Valley Solutions

Valley Solutions offers a daily look at the top headlines appearing on media websites affecting the San Joaquin Valley. It is compiled by Mike Dunbar, who worked in Stockton, Modesto, Merced and Los Banos media for 40 years and later served as Adam Gray’s press secretary when he was in the Assembly. Valley Solutions is brought to readers by Rep. Adam Gray.

A day we cannot forget

Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Dept. (Facebook). Twenty-five years later, we remember.
Synopsis: We honor the nearly 3,000 innocent lives lost, remember the courage of the first responders who ran toward danger, and recognize the strength of survivors, families and loved ones who continue to keep their memories alive. … 25 years. Still remembered. Never forgotten.

Election: 53 Days & Counting

PPIC. CA politics shaped by place, partisanship and affordability.
Synopsis: Policy director Eric McGhee looked at recent PPIC polling of people living in 46 places and found that California’s more urban places are getting bluer while the “far north” is even more conservative. Affordability issues, which had been centered in urban areas, are moving inward as housing becomes more expensive. Weirdly, as rents have fallen in the Bay Area (excluding SF), they’ve risen in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. The support for climate-change mitigation, abortion rights and immigrant protections are all above 65% statewide. Most would accept fewer state services to get smaller government.

UCLA. Poll reveals political divide between CA Latina and Latino voters. 
Synopsis: Latinas are more likely than male counterparts to prioritize protecting immigrant rights, opposing the White House and defending voting rights, says new polling from the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute and its counterpart at UC Berkeley. The gap is profound and deepening among voters under 30 and those with less education. The gap is the smallest when it comes to protecting voting rights; 87% of Latinas are adamant on the subject and so are 77% of Latino men.

McClatchy Media. Best candidate for CA governor is the one prepared for the job.
Synopsis: McClatchy’s combined editorial board endorses … no drum roll necessary … Xavier Becerra for governor. But this isn’t a “default” endorsement. “He shows the potential to lead this state well into an uncertain future and offers a steadier, more substantive style of leadership that California has long – and desperately – needed.” His resume explains it – Assemblymember, state Attorney General, US Representative, US trade representative, Secretary of Health & Human Services. Steve Hilton has lots of ideas, but his embrace of Donald Trump is, basically, a disqualifier. Trump has attacked CA at every turn. Becerra will be the first Latino ever elected governor.

‘Water War’ has 4 fronts

Cal Matters. CA’s future water supplies depend on the outcomes of four intertwined battles. 
Synopsis: Columnist Dan Walters lays out what might be obvious to water wonks: 1) If CA loses most of its Colorado River allocation, the state will move more water from the Delta to the southland. 2) With less snow falling in the mountains, off-stream storage such as Sites Reservoir is becoming more important. 3) The Delta tunnel is necessary to move the water from where it is to where it is needed – including areas that have lost access to the Colorado. 4) State officials are already demanding that we use less water from the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced rivers. Bureaucrats are plotting mandatory cuts through the Bay-Delta water quality standards.
MAD Take: Two issues. First, Sites is not the only off-stream reservoir under consideration. The Del Puerto Water District is trying to build a smaller reservoir west of Patterson, a project that could serve as a model for a large number of additional off-stream reservoirs across the state. Second, the state’s desire to take more of the Tuolumne, Stan and Merced rivers must be front-and-center in our region’s political thinking. The best way is to collaborate on restoration projects and wise use of fallowed land. But we must prepare to wage legal war. For instance, the entire premise for taking our water is to save species such as salmon. Yet, the single biggest benefit to salmon ever seen came after commercial fishing was banned for three years. Instead of taking our water under dubious pretexts, how about we sue to stop the killing salmon in the ocean? One thing Dan didn’t mention: It would be foolish to fall for schemes to commoditize surface water, selling it to the highest bidders. Who has more money? Farmers or data centers?

Voluntary agreements shaky?

Politico. Newsom’s big water deal is in trouble. 
Synopsis: Months before he leaves office, Gavin Newsom’s Voluntary Agreements are in danger of unraveling. The plan was to make water more reliable by restoring sensitive Bay-Delta ecosystems while providing farms and cities more flexibility in managing supplies. But both the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which controls the Central Valley Project, and Westlands Water District are signaling they will no longer participate in such plans. Their anger grows from the draft Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan, through which state regulators are trying to force more flows from rivers into the Bay. Natural Resources Sec. Wade Crowfoot said it is too soon to declare the deal dead.
MAD Take: Among those remaining silent (so far) are Turlock and Modesto irrigation districts and their partner on the Tuolumne River, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Oakdale and South San Joaquin IDs also have not issued statements about the Bay-Delta draft. If the Bay-Delta plan’s limits on salinity are altered substantially, it would impact how much water is required to flush the Delta, making it unavailable for irrigation. Stay tuned.

River restoration works!

River Partners. Beneath the floodplain: How restored riverways are recharging Valley aquifers.
Synopsis: A new body of research is proving something farmers have known for generations: “Groundwater is money in the bank.” Stanislaus State, Lawrence Livermore National Labs and River Partners combined on a research project centered on Dos Rios State Park, the largest floodplain restoration project in state history, and two smaller projects in Merced County. Results “confirmed what River Partners has long understood: Restored floodplains recharge the aquifer beneath them, not just bring back habitat above it.” Data shows every site where recharge is strongest and confirms that groundwater levels in restored areas are already rising. The research was done in conjunction with Stanford, which used electromagnetic imaging to look beneath the surface. Among the conclusions is that sandy, fast-draining soils are best for recharge while soil with a lot of clay is best for forming seasonal ponds important for migratory birds. The next step will be to capture better data from an actual flood.

Patterson has hex-chrome plan

Patterson Irrigator. City council takes next step to treat water for chromium-6. 
Synopsis: State regulators have lowered the amount of chromium-6 that can be in drinking water to 10 parts per billion. That means the city of Patterson is out of compliance. Chromium-6, or hex-chrome, is a naturally occurring mineral common on the westside of the Valley. The city has developed a plan to install slab-mounted wellhead treatments on six of the city’s wells by 2030.

Ranchers call beef deal ‘BS’

American Prospect. Cattle ranchers have a beef with Trump.
Synopsis: The tariff-free importation of 300,000 metric tons of beef has crashed cattle markets, driving down prices by 20%. Instead of price savings being passed to consumers, the money is staying with the “Big Four” meatpackers, who control 85% of the market. Ranchers say if the president had done nothing, the market was already trending in the direction he wanted with more cattle on feedlots in every category. The biggest beneficiary of the president’s plan is Joesley Batista, the Brazilian billionaire who met with Trump the day before he announced his decision to bring in all that beef. Batista owns JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker and owner of Pilgrim’s Pride, Swift, Blue Ribbon, Certified Angus Beef, and others. “Could somebody ask (Trump) how the government crashing the cattle market with cheap imports is beneficial or helping to rebuild the herd,” one rancher asked. A Tennessee rancher called Trump’s efforts to aid small processors “a propaganda piece.”

Booze wholesaler fined $12.5M

SF Chronicle. Southern Glazer’s to pay $12.5 million over alleged CA alcohol bribery scheme.
Synopsis: The nation’s largest alcohol wholesaler agreed to pay $12.5 million to resolve a federal investigation into years of alleged bribery and false invoicing tied to wine and spirits sales in CA supermarkets. Prosecutors say execs used improper payments in the form of gift cards to ensure better placement in stores such as Albertsons.

How good is your hospital?

SF Chronicle. Choosing a hospital? See which facilities in your CA city have violated the law.
Synopsis: There are literally thousands of rules governing hospitals, medical centers, nursing homes, clinics and other medical facilities. This story and accompanying searchable database shows all of the state’s 15,230 medical facilities with the number of violations, beds and “serious incidents.” For instance, UCSF has had only 23 violations compared to 157 at the Veterans Hospital in Napa. Anything under 100 is considered good. In the Valley, Community Regional MC in Fresno had 113 violations while Dameron in Stockton had only 10. Three different Stockton “post-acute” care facilities -- Delta Oaks, Hampton, Oak Grove –each had more than 190. Doctors in Manteca had only 19 while Kaiser Manteca had 0 and Kaiser in Modesto had 7. The 23 Golden Valley Health Centers – which have no inpatient beds – had 0 violations. It’s a long list, but you can sort by county.

Parties for good causes

Modesto Bee. Taste food, drink from more than 50 Stanislaus County businesses at one event. 
Synopsis: Edible Extravaganza is Sept. 24 at Modesto Centre Plaza from 6-9 p.m. The event has been raising money for the Center for Human Services for 40 years, benefiting its youth shelter and housing programs. This year’s vendors include Greens, Woods Pizzeria, Saucin It Up Fried Chicken, Intermission, Belle’s K’uisine and many others. Tickets are $70 or $125 for VIPs.

Merced County Times. Hundreds gather for 34^th annual Bill Kirby BBQ.
Synopsis: Some 300 people came out for barbecue, auctions and music to raise money for the Merced County Historical Society. Those on hand included Adam Gray’s office, MERCO Credit Union, Steve & Victoria Gomes, United Rentals, Marchini Farms and Scoto Brothers Farming.

McClatchy newsrooms gutted

Fresnoland. The Fresno Bee slashes almost 40% of newsroom as part of nationwide layoffs.
Synopsis: Seven reporters and one editor have been laid off by The Fresno Bee as part of nationwide layoffs by McClatchy Newspapers. The company was sold to a hedge fund several years ago and has been in decline ever since. The firings come as more AI-generated stories are being put on websites in Modesto, Fresno, Merced Sacramento and San Luis Obispo. “This is a loss for the entire city,” said News Guild co-chair Josh Teehe. The cuts leave the Fresno Bee with roughly a dozen reporters to cover a region of more than 1 million. McClatchy began using AI bots to repurpose content in March.

GV Wire. Fresno Bee cuts 7 reporters as McClatchy slashes newsrooms nationwide. 
Synopsis: The Poynter Institute revealed dramatic layoffs at McClatchy newspapers across the nation. Among the seven reporters and one editor who lost their jobs in Fresno were longtime staffers Bryant-Jon Anteola, Maria G. Ortiz-Briones and city hall reporter David Taub. The company told employees that revenues have declined 41% over the past year.
MAD Note: No word on who was laid off from the Merced and Modesto news staffs.

3 dead after driving into canal

Merced Golden Wire (Facebook). Three lives lost in tragic Merced County canal crash.
Synopsis: A tragic crash Thursday afternoon at Overland Avenue near H Street took the lives of three people. A westbound SUV missed a curve and went into the canal. Bystanders rushed to help and were able to remove all three occupants, but two were already dead. A third died in route to the hospital.

Yep, fake 49er was from Valley

North Valley Review. Dammit! Fake 49er Stockton native.
Synopsis: Turns out scam artist Daejon Love – who convinced several people that he was a San Francisco 49er and now is accused of getting them to invest in various fraudulent schemes -- is actually from Stockton. He was arrested in August for impersonating NFL players. Some of his former friends and acquaintances in Stockton have identified “Daejon Love” or “Jon Love” on social media. Most of his 26 victims were women.