Valley Solutions

Did bar tabs cost him his job?

Cal Matters. GOP Assembly leader ousted.
Synopsis: Heath Flora, the embattled Assemblymember from Ripon and Modesto, has been ousted as the Minority Leader. Fellow member Juan Alanis says it’s because the two of them helped push through a law that allows local voters to raise their own taxes. But others believe it has more to do with a California Post story that reported Flora expensed more than $11,000 at a local dive bar. It said Flora used campaign funds to pay some 54 bar tabs at a specific bar, each listed as a “District Meeting.” Those charges are now being investigated by the Fair Political Practices Commission. The story quotes Stanislaus GOP central committee chair Joel Campos saying he’s disappointed in Flora, which explains the committee’s choice to back someone else in the June primary. “Just seeing his expense reports, from golf courses throughout the entire state to Las Vegas Raiders trips to all the bars that he expenses, we don’t think this is appropriate behavior in the minority leader.” Flora has been acting as his own campaign treasurer since 2024.
MAD Note: The new minority leader is Alexandra Macedo of Tulare. At 32, she’s the youngest minority leader ever. Not mentioned in this story is that Flora is facing an election in November. Voters can vote to keep him, or to replace him with Matthew Adams -- a complete political newcomer.

State reps check county’s move

Fresno Bee. State reps introduce bill to bypass Fresno supervisors to put transportation tax on ballot. 
Synopsis: Anna Caballero and Esmeralda Soria worked with Fresno’s city council and the county’s other cities to maneuver around the Fresno Board of Supervisors. By demanding that another time-consuming study be done on the need to keep the county’s half-cent transportation sales tax, three conservative supervisors thought they had killed the measure. Now, Soria and Caballero have written a bill that will bypass the board’s vote and put the measure on the ballot so voters can decide. The legislators are supported by Mayor Jerry Dyer, among others. The bill has angered conservative supervisor Garry Bredefeld, the anti-tax ringleader. He called Caballero and Soria “corrupt” and is especially angry over the inclusion of bike lanes.
MAD Take: Fighting bike lanes in Fresno seems either dumb or sadistic. Fresno is one of the most dangerous cities in America for cyclists – ranked No. 7 by the group Smart Growth America and No. 10 by a legal group. At fault are “sparse and disconnected” bike lanes and the city’s car-centric design. Or is Bredefeld’s real beef that he got outplayed?

Data center site identified

Modesto Focus. National firestorm over data center construction hits Modesto as possible site revealed. 
Synopsis: A long-vacant property near MJC – the once-polluted FMC barium plant – is being considered for construction of a data center. The site is just off Hwy 99 near Kansas Avenue. Several city council members have confirmed that they have received pitches from a company trying to site a center in Modesto – which has both water and low-cost power for large industrial users. Data centers are notorious for consuming vast amounts of water and electricity. In March 2025, data-center operator NorthPoint got a two-year extension to file a tentative map for a project at 1200 Graphics Drive, which is virtually adjacent to MID’s Woodland Power Station. The planning commission was not made aware of NorthPoint’s intentions. “If I had known, I would not have approved (the extension),” said commissioner Naramsen Goriel.
MAD Take: Uh, planning commissioners are allowed and encouraged to ask questions when considering such requests.

Modesto Bee. Possible sites for data centers in Modesto include former FMC plant location.
Synopsis: Along with the former FMC plant on Graphics Drive, reporter Ken Carlson says NorthPoint is also considering other locations for a small data center. The FMC site is 45 acres, which would be small compared to NorthPoint’s Pennsylvania and Missouri data centers, which cover up to 1,300 acres. He quotes a study from the MOST Policy Institute which says data centers used 17.4 billion gallons of water in 2023, enough to “provide water for 160 million households.”
MAD Note: Not sure where MOST is getting its data or how it is crunching numbers, but 17.4 billion gallons of water – while a lot – would not be enough to flush 160 million toilets for a year, much less provide water for all those households. In fact, it wouldn’t be enough to keep 160,000 households from going dry. That huge figure of 17.4 billion gallons works out to 53,235-acre feet, and each home in CA uses about half an acre foot (162,000 gallons) over the course of a year. More credible studies have put data center water use at around 1.4-million-acre feet nationwide. That’s a lot, but not catastrophic. The far greater impact is in electricity consumption. Data center demand is enormous, often driving up prices for everyone else as additional generation capacity must be installed to meet demand. That’s why NorthPoint is more interested in Modesto than, say, Manteca or Stockton where PG&E supplies the power at roughly 3x the cost.

Judge won’t block river flows

Courthouse News. Judge says environmental groups fell short in bid to pause CA water projects.
Synopsis: District Court Judge Jennifer Thurston refused Monday to impose any restrictions or conditions on the Bureau of Reclamation’s operation of Shasta Dam. The reservoir feeds the Central Valley Project, which transports water through the Delta to San Luis Reservoir in Merced County. The groups had sued to keep more water in the reservoir so it can be cold enough to help migrating salmon in September.

Teacher negotiations heat up

Modesto Bee. After almost a year of negotiations, Modesto City Schools, teachers’ union at impasse.
Synopsis: A state mediator has been called in to help break the impasse between Modesto Teachers Assn and City Schools, who have been negotiating without success for nearly a year. The union is not yet calling for a strike. The biggest issue is the cost of health insurance, with the union wanting a monthly contribution of $2,242 for families while the district wants to provide $1,401 – or about a third less.

GV Wire. Independent teachers union files for recognition in Clovis Unified over CTA-backed group. 
Synopsis: Two groups are vying to represent teachers in the state’s largest non-organized district, Clovis. The CTA-backed Association of Clovis Educators, aka ACE, is backed by the nation’s most powerful teachers union, the CA Teachers Association. The other is calling itself the Independent Clovis Unified Educators and has no statewide or national affiliation. Until two years ago, teachers were “represented” by a Faculty Senate. But the courts ruled the so-called senate listened more to the administration than to teachers.

Millions will lose coverage

Cal Matters. CA nearly achieved universal healthcare; now millions are losing coverage.
Synopsis: The number of uninsured people in CA could nearly double by 2030 following draconian budget cuts enacted by Republicans. Those most in danger are children, Black, Asian and Latino residents. Just two years ago, virtually everyone in the state – some 95% -- was covered either by private insurance, Medicare or the state. UCLA and UC Berkeley have studied the new programs and concluded that by 2030, some 15% of the state’s total population will be uninsured. “I knew it was going to be bad, but seeing that … it was shocking to me,” said Miranda Dietz at UC Berkeley. Where will those reductions have the deepest impacts? The Valley.

Screwing those on Medicare

LA Times. Trump administration finds a new way to screw Medicare members – hiking their drug bills. 
Synopsis: Business columnist Michael Hiltzik writes that the Trump White House knows it can’t kill Social Security and Medicare outright, so it has decided to starve them. Or, if you prefer, bleed them dry through a thousand tiny cuts. To help pay for his war in Iran, the Trump administration is requesting $200 billion; to pay for that, it has ordered cuts to subsidies that millions use in Medicare Part D – the prescription drug benefit. Cost increases for 23 million Americans won’t hit their bills until Dec. 31, two months after the midterm elections. Costs will double for 11 million. “It’s pretty clear that it’s going to hurt the people who need this protection the most -- not Dr. Oz, but the average Social Security / Medicare beneficiary,” said Max Richtman of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare. This is nothing new, writes Hiltzik: “Trump has systematically starved Social Security of funds for customer service, a cynical effort to make this all-important program seem more burdensome to the seniors who rely on it.” That $200 billion to fight Iran would cover the Part D subsidies for 40 years.

Getting sick on the farm

ABC30. Central Valley health officials monitoring farmworkers exposed to measles in Arizona.
Synopsis: About 140 farmworkers who traveled from Arizona to the Valley are believed to have been exposed to measles. The workers are in Fresno, Madera and Merced counties and might not realize they were exposed. Those who have been informed have been asked to quarantine to see if symptoms emerge. They will be monitored for 21 days.

Morning Ag Clips. USDA confirms scrapie in sheep.
Synopsis: It’s been five years since the last detection of this disease in the U.S. but now a case has been confirmed at a slaughterhouse in Oregon. The fatal brain disease is found only in goats and sheep and is spread through contact at birth or contact with feces. The disease is actually called transmissible spongiform encephalopathy – or mad sheep disease. There is no cure or treatment.

SF Chronicle. West Nile virus is rising in CA; why experts fear severe season. 
Synopsis: This year could be the worst in the last two decades for West Nile virus. Texas and Arizona have seen 106 cases this year. CA has had only 7, but that’s twice as many as normal for this point in the season. Most of the cases will be in the Central Valley, though some coastal communities will see them as well. “It’s not just West Nile,” said Dr. Den Winslow of Stanford, there’s also an increase in Valley Fever – both attributable to climate change.

FFA membership breaks 1 mil

Morning Ag Clips. National FFA reaches record 1.05 million members across nearly 9,600 chapters.
Synopsis: The organization founded in 1928 has grown larger than ever. There are active chapters in every state, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The CEO said it was “a powerful reminder that students everywhere are looking for opportunities to lead, build meaningful skills and prepare for their futures.” Top states for membership: Texas, California and Georgia.

Shooting had CA connections

SF Chronicle. CA manager was training workers when she was killed at new In-N-Out.
Synopsis: A young woman was sent from Stockton to Twin Falls, Idaho, to help train new employees at the In-N-Out restaurant. That’s where Ashley Garibay, 23, was gunned down by a demented man with an AR-15. A gofundme page has been set up to help pay for her return to Stockton and burial.

Sacramento Bee. Man with Sacramento ties who confronted Idaho mass shooter faces long recovery. 
Synopsis: Ausin Scott James was critically wounded Saturday as he confronted the Idaho shooter. The Antelope High grad is the son of a Sacramento Sheriff’s Deputy who now lives in Twin Falls. James heard the gunfire and ran toward the sound but did not draw his weapon. A bullet fired by the shooter severed an artery in James’ arm. His wife Connie, a nurse, rushed to him and was able to staunch the bleeding and save his life. “Austin’s action drew the suspect’s attention away from others,” said the family statement.