Valley Solutions

Canneries cut less acreage

Ag Alert. Canneries reduce tomato acreage to lowest in 50 years. 
Synopsis: For the third year in a row, CA’s canneries are contracting to buy fewer tomatoes. Canneries plan to buy 9.8 million tons grown on 185,000 acres. That’s down 11% from last year, according to the USDA, and the lowest number since 2005. It will be the first time since 1975 that CA farmers have planted less than 200,000 acres of tomatoes. Analysts said last year’s excellent crop left a lot of product in the pipeline as consumer habits have shifted away from soup, ketchup and pasta. Combined with higher input costs – fertilizer and fuel have jumped 25% in a week – growers are worried about showing a profit. “There’s just not a lot of meat on the bone to absorb more costs,” said Michael Monta of the CA Tomato Growers Assn.
MAD Take: The importance of this story to our Valley is obvious. We have some of the largest canneries in the world and tomatoes remain a serious crop worth more than $800 million across five Northern San Joaquin Valley counties. There are significant canning operations in every county, from Stockton to Escalon to Los Banos to Merced to Fresno. In Fresno County, tomatoes are worth $460 million as a crop. An 11% cuts means removing $88 million right off the top of the Valley’s economy.

What’s in Farm Bill for CA?

Western Farm Press. What’s in the new farm bill for CA? 
Synopsis: Senior Editor Tim Hearden looks at the Farm Bill that moved out of committee to the House floor this week. “The bipartisan action was greeted with excitement and optimism,” writes Hearden. The first people he talks to are Reps. Adam Gray and Jim Costa – who both sit on the ag committee. They explained impacts on various sectors. Dairy: Funding for expansion of SNAP incentives and building export markets for cheese. One provision protects the right to use words like “parmesan” to describe cheese. Livestock: Funding to fight bird-flu, which is spreading from chickens to cattle to sea lions to humans. Other provisions will help develop manure-management programs. Specialty crops: Rebuilding export markets is key, along with enhancements for cold-chain infrastructure and reporting requirements. One portion of the bill excites Midwestern pig farmers, since it contains language banning voters in any state from setting standards on products such as pork and chicken.

Vicious dogs roaming free

Modesto Focus. Stray dogs pose ongoing danger in south Modesto; residents frustrated by officials. 
Synopsis: Stray dogs are running rampant throughout south Modesto, causing property damage and attacking residents. Some attacks have resulted in serious injury and death. Parents won’t let their children walk in the neighborhoods due to the danger. A patchwork of responsible authorities – is the street in the county or the city? where is the animal right now? – delays any effective response even in an emergency. Officials blame a lack of affordable neutering options, the pandemic, shelter crowding and rising costs of caring for animals.
MAD Take: Hmm. If residents can pick up a phone and call an agency, even the wrong agency, why can’t that agency call another? After all, their bosses work in the same building. When people are bleeding, something must be done.

In politics, we’re on our own

Turlock Journal. Where are our umpires?
Synopsis: Contributor Mike Lynch says that once upon a time, we had “standards” for political behavior. Those standards were upheld first by newspapers then television, whose journalists acted as “umpires in our upcoming elections.” But neither medium has the reach to serve that function now. The internet is too fractured and diffuse. Now, “It is up to us.” And we must reject candidates who dismiss reality in favor of sound bites. Mike agrees that sometimes, it is time for a change. “But that change should be a step forward, not a step back.”

Half of all teachers want to quit

EdSource. Survey reveals almost 50% of CA teachers may quit teaching soon. 
Synopsis: CA teachers have higher morale than their peers in other states, but that’s a low bar. A report entitled “The State of Teaching” says morale is at an all-time low nationwide. On a scale of 1-to-100, CA teachers scored a 16; across the nation it was 13. Half of all CA teachers plan to quit in the next 10 years and are “counting down” the days. Some 40% plan to leave within 5 years. In many cases, it’s not that frustrates them, it’s the regulations, lack of respect and frustration. Younger teachers are likely to be dissatisfied. Oh, and more than half said student behavior is unacceptable. Kids use cellphones in class, talk back, even get violent and teachers are given no support or means of curtailing such behavior.

Cal Matters. CA teachers ‘tread lightly’ for America’s 250^th as they navigate competing narratives.  
Synopsis: Which version of American history will our kids be taught? In one, manifest destiny trumps all competing rationales and explaining any mistakes made along the path to glory is seen as unpatriotic. In the other, documented version of history, there are missteps and mistakes that cannot be glossed over. Do we teach students to question their teachers and challenge authority? Or do we teach them to get in line and do as instructed? Michael Matsuda, the retired superintendent of Anaheim Union HS District, says if we don’t teach the tenants of democracy our children will not learn their role in maintaining it.
MAD Take: A great educator once told me that he taught only the official version of history and its sanitized stories. Why? Because learning historical truths on their own imbued students with enormous power. He asked, “Would you have read Howard Zinn if it had been assigned?”

Modesto Bee. Modesto City Schools authorizes 30 layoffs, assure effort to reassign some.
Synopsis: The MCS board said it will eliminate 30 positions, including 9 campus supervisors but no teachers. Last year the district eliminated 47 jobs but laid off only 3 employees.

Sheriff explains crime drop

Turlock Journal. A conversation with Stanislaus Sheriff Jeff Dirkse. 
Synopsis: Reporter Joe Cortez does a Q&A with Jeff Dirkse, who immediately brings up the controversial countywide dispatch system. Dirkse preferred a different system from the one eventually purchased by the regional dispatch center. The Sheriff also touched on the county’s falling crime rate, saying it mirrors nationwide trends; he credits better technology for allowing quicker capture of criminals. But Dirkse also said something few other officials have been willing to say: Part of the drop has been due to underreporting of crime, which concerns him. Part 2 will be published Saturday.

Trump budget costs SJ $76 million

Stocktonia. San Joaquin County warns federal law could cut up to $76M from health, social services. 
Synopsis: County leaders say Trump’s Big Beautiful (budget) Bill could cost San Joaquin County from $50.9 to $76.9 million every year, starting this year. Under the bill, the feds shifted costs for healthcare onto local programs. “Counties do the hard work,” said supervisor Sonny Dhaliwal. “We run the hospitals, protect public health, care for vulnerable children and keep families fed. HR1 shifts costs to the county and adds administrative responsibility for several programs. … That is not sustainable.” San Joaquin has 314,058 residents enrolled in Medi-Cal, 39% of its total population. Another 131,891 rely on CalFresh food assistance. Rep. Josh Harder called Trump’s budget bill “the biggest healthcare cut in a generation.”

Insurance loss hurts foster kids

Cal Matters. CA’s foster care system is buckling under the weight of this unexpected cost. 
Synopsis: Since 2023, more than two dozen nonprofits responsible for recruiting and training foster parents have closed their doors across the state. Why? They couldn’t afford the insurance, which has quadrupled in cost in two years. That means in 13 counties, homes are not being certified, kids are left sitting in dorms or motels or untenable living situations. Kids with healthcare issues get even less help. The Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of CA, which covered 90% of the state’s 200 foster-family agencies, no longer writes policies. The state had been propping up agencies struggling to pay premiums, but that’s no longer a solution. Kids in foster care – there are 45,000 -- belong to all of us, and the state must do more say county officials.

Historic ‘Lions’ bridge to fall

Ceres Courier. Historic Seventh Street Bridge to carry last traffic.
Synopsis: The bridge that has carried cars and carriages across the Tuolumne River for the past 110 years is coming out of service Sunday. On Monday, the “lions bridge” will be demolished. Construction of the new bridge is expected by 2028. Traffic has already been rerouted, but those who walk across the bridge will have to find a new route.

Another exit from CA

LA Times. Yamaha is leaving CA after nearly 50 years.
Synopsis: After 47 years in Cypress, Yamaha Motors is relocating its US headquarters to Georgia. It joins a wave of iconic California companies departing the state – Chevron, In-N-Out and Tesla, etc. Yamaha cited high taxes and regulations it considers too strict for conducting business.
MAD Take: In the 1970s, Yamaha was nothing but an also-ran motorcycle company. Then it hired a Valley boy named Kenny Roberts to ride its motorcycles on the world’s most demanding racetracks. Sliding the underpowered Yamahas through turns just as he had done on the dirt tracks where he was raised, allowed him to reinvent racing. Kenny Roberts became “King Kenny,” the first American to win a world championship. Then he won two more.

County wells pose a danger

Modesto Bee. Drinking water from Stanislaus County’s domestic wells can be dangerous.
Synopsis: Reporter Kathleen Quinn writes about Stanislaus County’s 20,000 wells, including nearly 10,000 that provide drinking water. Such wells are shallower and can be contaminated by fertilizers, pesticides and waste. Since most are in rural areas those being poisoned are more likely to be poor. One of the worst areas is Cowan Tract, which has 94 homes south of Ceres. Every well tested showed nitrate contamination. Other problems with well water include 1,2,3 TCP and other carcinogenic compounds.  

No probation for subbasin

SJV Water. Another Valley groundwater subbasin will likely escape state intervention.
Synopsis: The Delta-Mendota subbasin, at 765,000 acres one of the largest in the state, will not be required to submit to state oversight if the State Water Board follows staff recommendations next week. Such oversight requires irrigators to pay $20 for every acre foot pumped and to register every pump at a cost of $300.

Lathrop girls had good run

Manteca Bulletin. Faith Christian ends Lathrop’s historic run in CIF regional final. 
Synopsis: The Lathrop girls lost 61-46 to Faith Christian in the Division IV finals Tuesday night. Lathrop came into the game at 33-1 but was a substantial underdog to 32-1 Faith Christian, which features the nation’s leading scorer in Lauren Harris, averaging 31 points per game. Lathrop held her to 27, but it wasn’t enough.

Naked magic? Coming to Gallo

Modesto Bee. Performers will get naked on Gallo Center stage.
Synopsis: The Naked Magicians will perform a sort of magical striptease at the Gallo Center on March 20. It’s not for kids; you have to be 18 or older to watch. Other entertainment coming to town includes Tyler Henry, the Hollywood Medium at the Gallo on March 15. We Own The Laughs will appear at the State Theatre on March 14 followed by comic Willie Barcena on March 20. Opera Modesto performs at the Graffiti Museum on March 15 and UC Merced professor Kirk Jensen will discuss using vaccines to counter parasites at MJC West on March 20.