Valley Solutions

Lowest electric rates? TID

Ceres Courier. Report: TID customers pay the least for electric services. 
Synopsis: Joe Cortez writes about TID’s annual report showing that its rates are the lowest in the region and likely the state. TID has the lowest rates in six categories, including domestic (17.6 cents per kilowatt hour), commercial (16.2), farm services (15.8) and large industrial (13.3). The closest utility to TID was Sacramento Municipal Utility District, who had lower rates in one category. TID has roughly 95,000 electricity connections across most of southern and western Stanislaus County.
MAD Take: Just for a point of comparison, PG&E customers pay 39.2 cents or more per kilowatt hour. Would someone like to explain why a house in Turlock gets electricity for 17 cents while their neighbors in Atwater pay roughly 140% more? Is it better service? Are the wires made of gold rather than copper? Or is it that the state of California has allowed PG&E to double and triple its dividends for investors? Call it socialism if you must, but this is an emphatic argument for publicly owned power over the power of the ”free market.”

Both O’Brien’s set to close

Modesto Focus. Retirement of O’Brien’s Market founder leads to closure of both family-owned stores.
Synopsis: After announcing Tuesday that its Roseburg Square grocery store would close on Sept. 26, the O’Brien family acknowledged that its last remaining store on Dale Road will close on Sept. 27. The eminent closure will put “117 employees out of work” and leave “thousands of loyal customers” without their favorite food supplier. The retirement of Chuck O’Brien precipitated the closure on Roseburg. The state-required WARN notice said there is a possibility the stores will be sold and employees rehired by the new owners. The Dale Road store opened in 2002 and anchored the shopping center at Dale and Pelendale.

But a giant Walmart will open

Modesto Bee. Modesto eyes proposal for 181,000-square-foot Walmart supercenter.
Synopsis: Walmart will build a gigantic store on 30 acres of orchard on Oakdale Road between Claratina and Mable. It will include a 20-pump fuel station, convenience store, 730 parking spaces and jobs for 300 employees. The new store will be a mile from the new Costco across Claribel in Riverbank. Assuming they all remain open, Modesto will have four Walmart stores in its city limits. The city of Riverbank is apparently making the case that there could be impacts on its neighborhoods as people drive to Walmart.
MAD Take: Just like there are impacts in Modesto, Escalon and Oakdale for people driving to the Costco?

‘We’ should define our rail needs

Merced Focus. Opinion: It’s up to Merced to define clear vision for high-speed rail in our community. 
Synopsis: City councilmember Shane Smith believes high-speed rail has the potential to shape Merced, strengthen its economy, create jobs, attract investors and position the community as a transportation hub. But the train seems to be calling the shots and is determined to build its station on what is now an orchard south of the city. That would mean the “economic and cultural impacts long promised by the state for downtown Merced will disappear in favor of an unknown future to be built in what is now an empty field.” Merced should focus on four goals: 1) a shared concept for the growth of southeast Merced; 2) a comprehensive transportation plan for the community; 3) a realistic infrastructure plan; 4) a clear understanding of who is paying for it all.
MAD Take: Perhaps I’m not reading closely enough between the lines, but I suggest a few additional goals: 5) Restitution for those who took HSRA’s word about a downtown station, then relocated at their own expense. 6) Rejection of the HSRA’s current business plan that demands it collect sales and property taxes near its stations. 7) Veto power over any development on or near HSRA property (like data centers).

A threat to farming: Water shortages

Maven’s Notebook. Groundwater challenges for CA’s small-scale farmers expose regulation risks. 
Synopsis: The UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Dept released a study that shows the dire impacts of groundwater loss on small farms. As farms are restricted from pumping under the 2014 SGMA law, small farms will have no other way of obtaining sufficient water. Small operations “face disproportionate risks and barriers with SGMA implementation,” said Catherine Van Dyke of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. The report recommends 50 steps to protect farms, starting with identifying operations in jeopardy. Van Dyke and Ngodoo Atume will present a report at the Berkeley Food Institute on Sept. 16.

Blue Dog Radio. What are the top three priorities for the Valley?
Synopsis: Rep. Adam Gray answers the question about his top three ag-related priorities with one word: “Water.” Having enough water is “a very unique thing here,” he told the interviewer. Gray offered an example: “What if you woke up one morning and the city said, ‘We won’t deliver water to your house.’ How much do you think your house would be worth?” There are other stressors for farmers, including sometimes well-intentioned but badly executed laws that put hurdles in front of those trying to make a living in our Valley. But having water is the key.

Good year for figs

CA Ag Net. 2026 CA fig season begins strong. 
Synopsis: Fig season has started, says Karla Stockli of the CA Fresh Fig Growers Assn, and the newest variety is causing quite a stir. The Emerald fig is “beautiful” and flavorful, said Stockli. There are four other varieties, from the Tiger to the Brown Turkey. CA growers produce 100% of dried figs and 98% of fresh figs consumed across the entire nation.

Shining a light on ball fields

Ceres Courier. Council orders $273,408 lighting project for Costa Fields lighting fix. 
Synopsis: The Ceres City Council approved spending $273,408 to install lighting at the Costa Fields baseball complex. Musco Sports Lighting will install LEDs with reduced maintenance and lower energy costs. The project also got $69,546 from TID for improving electrical efficiency. The lights will include ball-track lights, which point toward the sky illuminating balls hit into the air. The funding is on top of the $175,708 spent in 2025 to upgrade lights. Councilmember Cerina Otero said the issue should have been resolved two years ago.

Record admissions for UCs

LA Times. UC accepts record number of Californians, but some select campuses out of reach for most. 
Synopsis: The UC admitted 102,031 students to its 10 campuses, up by 1,458 from last year. The UC also offered entry to 29,372 transfer students from CA community colleges. Those numbers represent 78% of all applicants from CA. Only 10% of those who applied to Berkeley or UCLA were accepted. On the other end, 95% of those who applied to UC Merced were accepted followed by Riverside (85%), Santa Cruz (80%) and Davis (48%).

Public defenders are swamped

Cal Matters. CA’s privatized public defense leads to astronomical caseloads.
Synopsis: In Kings County, a single public defender represented 600 poor people accused of crimes in 2025. That is among the highest caseloads for PDs anywhere. The most permissive caseload recommendations in the nation require that a single lawyer handle no more than 400 misdemeanors per year, or 150 felonies. The insane caseloads are the result of privatization as many counties contract with law firms for flat-fee representation. The Wren Collective says this flat-fee representation creates a financial conflict of interest. Since the fee is the same for each client, there is an incentive to speed through casework so more clients can be seen. One firm – Fitzgerald, Alvarez and Ciummo – handles public defense for five counties and is known as “the Walmart of public defense.” The Madera Coalition for Community Justice and the local chapter of the NAACP have complained to county supervisors. Seven of the eight counties with the highest jailing rates have flat-fee contracts. Kings County, which has the highest rate for jailing defendants and is represented by Fitzgerald et al was the subject of a report by the Wren Collective called “Contracted to Fail: How Flat-Fee Contracts Undermine the Right to Counsel in CA.” It notes that Fitzgerald et al also serve Fresno County. There, lawyers handled 432 cases per year and investigative work was split between 3 investigators, each with 5,000 new cases a year. Merced County has a PD’s office but sends at least 273 cases per year to Fitzgerald et al for assistance. Flat-fee attorneys lose their cases 25% more frequently than county-employed PDs.

Man saved dog, but needed saving

Fresno Bee. Man clinging to edge of Fresno canal and clutching dog rescued by firefighters.
Synopsis: A man and his dog were rescued from a Fresno Canal on Tuesday. After reports arrived that a man had jumped into the canal to save his dog, a helicopter and rescue crew were dispatched. The crew used a ground ladder to reach the man and help him climb to safety. The man was treated at a nearby hospital; the dog was uninjured.

Mariposa’s only shelter closes

KSEE / CBS47. Mariposa County’s only homeless shelter closes.
Synopsis: Supervisor Jenni Kiser said the county’s only homeless shelter, Connections, has permanently closed. It had been operated since 2019 by the Alliance for Community Transformations and housed up to 36 people – including 15 in residence Tuesday. The shelter sits below JCF Hospital. Anyone in danger of losing shelter should contact the county Health & Human Services department.

Judge: Predator can’t live here

Modesto Bee. Judge rejects Turlock placement for sexually violent predator, cites public safety.
Synopsis: Judge Carrie Stephens denied the petition by Liberty Healthcare to place Kevin Gray in a halfway house on N. Central Avenue just outside Turlock city limits. The state contractor failed to assess the surrounding neighborhood for potential threats before recommending the site, she ruled. Gray remains at Coalinga State (prison) Hospital until a suitable location can be found. Wrote Stephens: “The concerns of the neighbors are not hysterical concerns.”

Turlock Journal. Local families rejoice as sexual predator stopped from becoming a neighbor.
Synopsis: Erica Farmer and Mindy Bruen were delighted with the ruling of Judge Stephens that will keep convicted sex predator Kevin Gray out of their neighborhood. It took two years of protesting, legal work and support from local elected leaders to get to this result. “I always thought we’d be successful,” said Farmer, who has three children under the age of 12. Gray admitted to molesting 25 children before his arrest. DA Jeff Laugero said the judge’s well-reasoned and well-documented decision will be difficult to overturn.

He’s in the ceiling … and naked

GV Wire. Naked man breaks through ceiling at Fresno Plasma Center, floods building before arrest. 
Synopsis: Where to start? First, a man broke into Grifols Biomat USA Plasma Center near Blackstone and climbed into the ceiling. While there, he was spotted peering down at blood donors and police were called. When they arrived, he broke a sprinkler pipe, flooding the floor below, then threw a piece of the broken pipe at an officer. The man was naked the entire time. Lots of charges.

Something a local boy would say

Modesto Bee. Timothy Olyphant in Rolling Stone: How growing up in Modesto shaped famed roles. 
Synopsis: Where did Tim Olyphant get that attitude of quiet menace he so famously exudes on the screen? “Did you see ‘American Graffiti’?” he asked the Rolling Stone interviewer. “My high school years were just like that, just with uglier cars.” Parties in the orchards and all the other accoutrement of “a shitkicker town.” Olyphant didn’t start acting until graduating from USC and getting married (he and Alexis are still together 35 years later). He has been nominated for three Emmys and has been in a bunch of movies since then. His favorite actors have always played characters with a bad attitude if not outright bad guys. As for his life, “It’s pretty fucking great. It’s a pretty fun way to make a living.”