Valley Solutions

Valley votes got rejected

Fox26. Tulare County had highest June rejection rate as CA tossed 148,241 mail ballots.
Synopsis: Ballots postmarked after election day, June 2, were rejected at the highest rate ever last month. Some 148,241 ballots – or 1.73% of all ballots cast across California – were postmarked after the deadline and could not be counted. New procedures instituted by the US Postal Service means there are delays in postmarking many envelopes that are dropped on election day. Instead of being postmarked at a local office, the mail is taken to a regional hub before being postmarked. That means it might not be processed for a day or even two. In the 2024 primary, 1.56% of ballots were rejected, or 108,982. The head of the CA Voter Foundation called the rejection rate “a major concern.” The highest rejection rate was in Tulare County at 3.52% followed by Alpine and Merced counties, each at 3.36%.

Gray backed defense bill

GV Wire. Gray among just 6 Democrats to back defense bill deepening US-Israel military integration. 
Synopsis: Rep. Adam Gray broke with the vast majority of his Democratic Party on Wednesday, becoming one of only six Democrats to vote in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act. The bill passed by only 4 votes, meaning the six votes were pivotal. The bill included a pay raise for service members and additional child support for families but also mandated closer cooperation between U.S. and Israeli military operations and additional support for the Iran war. Before it becomes law, a similar version must pass in the Senate. Jim Costa, Josh Harder and the rest of California’s Democrats voted against the bill.

ICE ‘out of control’

Stocktonia. ICE is ‘out of control’: Harder renews calls for answers over Stockton ICE activity. 
Synopsis: Rep. Josh Harder sent a letter to ICE director David Venturella demanding information after months without a “substantive response.” Harder said he is troubled by reports from the Stockton detention center. He demanded to know why ICE agents have conducted raids in unmarked cars, patrolled near schools and accosted people with children.

Modesto Bee. Court hearing delayed for man shot 7 times by ICE agents in Patterson. 
Synopsis: Defense lawyers are still waiting to receive the FBI’s examination of the vehicle in which Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez was sitting when he was shot seven times by ICE agents near Patterson. Hernandez was on his way to work when agents blocked his car and approached. When he refused to get out of his vehicle, an agent broke his window. When Hernandez moved his car, agents began shooting. Since the shooting, two more people have been killed by ICE agents – both in cases of mistaken identity. The FBI has said it will no longer investigate shootings by ICE agents.

Hate data centers? Troglodyte

Sacramento Bee. CA’s data center backlash is loud – and deeply misplaced. 
Synopsis: Columnist Tom Philp defends data centers, comparing those who oppose them as akin to the troglodytes who once hated motorcars. He compares fighting the arrival of a data center to “trying to thwart a meteor with a squirt gun.” Yes, 70% of Californians don’t want one in their town. And yes, they use 12x more water off-site than they use on-site, and yes, their on-site use is prodigious. But 2.9-million-acre feet a year (for all data centers combined) isn’t all that much, says Tom. And if you don’t like them, then quit using your laptops and TVs and cellphones.
MAD Take: Methinks Tom is missing the point. It isn’t that data centers exist, or even how much water and power they use. It’s that they use so much that the rest of us will have to either pay more for the power and water or do without. Meanwhile, the builders will pocket the proceeds and stroll off into the AI-enhanced sunset.

Fresno goes it alone on tax

Fresno Bee. Fresno will attempt its own transportation tax as Measure C sunsets on county. 
Synopsis: This week Fresno County supervisors doomed the extension of the Measure C transportation sales tax by ordering an additional study rather than placing it on the countywide ballot. So, the city of Fresno has decided to develop its own sales tax to fund its own road projects. Measure C has collected a half-cent sales tax for four decades but will sunset this year if not renewed. The supervisors voted 3-2 to keep it off the ballot. The city’s tax will sunset after 10 years or if the county passes a similar measure. Mayor Jerry Dyer and councilmembers Nelson Esparza and Mike Karbassi supported the tax measure. Without the tax, said Dyer, 217 jobs will be lost.

Castle wants to cover exhibits

Merced Sun Star. Castle Air Museum in Atwater is undergoing a huge transformation.
Synopsis: Castle Air Museum, sitting in the corner of the old Castle Air Force Base, has decided to protect its prize aircraft from exposure to the heat, rain, wind and grit by building large pavilions. It will take about 10 years to cover the aircraft, but when it’s done a side benefit will be providing shade for visitors, too. The pavilions will cost around $4 million, of which the museum has raised half. A few of the aircraft are too big to be covered, such as the B-52D Stratofortress and Boeing B-29 Superfortress.

Dos Palos is out of money

Merced Focus. After Measure V revelation, Dos Palos also faces cash-flow shortage.
Synopsis: A month after approving a budget of $6.86 million, the city of Dos Palos is facing a cash squeeze. The council postponed paying the city’s bills Tuesday for fear it wouldn’t be able to pay its employees next week. That follows a transfer of $150,000 from the city’s investment account so it could meet its July 20 payroll. “We currently don’t have the revenues to meet our expenses,” said councilmember Marcus Porter. “Unfortunately, that’s through mismanagement.” He said the problem can be fixed, though it might require “quite a few years.” Last month, it was revealed the city had spent $2.2 million collected via Measure V for transportation projects on other priorities.

Pistachio projections slashed

GV Wire. What will Fresno’s 3-year pistachio roller coaster mean for Dubai Chocolate?
Synopsis: Growers and buyers were told the pistachio crop will be 36% smaller than anticipated, which would send prices much higher. RaboBank economist David Magana called this year’s crop “a failure” due to “a challenging pollination season.” With demand surging globally, the price of nuts could skyrocket. Last year’s crop broke records at 1.6 billion pounds, and that might have contributed to this year’s 1.1-billion-pound crop. Pistachio trees produce on a two-year cycle, alternating bountiful years with lesser yields. The current price is $5 a pound but could soon go higher.

Job changes in Valley

Westside Connect. Gustine police chief Ruben Chavez to retire after 45-year career in law enforcement. 
Synopsis: After guiding his department through the COVID-19 epidemic and building deep ties in the community, Chief Ruben Chavez will retire Jan. 2, 2027. The chief has spent 45 years in law enforcement. “I love law enforcement, even with all the changes over the years,” said Chavez, who began his career in San Jose. “When I started, we didn’t have car-computers, Tasers, body-worn cameras or even cellphones. I laugh today, but in 1986 I had to borrow a pager from a friend to be notified when my wife went into labor.” Chavez earned his master’s at San Jose State and attended the FBI National Academy.

Westside Connect. Merced County Sheriff’s lieutenant set to become police chief in Newman.
Synopsis: The Newman city council approved the hiring of Lt. Ray Framstad as chief of police. He will replace Randy Richardson, who is retiring. Framstad begins his duties July 28, and his contract runs through 2035 with a starting pay of $173,856. Prior to joining the Merced SO, he worked for Modesto PD and the Stanislaus County SO.

Stocktivities. Exclusive: City attorney Arredondo has officially resigned.
Synopsis: After only four months on the job, Stockton city attorney Marci Arredondo has officially resigned to accept a job with “aspiring lawyers.” Her resignation letter was two sentences, saying her last day will be Aug. 5.

Trailer park finally demolished

CBS13. Demolition begins at troubled Lazy Wheels Mobile Home Park in Ceres. 
Synopsis: After years of fires, shutoffs, orders to vacate and police visits, demolition is finally under way at the Lazy Wheels Mobile Home Park. Heavy equipment began tearing down the remaining mobile homes this week followed by cleanup crews. “It’s been a tragedy,” said Ceres mayor Javi Lopez. “We’ve had deaths there, we’ve had fires here and I think somebody needs to be held accountable.” Last year a body was found in a shed.

Yes, that’s smoke you smell

Merced Sun Star. Merced County wildfire grows to 1,100 acres, 40% contained; evacuation lifted.
Synopsis: The Fields Fire burning near Snelling has been 40% contained after scorching 1,100 acres near Hornitos Road. The Valley Air District recommended staying indoors for those living around Merced Falls Road.

KSEE / CBS47. Why does it smell like smoke in the Valley?
Synopsis: The Fields Fire, burning since Thursday in Merced County, is sending smoke south into Madera and Fresno counties. Mostly, it is blowing east and staying out of the West Side of the Valley.

ABC10. Large debris fire burns near orchard in Hickman.
Synopsis: Smoke was billowing into the air above Hickman according to Stanislaus Consolidated officials. The cause is a burning orchard in the 19700 block of Lake Road. No structures are threatened and firefighters expect to extinguish the blaze as water resources become available.

Burning faster than we can plant

Cal Matters. CA can’t replant its forests fast enough to keep up with wildfires. 
Synopsis: The “mothership” of forestry in California is at UC Davis where 42,000 pounds of seeds are kept in cold storage in preparation for replanting woodlands destroyed by wildfire. Private landowners rely on the seeds, some decades old, to replant their property. “At the pace California is burning, it’s nowhere near enough.” The fires burn so hot that the forests that once covered 2.3 million acres are in danger of becoming permanent scrubland. And scrubland does a horrible job storing carbon or protecting water supplies or cleaning the air. To meet demand, the seed bank needs to be roughly 3x larger, says CalFire. But the Trump cuts eliminated 20% of the Forest Service’s funding for such operations. “It just makes me cry at night … It’s basically a child swinging a wrecking ball,” said a UC Davis fire ecologist who once worked for the Forest Service.

They’re waging ‘war on ag’

Ag Net West. Steve Hilton says CA must end CA’s ‘War on Agriculture.’
Synopsis: Interviewer Nick Papagni talked to candidate Steve Hilton, a British ex-pat, about “his vision for California agriculture.” Unlike Silicon Valley and Hollywood, which are showered with perks and tax breaks, ag faces ever-tightening restrictions, said Hilton. Instead of funding homeless projects and high-speed rail, he said the state should fix Hwy 99 and provide more water storage. He says he would lower gas prices, reduce utility costs and make the first $150,000 a year income-tax free. He says he wants to see agriculture “flourish and grow.”

A Modestan in Paris

Modesto Bee. President Macron talks Modesto in meeting with George Lucas.
Synopsis: Modesto native George Lucas became a Knight of the Legion of Honor on July 15 in Paris, along with Jodie Foster and Sigourney Weaver. During the tribute, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of Lucas’s childhood in Modesto and called him “a great Jedi Knight of cinema.” Macron also applauded Lucas’s well-known love of France. Lucas launched his career with the movie “American Graffiti,” a coming-of-age story about cruising when Modesto was about half the size of Turlock.
MAD Take: Legion of Honor? That’s about half as cool as being a Faro.