On the eve of the October 1 government shutdown, San Joaquin Valley Republican Congressman Jeff Denham held a one hour telephone town hall meeting to answer questions about his political positions in the House of Representatives. Mr. Denham opened the meeting by reading a prepared statement. The statement featured the exact same language used within the House of Representatives debate, and provided the rationale for obstruction of the Affordable Health Care […]
Carmen Sabatino’s Endorsements
Editor’s note: In an October 6 Modesto Bee editorial, the Bee’s Judy Sly claims that Stanislaus County Supervisor Jim DeMartini has denied endorsing Carmen Sabatino for the MID Board of Directors. Sabatino claims he received a “verbal endorsement,” but “didn’t get it in writing.” No doubt, there is more to this story than has as yet come out. As Carmen Sabatino campaigns for a place on the Board of Directors […]
Modesto Primed To Outsource Police Services To County Sheriff, by Bruce Frohman
Riverbank and Patterson: A number of years ago, prior to election to the Riverbank City Council of a family member of a locally owned grocery store chain, the city provided police services to its citizens. Riverbank had its own police department. In the grocery business, an expanding population is good for business. Coincident to the grocer’s election, the City of Riverbank experienced a residential housing boom. The housing boom was fed by infrastructure subsidies provided by Riverbank taxpayers. To enable greater subsidies […]
City Should Drop Courthouse Issue, Focus on Measure X
Some smells just won’t go away. One such stench is hanging over city government like a cloud of sewer gas belched from the deepest recesses of old Modesto—it’s the bad odor surrounding the city’s involvement in the selection of the new courthouse site. Despite complaints by the Modesto Bee to the contrary, the State of California has assured everyone that CEQA rules were indeed observed during the courthouse selection process. […]
Higher One: Setting the Record Straight?
After The Valley Citizen published two articles about local colleges outsourcing financial aid disbursements to Higher One, we received a letter from Higher One’s Lauren Perry saying that Higher One wished to “set the record straight so students know the truth.” The Valley Citizen is pleased to publish the letter in its entirety. Incidentally, a recent report from Bloomberg claims Higher One is for sale. Does that mean Higher One […]
Higher One: Just Another Corporate Tentacle in Higher Education
When Fresno State student Jeremiah Henry received his Higher One card back in 2012, he tried to activate it immediately. He then got embroiled in a bureaucratic nightmare that lasted days. It was while trying to activate the Higher One card that Henry began wondering how Fresno State had come to the decision to outsource financial aid to a company that was at that time involved in a class action […]
City Of Modesto Needs To Pass Sales Tax Increase, by Bruce Frohman
Citizens of Modesto have expressed plenty of reasons to vote against Measure X in the November election. However, the city very much needs the revenue of a sales tax increase. Over the past decade, the number of city employees and level of city services have declined substantially. With police department staffing at a historic low for officers per capita, the department is no longer able to effectively fight crime. Response times are inadequate to catch […]
Extra! Bee Covers Ridenour Administration! Extra!
It took a while, but the Modesto Bee finally got around to covering the Ridenour administration. Don’t feel bad if the name “Ridenour” doesn’t ring a bell. Jim Ridenour was Mayor of Modesto from 2004 through 2012. Known by many as the “stealth mayor” for the lack of news coverage during his term, only two events ruffled the calm surface of his eight year tenure. One, the SCAP scandal, occurred […]
Brush Fire at the Toxic Waste Dump, by Bruce Frohman
Over the Labor Day weekend, a brush fire burned vegetation in the future 132 freeway right of way. The specific location was on the top of one of the mounds containing toxic waste. According to an agreement between Caltrans and the California Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC), Caltrans is to maintain vegetation on the mounds in order to reduce runoff from the toxic waste piles. Until new vegetation is planted, the brush fire has put Caltrans out […]
Is Your College Betting Against Students with Higher One?
Editor’s note: The earliest version of this story did not explain the difference between the budget “reserve” and a budget “surplus.” A sharp-eyed reader caught the error, and we have added a parenthetical explanation below. Thanks to our vigilant readers for the help, always. At Merced College, the trouble with Higher One began during the second week of the fall semester. That’s when the College administration learned many students would […]