Valley Solutions

Secret plan for high-speed rail

SF Chronicle. CA’s high-speed rail may be laying the way for a ‘Valley of data centers.’ 
Synopsis: Reporter Rachel Swan writes there’s a new plan for the Central Valley. Instead of taking the train through blossoming almond trees, bullet-train riders will see massive data centers powered by solar panels blanketing fields into the distance. Those fears are the result of the CA High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri, who is making plans to “monetize every asset associated with the nascent rail network, from land along the right-of-way to surplus electricity to fiber-optic connections.” With Trump killing federal grants for the project, Choudri is looking for every opportunity to raise capital. The train runs on electricity, so the rail corridors are “perfect” for placement of “hyper-scale data centers.” As Choudri put it: “We do have a corridor that will have fiber connectivity, renewable and clean power available.” The HSRA has already signed development agreements with several Silicon Valley investors. “If they’re doing something in the Central Valley, and they need some support services from us, we are going to put that on the table for our investors,” said Choudri. Such visions worry Valley residents, some of whom protested during public-comment periods at the High Speed Rail Authority board meeting on June 1. Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto says he has heard “vague rumors” that data centers might be rising on the outskirts of Merced, but insists “outside forces” will not dictate development in his city. He added, “just build the train, dude.”

Merced Sun Star. Merced advocates want high-speed rail downtown; CEO says moving station is best. 
Synopsis: The people of Merced have made it abundantly clear that they want the high-speed rail station to built where it was originally promised, in downtown. Moving it outside city limits to undeveloped land is breaking that promise. But HSRA CEO Ian Choudri says moving the station will save his organization $1 billion and will be best for Merced. “It’s not about broken promises,” Choudri told the Fresno Bee. “We want to have a smart discussion around what makes sense for the city.” Lety Valencia isn’t buying it: “Without a downtown Merced station as planned and promised, our community risks missing out on the full benefits of high-speed rail.”
MAD Take: A billion? The North Fork Mono tribe just built a lavish casino with roads, a motel, restaurants, swimming pools and vast parking all for $725 million. The train station in Fresno will cost $50 million, not counting the $33 million for restoration of the historic Southern Pacific depot. Let’s be extravagant and say a similar station in Merced will cost $85 million (enough to throw in renovations on every building along 16^th Street). How does moving an $85 million project to undeveloped land “save” $1 billion? It doesn’t. It can’t. But if you read the Chronicle’s story about the HSRA’s real plan -- to build data centers within its rail corridor -- you see the real reason for moving the station. It isn’t about saving money, it’s about making money. The people of Merced won’t see a dime of it, but they will see data centers soaking up their power and using up their water.

Casino hires 1,500 in Madera

Fresno Bee. Casino to hire 1,500 in advance of opening in Madera County. 
Synopsis: The North Form Mono Casino says it is set to hire at least 1,500 workers for its new facility. There will be jobs for everything from accounts to dealers to pit bosses to lawyers. All jobs will have full medical, dental and 401(k) retirement plans. Workers even get free meals in the team dining room. The casino costs $725 million, but no opening date has been announced.

Deeper dive into Patterson

Modesto Bee. Patterson City Council member resigns, cites Brown Act concerns, possible leaks. 
Synopsis: Reporter Kathleen Quinn talks to suddenly former Patterson city councilmember Jessica Romero, who publicly resigned her position through a letter on the Patterson Irrigator Facebook page Tuesday. Her District B includes much of downtown and the west side of the city, a seat she won with 63% of the vote in 2022. Romero told Quinn that information from confidential closed meetings had been leaked and made public. She is also concerned about bidding irregularities. “Right now, I don’t have that trust” that the council will act on behalf of the community, she told Quinn. Mayor Michael Clauzel said Romero has his full support.

Small breakthrough on bird flu

Ag Daily. Research shows only 10 viral particles cause H5N1 avian flu infection in cows.
Synopsis: The thousands of cases of bird flu in cows were caused by 10 viral particles, says a paper published in Nature Communications. The research hints that the virus was smarter than humans thought. Instead of attacking airways, as it does in birds, H5N1 attacks mammary glands in cows. So, it travels through milking machinery. “How it spreads from cow to cow becomes a very important question. We need to understand if there’s a way to change milking practices or farming practices, whatever it is, to limit cow-to-cow transmission,” said lead author and veterinary medicine professor Andrew Bowman at Ohio State University. Nationwide, there were 1,053 outbreaks of bird flu on dairy farms across 17 states, including over 600 in California.

What’s that smell? Smoke?

ABC10. Fire at Stanislaus County marijuana facility under investigation.
Synopsis: A metal warehouse used for growing marijuana caught fire on Thursday morning. Crews were able to extinguish the blaze on Eucalyptus Avenue before much of the interior was impacted.

KSEE / CBS47. Illegal fire nearly burns down two Madera warehouses, crews say.
Synopsis: An illegally set fire nearly spread to two warehouses in Madera on Tuesday. The fire was set behind a storage facility at Evans Feed & Livestock Supply. First-responders rushed to the scene and were able to keep the fire from spreading into the warehouses, though exteriors were scorched.

ABC10. Fire at Medline warehouse added to ongoing Cal OSHA inspection in Tracy.
Synopsis: Cal OSHA will be looking into the fire at the Medline warehouse where faulty sprinklers failed to activate leading to the total loss of the million-square-foot facility and its contents. The warehouse was loaded with medical supplies, including some robots powered by lithium-ion batteries. In other news, the company said it would have all the vehicles in the parking lot professionally cleaned before returning them to their owners.

Some in Valley lack AC

Merced Focus. As Valley heat looms, thousands face summer without AC. 
Synopsis: Tim Sheehan says more than 10% of Valley households lack air-conditioning, according to the US Census Bureau. That means that 90% do have either AC or a swamp cooler. In the Northern San Joaquin, from Lodi to Fresno, the number is closer to 98%. But in eastern Madera County, the number falls to 94%. Most of the homes without AC are in the areas east of Porterville and in the Sierra foothill communities in Fresno, Kings, Kern and Tulare counties where up to 19.5% lack AC. Lacking air conditioning or some form of cooling is considered a health hazard when temperatures rise above 100 degrees.

Don’t abandon trade partners

Ag Net West. Produce industry coalition forms to defend USMCA trade benefits. 
Synopsis: Driscoll’s, Mission Produce, NatureSweet and Taylor Farms were among the foundational members in a coalition advocating for continuation of the US-Mexico-Canada trade treaty that Trump is threatening to abandon. The coalition says tariff-free agricultural trade between the three nations of North America is essential. The coalition explained that only through highly integrated supply chains are they able to move highly perishable fresh fruit and vegetables into markets in all three nations. Reducing trade barriers benefits all partners; increasing tariffs and inspections hurts business. NatureSweet is headquartered in Texas, but the other three companies are all based in California.

Twice as big? Sure, why not

Ceres Courier. Burlington convinced commission it needs bigger sign than code allows.
Synopsis: Burlington Coat Factory is coming to 1450 Hatch Road, filling a building left vacant in 2024. But the company wants a sign that covers 267 square feet of the building, about double what city code allows. The company says the building is so far from the road that a large sign is necessary to attract the attention of customers. The planning commission agreed, granting the variance.

Big lion found in Hanford

Fresno Bee. Mountain lion captured after sighting in Hanford.
Synopsis: The CA Dept of Fish & Wildlife captured a mountain lion that had spotted on doorbell cameras roaming through the city since last weekend. The big cat was caught in the areas around Merritt Street and Centennial Drive, not far from the Hanford Sports Complex. A staffer tranquilized the lion, which was then bagged, tagged and carried away. Lions have also been spotted in heavily populated areas of Shaver Lake, Merced and Gustine this year.

Solar taking over in CA

GV Wire. Sun eclipses natural gas as CA’s top power supplier. 
Synopsis: News director Bill McEwen writes about the US Energy Information Administration’s report that CA now gets more electricity from the sun than from natural gas. The trend has been building for two decades, but in the past five months has accelerated. Solar power generation rose 21% over 2024 levels as natural gas generation dropped 60%. The Independent System Operator, which manages CA’s grid, says solar delivers more power than natural gas on 8 days out of every 10. With increased utility-scale battery storage, solar capacity has grown to 25 gigawatts compared to gas’s 29GW. Battery discharge during times when the sun is not shining tripled in the first five months of 2026.

Cowell gets key to Ceres

Ceres Courier. Cowell returns home, given key to the city.
Synopsis: New York Red Bulls player Cade Cowell made a surprise appearance at the Ceres Youth Soccer program earlier this month. While he was there, city officials dropped by to present him with a key to the city. “This is where I grew up playing,” said Cowell, 22. “It’s a very special place for me.”