Valley Solutions

Valley Solutions offers a daily look at the top headlines appearing on media websites affecting the San Joaquin Valley. It is compiled by Mike Dunbar, who worked in Stockton, Modesto, Merced and Los Banos media for 40 years and later served as Adam Gray’s press secretary when he was in the Assembly. Valley Solutions is brought to readers by Rep. Adam Gray.

60-foot waves coming to coast

SF Chronicle. Biggest waves in years to slam CA coast – including San Francisco.
Synopsis: Meteorologists are predicting 30- and even 40-foot waves along the Central and Northern coast as powerful storms in Alaska churn the ocean. Huge swells are expected to hit Point Conception in Santa Barbara on Saturday afternoon, then run north reaching San Francisco then up to Oregon. Weather Service scientist Joe Merchant says there will be seven or eight pulses of wave energy starting this weekend and lasting through Thanksgiving. An explanation of wave height, slopes and orientation follows. The story says Mavericks, near Half Moon Bay, has a famous undersea-cliff which could generate 60-foot waves. “Waves this big are frequently deadly” even for people standing even 100 feet up the beach.

SF Gate. CA’s tides just broke century-old records; they’re still rising. 
Synopsis: Several tide gauges around the state recorded their highest readings ever in the last week of October, says the NOAA. Meteorologists are warning this is a harbinger of what could be the worst flooding ever as king tides arrive between Thanksgiving and Christmas. “I want your readers to understand that this current round is just a preview of much worse,” said Dylan Flynn of the National Weather Service. Gauges set records in San Diego, LA, Santa Barbara and Monterey; farther north the data is still being compiled. Record high tides are just the “beginning of the story.” Those tides will push water deeper up tidal streams causing flooding upstream as rainfall causes runoff to surge.
MAD Take: A lot of work has been done around Stockton and south of Lathrop to protect those low-lying communities from flooding – the new levees, Paradise Cut, massive drainage systems beneath River Islands. Now comes the test.

A trickle of election news

Modesto Focus. Sylvan school bond could pass; most races stay static as count continues. 
Synopsis: Garth Stapley brings the latest results to light, starting with the fact there are 35,000 votes left to count. That means the close races -- Sylvan school bond, Turlock and Oakdale councils – remain too close to call. After Monday’s release of data there were no lead changes, and some leaders were just slightly further ahead. Both Adam Gray and Tom McClintock widened their leads with Gray having 62.3% of the vote, up from 61.3% last week; McClintock has 56.1% compared to Mike Masuda’s 43.6%. Alexandra Duarte’s lead grew to 53.1% from 52% over Jaron Brandon. Eric Alvarez’s lead in Modesto city council D2 fell from 53% to 51.3%, but in a three-way race that’s plenty. Over at MID, Mike Moradian and Robert Frobose are widening their leads while incumbent Janice Keating has fallen to third in a three-way race. Riverbank’s slow-growth measure lost 0.5% in the new count but is still well ahead with 59.6% of the vote.

Manteca Bulletin. Naven wins election as 10^th directly elected mayor. 
Synopsis: With the release of additional voting results, three-term Mayor Gary Singh conceded Monday making Jacob Naven mayor-elect. Naven is a State Farm agent who moved to Manteca 19 years ago from Rocklin. He has served as president of the Kiwanis, Manteca Chamber and Give Every Child a Chance. He also coaches youth baseball and soccer.

KSEE / CBS47. Which Valley counties wanted Steve Hilton for governor? 
Synopsis: The overall outcome wasn’t close, but the race between Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton was tight in the Valley. Statewide, 65.7% of Californians voted for Becerra. But Hilton got 41% of the vote in Merced County, 45% in Fresno and 48% in Madera counties. Farther south, he did better, actually winning the vote in Tulare, Kings and Mariposa counties.

Truce on Fresno council

Fresnoland. Fresno city council calls truce between attorney Janz and councilmember Arias.
Synopsis: In a “terse unsigned announcement,” the city council wrote that city attorney Andrew Janz did not violate any city policy in connection with divulging information about the arrest of candidate Naindeep Singh, who is leading a tight race by 199 votes. Councilmember Miguel Arias threatened to investigate Janz for his role in confirming the arrest, which was later dropped and an apology issued by police. Janz threatened a counter investigation into council interference with his office.

Hotel opens in Fresno (finally)

Fresno Bee. 5-story hotel is opening in downtown Fresno; why it took decades to happen. 
Synopsis: The Courtyard by Marriott Fresno Downtown officially opens to guests today, offering 144 rooms over five stories at M and Inyo streets. The $30 million hotel is an easy walk to the Convention Center, Saroyan Theater and Chukchansi Park baseball field. The motel is near the old Radisson, which closed in 2022 but for many years was the top motel in the city. There have been plans to build a hotel on the location since 1998, but it took this long to be completed.

New boss for college district

Fresno Bee. State Center College district trustees might choose new chancellor at meeting.
Synopsis: State Center Community College District trustees have narrowed their search to two candidates for chancellor – Alan Davis and Christine Holt-McDonald. Davis, a Ph.D. in chemistry from Canada, would be a departure from the previous administration of Carole Goldsmith. Holt-McDonald was Goldsmith’s deputy chancellor. State Center CC District covers Fresno City, Reedley, Clovis Community and Madera Community colleges.

Where to find drunk drivers

Fresno Bee. Fresno County ranks worst in the nation for drunk driving during November.
Synopsis: Heads up if you’re driving in Fresno during November. Fresno County leads the nation in per-capita drunk driving crashes for the month. The data was crunched by a Texas law firm, which looked at 10 CA cities. Anaheim was the safest during November, with only a fifth of the number of crashes that occurred in Fresno County. Fresno also ranks No. 1 nationally among 37 cities surveyed. Following Fresno: 2) Harris, Texas, 3) Dallas, 4) Sacramento, 5) Clark, Nevada.

Fresno Bee. Sage the Gemini released from Madera jail after alleged reckless driving arrest.
Synopsis: Hip-hop artist Sage the Gemini, aka Dominic Wynn Woods, was released from the Fresno County jail Saturday. He was booked Friday after being pulled over for erratic driving and found to be the subject of an outstanding warrant from Contra Costa County. He posted $100,000 bail and retrieved his Tesla Model S. He has also been ordered to appear in Pittsburg on Dec. 3.

It was a murderless month

Stocktonia. Now police say October marked first month without a homicide in Stockton since 2019.
Synopsis: In all of October no one was killed in Stockton – which is a milestone. At first, Stockton police thought there had been a murderless month in 2022. But upon further inquiry, they determined a shooting later turned into a murder and the records hadn’t been updated in all databases. So, they had to go back to January 2019 to find a month without a killing. There have been only 23 killings in Stockton so far this year compared with 33 in the first 10 months of 2025.

Why beef won’t come down

Wall Street Journal. Why high beef prices are here to stay. 
Synopsis: The US beef herd is at its lowest level in 75 years and the factories that slaughter, cut and package the meat have shrunk by at least 45%. The shrinking has driven local meatpackers and feedlots out of business, destroying the supply chain. It will be difficult to “get that capacity back,” leaving the four leading mega-suppliers in charge of a constrained beef supply. But even Cargill, Tyson and JBS are shuttering processing plants across the Midwest. “America’s $100 billion beef industry is undergoing a painful downsizing, and it’s poised to make high meat prices a long-term reality,” wrote reporters. Those in the industry say it will take at least four years and more likely a decade to reverse the trend – and that’s contingent on changes in how the business functions. The threat that Trump will import more cheap beef has kept a lot of ranchers from bringing in feeder calves from Mexico. In this well-documented story, reporters visit a cattle auction near Sacramento where breeding bulls were selling for $13,600 – up from $7,800 two years ago.

How fire increased runoff

Active NorCal. Northern CA’s worst wildfires sent a million extra acre-feet of water int Lake Oroville. 
Synopsis: The Dixie, North Complex and Sugar fires burned more than half of the upper Feather River watershed in 2020 and 2021. A consequence no one counted on at the time shows that runoff into Lake Oroville increased by 1.7 million acre-feet over the two years. There were no plants to soak up the water falling on the mountains.
MAD Take: Cal Fire and others were quick to say they like the additional water, but this is not a good thing. Duh. That water needs to be in the ground, not behind a dam. The drying-out of the mountains expands the fire hazard going forward.  

Honoring Merced’s veterans

Merced County Times. Honoring veterans who continue to serve our community. 
Synopsis: Jonathan Whitaker writes about one of the veterans who are “always in service” to the nation they love. This week, he profiles Eugene “Bud” Gantney, who spent 36 years in military service between the Army and National Guard. After he returned home from Viet Nam, he built a local business and became a celebrated Rotarian. At 80, he still rides his motorcycle and has stories to tell.

Atwater child remembered

Merced County Times. Atwater dedicates Christopher Tejeda Jr. Safety Corridor. 
Synopsis: City leaders and school officials joined members of Christopher Tejeda Jr.’s family Monday to dedicate a portion of the street near Bridgewater School in his honor. Mayor Mike Nelson signed a proclamation. Christopher was struck and killed by a car April 30. Said Christopher Sr. “My son was a great kid. …. He had dreams. He talked about college. He talked about serving in the military,” adding, “I am hoping my son’s story can impact your family and some of the kids here.”

UCM women make D-2 playoffs

Merced Sun Star. UC Merced women’s soccer team earns berth in NCAA D-II tournament.
Synopsis: The Golden Bobcats lost 3-1 Saturday to CSU Los Angeles in the title game of the CA Collegiate Athletic Assn tournament but still got an at-large berth to the 56-team NCAA Division II tournament. The Bobcats are 12-3-5. They’ll play Friday in Irvine, and their first playoff opponent will be familiar – Cal State LA. They tied the Golden Eagles 1-1 in the regular season before losing in the playoffs.

The Macho Taco voted best

Fresnoland. Taco Truck Throwdown 15: Who won the title of Fresno’s best tacos and where to find them.
Synopsis: The Taco Truck Throwdown was Saturday at Chukchansi Park complete with music, mascots, micheladas and lots of tacos. There were 21 competitors. The Judge’s Prize went to El Taco Macho, who offered a brisket taco served on leaves and chili. The People’s Prize went to Tacos El Mandilon, which served its beef tacos in two shells with a charred chili. Both winners were first timers. The story explains where to find the trucks most days. Oh, you haven’t had micheladas? That’s the tomato, lime, chili powder and beer concoction.