Valley Solutions

Charges for StanCOG exec?

Modesto Focus. Ex-StanCOG exec’s luxury spending confirmed in report; criminal charges could follow.
Synopsis: Former StanCOG CEO Rosa De Leon Park is under criminal investigation for misuse of public funds, says DA Jeff Laugero. A third-party investigation conducted for the Stanislaus Council of Governments board and shared with Modesto Focus confirmed what was already widely believed – that Park misspent tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money on luxury hotels, first-class travel and high-end car rentals even though she was provided a car allowance. She also changed vacation policies without board approval to provide her with 11 weeks per year, which she was allowed to take as a payout. Supervisor Mani Grewal says his decision to dismiss Park has been “vindicated.” Chairman Buck Condit said the board has “made strides” to get “back on track” since Park’s firing. The Stanislaus County Taxpayer Assn says it is seeking answers to other questions and a means of ensuring such abuses are not repeated.

Last-minute primary info

Stocktonia. Central Valley congressional races test incumbency, Trump ties, local issues. 
Synopsis: Reporter Andrea Baltodano checks in on Stockton’s two congressional districts, CA 13 and CA 9. She starts with 9, in which Josh Harder is running against fitness coach John McBride and a couple of lesser-known Republicans. Over in CA-13, it’s considered more competitive as Adam Gray faces a former Stockton Mayor. Republican Kevin Lincoln lost two years ago to Harder but switched districts even though his last public address was outside the district. Gray is focused on driving down the cost of living, creating water resources and improving access to healthcare for a district in which the majority of constituents rely on Medicaid. Gray brought $16 million back to the Valley this year for projects ranging from emergency communications to water storage. Meanwhile, Lincoln’s campaign is based on being Donald Trump’s handpicked candidate. “Kevin Lincoln wants this race to be about Donald Trump, Washington endorsements, and partisan politics,” said Gray’s campaign. “Adam Gray thinks it should be about the Valley.”
MAD Take: The reporter could have benefited from a little more time studying the district map, last cycle’s results and this year’s candidate list. She called the 2024 race in CA13 “one of the closest” in the nation. Nope. It was THE closest. She says the district has only a “small section of Stockton.” Huh. This “small section” includes everything south of the Deepwater Channel, city hall and most of downtown as it comes up the east side of the city across Hwy 99 all the way to Franklin High and beyond. Oh, and these aren’t the only two candidates in the race. While Trump has embraced Lincoln, there’s another Republican candidate who also failed to unseat a Democrat in 2024. You can look it up.

Notes from an election

LA Times. Ballots burned, vote center vandalized in LA County just before election day.
Synopsis: Election workers discovered that someone set fire to a drop box at the Dept of Public Social Services building in Los Angeles County over the weekend. Another drop-box fire occurred in Long Beach at Cesar Chavez Park. Voters in the area are advised to check the status of their vote at the county registrar’s website and to cast provisional ballots if necessary.

ABC30. New poll shows Steyer edging Hilton in CA governor’s race as battle for 2^nd tightens. 
Synopsis: The well-respected Emerson College poll says Tom Steyer has surged into second place in the race for governor, edging British immigrant Steve Hilton. The leader is Xavier Becerra at 28% followed by Steyer at 22% and Hilton at 21%. The margin for error reflects a dead-heat between the two. Only the top two candidates will emerge from the primary and advance to November’s general election.

Pols with part-time jobs

Fresno Bee. Fresno councilmembers earn six figures, and some have side gigs; see how much they make. 
Synopsis: David Taub writes about the side gigs Fresno councilmembers do in their spare time. Nelson Esparza teaches classes at Fresno City College and offers his services as a political consultant. Termed out from the council, Esparza is running for a seat on the Board of Equalization. Miguel Arias also has a consulting company, Strategic Engagement, and is a spokesperson for Madera Community College. Such part-time jobs are “nothing new.” City attorney Andrew Janz said there is nothing unusual or illegal about having jobs while a councilmember, which pay $111,320 a year. There are reporting rules around such activities and both Esparza and Arias have been “diligent” in filing paperwork. “There are no conflicts.” 

New bookstore in Turlock

Turlock Journal. Barnes & Noble announces Turlock grand opening date.
Synopsis: The Barnes & Noble store at Monte Vista Crossing will open June 10 in the former home of Forever 21. The ribbon cutting will be at 9 a.m. with coffee and snacks. Just three years ago, many feared B&N would go out of business like several other national bookselling chains. But the company has made a resurgence in the past year and now has 700 stores with 100 having opened since 2025.

Fighting subsidence

Maven’s Notebook. Sinking land, shrinking capacity: DWR confronts subsidence on the CA Aqueduct. 
Synopsis: Metropolitan Water District, the largest in the nation in both geography and population-served, was provided a report on the extent of subsidence around the State Water Project aqueduct. Due to more groundwater being pumped than can be replenished, portions of the middle and lower San Joaquin Valley have collapsed by 30 feet. The segment around the San Luis Canal, from the O’Neill Forebay west of Los Banos down to Kettleman City, is a good example. Since the state and federal canals run in tandem in this stretch, repair costs will be shared. The state has identified five “interim” projects to immediately address subsidence starting this fall. “If we implement all five interim actions, we’re back up with something approximating design capacity,” said Christopher Martin of the DWR. The state has also identified eight long-term projects that would “bring basins into balance by 2040.”

Invasion of flesh-eating maggots

Morning Ag Clips. New World Screwworm found 31 miles from US border. 
Synopsis: If you’re worried about the price of beef, this isn’t going to ease your mind. The flies whose maggots burrow into the living flesh of warm-blooded animals have been spotted less than 50 kilometers – that’s 31 miles -- from the US border. This “heightens the risk for America’s beef industry and cattle producers who have feared for more than a year that the pest would cross into the US and infect livestock” here. There are more than 2,000 active New World Screwworm cases in Mexico. Mexican authorities are releasing 100,000 sterile male flies per week but it has only slowed, not stopped, the spread. A new research lab in Kerrville, Texas, is opening soon. Still, “it’s going to be a problem to keep it out of the United States,” said one official.

Anger rises with rising costs

Modesto Focus. ‘It just feels frustrating’: Modesto City Schools union, admin spar over healthcare costs. 
Synopsis: Health insurance rates are rising quickly, and school districts across the state are trying to find ways to absorb or pass along some of those costs to employees. In Modesto, the teachers’ union says the district must use reserves to offset some of those increases. The district says it has already dipped into reserves, and that is no longer an option. The next board meeting is June 8.

You can’t outrun inflation

LA Times. They fled LA for cheaper living in Austin, Nashville and beyond; did the math work out?
Synopsis: The Times looks at the 10 top destinations for those fleeing California’s high cost of living since the pandemic. In every case, the cost of living in those 10 cities has risen faster than it has in LA. While the cost of housing and groceries is still lower in those cities, it is catching up quickly especially in Seattle, Austin, Las Vegas and Phoenix. In Phoenix and Nashville, home prices have risen 70% compared to 2020 while in LA the median price of a home is up only 29%. Interestingly, the locals in Austin, Phoenix, Seattle, Nashville et al blame the new arrivals from CA for driving up prices.

Is Kade going to ‘the Show’?

Turlock Journal. Kade Morris to be called up by Athletics.
Synopsis: Citing unnamed “sources,” Christopher Correa reports that 2020 Pitman high grad Kade Morris will be called up from Triple-A to the Sacramento A’s this week. The A’s fell out of first place in the AL West after going 11-17 in May, losing 7 of their last 9 games. They gave up 13 runs in a single inning on Sunday. MLB Pipeline ranks Morris as the No. 12 pitching prospect and fifth-best in the A’s farm system. He is 5-3 with an ERA of 4.45 for Las Vegas in PCL.

How did Gustine get its name?

Merced County Times. Story of Gustine: Portuguese heritage, dairy roots. 
Synopsis: Flip Hassert and Jim Cunningham tell the story of Gustine, which once was a favorite campsite for Yokut tribes. You can still find the grinding holes they created on the banks of Salt Slough. But by the mid-1800s, influenza and other diseases had decimated their population. The area’s several creeks – Garzas, Quinto, Mustang – attracted farmers, originally to grow wheat and then to milk cows. Henry Miller started buying up the land and irrigating it in the late 1800s. It was Miller who created Gustine as a counterweight to the town of Newman just a few miles north. It is believed Gustine is short for Augustine, the name of Miller’s daughter who died after being thrown from a horse.

Gustine’s frog wranglers

Westside Connect. Keeping the jump alive: Gustine’s Silveira family celebrates another Frog Jubilee title.
Synopsis: For 68 years the Silveira family has journeyed from Gustine to Angels Camp to participate in the Calaveras County Frog Jumping Jubilee, often with excellent results. Lillian Silveira led the family team to foothills this year and came away with another trophy. The event has taken place since 1893, based on a short story by Mark Twain, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”