The last week of April in Modesto featured two of the city’s biggest public events, the State of the County report and, “Love Modesto,” the […]
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Super Rare Visitor Wows Valley Birders
It was only fitting that Stanislaus Audubon Society Board member Jodi Smith found one the rarest birds ever to visit the San Joaquin Valley. Smith was enjoying the wetland and riparian habitat at the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge last Saturday when she peered through her binoculars and saw a stunning pink bird in a shallow pond, a little over a hundred yards from the nature trail she stood […]
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Hope Amid the Homeless on Modesto’s Mean Streets
California Fails on Homelessness says Statewide Audit
Modesto Mayor and Council Should Receive Fair Compensation
Former Councilman Explains Anger over Tiny Homes for Homeless
Angry Neighbors Protest Proposed Tiny Homes for Homeless
The Moral Dilemma of Homelessness
James Costello and Modesto’s Homeless Action Group
How Homelessness has Enabled Cruelty
Trinitas Bankruptcy: We should have Listened
Trinitas Partners Farming Declares Bankruptcy
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Hope Amid the Homeless on Modesto’s Mean Streets
As I was waiting for a bus last Sunday at the downtown transit center, an elderly man, using a walker loaded with what looked like his belongings, was denied access to a bus. The man stood there on this grey windy afternoon, shouting furiously at the bus driver at the injustice of denying him service, correctly noting — in my estimation — that some bus drivers allow carts larger than […]
California Fails on Homelessness says Statewide Audit
It came as no surprise to people who’ve watched state and local authorities fail to manage homelessness that those same authorities don’t know where the money goes. Recent reports from a statewide audit of homeless programs and expenses concluded that, “the State must do more to assess the cost-effectiveness of its homelessness programs.” Reviews of spending for homelessness in San Jose and San Diego discovered that neither city had adequate […]
Modesto Mayor and Council Should Receive Fair Compensation
We’re not fans of the current administration for the City of Modesto. Too many councilmembers are incurious and too firmly rooted in the past. Nonetheless, we support pay raises for all. Governing today is far more difficult and time consuming than it was even ten years ago. The pandemic, homelessness, climate change and new laws regulating groundwater usage are only a few recent issues that have required public officials to […]
Former Councilman Explains Anger over Tiny Homes for Homeless
Former Modesto City Councilmember Bruce Frohman lives in the Woodland West neighborhood where the City of Modesto has proposed locating a tiny home community for homeless people transitioning to traditional housing. Below, he explains the anger and confusion that arose when he and his neighbors learned about the proposal. ed. Before notifying the potentially affected neighborhood, staff members of the City of Modesto’s Community and Economic Development Department began studying […]