Valley Solutions

Gray: Life needs to be easier

Ceres Courier. My purple district can tell you what the Democratic autopsy left out. 
Synopsis: Rep. Adam Gray describes what he told those compiling the so-called “Democratic Party autopsy,” a post-mortem of the 2024 election. They might not have liked what Gray had to say. First, life in America is expensive and exhausting. “Costs rise. Waits lengthen. Paperwork multiples. Politics should be aimed at making all that easier.” He adds, “My neighbors, my friends, my relatives, my constituents are hunters and environmentalists, union workers and entrepreneurs, pickup drivers and owners of electric vehicles. Sometimes they are several of those things at once. That complexity is not a weakness to manage. That is America.”

Californians support ‘green’ policy

PPIC. Californians support strong environmental policy … to a point. 
Synopsis: CA’s most pressing environmental issue? It’s wildfires, say 19% of respondents to the latest PPIC poll. Wildfire impacts air quality, water, public safety, insurance – all of it expensive. That’s why 85% of voters say environmental cred is important to them and why more voters trust Xavier Becerra to deal with it. The three biggest concerns for voters: CEQA, water, air. Yet, 43% says green initiatives are killing too many jobs.

Hilton’s message: Ignore Trump

Sacramento Bee. Republican Steve Hilton targets anti-Trump CA voters with new ads. 
Synopsis: After trying so hard to convince Republicans that he is Donald Trump’s favorite Californian, Steve Hilton is now trying to convince everyone else that he won’t be listening to Trump if elected governor. Hilton is buying newspaper ads to that effect. Xavier Becerra says voters should be wary of any Trump disciple running for office. “You can’t fix the affordability crisis while carrying water for the man causing it.”
MAD Take: Wonder how all those Trump Republicans are going to feel about Hilton’s new message? If they’re listening, Hilton might actually end up with fewer votes.

Fresno Bee. Hilton pushes hospital deregulation during Fresno stop; CA ‘needs a major overhaul.’
Synopsis: Former British subject Steve Hilton visited Fresno’s Community Regional Medical Center on Monday to talk about state mandates that are “crippling” hospitals – especially the seismic retrofit rules that require medical facilities to meet earthquake standards by 2030. He called such regulations unnecessary for hospitals not built along major fault lines. To reduce economic pressure on hospitals, he would reduce regulations. Paul Rodriguez performed at a fundraiser for Hilton and his de facto running mate, Gloria Romero.

Can Ceres afford this?

Ceres Courier. Council cost taxpayers $213,066 in medical plan in 6 years. 
Synopsis: Reporter Jeff Benziger details the costs of providing health insurance to city council members. The cheapest was James Casey, who cost the city only $3,944 for the one year (2022) that he received a benefit. Mayor Javi Lopez’s bill for six years has come to $47,152, while Daniel Martinez has rolled up $90,660 in four years. The numbers became public when former councilmember Linda Ryno requested the info as a “transparency thing.” Councilmember Cerina Otero, who works for the county, refused the city’s coverage and said she considers city council “a part-time position.” Gary M. Condit is running for a seat on the council and is gathering signatures demanding council members give up health insurance benefits. 

North Valley rivers have a plan

Sustainable Conservation. San Joaquin Valley watershed studies: A roadmap for a changing climate. 
Synopsis: DWR released its San Joaquin Valley Flood-MAR (managed aquifer recharge) Watershed studies evaluating the potential impacts of climate change through 2050 along the Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced and upper San Joaquin rivers. It says rising temperatures will shift both the volume and timing of water moving through the region. It will also increase the evaporative demand for plants, requiring more water to produce similar yields. Meanwhile, the area will receive more intense rainfall as atmospheric rivers become more common. “Collaboration among growers, water districts, groundwater sustainability agencies, reservoir operators, flood-control agencies, community groups and environmental organizations will be critical to developing and implementing multi-benefit solutions.”

ABC30. Merced River flows expected to increase, warning given to stay out of the water.
Synopsis: Merced County officials are telling people to stay out of the river, no matter how inviting it seems on hot days. Lake McClure will release significantly more water over the next two weeks, causing river flows to rise and currents to become strong and unpredictable.

More habitat restoration projects

Maven / Metropolitan Water District. Met to begin wetland restoration in Delta. 
Synopsis: The board of the largest water district in the world has approved restoration of wetland habitat on Webb Tract, a large island in the San Joaquin River Delta. Currently farmed, it will add wetlands to reduce flood risk, elevate groundwater tables and capture CO2 while improving habitat. The island is on the edge of Contra Costa and San Joaquin counties.

River Partners. Eyes in the Wild: A River Partners Wildlife Journal. 
Synopsis: The first landscape visited by River Partners’ videographers was the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge west of Modesto where a few beavers have been reintroduced. They are creating ponds that slow movement of the water, allowing it to soak into aquifers. This reduces the danger of wildfire spread. Other projects profiled are in Butte, Imperial, Shasta and Sutter counties.

Turlock sideways with state

Modesto Focus. Turlock faces rare CA state lawsuit over city’s tardy roadmap for housing development. 
Synopsis: Escalon, Atwater, Patterson and Merced County all avoided prosecution by the state for failing to update their mandatory “Housing Element” building plans. But Turlock did not, and now it is being sued (along with four other cities) by the state of California. Turlock, Calexico, Costa Mesa, Half Moon Bay and Ridgecrest were seen as being in defiance of state rules. The Housing Element requires cities to identify viable locations for building housing across all income categories.
MAD Take: It should be noted that cities rarely build homes, and while there might be large swaths of appropriately zoned land, there is no guarantee developers will be interested.

Big year for Fresno State

Fresno Bee. Fresno State, despite troubled foundation, made a run at record fundraising year. 
Synopsis: This was the second-best fundraising year in Fresno State history, according to President Saul Jimenez-Sandoval. Many thought the dispute between longtime Fresno State Foundation board members and the president might bring down donations. Instead, FSU brought in $44.4 million this year with several large gifts still in the pipeline. “I think we would see that the foundation piece has not had much if any effect,” said fundraiser Brady Crook. The record was set in 2009 when the university got $50.2 million to build its Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences & Technology.

Anger over Flock surveillance

GV Wire. Fresno police make monthly Flock searches by the thousands; audit looks at only 3. 
Synopsis: Fresno police make thousands of searches of Flock camera data each month, but the audit to determine if they’re following privacy rules looked at only three such searches. Later this year, the city council will decide whether or not to renew the contract for monitoring vehicles moving through the city. Several cities, including Los Angeles and El Cerrito, have dropped the Flock services over privacy concerns and who is allowed to see the information being gathered. “I recognize that I can’t leave my community without being tracked in some way, shape or form,” said one resident. “And I just want to be able to have freedom of movement in my own community without being tracked.” GVWire made its first public-records request for Flock data several months ago, but the city “stalled.” The story points out that there is a class-action lawsuit against Flock for how it shares information. In some cases, local agencies were not aware Flock was illegally sharing data.

Is that smoke?

Turlock Journal. Turlock Scavenger fire.
Synopsis: Turlock Fire rolled to a structure fire just after lunch in the Turlock Scavenger transfer station on South Walnut. Crews needed two hours to bring it under control as six engines and various other units responded. The Fire Investigation Unit was on scene well after the flames were extinguished, assisted by Stanislaus County Fire.
MAD Note: This was the second junkyard fire in a week. A fire broke out on Crows Landing Road in Modesto earlier this week.

KCRA. Bay Area wildfire prompts evacuation orders for thousands of residents.
Synopsis: The Little Fire near Pleasanton is threatening hundreds of homes near the city, as authorities told 4,800 people to evacuate. Eventually, the evacuation was scaled back to an area around Ruby Hill Golf Club. So far, only 10% of the fire has been contained.

KCRA. Jeff Hakola is sworn in as Patterson’s new fire chief. 
Synopsis: Jeff Hakola, who joined Patterson Fire in 2022, was sworn in as chief Tuesday night. “Now that it’s permanent, it allows me to focus more on the future of the fire department … what we have in store, the growth of the city as a whole and how we intertwine that with all the other departments in the city,” said Hakola. He began his career in Orange County in 1993. “Staffing for us is huge. We are an island over here on the West Side. Being the only paid department over here with six on-duty folks a day is a little challenging.”

Thousands in Valley lose insurance

Modesto Focus. Covered CA terminations see big rise in Valley after expanded COVID subsidies expire.
Synopsis: Covered California has ended coverage for nearly 27,000 Valley residents due to the rise in costs. COVID-era tax credits that enabled middle-income families to pay for their own health insurance have expired, meaning many families can no longer afford the insurance. The Republican-controlled Congress ended the credits as part of the 2025 budget bill that passed without a single vote from Democrats and provided a trillion-dollar tax cut to high-income earners. Nearly 2 million Californians purchased health insurance through Covered California in 2025 with most working in jobs that did not provide policies. Nationwide, enrollment in ACA programs has dropped 13%, or by 3 million people. The Trump administration insists the drop is the result of fraud enforcement, but that has resulted in only a handful of prosecutions. Actual data shows most cancellations were by middle-class families. The cost of a family policy in Merced County went from $385 to $10,044 per year. In Stanislaus, it rose from $1,045 to $6,085 and in San Joaquin from $974 to $5,936.

A big tortoise just shows up

Fresno Bee. Missing pet or abandoned animal? Tortoise found in north Fresno neighborhood. 
Synopsis: A Fresno family found a large tortoise standing on their front porch on Monday. After giving chase, they found he weighed about 45 pounds and is the size of a baking sheet. This is not just any tortoise, but a Sulcata African Spurred tortoise. They gave him some lettuce then noticed he preferred chewing the weeds near the house. “We were hoping he’d walk back home,” said a member of the family. But he didn’t, so they shared photos on social media. No one has claimed him. Such a turtle can cost up to $5,000 and grow to be 150 pounds.
MAD Take: Hope they washed that lettuce.

Best fast food in America?

Sacramento Bee. CA-based fast-food chain is No. 1 in the U.S.; hint: It’s not In-N-Out. 
Synopsis: Fast-food was invented and perfected in California. So, it’s no wonder that the nation’s best fast-food restaurant of 2026 is from the Golden State. The No. 1 fast-food chain in America is Del Taco. It started in 1964 as Ed Hackbarth and Dave Jameson began serving tacos and fries in Yermo, a town east of Barstow and north of Daggett. Now there are Del Tacos in Fresno, Merced, Modesto and across 18 states. They all combine Mexican-inspired favorites with fast-food staples. BTW, In-N-Out, which fled California for Tennessee two years ago, didn’t even make the top 10 in USA Today’s Readers’ Choice Awards.