Valley Solutions

Sheriff: Report a waste of time

Merced Sun Star. Merced sheriff criticizes CA ICE reporting laws, calls for local cooperation.
Synopsis: Vern Warnke says the state-required reporting of contacts between California jails and federal immigration agencies are a waste of time and money. He made those comments as he presented the required information to county supervisors. Instead of spending precious hours on a little-noticed report, his staff has “300 other things they need to be doing” but can’t. An unintended result of this misguided policy, he said, was that ICE shows up in our communities where they “put the masks on and … start snatching people up. Well, you know who else does that is the cartels.” Having that happen makes his job tougher. What really angered Warnke is knowing that in 2024 his department arrested 233 felons who were in the US illegally but then were released “onto the streets to create more victims.”

Long-awaited road gets going

CBS13. Stanislaus County set to break ground on new expressway linking 3 cities. 
Synopsis: The long-promised North County Corridor is getting a little closer to becoming reality. Construction is scheduled to begin Friday on the $184 million first phase of the project. It will close Roselle Avenue from Claribel to Plainview for a year. When complete, Phase 1 will run from Oakdale Road to Claus Road. Eventually, it will be extended to connect Oakdale, Riverbank and Modesto then out to Highway 99.

Housing market in deep freeze

Fresnoland. Fresno-Madera housing boom has majorly cooled off. 
Synopsis: Since COVID, remote workers have been fleeing the Bay Area and showing up in Fresno and Madera seeking a traditional home they could afford. That land rush has officially ended. “Across the San Joaquin Valley, the pandemic-era feeding frenzy of housing has given way to a market frozen in place – too expensive for buyers, too precious for sellers to let go. Unsold homes have piled up to near record levels.” Even with so few buyers, home prices have “refused to budge.” Many of those who want to sell paid premium prices for their homes 3 or 4 years ago and now can’t afford to take a loss. New construction has fallen to only 65 homes in Fresno last month. The issuance of building permits has fallen to “recession-era levels” with Fresno on track for only 700 new homes this year. Major builders with inventory are knocking $45K to $50K off the prices and still getting few interested lookers. 

Bailouts can’t fix ag economy

Fresno Bee. Trump’s trade wars caused a slumping ag economy; his fix is another bailout.
Synopsis: The Fresno Bee editorial board (Juan Esparza Loera and Tad Weber) write about Trump making the same mistakes he made in 2019 when his trade war with China caused an economic crisis in farming. It’s a pattern: Trump starts a trade war, commodity sales crash, Trump rides in with handouts to soften the impacts he created. That’s the same as “a firefighter who secretly sets fires just so that he can be the one who comes to the rescue.” It’s not just commodity crops suffering. Some 70% of CA’s almonds and 80% of pistachios are exported and now face huge tariffs in countries angered by Trump’s tariffs. In 2019, CA growers lost an estimated $239 million due to the trade war. But our growers didn’t get the bailouts handed to those who grow beans and corn.

‘A pile of bovine discharge’

Fresno Bee. Republicans keep fibbing about healthcare for ‘illegal aliens’ – why?
Synopsis: Columnist Juan Esparza Loera writes about the “blatant lie” being promoted by Trump, Vance, et al that Democrats are pushing for billions of dollars to provide healthcare to illegal immigrants. Democrats have made no such demand. Undocumented residents are banned from receiving benefits in the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Loera details the many instances of misinformation channeled by Trump et al through Fox, X and propaganda outlets. Yet, writes Loera, “people still fall for this pile of bovine discharge.” What Democrats are actually trying to do is “bring back billions in Medicaid cuts created by the One Big Beautiful (budget) bill and extend Affordable Care Act Marketplace subsidies that will expire at the end of the year.”

If you pump, you pay

Valley Ag Voice. Farmers face extraction fees under SGMA. 
Synopsis: The State Water Board is proposing new fees for all groundwater “extractors.” The base filing fee will be $300 per well and $10 per acre foot on metered wells in “Unmanaged Areas.” Those using unmetered pumps must pay $25 per acre foot. De minimis extractors – those taking amounts too small to measure -- are excluded. Those farming in basins that are on probation must also pay a “volumetric fee” of $20 per acre foot. The board says all proceeds will be deposited in a Water Rights Fund and can only be used for groundwater projects or regulatory efforts.

And they’re (not) off in Fresno

Fresno Bee. Big Fresno Fair opens without horse races. What replaces 120-year tradition?
Synopsis: For the first time 75 years, there will be no horse racing at the Big Fresno Fair, which opens today. That leaves a $3.2 million hole in the budget and an empty 4,000-seat grandstand. To fill the seats, the Fair will have a two-day rodeo, performances by Jaripeo Baile, a car show, monster trucks and the 14^th Annual Big Band Review for junior and high school students.

Fixing a leaky sewer line

Modesto Bee. Modesto approves nearly $144M investment to get itself out of stinky situation.
Synopsis: The River Trunk sewage pipeline, which carries 24% of Modesto’s waste flow, is getting a makeover. To pay the $144M cost, the city will issue a $60M revenue bond. Councilmember Chris Ricci was the lone no vote, mainly because he sees this as a missed opportunity to bring sewage services to a dozen low-income county pockets surrounded by the city. In the past five years, the existing line – which is 60 years old – has suffered break, failures and leaks. In 2021, 200,000 gallons of raw sewage flowed from a break in the pipeline into Dry Creek. The project will take 3 to 4 years.

Ceres flip-flop causes anger

Ceres Courier. Food truck court site owner terms council decision ‘truly unjust.’
Synopsis: Ashley Ranuio thought she had permission to create a Truck Stop Grub Hub with an outdoor music venue in Ceres. But the owner of an existing food-truck lot appealed the planning commission’s 3-1 approval, and the Ceres city council decided that the city has enough food-truck venues and overturned the planning commission’s decision. Ranuio called that action “truly unjust.”

A threat to almond trees

Ag Alert. Tools to control aggressive red leaf blotch a priority.
Synopsis: A fungal disease is spreading rapidly through almond orchards across the state. Red leaf blotch “is a game changer,” said UC Cooperative plant pathologist Florent Trouillas. The disease can defoliate trees and significantly reduce yields if left untreated. Trouillas has screened 22 different products and recommends treatment at three stages – petal fall, then two weeks and five weeks later. A single application is not effective in stopping the disease that came over from Spain. It was first seen in Madera in 2024, but this year the worst cases were found in Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties. “This is new,” said Ben Duesterhaus of Mid Valley Ag Services. “It spread quicker than expected and I think that kind of caught everybody off guard.” The fungus lives in fallen leaves, so orchard maintenance is crucial.

New bus yard in Modesto

Modesto Bee. Stanislaus transit agency plans bigger bus yard; hydrogen fuel will happen first.
Synopsis: Stanislaus County spent $8.7 million to buy 29 acres off Crows Landing Road to build a new Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority headquarters. The building is expected to cost $100 million and will house the maintenance of 200 vehicles under new state rules requiring emissions reductions. StanRTA expects to convert its fleet of diesel buses to hydrogen by 2040 and already has two hydrogen buses in operation.

Ag tech teacher wins award

KSEE / CBS47. Atwater teacher wins $50,000 for school’s program.
Synopsis: Shelby Fishman, who teaches ag mechanics at Atwater high and Merced College, was named one of 25 winners in the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools contest. Fishman has increased female participation in the small-engines pathway at AHS from 4% of students to 16%. Every student in her program earns at least one certification; some several. Among her prizes was a toolchest that will be kept in the school’s classroom. On hand to congratulate Fishman was the high school band, teachers, staff, her two daughters and husband, and a member of Rep. Adam Gray’s staff. 

Governor relents on drilling

Western Farm Press: They did it: Lawmakers persuade Newsom on fuel development. 
Synopsis: Senior Editor Tim Hearden applauds Stan Ellis’s bill to remove some oil-well drilling from lawsuits and environmental review in Kern County. “We have 28 to 30 million gas and diesel-powered vehicles in the state running up and down our highways,” said Ellis, a farmer who worked in the oil industry. “When the price of gas goes up, it affects every single person in the state in their cost of living.” His legislation, along with a bill by Tim Grayson, will mean about 2,000 wells can be drilled next year.

KO knows his BBQ

Turlock Journal. Meet the local barbecue business ‘knocking out’ the competition.
Synopsis: Kevin Ortega runs KO BBQ, which recently won the Famous Dave’s All-Star BBQ Series event at Modesto’s Vintage Faire Mall. It qualified Ortega for the World Food Championships, Oct. 16-19, in Indianapolis. It will be the biggest competition he’s ever attended, much less competed in. “It feels like I’m Charlie at the Chocolate Factory,” said Ortega. He won for his wings, but that’s not his specialty. The grand prize is $150,000. His is purely a catering operation (weddings, birthdays, graduations, etc.) featuring “Cali-inspired flavors.”