The Valley Citizen

Homeless: The Punishing Effects of Market Forces

For years, the dominant explanations for homelessness have been drugs and choice. Whenever the topic of homelessness arose, people were quick to say, “It’s the drugs.” And if they didn’t rant about drugs and needles, the alternative was to argue that homelessness was a “choice” people made to avoid the responsibilities of self-sufficiency. Occasionally, someone would point out that doing away with mental institutions and social services might have had […]

Is Amazon the Gift that Keeps on Taking?

Below, Bruce Frohman joins Steve Ringhoff in taking a close look at the consequences when Amazon comes to town. Like Mr. Ringhoff, Frohman believes the reasons Amazon often clouds its arrival in secrecy are not benign. Politicians operate under the presumption that any business creating new jobs in a community will be a benefit. When a company the size of Amazon comes to town, heaven and earth are moved to approve […]

Endangered Homeless Woman Safe, United with Daughter

Cheryl Littlefield’s daughter, who prefers to remain anonymous, was stunned when she found her mother on the street last Thursday. “The last time I saw her was in November,” said the daughter. “She still had her room then. It was packed full of her belongings and a lot of trash, but her rooms have been that way for years.” According to her daughter, Cheryl has a history of mental illness […]

Homeless: Falling into the Black Hole of Help

We first saw Cheryl Littlefield on south 9th Street in Modesto in late January. She was badly soiled and had obviously been sleeping outside for several weeks. Her fingernails and toenails were grotesquely long and dirty. Prior to living on the street, Cheryl had had a room at a nearby motel. She said she lost the room when it, “caved in.” Her income is managed by a local payee. Payees […]

The Back End of Amazon’s Gift Horse for Turlock

Steve Ringoff is a freelance journalist. See more of his work here. City of Turlock officials were about ready to polish the ceremonial groundbreaking shovels before it was publicly revealed that Amazon planned a 1,000,000 plus square foot warehouse facility in their southern Stanislaus County municipality. In an article April 21, bearing the bylines of Modesto Bee reporters Kevin Valine, Marijke Rowland, and Kristen Lam, that team put together enough […]