times. A measles resurgence has put the US at risk of losing its ‘elimination’ status. 
Synopsis: Two children have died and 2,424 have been sickened in a measles outbreak that began a year ago this week in Texas but has since spread across the nation. The US had been declared measles-free in the year 2000 after “several decades of hard work,” in the words of Dr. John Swartzberg at UC Berkeley. “Losing that distinction is an embarrassment for the United States. Another nail in the coffin for the credibility of this country.” Experts say the backsliding began with those questioning the safety of vaccines, led by now-Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. Under Kennedy, the CDC no longer makes any recommendations to parents about the vaccine. California is one of only 10 states still meeting the 95% vaccination threshold. The outbreak is continuing with 9 states having logged measles cases this month.
MAD Note: In a separate story it was reported that on Wednesday Napa County registered its first measles case since 2010.

Jung Hoo Lee delayed at airport

SF Chronicle. Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee released from detainment at LA International Airport.
Synopsis: Jung Hoo Lee, star centerfielder for the Giants, didn’t have all the documents necessary to be readmitted to the US and was detained upon his arrival from Seoul. Agent Scott Boras said it was “not anything political.” Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office interceded to help resolve the situation after roughly 60 minutes on Wednesday. “I think he just forgot one of the documents,” said Boras. Lee will attend FanFest this week.

A water reporter extraordinaire

LA Times. She’s telling the state’s water story, from sinking land to fallow fields. 
Synopsis: The LA Times offers a Q&A with one of the South Valley’s most important journalists – Lois Henry, founder of SJVWater.org. The former columnist for the Bakersfield Californian runs a website devoted to water and its use. Among her insights: “Water is a constant worry in California. … Keep your eye on the snowpack. We’re at 36% of average statewide … that means if we didn’t get another flake of snow between now and April we’d only have, at most, 36% of our average runoff.” And “Farmers will have to stop pumping as much. That means less farming. A lot less.” SJVWater’s daily email goes to 6,000 readers and her website gets 39,000 visitors a month – “not huge in the world of internet news” but significant for a Valley site.  
MAD Take: SJVWater.org is the most important site covering water in the state. It was Lois Henry and SJVWater who figured out that Diablo Grande homeowners had been charged for water that had never been delivered. It is Henry’s organization who covers the minutia of water district meetings with clarity and fairness.

Opinion: Gov is ‘pathetic,’ a ‘scold’

Sacramento Bee. Newsom’s rant about Europe’s careful response to Trump was pathetic.
Synopsis: Columnist Tom Philp accuses Gavin Newsom of grandstanding in Davos, asking “How low can Newsom go?” Adding, “No California governor, certainly not this one, has the standing to tell European nations how to comport themselves.” He says Europe is too refined for such rough language.
MAD Take: Tom could be right, but don’t those pearls hurt the more tightly you clutch them?

Modesto Bee. Turlock mayor: Gov. Newsom, spare us the moral lectures. 
Synopsis: Amy Bublak tears into Gavin Newsom, who last year scolded the Turlock city council when it refused to make a token donation to the We Care shelter for men, costing the shelter roughly $250,000 in state grants. Now, says the mayor, Newsom has eradicated new investments for the homeless from his final state budget – including the grant that would have provided money for Turlock. “The irony is staggering.” She concludes: “Compassion without accountability is not leadership – and Turlock will stand for both.”

US food safe from residues

Western Farm Press. US fruits, vegetables safe from pesticide residues. 
Synopsis: The USDA’s Pesticide Data Program Annual Summary showed that “over 99 percent of the samples tested had residues below safe and acceptable chemical tolerances.” The USDA tested roughly 10,000 vegetables, fruit, nuts and grain products and found exceedance in only 76 samples – and only 12 of those were from domestic growers. “While numbers like these should be reassuring to US consumers, proper food safety practices do not start and end at the farm and grocery store,” says the story.  

Smoke shops under fire

Modesto Bee. Modesto police seize $27,000, arrest four in gambling, smoke-shop sweep. 
Synopsis: The Modesto police warned smoke-shop operators they would be visiting, and earlier this week those clandestine visits began. An undercover sweep seized $27,000 by targeting illegal gambling and other violations. Cited by police were Mousa Market, Kwik-E-Mart, J’s Smoke Shop and A&Z Smoke Shop. A fifth person was arrested on suspicion of possessing meth. Investigators found “significantly expired” food products which might have been on the shelves to serve as a disguise for the actual business activities.

Merced Sun Star. Decoy operation catches Delhi store selling tobacco to minor, sheriff says.
Synopsis: The Merced SO, working with County Public Health, ran decoy operations at 10 businesses in Hilmar, Stevinson and Delhi on Tuesday. One of those, Paradise Gifts & Apparel, was cited for selling tobacco to a minor. The other nine refused.

Vigil hit with gunfire

Merced Sun Star. Shots fired at Merced vigil for two slain teenagers.
Synopsis: Shorts were fired Wednesday night near the place where a vigil for two 14-year-old boys who were murdered earlier this week was taking place. The makeshift memorial is outside the Merced Urology Medical Group building on 13^th Street. Police found 9 casings. The shootings are thought to be gang-related and part of a surge in shootings over the last year.

Postal workers attacked

ABC30. Fresno postal workers targeted in 3 violent encounters in week.
Synopsis: Calling it an “alarming rise in attacks,” the postal service has filed three reports with police. The first was an armed robbery in central Fresno, captured on a doorbell cam. The second came Tuesday when two teens attacked a carrier; one teen was captured. Wednesday, police say a homeowner threatened a carrier with a boxcutter.

She’s got your pass covered

SF Chronicle. National Park Pass buyers can’t cover Trump’s face, so a CA woman made a workaround. 
Synopsis: For all 21 years of its existence, the National Parks Pass has featured a variety of beautiful images of the parks. This year, it features Trump’s face. Defacing the card invalidates it. Self-described granola girl Shannen Prindle couldn’t bear that image, so she created a covering – a Park Pouch -- that hides the face. You pay $10 and she gives half to the National Parks Foundation.

Birds, cows back in county fairs  

Modesto Bee. Bird flu has eased; Stanislaus and other fairs can host these competitions.
Synopsis: A decline in bird flu cases means county fairs can once again host poultry and cattle shows. Last year, hundreds of 4-H and FFA members in Stanislaus County and thousands across the Valley were denied the ability to compete for prizes. Last year, CA had 646,700 sick birds; this year only 34,670 and the last outbreak on a dairy farm was reported Nov. 26.

Ex-publisher passes

Ceres Courier. Joseph “Terry” Terrence Francke (Ceres).
Synopsis: Terry Francke was publisher of the Ceres Courier from 1972 until he sold it around 1977. He later earned a law degree and campaigned for open meetings and enforcement of public record laws, writing the Sunshine Ordinance in San Francisco. He was legal counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and created the CalAware organization. He died Dec. 24.