Valley Solutions

No Kings protests in Valley

Modesto Bee. ‘No Kings’ anti-Trump protests planned in Stanislaus County. 
Synopsis: Organizers are hoping to unite millions of Americans in their loathing of the current administration while reminding the world “America has no kings.” Several prominent groups have joined the movement, including the ACLU and Stand Up America, to conduct some 2,500 protests. Modesto’s protest will start at Standiford Park on Tokay Ave at noon. Turlock’s will run from 1-3 pm at Countryside and West Monte Vista. The story points out that while anti-government speech is protected, protesters cannot make threats against the president and there are limits on obscenities. While free speech is protected, even peaceful civil disobedience is not, and arrests can be made. Police have the authority and duty to protect both those not involved in protests and those impacted by the protests, which means they can provide instruction on traffic and pedestrian safety.

Merced Sun Star. ‘No King’ anti-Trump protest planned in Merced County.
Synopsis: Basically, the same story that appeared in most McClatchy newspapers about the national protest with local details plugged in deep in the story. The Merced protest will be at Courthouse Park from 10 am to noon.

‘Make Camp Taylor road safer’

Modesto Bee. Stanislaus board gets plea for safer Camp Taylor entry after young volunteer died. 
Synopsis: Avery Millerick was killed in June where the Camp Taylor driveway turns off Grayson Road – one of the most dangerous roads in Stanislaus County. The driveway is across from where Shiloh Road intersects with Grayson on a sweeping turn that can obscure oncoming cars. Kimberlie Gamino, the executive director of the camp for children with severe health issues, and Millerick’s mother, Ciara Walsh, want county staff to make the intersection safer with a four-way stop. Among those writing letters in support of better safety measures was Rep. Adam Gray, who has been an avid supporter of the camp and helped secure $2 million for the facility in 2018.

Water coming to Crows Landing

Modesto Bee. Stanislaus could OK $23.6M in water facilities for Crows Landing business park. 
Synopsis: The 1,528-acre former Navy training facility is on the verge of getting $23.6 million in water infrastructure. So far, the county has allocated $42 million – and spent $14.8 million -- to turn the facility into a business park and job generator complete with a rail line, runways and roads. The new allocation would sink two wells and build 1.6 million gallons of storage with pumping and treatment onsite. Part of the water would be devoted to residents of nearby Crows Landing. The county’s plan rankles Keystone Corp., which wants to build 720 homes north of Patterson. The city has denied the permits citing depleted groundwater as the reason. Keystone says if the county has enough water for two wells, then why not its homes.

Prop 50 explained

League of Women Voters. Ins and Outs of Proposition 50: Webinar. 
Synopsis: The League of Women Voters of Stanislaus County have produced a webinar, lasting roughly 30 minutes, to explain both sides of Proposition 50. The presentation is available in both English and Spanish. Arguments on both sides appear to fit in well with the organization’s mission: “Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.” Among the topics covered: “Follow the money,” seeing who is paying for the proposition and who is trying to defeat it. Does it create a mandate? How did it even get on the ballot? A companion video, put on the league’s statewide organization, provides the Prop 50 maps.

LA Times. ‘Democracy is on the ballot,’ Obama says, urging Californians to pass Prop 50. 
Synopsis: The most popular president of this century urged Californians to pass Prop 50 in ads that began airing on Tuesday. “California, the whole nation is counting on you,” he says in the 30-second spot. He points to the ICE raids sweeping up American citizens as well as immigrants and efforts to redistrict in other states. Obama has often campaigned against gerrymandering but says this time it’s different. But he never mentions the current president by name.

Bringing flu shots to dairies

Morning Ag Clips. CDPH calls on dairy operators to offer on-site flu vaccine clinics.
Synopsis: Dr. Kristin Cummings, chief of Occupational Health at the CA Dept of Public Health, is asking dairy farmers in the Valley to offer on-site flu clinics for employees. Having employees vaccinated should lead to fewer lost workdays, higher productivity and revenues. The shots would inoculate workers against both seasonal flu and bird flu, which at least 80 workers (and likely many times that number) caught last year. The Farm Employers Labor Service is helping spread the word.

Are masked cops OK?

Modesto Bee. Modesto wants more community input on mask ordinance, launches survey. 
Synopsis: Police departments and cities across the nation are trying to come up with new rules concerning masks for law enforcement. The city bans residents from wearing face coverings in public except for health reasons. But it has no rules against officers wearing them. The Community Police Review Board has offered its recommendation, including that the city should seek greater public input. Now the city is doing just that.
MAD Take: Once upon a time, those wearing masks were the bad guys.  

DHS has a role in Stanislaus

Modesto Bee. Here’s why Homeland Security has space, data access at Stanislaus SO. 
Synopsis: The Stanislaus Sheriff’s Office has an agreement with the Dept of Homeland Security to provide office space and access to Stanislaus databases to two federal agents working as in a joint task force to combat human, weapons and drug trafficking. Stanislaus Sheriff Jeff Dirkse is adamant that the agents are not involved in immigration enforcement. The agents work for Homeland Security Investigations, which does not enforce immigration law. But many fear the Trump administration is acting in violation of local agreements and fusing the missions of its various departments within the agency to carry out mass deportations. Many agencies around California have similar agreements, but most of them contain explicit language barring county staff from engaging in immigration actions. Stanislaus does not have that language, meaning deputies could be used to arrest bystanders. Dirkse says that won’t happen. And if such a request was made by federal officials, his office could “kick them out.” He was emphatic: “We are not assisting them related with anything immigration enforcement.”

Shelves bare at food bank

CBS13. Emergency Food Bank of Stockton feeling strain from government shutdown. 
Synopsis: The Emergency Food Bank covers the entire region to provide food to 107 sites throughout San Joaquin County, where more than 10% of the residents are “food insecure.” That amounts to 83,690 people, according to Food Bank CEO Leonard Hansen. Last year, the bank served 73,000 different individuals. The Bank provides “more than just a box” of food. But it receives 35% of its food from the USDA, which is not operating during the shutdown. Even when the shutdown ends, some of the staff involved in providing food have been fired. Four months ago, the Food Bank’s supplies from the USDA were cut by 12 pallets, or 30,000 pounds weekly. The Food Bank serves 85 mobile farmers market sites, the Salvation Army, Gospel Center and Saint Mary’s among others.

Fresno shelter gets a reprieve

Fresnoland. Fresno group says troubled medical shelter for homeless will stay open.
Synopsis: RH Community Builders will manage the recuperative care facility on Blackstone for recovering homeless people. It was announced last week that the former Motel 6 would be shuttered, sending 250 people recently discharged from hospital care into the streets. The shelter had been run by Soul Housing, which had a MediCal-funded contract with Health Net and CalAIM. Katie Wilbur of RH said the insurance payments have continued but through a short-term program. “Every day is hard. But the rewards of being able to keep people sheltered, see people go to permanent housing … that’s what always fills our cup,” said Wilbur.  

Valley airports decline video  

KCRA. Sacramento, Stockton airports aren’t running Kristi Noem video that blames Democrats.
Synopsis: Kristi Noem produced a video blaming Democrats for the government shutdown and delays getting through security lines and asked that it be played in airports across the nation. But many airports around the nation are refusing to show it on public screens. Sacramento and Stockton both have declined to air the video, joining Atlanta, Charlotte, JFK and LaGuardia in NY, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Seattle and even Springfield-Branson, among others, in rejecting the video.

Group decries ‘drift’

Modesto Bee. What is pesticide drift and why is Stanislaus environmental group worried about it?
Synopsis: The group Valley Improvement Projects wants to curtail pesticide spraying unless there is a mile-wide buffer on all sides of the targeted fields, vineyards and orchards. The current buffer is a quarter mile and spraying is only allowed on days with calm conditions. The group is especially critical of Telone, which can cause skin irrigation and breathing issues. VIP has decided that cover crops such as moss would be a better option than pesticides. The county says it already reviews all spraying requests and looks for alternatives if they’re available. It points out that pesticides are expensive and spraying them even more so, so they’re already considered a last resort for farmers. Farmers in the county used 300,000 pounds of Telone in 2024, or 40% less than they used in 2023.

Pranking 50 driverless cars

SF Chronicle. Tech prankster sends 50 Waymo robotaxis to a dead end street in SF. 
Synopsis: Some 50 driverless cars converged on a single dead-end street in July. It was sort of a flash-mob prank dreamed up by a 23-year-old software engineer. No one got into the cars, so those who ordered them were charged $5. But the company refused to honor requests from a 2-block radius through the next morning. Some see darker implications in such a stunt, saying Waymos could be used to tie up traffic on election days or during an emergency. The engineer, Riley Walz, has done a host of interesting “pranks” and runs a company called Numerous.ai.