Valley Solutions

Vets get relief from med bills

Rep. Adam Gray. VA to relieve veterans of $272 million in medical bills through STRIVE Act. 
Synopsis: The Veterans Administration took note of a bill written by freshman Rep. Adam Gray and decided to follow his direction and relieve veterans of more than $272 million in debt accrued through improper billings. The VA’s directive mimics key provisions of Gray’s STRIVE Act, which passed the House Committee on Veterans Affairs with unanimous support. “I’m glad to see President Trump and VA Secretary Collins enact the key portion of my STRIVE Act and get serious about relieving our veterans of debt they never should have accrued,” said Gray. But Gray isn’t finished. He wants Speaker Mike Johnson to bring the bill to the floor to ensure erroneous billings stop happening.

Governor merry-go-round

Politico. CA Playbook: Eric Swalwell makes it official.
Synopsis: Rep. Eric Swalwell went on Jimmy Kimmel Live to announce he is a candidate for CA governor. “I’m ready to bring this fight home,” said the former county prosecutor who co-managed one of the impeachment cases against Trump. He joins Tom Steyer, who also entered the race this week, and many others.

Modesto Bee. What gubernatorial candidate had to say in small Stanislaus County community. 
Synopsis: Kathleen Quinn reports on Ian Calderon’s visit to Monterey Park Tract, an unincorporated community of about 200 sitting 6 miles west of Ceres. Calderon was once a rising star in CA politics, having become the youngest Assembly Speaker in history. But he left the Assembly a decade ago. Calderon was joined by Stanislaus Supervisor Channce Condit, who said “I brought a gubernatorial candidate here today to the tract as a reality check of how some folks in California are living.”
MAD Note: Interestingly, Monterey Park Tract was Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first trip outside of Sacramento after he became governor. He brought his entire cabinet to the community just two days after being sworn in. He was surprised to find two reporters waiting. Clean water was the focus of that visit, too.

Kickoff really fills kettles

Modesto Bee. Salvation Army raises highest amount ever at its annual Kettle Kickoff.
Synopsis: The Salvation Army raised a record $350,000 at its 33^rd annual Kettle Kickoff on Thursday in what Maj. Darren Stratton called “an incredible show of support.” It more than doubled last year’s $167,000 and hugely exceeded the goal of $225,000 set by MC Lynn Dickerson. Some 1,200 people attended. In its 33-year history, the Kickoff has raised $4.5 million in Modesto – which created the event that has since been copied across the nation.

Westside Express. ‘Stuff the Bus’ food drive happening throughout the county. 
Synopsis: Merced County is partnering with the Merced County Food Bank to send a transit bus into communities to collect food donations. The Food Bank’s stocks were depleted during the shutdown and have not yet recovered. The bus has been parked in various locations and will spend Friday on the Westside. It will be at the Sheriff’s Substation in Dos Palos until 6 pm.

JS West building new HQ

Modesto Bee. 116 years into its history, JS West is moving headquarters to north Modesto site.
Synopsis: JS West & Companies has been a downtown Modesto fixture since 1909, selling feed, chickens, eggs, propane and even furniture. Now, the company will move its headquarters about 6 miles to Dale and Kiernan. CEO Mike West was joined by his father Gary at a groundbreaking celebration. The company’s propane hub will remain in downtown, even adding jobs.

Picking winners, losers for UC

Cal Matters. UC continues annual tuition hikes despite student appeals. 
Synopsis: The UC board of regents voted 13-3 – with Lt. Gov Eleni Kounalakis among the 3 – to increase tuition 5% every year through 2031. That means each incoming class will pay more than their predecessors for the same classes. Regents say the raises will provide budget certainty for families. In 2021, tuition was $12,570 a year; now it is $14,934. Trustees insisted the poorest students would receive more aid from the tuition hikes, noting that students whose family incomes are below $60,000 pay nothing. Kounalakis said all tuition hikes should be reviewed annually. “Our students sleep in their cars. Our students go to food banks in order to be able to eat.”

The damage done by drunks

ABC30. Families call for harsher punishments as CA’s DUI laws face scrutiny.
Synopsis: Drunk driving has become an epidemic in California, which went from having some of the toughest laws to some of the most lax. This story follows the CalMatters series that detailed many examples of drivers pleading guilty to DUI but being allowed to keep their driving privileges. One drunk had 16 DUIs and was still driving legally even after getting out of prison. This story quotes a woman whose pregnant niece was killed by a drunk driver sentenced only to 12 years probation. The Madera DA wants tougher laws and tougher judges. “It’s just the laws that don’t have the teeth that we need,” said DA Sally Moreno.

Westside Express. Los Banos woman arrested for drunk driving after crashing through garage.  
Synopsis: A 25-year-old woman from Dos Palos was driving her Rav 4 on Ward Road on Nov. 11 when she veered off the road, drove through a field then into a garage. The door wasn’t open. No matter. She crashed through the doors then out the back wall. Police say she failed a sobriety test. No one was hurt.
MAD Note: The headline is incorrect. The driver is from Dos Palos; the crash occurred in Los Banos.

2 red-light cams, 1,000 tickets

Merced Focus. Merced’s red-light cameras have been running for months; how many tickets?
Synopsis: The city of Merced installed two cameras – on R and West 16^th streets – back in April. Since then, 978 citations have been sent to red-light runners. Police have also issued 106 violation notices, or warnings. “This isn’t about making money, this is about reducing crashes,” said police chief Steven Stanfield. Citations have gone up each month but peaked in October. Money collected from the tickets will be used to pay the $126,000 annual cost of the cameras. Councilmember Sarah Boyle said this isn’t about punishment but about “making drivers think twice before running a light.”

45,000 new homes in Fresno

Fresnoland. ‘Big middle finger to Fresno’: Commission approves $4 billion mega-development. 
Fresno’s Planning Commission approved a 9,000-acre project called the Southeast Development Specific Plan on a 4-3 vote Wednesday night despite a packed house of residents who were uniformly against it. The plan would bill 45,000 homes in the city but faces a funding shortfall of $3 billion based on costs for water, roads and school infrastructure. That, said many in attendance, will lead to service cuts across the rest of the city. Land-use attorney Dan Brannick said the project should go before a citywide referendum.

The real cost of tariffs

Successful Farming. Trump signs order to remove tariffs from Brazilian beef, coffee.
Synopsis: Admitting that tariffs increase prices, Trump removed his 40% tariffs on all Brazilian food products -- including beef, coffee, fresh fruit and cocoa. He had imposed the tariffs in July to punish Brazil for prosecuting Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro – a close Trump friend now considered the most corrupt president in Brazil’s history. Bolsonaro plotted a coup to retake power, took bribes for providing government jobs, accepted gifts from foreign countries, spied on political enemies and more. Trump also removed tariffs on other countries a week earlier. There was no indication of any concessions made by Brazil.

More Perfect Union. Left Behind: The farm crisis will shock you.
Synopsis: This 13-minute video looks at consolidation in agriculture that has led to a crisis for soybean and corn growers across the nation. The tariffs on China hurt, say working farmers, but the real problem is an industry dominated by four companies. This de facto monopoly has removed all leverage for farmers, who become price-takers. Rural communities have been destroyed, and suicides are rising among farmers.
MAD Note: Soybeans fell 7.5 cents a bushel Friday and are sitting at $11.15, roughly $6 a bushel less than their peak $17 in 2012. Ag economists at Purdue say the break-even price for soybeans is around $12 a bushel for most growers. 
Video:

Rail plan cost family $1 million

Modesto Bee. High-speed rail delays in Merced, Valley cost some as agency pushes to Gilroy.
Synopsis: Fernando Rodriguez thought he would have to move his family’s El Bajio Market out of downtown Merced to make room for the new high-speed rail station. Convinced they would be reimbursed with buyout money from the CA High Speed Rail Authority, the family invested $1 million in a new location. Now, the CHSRA is redirecting its tracks from Merced to Gilroy, leaving the Rodriguez family forced to make a move they don’t want. “It makes us angry,” he said. Mayor Matthew Serratto commiserates. But there appears little anyone can do.

Slamming door on solar panels

Politico. Rep. Calvert was one of at least 3 Republicans who killed solar subsidies – after using them.
Synopsis: Donald Trump despises solar and wind power and has directed Republican representatives to kill all federal support for them. GOP legislators have marched in lockstep behind him. That includes CA’s Ken Calvert, who used government incentive programs to put solar panels on his California home but voted to kill those subsidies this year. His defense for killing the very subsidies he used? “It was never supposed to be permanent.” Interestingly, Calvert has been in Congress 20 years, meaning he also voted to implement the incentives under President Bush in 2005.
MAD Take: Missed in this story is that solar energy has become the cheapest form of power, according to the Levelized Cost of Energy calculations. Solar costs around 3.8 cents per kwh to generate compared to 13.8 cents for natural gas or 26.2 cents for coal. In sunnier states, solar can cost as little as 2 cents per kwh, making it cheaper than buying fuel even from existing fossil-fuel plants.

What time is it in Merced?

Merced Sun Star. Merced launches fundraiser to replace clock in Bob Harte Square.
Synopsis: It’s past time to get a new clock in Bob Hart Square. The old clock hasn’t worked for years, says parks director Chris Jensen. The city checked into fixing the clock, which was installed in 1979, but found the cost far too high. After it was quietly suggested that the clock be quietly removed, the Merced County Historical Society and Central Valley Opportunity Fund stepped in. A new clock will cost around $77,000. To raise it, the city is selling “Time Well Spent” T-shirts. So far, the city has raised $1,198.