Valley Solutions

Spraying sickens kids, staff

Modesto Bee. Stanislaus investigates spraying at school after reports of rashes, skin irritation. 
Synopsis: The Agricultural Commissioner’s office said Thursday it will look into whether or not pesticide regs were followed after 32 students and several staff members suffered skin irritation and rashes following exposure to herbicide spraying at Apricot Valley School. Patterson Fire responded to the call on Friday, March 13, and several people went through decontamination protocols; three were taken in for observation. A school worker had been using two products near buildings. “Under normal conditions, our district schedules herbicide applications outside of student and staff presence,” said the district, which has paused further applications until it reviews procedures. “When herbicide applications resume, all spraying will take place on weekends only.” They story details pesticide use in Stanislaus County, which ranks No. 4 in the state for 1,3-dichloropropene.

Worrying now about next drought

Sacramento Bee. Are we entering the next CA drought? It will be like none other. 
Synopsis: Columnist Tom Philp says the most catastrophic drought imaginable would begin just like this – record-breaking spring temps melting snow, drying out grasses and setting the stage for heat, fire, smoke and more heat all creating more water demand. Reservoirs would be emptied in the first year. “It’s far from clear whether we’re up to the task” of dealing with such a drought. For instance, what happens when the Colorado River stops turning the power turbines at Mead and Powell? Blackouts in LA? Dry taps in Phoenix? Southern CA will demand more water from the North, whose two largest water agencies – the federal CVP and state SWP – have always operated in tandem. Now they coordinate only on court dates. “The weather is out of our hands. Our politics, however, are entirely manufactured.”

GV Wire. Fresno breaks nearly 100-year-old heat record.
Synopsis: It hit 93 in Fresno on Wednesday, the warmest March day ever. And not by a little. Until this week, the warmest March 19 on record was 86 degrees in 1928. Spiking temps aren’t the whole story. On average, temperatures are running 20 to 25 degrees above normal, according to the National Weather Service. Relief is expected by Sunday with next week’s temperatures getting closer to high-normal. And if you’re considering a dip in the river to cool off, reconsider. It’s cold and fast. Find a pool.

FAT hasn’t had a problem

GV Wire. Is Fresno’s airport at risk of closing?
Synopsis: With Homeland Security and TSA employees not being paid, the Trump administration says many smaller airports are in danger of shutting down due to lack of staff. But officials at Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT) say they’re doing fine. Nationwide, 10.2% of TSA workers were absent Monday following absences of 10.1% Sunday. At major airports, absenteeism is really high -- 30% at New York’s JFK, 37% in Atlanta and 39% in New Orleans – as the nation’s 50,000 TSA officers have been without pay for a month. “If this continues, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports,” a Trump official said Wednesday. FAT says its operations are normal.

KSEE / CBS47. Fresno’s airport is not showing political TSA video about shutdown.
Synopsis: The Trump administration has produced a video blaming long airport check-in lines on Democrats who refuse to fund Homeland Security due to four killings by ICE agents. They are requesting the video be shown to people standing in lines, but most major airports are refusing – including Sacramento, San Francisco, Fresno, Portland, Seattle, San Antonio, New York, Las Vegas, Charlotte and many more. Airport officials say screens are reserved for safety and instructional messages.

Valley is on the run

Modesto Bee. Modesto Marathon will impact drivers with some road closures. 
Synopsis: The Modesto Marathon is Sunday, and several Modesto streets and roads will be closed as the city hosts 2,500 runners who will begin and end their 26-mile journey downtown. The route starts at M and 11^th and heads out to North Gates about a mile beyond Beckwith, then comes back into town. Tenth, 11^th, N and M streets will be closed all of Sunday. There will be a lot of short-term and “rolling” closures on several other streets.
MAD Take: Temps in the 80s, as predicted, are pretty warm for a marathon. Too warm.

Merced Sun Star. UC Merced hosting 5K run/walk on campus.
Synopsis: The annual Toloma 5K run, celebrating Native heritage, is being put on by the UC Merced Division of Equity, Justice and Inclusive Excellence on Saturday. Registration starts at 7 a.m. at the soccer fields with the race at 8. There will be vendors, a fair and food. The $25 registration fee benefits programs. Toloma, BTW, means “bobcat” in the Miwuk language.

Was that DUI test tilted?

LA Times. CA used faulty DUI tests for nearly 10 years, state Justice Dept says.
Synopsis: For a decade, the Simi Valley-based medical supply company Andwin Scientific provided urinalysis tests that apparently inflated blood-alcohol numbers. The problems were first reported by the Sonoma County prosecutor, who had the tests tested. Now, an “untold number of criminal cases across California” brought by 60 agencies and seven DA offices could see convictions thrown out. But the CA Dept of Justice says only 0.07% of DUI cases need to be reviewed. Large jurisdictions such as LA, SF and San Jose have their own labs and did not rely on the company.
MAD Take: This story was originally broken by SF Chronicle staffer Julie Johnson. Neither the LA Times nor the Chronicle mentioned any county other than Sonoma.

Save date for ‘passport fairs’

Merced Sun-Star. 2 ‘special’ passport fairs to be held in Merced County.
Synopsis: A “passport acceptance fair” will be in Gustine on March 27 and in Los Banos on March 28. Each event offers “a personalized experience” for adults and children who are getting a passport for the first time. Why bother if you’re not traveling? Homeland Security requires approved documents to board any flight or enter federal facilities, and passports qualify. Be sure to bring a birth certificate, photo ID and passport photos taken within the last six months.
MAD Take: Even more important, if Republicans are successful in passing the SAVE Act, married women who changed their surnames to match that of their husbands will need a passport to prove who they are when voting.

Ceres treating its own sewage

Ceres Courier. City aims to reduce reliance on Modesto sewer system.
Synopsis: North Ceres has been served by Modesto’s sewer system for years, but the city is looking for a way out of that deal. Ceres pays Modesto $1.75 million annually to treat Ceres effluent. The city will pay a company $971K to design treatment facilities, including a pump station and 24-inch pipeline to carry effluent to Ceres’ facilities.

Water deal to pay for tunnel

Escalon Times. Water deal could help pay for SSJID work.
Synopsis: Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts are considering sending up to 50,000-acre feet of water in normal or wet years to the San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority. In dry years, the transfer would be only 20,000-acre feet. When released into the river, the water would also serve as pulse flows to facilitate salmon and steelhead migration. Money raised by the transfer would help pay for the $94 million Canyon Tunnel project below Goodwin Dam. The minimum term would be 5 years.

A ‘roadmap’ to better farming

Western Farm Press. CDFA, partners unveil ag research roadmap.
Synopsis: “Guided by farmer and rancher input,” the UC Cooperative Service, Western Growers, CA Dept of Food & Agriculture and the CA AgTech Alliance has produced what it calls the California Agricultural Research & Innovation Roadmap. It’s a guidebook for where researchers should be looking in the next 10 years. While best practices are developed at CDF&A and colleges, the AgTech Alliance will create a wish list of new tech that could help farmers; Western Growers will help make sure they know it’s there.

When squirt guns look deadly

Modesto Bee. Police warn of ‘Senior Assassins’ game after Newman gun scare, Waterford concerns. 
Synopsis: High school seniors like to play a game called Senior Assassin as their time winds down. It involves being “assassinated” with a squirt gun. Except the squirt guns can look too much like a real gun. People seeing the “attacks” – often in public places -- do not always realize the guns shoot only water and call in terrified reports. That’s what happened in Newman this week, resulting in four kids being ordered onto the ground. It was all sorted out eventually. Last week in Florida, a student was shot in the arm by police who mistook the squirt gun for the real thing. There have been problems in Waterford, too.

Lining up MAGA’s picks

Valley Sun. NRCC names Kevin Lincoln to 2026 MAGA Majority list.
Synopsis: The National Republican Congressional Committee says it wants to create a “MAGA Majority” in Congress and needs Kevin Lincoln to do it. Though he apparently lives outside the district in north Stockton, the one-and-done mayor is the NRCC’s choice to run against Adam Gray in CA-13. Lincoln also ran for Congress in 2024, losing to Rep. Josh Harder. The story mentions that one of Lincoln’s backers is John Duarte, the millionaire nurseryman who lost to Gray in 2024.
MAD Note: Interestingly, local Republicans have rejected MAGA’s advice. According to the Merced County Times, the Merced County Republican Assembly endorsed Vin Kruttiventi  for Congress. In 2024, Kruttiventi ran in the East Bay against Eric Swalwell, but got less than a third of the votes. After that, he reportedly bought a house in Lathrop and is now running again. Merced’s Republicans also opted for Marie Alvarado-Gil over Alexandra Duarte, John’s wife, for State senate.

Ag Net West. CA water, energy and policy: Duarte, Vanden Heuvel break it down.
Synopsis: Interviewer Nick Papagni talks about a “press conference” in which Fox commentator and gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said that if elected he will appoint John Duarte as CA’s Secretary of Natural Resources. Duarte then talked about “water abundance.”
MAD Take: Papagni failed to ask Duarte about the $1.1 million in federal fines he agreed to pay after destroying wetlands in Tehama County. Also, no mention of the damages Duarte was ordered to pay for selling tens of thousands of defective pistachio and lemon trees to Valley farmers.

A taste of Texas in Patterson

Patterson Irrigator. Local Tex-Mex band is proud to represent Patterson in Texas.
Synopsis: The five members of DeVozion are attending the 44^th Tejana Conjunto Festival in San Antonio this weekend, a gathering of hundreds of bands that combine all sorts of musical traditions into the “Tejano” sound. Traditional Tejano music is accordion-centered, but many bands add drums, amplified guitar, horns and synthesizers. DeVozion is one of only a half dozen bands invited from outside Texas, said founder Nacho Cantu. His nephew Jacinto Cantu IV is the drummer with Joel “Baby J” Gloria on accordion and Michael Gonzalez on percussion. They’ve been doing parties, benefits and dances in the area for years, including the Apricot Festival.