Valley Solutions

ACE train is going to be late

Modesto Bee. Another delay for ACE rail expansion; what it means for Stanislaus, other areas. 
Synopsis: This was the year the ACE train was supposed to begin service in Modesto, carrying passengers to the Bay Area and back. Instead, we’ll have to wait until at least 2031. Rising construction costs, track-sharing agreements, etc., were cited as excuses. Supervisor Vito Chiesa, who sits on the board that governs Amtrak, is “as disappointed as anyone.” ACE sometimes shares track with freight trains, and adding a second, parallel track to avoid conflicts with freighters is expensive. Union Pacific must also approve any work within its right-of-way and hasn’t yet. Stockton Mayor Christine Fugazi, who is on the ACE board, said “I appreciate everybody’s patience. … My hope is that it comes sooner rather than later.” The story goes on to explain the planned connections between the ACE train, Amtrak and high-speed rail. An interesting note in that portion says the CA High-Speed Rail Authority is considering moving its proposed train station out of downtown Madera to an open field near Madera Community College. This is the third station the CHSRA is proposing to move out of a downtown area onto undeveloped land.
MAD Note: The legislation authorizing ACE’s extension into Modesto was part of a deal structured by the state legislature’s “Valley Caucus” of Democrats Adam Gray, and Kathleen Galgiani and Republicans Anthony Cannella and Kristin Olsen. Delaying completion is a betrayal of the bargain they struck with Gov. Jerry Brown to get the work started.

Hilton felt entitled to backing

Sacramento Bee. Business group backs Becerra, sparking GOP anger as progressive preach caution.
Synopsis: The CA Chamber of Commerce bucked precedent and endorsed a Democrat, Javier Becerra, for governor last week. That angered Steve Hilton, who wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal to vent his outrage that a business group would endorse a Democrat.
MAD Quiz: Steve Hilton was born in Britain and lived there until 14 years ago. He hopes to become the third foreign-born governor of California. Can you name the other two? See below.

Cracking down on food trucks?

Modesto Bee. Stanislaus County task force proposed to crack down on unpermitted food vendors.
Synopsis: County supervisors are looking at an “interagency task force” made up of the Dept of Environmental Resources, the Sheriff’s Office, the DA and city code enforcement officers to crack down on unlicensed or unpermitted food trucks, carts or vans selling food on the side of the road. Permits run around $600 for trucks and up to $450 for carts. A proliferation of carts and vendors is a health risk, say officials, because they ignore or lack equipment to assure food is kept or prepped at proper temperatures. While penalties have been relaxed statewide, the equipment of repeat offenders can be impounded. 

‘Fringe’ means outside

Valley Citizen. The Byrd Rules: Fringe parcels? Can you say ‘non-sequitur’?
Synopsis: Eric Caine continues to look into the worm-can that is MID’s board. He notes that former Rep. John Duarte first used the term “fringe parcels” to describe land outside district boundaries that director Larry Byrd apparently irrigated with water from district sources. Duarte and Byrd insinuate that it’s the district’s fault that Byrd used the water outside the district because MID lacks a “fringe parcels policy.” There’s actually a very clear policy, and it’s that you can’t use district water outside district boundaries. There’s also a policy that says water can be purchased from MID to use on adjacent out-of-district parcels, but that water carries a premium -- which Byrd did not pay. Eric asks: “After fifty years at MID, how could Byrd possibly claim to be ignorant about MID boundaries and policies?”

Valley Children’s expands

Fresno Bee. Valley Children’s to build new 73,000-square-foot outpatient center. 
Synopsis: Valley Children’s Healthcare will build a 73,000-square-foot “Ambulatory Pavilion” on its main campus just off Hwy 41. It will include play areas, exam and treatment spaces and be built to consider the needs of children with autism. The campus has grown to more than 700 acres, and much of it is designated for residential and commercial use. The center is expected to be open to patients by 2029.

Destroying Valley to save it

Manteca Bulletin. Wedding high-speed rail & data centers: Destroying the SJ Valley to save it. 
Synopsis: Columnist Dennis Wyatt takes aim at the CA High-Speed Rail Authority’s latest plan to use its corridors – rigged with the facilities to deliver electricity to bullet trains – as magnets for data centers. The CHSRA says it must do it to create additional revenue streams capable of paying the operating costs of the trains since ticket sales alone aren’t enough. “And what better way to generate more money to run high speed rail … than to undermine its No. 1 source of prosperity, agriculture.” Just one little nagging question: Where will you get the water you need to operate these data centers?

LA Times. The other anti-data center movement: CA’s sky-high electricity prices. 
Synopsis: Reporter Blanca Begert writes “The nation is awash in data center hate and CA is no exception.” Local governments have enacted bans in from San Jose to Monterey Park to Imperial County. There are similar bans in Virginia, Texas, Ohio and other states where the size of back-up generators is a concern. CA has a hidden ally in the fight against data centers: sky-high electricity rates. It means that after the initial push, CA is seeing fewer and smaller data-center proposals. “CA isn’t even on the map today,” said the chair of the International Data Center Authority. “Taxes are high, and it is expensive, water is scarce, energy is difficult to find, communities are pushing back. There are all kinds of problems.” The head of a real estate firm that locates centers says “the overwhelming majority” of centers are being built elsewhere – like Las Vegas and Phoenix. All that said, there are 51 facilities being planned and 277 already operational. A UC study showed electricity use for CA data centers doubled in four years (2019-23). The back-up supply is bigger than you might think. Most centers require 200 megawatts of immediate power when the grid goes out, with some needing 600 MWh. Something that big is classified as a power plant, not a backup battery. Tom Steyer wasn’t worried: “CA’s energy is so expensive on a cost basis, they’ll never come here,” he said. “We may talk all we want about data centers, but they’re not coming.”

River Partners celebrates dirt

CapRadio. River Partners announces results of eDNA research, collections across SJ Valley. 
Synopsis: Scientists with floodplain-restoration group River Partners went to 20 of their projects in the San Joaquin Valley to sample the dirt. They were looking for what lives in the soil and mud that makes it different. One of those places was Dos Rios State Park near Modesto. In this edited Q&A, scientists talk about what they found such as invasive species (some that were not known to be in the area), tiger salamanders, spadefoot toads, and even a badger in Kern County.

Foundation ignores the state

Fresno Bee. Fresno State Foundation digs in; at odds with CSU over adding faculty, students to board. 
Synopsis: The Fresno State Foundation, which was given a June 30 deadline to respond to a scorching review of its governance and financial controls by the chancellor’s office in January, took no action in its last meeting before the deadline. The review said the foundation – which controls $315 million in funds to support the university’s mission -- was in violation of laws around its board and financial control. The review found the board lacks sufficient faculty and student representation. The foundation hired a lawyer who disagreed, saying its rules were grandfathered in before the cited law was passed. Chair Vinci Ricchiuti has been on the foundation board for 31 years and served as chair since 2016.

Two crashes end in tragedy

Modesto Bee. In related I-5 crashes near CHP closure, 2 killed, Gustine woman arrested for DUI. 
Synopsis: A van driven by a 19-year-old from LA crashed into a stopped tractor-trailer on I-5 near Newman around 2:25 a.m. Monday, killing both the driver and his passenger. The big-rig was stopped as the CHP investigated an earlier chain-reaction accident that occurred just before midnight when Nancy Cortes Flores of Gustine rear-ended another vehicle just north of Stuhr Road. She and her passenger left their car in the middle of the road and went into the median. Flores’ car was then hit by oncoming traffic, and one of those vehicles veered into the median striking her passenger.

Being a ‘good guy’ is costly

SJV Water. State proposes new ‘good guy’ application fee of up to $250K for groundwater oversight. 
Synopsis: At a meeting to explain its fees, the state instead proposed the creation of an entirely new fee it says it needs to help pay to review and monitor groundwater plans of compliant districts in severely overdrafted San Joaquin Valley basins. The State Water Board wants from $50,000 to $250,000 to manage the “good guy” exemptions, allowing growers to avoid per-acre and per-well fees. Deanna Jackson of Tri-County Water Authority said the new fee is the water board’s way of discouraging waiver applications. But waivers exist because some agencies and growers deserve them, so why penalize the “good guys”? “What are we supposed to tell our growers?” asked Jackson, who said it appears the agency doesn’t want “people to work through the process.”

Ribbon cut on 120 bypass

Stocktonia. Commuting between state routes 99 and 120 gets easier as two-year project wraps. 
Synopsis: Those trying to navigate the link from I-5 to Hwy 99 in Manteca could find life a little easier. The two-year project on Hwy 120 is finished. It adds a lane to the 120 connector ramp onto southbound 99 and replaces the old Austin Road overcrossing with a new bridge with double the lanes. The new Singh Road connects Austin to Atherton. Said Manteca mayor Gary Singh, “These improvements are a catalyst for expanding and strengthening the regional economy.”
MAD Note: Not mentioned are the homes being built east of 99 on Austin whose owners will soon be flooding onto those new roads and overpasses.

Classroom becomes a cathouse

Modesto Bee. Retired from education, portable classroom now will serve felines of Oakdale.
Synopsis: Seeing that Ceres Unified is replacing some of its portable classrooms at its Argust and Endeavor campus, Oakdale police lieutenant Gary Vanderheiden also saw an opportunity. His department is purchasing the buildings for $1 and the cost of hauling them to Oakdale’s shelter. The old classrooms will double the shelter’s capacity for caring for cats and provide a safer space for prospective adopters to meet adoptees. Kristi Britton said Ceres is excited to “give the building a second life.” The repurposed buildings should be operational by September.

Quiz answer

Valley Solutions: How many foreign-born governors has California had?
Answer: Everyone has heard of Austrian-born Arnold Schwarzenegger, who became governor in 2003. Some might believe Romualdo Pacheco, who was governor for 10 months in 1875, was born in Mexico. But he was actually born in Santa Barbara. Our first foreign-born governor was John Gately Downey, who served from 1860-62. He was born in County Roscommon in Ireland and became governor just 32 years later – our youngest governor ever. All the other 38 CA governors were born in the USA. Oh, for Modesto readers, Downey High is not named after the governor but for Modesto educator Thomas Downey. But the city of Downey, however, was named for John Gately, who owned the land where the city now stands. Speaking of Downey High, it has some famous grads – such as eight professional athletes, two Olympians, a movie director, a murder victim and the co-inventor of the JPEG.