Valley Solutions

Slime is sublime for grad student

Merced Sun Star. UC Merced scholar’s Grad Slam victory was doubly impressive. 
Synopsis: Tahirah Williams won the University of California’s Grad Slam Championship on Wednesday in separate voting by both the judges and the audience. The fourth-year quantitative systems biology PhD candidate from Jamaica presented “More Than Slime: When Mucus Meets the Valley Fever Invader” in a “Shark Tank” style competition. The professor judges rated her project the best and she also won the “people’s choice” award. Williams’ project beat out presentations from grad students from nine other UC campuses. She was the second winner from UC Merced, following in the footsteps of Shayna Bennett in 2021.

Senate debate got nasty

Modesto Focus. Alvarado-Gil, Duarte and Brandon in a bruising debate for CA Senate District 4.
Synopsis: Accusations of sexual harassment, lying, abuse-of-office, ignorance, nepotism, and having “very large egos” all were launched during a three-way debate between the candidates for Senate District 4. Incumbent Marie Alvardo-Gil pointed out, “This is not for the faint of heart” as she promised to defend the Second Amendment. Political newcomer Alexandra Duarte promised to bring the Trump agenda to Sacramento. Jarod Brandon, the only Democrat in the race, promised not to forget the poor while cutting waste. They all had something to say about ICE deportations, transgender rights, affordability, oil, taxes and so much more.
MAD Take: The most, uh, interesting comment came from Duarte, who said “politicians like Marie are stealing our water.” Yet, it is her husband who has appeared at MID meetings to support a district director who is literally accused of stealing water.

Sacramento Bee. The Bee endorses a Republican for CA’s 9^th Assembly District.
Synopsis: The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board anoints Brandon Owen as its choice to replace Heath Flora in the Assembly. It wasn’t Flora’s well-publicized ethical lapses – he apparently no longer lives in the district but continues to accept per diem money – that disqualified him, said The Bee. The fact he failed to show up for the debate was disqualifying under The Bee’s endorsement rules. Owen is a rancher who is anxious to bring down the crazy cost of insuring property in California. “That kind of grounded thinking is valuable in the Legislature,” writes The Bee.
MAD Take: This district stretches from Galt to Waterford. It’s too bad The Modesto Bee no longer has an editorial board to weigh in on a race vital to so many of its readers.

Bee’s quick look at D-4 race

Modesto Bee. Your guide to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors District 4 race.
Synopsis: Ken Carlson breaks down the race between Board Chair Mani Grewal and challenger Rally Valenzuela. Grewal, who has served on the Modesto City Council and is a local developer, comes from a farming background and has built several projects in the region. He understands the bedrock of the local economy and is supported by dozens of elected officials, some of whom can’t agree on anything except their support for him. Valenzuela, who has never held office, was a rep for the United Domestic Workers and chaired the Modesto Culture Commission. Grewal pointed out that Valenzuela’s union has officially endorsed him.

Detailed look at ICE shooting

Stocktonia. A moment, then gunfire: How an ICE shooting tore at the Central Valley. 
Synopsis: Lillian Perlmutter writes about the 1.5 seconds of gunfire that ended with Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez being shot seven times and all that followed. Since the April 7 shooting, Hernandez has been treated, released, arrested and taken to a series of ICE facilities. He faces 20 years in prison though he has never been convicted of any previous crime either in the US or his native El Salvador. A federal judge ruled that by slightly moving his steering wheel as agents approached, Hernandez demonstrated a desire to flee and thus should be considered a flight risk and kept in custody. Others say Hernandez was fighting for his life when “ICE tried to execute him.” Many liken Hernandez’s shooting to the killings of two people in Minneapolis. No agent has been charged in any of the shootings, “so we’ve normalized this,” said Mike Fox, of the Cato Institute.

Cal Matters. ICE quietly opens another detention center in former CA prison. 
Synopsis: The GEO Group has converted an empty prison outside McFarland into an ICE detention center with 700 beds. It is the eighth detention center in CA, bringing ICE’s detention capacity to 10,000 in the state. One organization says 5,337 people are being held in ICE facilities -- 72% more than a year ago. ICE has signed a 15-year contract with GEO to operate prisons in McFarland and Bakersfield. Another private prison company, CoreCivic, operates a former prison near Antelope.

Fresno renames Chavez Blvd.

Fresno Bee. It’s official: Fresno’s Cesar Chavez Blvd is renamed: ‘Our minds have changed.’
Synopsis: In the wake of stories detailing sexual crimes by UFW founder Cesar Chavez, the Fresno City Council voted to rename a 10-mile corridor previously named in his honor. In 2024, the council proclaimed that parts of three different streets -- King Canyon Blvd, Ventura and California avenues – be renamed Cesar Chavez Blvd. Now, the original names will be restored. “He was a hero in the labor movement,” said councilmember Miguel Arias. Now, “when the facts change, our minds have changed.” Fortunately, the city didn’t throw away the old signs. Freeway signs, however, will take longer to replace. There are 1,600 business and residential addresses on the streets whose original names will be restored. When the street name was changed originally, the city set aside up to $200 for businesses who had to legally change their addresses, but only one business took advantage of the offer.

Trailer park rents spiking

KQED. ‘They’re bleeding us dry’: Rent hikes, evictions in CA mobile home parks. 
Synopsis: The price of slip rentals in mobile home parks is skyrocketing, hitting $1,000 a month in many facilities. That’s up from around $300 a month a year ago. One company, Harmony Communities of Stockton, has been responsible for hikes in around 80 parks across the state. The cost of moving a “mobile” home is prohibitive, making it impossible for many residents to simply move to a more reasonably priced facility. State and local lawmakers are considering putting limits on increases.

College sets record for grads

Merced Sun Star. Merced College ready to celebrate its largest graduating class yet. 
Synopsis: A record 2,300 students have earned the right to participate in commencement ceremonies at Merced College’s two campuses. The graduation in Merced will be April 30 at 7 p.m.; the Los Banos ceremony will be at 6 p.m. at Don Odishoo Field on Friday. District Attorney Nicole Silveira will keynote both ceremonies. Those 2,300 students have earned a record-breaking 4,087 degrees and certificates, with 437 students graduating with honors and 59 receiving Superintendent’s Honors for 4.0 GPAs.

Restaurant grows its own veg

Merced County Times. Santa Nella restaurant going green big time.
Synopsis: Steve Newvine writes about The Kitchen at the Mission in the Hotel Mission De Oro complex in Santa Nella. The restaurant built a 10,000 square-foot greenhouse to provide year-round fresh produce. Half of it is dedicated to lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, etc. The other half has strawberries, blackberries and other fruit. Outside, there are olive and fruit trees. “Our intent with the greenhouse is flavor and quality,” said Skeeter Bethea, who helps operate the facility.

Water district dismisses GM

SJV Water. Hanford area water district fires long-time manager days after posting ad for his job. 
Synopsis: Dennis Mills has been dismissed as GM of the Kings County Water District. His employment will end “on or before May 15,” said the announcement. District farmers are angry since the Tulare Lake subbasin’s groundwater plan was rejected by the state water board, resulting in the region being placed on probation. That means every well in the district must be registered at a cost of $300 and farmers must pay $20 for every acre-foot of groundwater pumped – a cost estimated at $12 million this year. The job is already being advertised.

They stole $1.5M, will repay half

Modesto Bee. Court orders $750K restitution in $1.5M Patterson school embezzlement case. 
Synopsis: A federal judge ordered two former Patterson Joint Unified School District employees – Eric Drabert and Jeffrey Menge – to repay part of the money they stole from the district over a four-year period. Drabert has already paid $100K. Menge will spend the next 30 months in federal prison, while Drabert got 18 months. PJUSD superintendent Reyes Gauna said he is happy to get the $750K back but would have preferred more. He said the district was lucky to have caught the IT director and administrator in a “very sophisticated scheme.”

Port wants dredging help

Journal of Transportation. Port of Stockton’s DeJesus says solving dredging issues will increase growth. 
Synopsis: Kirk DeJesus, executive director of the Port of Stockton, says the US Army Corps of Engineers has refused to dredge the San Joaquin deepwater ship channel to its mandated depth of 35 feet. DeJesus said 30 cargo vessels arrive at the port each month delivering 90% of the state’s fertilizer and leaving with half of the state’s exported rice; that takes more than 300,000 trucks off the state’s roads. The report included a look at the port’s “market outlook” and activities.  

Fighting Merced’s gangsters

Merced County Times. MPD unit using all resources to curb gang violence. 
Synopsis: Doane Yawger writes about the 2,000 people who belong to street gangs in the Merced area and the 98 Merced PD officers who stand between them and law-abiding citizens. “It’s not just Merced residents” in gangs, said Sgt. Steven Odom. “Merced is the hub of gangs. They go outside the city at times, to Planada, Atwater and Winton. They are constantly growing, evolving and recruiting.” Police have made 100 arrests this year and confiscated 22 pounds of meth, fentanyl, cocaine and 46 firearms. Some of those weapons were 3D printed, making them untraceable in a killing.

Huge project south of UC

Merced Golden Wire. Merced moving forward with major master-planned community.
Synopsis: The city is considering a 650-acre master-planned community south of the UC Merced campus with high-density housing, commercial space, schools, a fire station and recreational facilities. It is aimed at attracting local families and students. It is expected to have a 20-year buildout.