Valley Solutions

State makes farmers pay

Valley Ag Voice. Regulatory costs grow 1,366% for CA farmers. 
Synopsis: Cal Poly SLO has updated its study into how much it costs to farm in California. The results are eye-popping. The state has always imposed more and higher fees than any other state. Now, those fees are skyrocketing, rising 13-fold since 2006. Regulatory fees accounted for 1.24% of production costs in 2006; now fees cost 8.9%. A hypothetical lettuce grower paid $109 in fees in 2006 but now pays $1,600 per harvested acre. Considering that farm-gate prices are basically flat in that timeframe, this is seriously cutting into farm income. For the highest fees in the nation, we get the safest food in the world.

Last arguments on Prop 50

SF Chronicle. Endorsement: Trump’s tyranny can’t continue. Yes on CA’s Prop 50. 
Synopsis: Like most other editorial boards across the state, the Chronicle is holding its nose and telling voters to say YES to Prop 50 and allow Democrat legislators to redraw the state’s congressional districts. That could shift 5 seats from red to purple or blue. This usurps public control of the process we voted in 17 years ago, but it wouldn’t be necessary if Texas hadn’t turned five blue districts red. All totaled, the GOP could pick up 12 seats in the House after Indiana, Florida and North Carolina joined the red surge. That leaves it up to CA, Illinois, New York and Maryland to restore balance. The Chron asks then answers this question: “Does the Trump administration pose such a threat that it justifies extraordinary measures now? Yes.”

LA Times. CA’s sleazy redistricting beats having an unhinged president. 
Synopsis: Venerable columnist George Skelton lays out the choice for CA voters: Try to put some sort of curb on the most corrupt, unhinged, unchecked and delusional president in our history, or watch the Constitution burn. In typical Skelton fashion, he has his own take, saying California Republicans are to blame because they “meekly” got in line behind a “hugely unpopular president. Prop 50 is the latest result.”

Where salmon go to die

Sacramento Bee. CA salmon die in a place most don’t know exists; that’s a problem. 
Synopsis: Columnist Tom Philp continues his series on salmon survival, this time looking at the Delta and the pumps at its edge. He decries a Delta “almost unrecognizable from its original form” – ag land cris-crossed by channeled rivers and canals filled with salmon-feasting bass. Two-thirds of the state’s population relies on the Delta for water, but 78% don’t even know it exists. He says “farms vs. fish” is a false dichotomy. “Yes, pumping kills. But what really kills, and nobody can quantify, is how the dams on the salmon rivers block about 95% of the places to spawn.”
MAD Take: There is no doubt Tom has valid points. But it should be noted that he has been advocating for the removal of O’Shaughnessy Dam in Yosemite for 20 years. In that time, theories on what kills salmon, and how to save them, have changed dramatically. In 2005, the environmental community insisted flows would solve the problem, pushing salmon down our rivers and out into the ocean more quickly. Now they admit it is far more complicated (though the old green guard still clings to a flow-centric mantra). Salmon need water, but when? Environmentalists and even fish scientists have been very bad at choosing when those flows should occur. Why? Because they don’t think like salmon. Meanwhile we’re seeing incredible recovery where salmon are given restored habitat. Want to save salmon? Then remove a few million non-native bass who consume 98% of migrating salmon in the south Delta. Tom says that’s not really a problem. But before we start tearing down Sierra rim dams, we should figure out exactly what the problem is. Remember, those dams were built for a lot of reasons — including flood control and drinking water. Once they’re gone, they won’t come back.

47 living units, 64 problems

Merced Focus. Residents at Merced apartment complex unite to preserve affordable housing. 
Synopsis: Merced Gardens Apartments residents are ready to go to court to keep their apartments. The owners of the Section 8 facility, America Progresso Meadows, want to charge market-rate rents. Meanwhile, dozens of problems have gone unresolved – everything from broken fixtures to clogged pipes to faulty AC. A federal inspection of the 47 units showed 64 deficiencies, including life-threatening lapses in wiring and detectors. Asked to describe living in the complex, one resident responded: “Pain, suffering, neglect.”

Controlling rats in orchards

CA Ag Net. How to effectively control rats on CA farms in a state of emergency.
Synopsis: As orchards and vineyards were abandoned due to prices too low to justify harvesting, rats moved in to eat the crops and did what rats do -- multiplied. Eventually, they began spreading out to nearby farms. UC Cooperative Extension pest specialist Roger Baldwin talks about how to knock down pest populations and keep them away.

Will water law help? Maybe

Fresno Bee. New CA law will set Valley water targets; can we meet the goal?
Synopsis: Fresno State’s Tom Holyoke and Laura Ramos combined on this op-ed examining Anna Caballero’s SB72, which was just signed into law. They say it could create a “minor revolution in state water planning” by establishing targets for all sorts of water uses, including storage. “Details are vague on how these targets will be set, and this is cause for concern.” Meanwhile, “Californians have made an art out of fighting over water.” Still, we must have new and better tools to confront the water challenges created by climate change.

Stockton’s bad OPTICs

Stocktonia. No answers from Stockton’s new ‘transparency office.’
Synopsis: The newest department at Stockton’s city hall – the Office of Public Transparency, Information and Communications (OPTIC, get it?) – is 3 months old. But so far, it’s been invisible. Even the Instagram post from the dept head that announced the department’s creation has been deleted. That posting, from Tony Mannor, the former owner of Finnegan’s Irish Pub, promised to “tell you everything – and I mean everything.” This year’s grand jury said the city was awful at being transparent. Instead of having a city PIO, as required in the city charter, Mayor Christine Fugazi aligned herself with the publisher of a website run by conservative political consultant Motecuzoma Sanchez and created OPTIC.

A party at the cemetery

Modesto Bee. About 3,000 turn out for Day of the Dead observance at Modesto-area cemetery.
Synopsis: A lot of folks were at Lakewood Memorial Park on Saturday to remember those who went before. Lakewood has hosted celebrations since 2019 (excluding 2020). Many who out just drove around the cemetery. Two bands played for Folklorico and Danza Azteca dancers.

16 DUIs and still driving

GV Wire / Cal Matters. Six reasons for CA’s deadly failure on drunk driving. 
Synopsis: The second of two parts by reporters Lauren Helper and Robert Lewis. They detail the main reasons California has gone from being one of the toughest states on drunk drivers to one of the most lenient. Reasons range from weak DUI laws to giving licenses back to drunks more quickly than any other state. There are few consequences to driving drunk unless you kill someone; even then, it’s not treated as a violent crime. Legislators are unwilling to pass tougher laws. One drunk got 16 DUIs before she hit someone – and even, then the judge considered probation.
MAD Note: The two stories produced by CalMatters are devastating. The reporters have done their part in uncovering gross abuses of a broken system. Now it is up to state legislators to fix this.

Police foil kidnapping plot

Ceres Courier. Ceres police foil kidnapping of elderly woman.
Synopsis: Ceres PD arrested a couple of 30-somethings after they forced an older woman to accompany them to the bank and ordered her to withdraw a large amount of cash from her accounts. She apparently surprised them, blurting out their plan. Stephanie Maghoney, 36, and Nicholas Payton, 33, took off running, but police caught them a short distance from the bank. He was on probation and carrying a weapon. She was wanted for burglary in Tracy.

Gallo exec moves to milk

CA Ag Net. CA Milk Advisory Board welcomes Adrienne Daniels as EVP of Marketing. 
Synopsis: Adrienne Daniels cut her teeth selling box wine for E.&J. Gallo, rising to Senior Marketing Director and managing 60 brands. But two weeks ago, she moved over to the Milk Board, where she will be pushing less intoxicating beverages. With a BA in poli-sci and a Stanford MBA, Daniels has been active in Learning Quest and the Stanislaus Community Foundation.

Greatest of all team names?

Modesto Focus. Will Modesto make the most of extra innings with independent baseball league?
Synopsis: The Modesto Nuts, one of the California League’s original teams, closed up shop and moved to greener pastures after the end of this past season. But just a few days later, the city announced it will host a team in the semi-pro Pioneer League (which includes Oakland, Boise, Yuba-Sutter and a bunch of teams from Montana, Idaho, etc.). Team owner David Heller says he’ll let fans name the team. Meanwhile, he’s looking for local players to fill out the roster and residents to host those who move here to play. The larger question is, will Modesto fans support the team? Attendance at Nuts games fell dramatically in the past 10 years.
MAD Take: The contest to name the team has another week to go. No one liked my suggestion (The Archies), but I hope voters look closely at the other suggestions. Bombers or cherry bombs -- who wants to “bomb” at anything? What’s a Glow Rider? Graffiti is a great movie, but let’s leave it at that. Harvesters: OK, but it sounds more like guys who race tractors, not play baseball. That leaves the Golden Goats, which has potential. Hitters could wear Homer Horns and pitchers could be throwing goat cheese. Nobody beats our Goats.