Valley Solutions

Where did water come from?

Valley Citizen. Irrigation system tells a story says tall cowboy. 
Synopsis: Eric Caine continues his detailed look into how trees get watered at the AB La Grange Ranch east of Modesto. Caine sits in on a conversation between an unnamed “tall cowboy” and Todd Sill, a former employee of the ranch. They talk about how water gets to about 100 acres of trees that are on the ranch but outside the Modesto Irrigation District boundaries. Larry Byrd is a partner in the ranching operation. Using MID water outside the district is prohibited, something a district director and former employee surely would know.

Why bullet train to be rerouted

Cal Matters. For CA high-speed rail to succeed, part of the Central Valley will have to wait. 
Synopsis: Yousef Baig writes that Merced is being sacrificed in efforts to save high-speed rail. But that shouldn’t surprise anyone who has been paying attention to the progress of the bullet train. “Salvation for high-speed rail apparently lies in Gilroy … and its potential to connect Silicon Valley to the Central Valley.” The original Merced-to-Bakersfield route would generate only 2.2 million trips annually, or about a third of those needed to break even.
MAD Note: Not sure why anyone would describe Gilroy as being part of the “Central Valley.”

Were Valley’s poor ignored?

LA Times. Permits were expedited for this clean-energy project; were residents sidelined?
Synopsis: A story written as part of the newspaper’s “equity reporting initiative” details how the Darden Clean Energy project in western Fresno County will change the landscape around Cantua Creek. The project has been permitted to cover 9,500 acres of so-called “white lands” with 3 million solar panels and massive lithium battery units to store the energy. A group called Rural Communities Rising has arisen to say it wasn’t consulted before this project was approved. A third of the area’s residents are below the poverty line and communities struggle to provide drinking water, healthcare, education, etc. Darden’s owner, Intersect Power, will be the second-largest property-tax payer in the county, behind PG&E. The company says it will create 1,200 construction jobs before employing 16 people to run the facility. Not everyone is angry. Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco says the project’s property taxes will be “transformative” for her town. And Intersect has promised to donate $2 million to local housing groups over 10 years and has already handed out free air conditioning units to hundreds of residents. There are eight similar generation projects being planned throughout the state. Among those quoted are farmworkers Leticia Villegas of Five Points and Firebaugh councilmember Felipe Perez. Story points out that most of the land, which is within Westlands Water District, has no natural water sources.

Former CSU chancellor passes

GV Wire. Former CSU chancellor, Fresno State president Joseph Castro, 58, passes of cancer.
Synopsis: The first Mexican American and CA native to first head Fresno State then the entire CSU system died Sunday morning due to complications of cancer. He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Mary, and children Isaac, Jess and Lauren. “Joe’s life was guided by a desire to open doors of opportunity for others,” his family said in a statement. He was born in Hanford and raised by a single mother and grandparents who immigrated from Michoacan.

GV Wire. Joe Castro: A life cut far too short, but his legacy marches on.
Synopsis: Bill McEwen writes about the educator who came from the Valley and succeeded in breaking barriers throughout his life. As a kid in Hanford, no job was too menial or too tough. He had watched his grandparents toil in the San Joaquin Valley’s fields. His mom, a beautician, and his father, a long-haul truck driver, made it clear that success requires accountability.

Fed grants come with strings

Fresno Bee. Fresno airport receives $20.8 million federal grant for terminal expansion.
Synopsis: The Fresno-Yosemite International Airport has been awarded federal grants for runway and terminal improvements, according to senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff. One project would renovate screening areas; the other would repave 9,340 feet of runway. It’s not clear if the grants will be impacted by the Trump administration’s vow to withhold money from cities that have “woke” language in their programs.

Fresno Bee. Editorial: Trump’s threat to punish Fresno over DEI wording is dumb, dangerous.
Synopsis: The Fresno Bee editorial board – Juan Esparza Loera and Tad Weber – say President Trump has gone too far. Trump has ordered the city to remove all references to “equity,” “environmental justice” and anything to do with trans people from community block-grant programs or risk losing federal funds. It’s not as if Fresno is a city “hellbent on stamping DEI all over its planning.” City attorney Andrew Janz, a Democrat, is suing. Mayor Jerry Dyer, a Republican, is irritated that this sudden rewriting of the rules will hurt “our families, seniors and small businesses.” Why do this? It’s a power play, but a clumsy one. So far, there have been 330 lawsuits filed against the Trump administration, with 23 of 31 (75%) of those decided so far going against him.  

Fines for ignoring trees?

Western Farm Press. CA farmers could face civil penalties for crop mismanagement. 
Synopsis: Alexandra Macedo has written a bill to force county ag commissioners to fine property owners who allow abandoned orchards to become a “public nuisance.” The fines could reach $1,000 an acre for abandoned orchards. Fresno Farm Bureau’s Ryan Jacobsen sees the need for rules, but also understands the plight of farmers who can’t afford to harvest a money-losing crop or knock down dying trees. Land IQ estimates 30,000 acres of almonds have been abandoned this year from Arvin to Chico with 10,000 acres in Fresno County alone. “We are sensitive to (the economics). But you’ve also got people next door,” Jacobsen said. Infestations of rats, ground squirrels, crows and insects will cause an estimated $300 million in damage across the South Valley this year.

Issues at Valley hospitals

Merced Focus. Valley hospitals receive mixed scores in federal rating system.
Synopsis: Three Valley hospitals – one each in Fresno, Modesto and Bakersfield – received the lowest scores possible. With five stars possible from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, Doctors Medical Center in Modesto and Adventist Health Bakersfield got only 1 star. While there were no 5-star hospitals in the Valley, Fresno VA Medical Center, Kaiser Fresno, Kaiser Manteca, St. Joseph’s in Stockton and Sutter Tracy got four-star ratings.  

Fresno Bee. Nurses ‘showed no urgency’ as man died in Valley ER hallway, report says.
Synopsis: The family of a man who died at Kaweah Health MC is suing, saying two nurses joked with each other rather than triage their father as he suffered a heart attack. Erick Burger, 60, started seizing within minutes of arriving at the ER and died 90 minutes later. Paramedics radioed ahead, saying he would need immediate attention. The two nurses were put on administrative leave after the incident and no longer work at the hospital.

Human case of ‘screwworm’

Successful Farming. First travel-associated human screwworm case in US from Central America.  
Synopsis: The flesh-eating parasite that kills cattle in southern Mexico and Central America was brought into Maryland from either a traveler returning from either El Salvador or Guatemala. Because parasites are easier to stop than viruses, the CDC considers the risk to others “very low.” Treatment in humans or animals involves meticulously removing the larvae which burrow into living flesh using a screwlike motion. Livestock traders, who bring in a lot of steers from Mexico to Texas and California, are on edge. The closest case to the US so far was in Veracruz, about 370 miles south of the border.

THS rewards kindness

Modesto Bee. At Turlock High, student-run thrift store builds community, rewards kindness. 
Synopsis: A campus thrift store is “packed with dresses, unique finds and school gym-wear” available to students who have Bulldog Bucks. The only way to earn the Bucks is to be caught doing something kind or laudable. The store started during the pandemic, thanks to teacher Virginia Barr. Stocking the shelves wasn’t hard. “It seems like the younger generation is a little bit more aware of overconsumption and our environmental footprints,” said counselor Kristen Cole. And there are some real finds, like the Oscar de la Renta tuxedo. The store comes in handy for students who arrive at school in clothes that don’t meet the school’s dress code.

McNerney: Kill the tunnel

Stocktonia. McNerney: CA should pursue better alternatives to the costly Delta Tunnel.
Synopsis: State Sen. Jerry McNerney, who chairs the Delta Caucus, offered this op-ed to say the 45-mile tunnel will cost too much, provide too little water and is the least feasible of several alternatives to solving the state’s water problems. Bottom line: “California should table the pricey tunnel project and instead pursue alternatives that are far more affordable, better for the environment and will achieve superior results.”

Let boys play flag football

LA Times. If tackle football isn’t safe for girls, why do we let boys play?
Synopsis: USC Prof. Michael Messner notes that roughly 1.2 million teens in the US will play football this year – including tens of thousands of girls. But the girls won’t be wearing pads or helmets because they’re playing flag football – which has exploded in popularity over the past three years. Studies show that for every 2.6 years of tackle football played, the chances of developing degenerative brain disease (CTE) doubles. Why then, “do we tolerate this game for boys?” Flag football would be better for everyone.

World’s cheesiest pizza?

CA Ag Net. Three new champions awarded in Real CA Milk Annual Pizza bake-off event.
Synopsis: In a nationwide contest to find the best way to feature CA Cheeze on a new pizza, the grand “Big Cheese” prize went to Salvatore Trupiano of Oceanside. He created a pie named “Creamery Crown” that includes mozzarella, cream cheese, Carmody, dry jack and crème fraiche. It netted him $10,000. Marcus Medina of Hella Pie Pizza in Tracy, whose “Hellapeno Za’pper” was the winner of one of the category-specific prizes. His pie features mozzarella, cheddar, cream and dry jack cheeses with fresh peppers, smoked hot honey and maple bacon.