Valley Solutions

Flock debate heating up

Cal Matters. ‘Don’t Flock me’: CA, US lawmakers debate license-plate reader technology.
Synopsis: The backlash against being constantly watched by Flock cameras is growing louder. Police departments love them, as 230 CA law-enforcement agencies say they have helped in the tracking and capture of bank robbers, car thieves and hit-and-run drivers. Even one arsonist was caught. But a lot of folks are suspicious of what government is doing with the info it collects – where you’re going, how you get there, who is with you, how often you travel a specific street. Some are knocking over the cameras, others are suing to stop Flock from sharing (i.e., selling) data to those who might use it against us – insurance companies, for instance. While a CA officer used the cameras to track down an arsonist, a Texas cop used the national Flock database to track a woman who left Texas to get an abortion – something that state forbids. SB 1013 would limit what can be shared and how long data can be stored. Police hate such rules, and so does Flock. Nationally, Thomas Massie – the only Republican left demanding accountability for Epstein criminal coconspirators – is sponsoring a bill withholding federal grants from cities and counties who “Flock their citizens.”

Fresno is best for new biz

GV Wire. Fresno is best CA metro for starting a business: Study. 
Synopsis: The company AI Shopify runs an offshoot called Build Your Store, apparently offering services to help you start a business. As such, it lists Fresno as the No. 1 area in California for going into business. The study assigned a number to each large metropolitan area, with Fresno scoring 69.3. That ranked No. 1 in CA and No. 23 nationally, well behind Lancaster, Pa., at 75.14. LA and San Jose were among the worst places to start a business, both unable to break 65. The absolute worst places to start a business? St. Louis (58.7), Miami (61.8) and New York (62.8). Fifteen cities, from Des Moines to Omaha, scored higher than 70. Bakersfield ranked No. 61 and Sacramento 67.  The Modesto and Stockton areas were not rated.

Where is ‘poverty line’ in CA?

Modesto Bee. The Poverty Line: Millions of Californians are one setback away from crisis. 
Synopsis: Roughly 40% of everyone living in California – that’s 16 million people – is living in a household that is technically under water financially. They’re getting by with help from CalFresh, MediCal, CalWorks and other such programs. Such families are one catastrophe away from being out on the streets, according to the CA Assn of Food Banks. The story looked at the circumstances of several specific people, including a 61-year-old man who is receiving disability of roughly $19,000 a year. Rules put in place by the Trump administration make it difficult for this man to receive help. The story contains a series of links for those who need help with utilities, medical care, food and housing. 

Prop 38 excludes the Valley

Cal Matters. The Nonprofit that would gain billions in CA ballot measure.
Synopsis: If you don’t bother digging into the details, you might be inclined to vote for the bond measure that will put around $8 billion into research to fight heart disease, Alzheimer's and cancer. But the details are important. The bond was written to create a very, very, very specific group that will receive and distribute all that money. While unnamed in the bond, the details are so specific that only the CA Institute for Immunology fits the criteria. The man who helped create the Institute, Gary Michelson, has put $100 million into the campaign for Prop 38. The authors of the bond say they were just trying to make sure that only a highly qualified institute would receive funding.
MAD Take: The Prop 38 backers appear all too happy to ignore our Valley. From the story: “A council selected by the chancellors of seven of the 10 UC campuses, officials from other universities and nonprofit researchers will select the winning grant proposals” for shares of the $8 billion. That means three UCs have been expressly left off the list – UCs Merced, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. That also means the medical priorities of three areas, including the entire San Joaquin Valley, will be ignored. And that sounds like business as usual in California.

Are flights to Modesto viable?

Modesto Bee. Study on commercial flights at Modesto airport under review; little else is known.
Synopsis: Is it feasible for commercial airlines to carry passengers into and out of Modesto? The city and county have quietly been examining that possibility since last fall. There are no commercial flights from Harry Sham Field at this time, though there have been in the past. There are commercial flights into and out of Merced and Stockton, but the last SkyWest passenger flight took off from Modesto in 2014 and never came back.
MAD Take: What’s changed since 2014?

Her ‘Remedy’: free supplies

Turlock Journal. Turlock teen aims to ‘Remedy’ need of school supplies for local families. 
Synopsis: Guneet Bella, a student at Modesto High, created the nonprofit Remedy Project and has collected enough school supplies to fill 200 backpacks. The Turlock Salvation Army will hand them out on Sept. 12 at its Back-to-School Bash. “We’ve done a lot of work in spreading awareness about health equity and ensuring that all the individuals in our community have access to what they need,” said Bella. “A true hallmark of leadership is seeing a need and then finding out how you can fill it,” said councilmember Cassandra Abram. Mayor Amy Bublak called Bella’s leadership capacity “immeasurable.”

Pass this bus, get a ticket

Modesto Bee. CHP to put officers on Turlock school buses to catch unsafe drivers.
Synopsis: The CHP has come up with a novel plan to catch motorists who go around stopped school buses – a patently illegal maneuver. There will be an officer onboard and cruisers nearby waiting to pull over any scofflaws spotted from the bus.

Tragedies around the Valley

Fresno Bee. Man airlifted after drowning at La Playa area at Millerton Lake.
Synopsis: A 28-year-old man was airlifted to Fresno from Millerton Lake on Sunday afternoon. He had been submerged for about 10 minutes when lifeguards found him 15 yards from the shore. They administered CPR as he was airlifted to St. Agnes Medical Center. His condition was not updated.

Stocktonia. Body of Stockton teen found after going overboard while rafting in state park in Ripon.
Synopsis: Gabriel Lechuga Santiago, a 17-year-old from Stockton, fell off a raft in the Stanislaus River near Caswell State Park in Ripon and drowned Saturday. He was unable to swim and went to the river with friends after ignoring the advice of his mother. There is a sign on the river marking the last safe-exit point for those riding rafts or tubes down the river, but it is often missed or ignored. “The river becomes very hard to get out of, the banks are steep” after that point, said one official.

Fresno Bee. Coroner identifies 30-year-old man found dead on Fresno High campus roof.
Synopsis: Daniel Ramirez, 30, was found dead on the roof of a Fresno Unified building Friday. He was employed by the district, and his death was not considered suspicious.

Modesto Bee. Modesto girl’s drowning at Don Pedro investigated as homicide, sheriff says.
Synopsis: Three-year-old Lailah Rosillo drowned when she fell from a raft at Fleming Meadows swimming lagoon at Don Pedro on July 18. Tuolumne County Sheriff David Vasquez says the tragedy is being investigated as a homicide.

Picking insurance commissioner

SF Chronicle. One candidate ready to be CA Insurance Commissioner; the other would be a disaster.
Synopsis: The Chronicle’s editorial board says Ben Allen is the only real choice for insurance commissioner. Since the wildfires of 2018, the CA insurance market has been crashing, imperiling everything from affordable housing to getting an affordable mortgage. This year, changes implemented by Commissioner Ricardo Lara began to improve prospects for obtaining insurance. But Jane Kim – who “is as rash as they come” and backed by Bernie Sanders – has promised to end those provisions as she attempts to bully the insurance companies into lowering rates. Kim is a former SF Supervisor. Kim “is a skilled communicator and her platform is politically seductive. But it is a recipe for disaster.”

Pistachio crop devastated

Fresno Bee. A heat spike in March ruined pistachio pollination, decimating crops: ‘It’s really bad.’ 
Synopsis: Reporter Robert Rodriguez writes about the April heat wave that hit the Central Valley, interrupting pollination. Pistachios do not require pollinators but depend on intricate timing between male and female flowers. Heat can wilt the male flower’s petals before the female flowers open, so pollination never takes place. The result is that nearly 60% of nuts this year are “blanks,” meaning they have no kernel. Some are predicting $800 million in losses compared to last year. Kern County is reporting a 56% crop loss. Fresno County is predicting a $400 million loss. Tulare, Madera and farther north were hit less hard by the heat. 

A name for newest jelly?

KCRA. New species with ‘tadpole’-like tentacles discovered off Central Coast. 
Synopsis: The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute has discovered a never-before-seen species of jellyfish off the Channel Islands off the coast. It lives roughly 6,000 feet below the surface in extremely low light. The discovery was made possible because of new equipment that allows scientists to remotely reach depts of 12,000 feet. The creature is a type of Erenna siphonophore and is considered a predator. It uses bioluminescent tentacles that look like tadpoles to attract prey.
MAD Take: And what should we name this newest Californian? Are there any jelly-like politicians whose name would be appropriate? Is there a policy living in the dark? A particular project relying on bait-and-switch? I’m leaning toward the High-Speed, Dam-Delaying Smucker.