In December 2011, the revelation that the 132 Freeway right-of-way on the west side of Modesto contains waste sites containing toxic barium made newspaper headlines. Caltrans wants to build a freeway over the sites without removing the toxic soil, even though some of the mounds are adjacent to a residential neighborhood. On Wednesday, November 28, 2012, experts from Geocon, a private contractor that conducts water tests, reported to public […]
Dazzling White Visitor Thrills, Puzzles Local Birders
Local birders ran for their cars when Central Valley birding legend David Yee reported an Iceland Gull in northwest Stanislaus County Saturday. It took Modesto residents Jim Gain and Sal Salerno just over thirty minutes to rush to the bird’s location. Oakdale’s John Harris wasn’t too far behind them. All three were treated to excellent looks at a bright white, medium-sized sea gull that had many of the characteristics […]
Kristin Olsen Leads the Parade Against Norquist Pledge
Late last October, Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen renounced the Grover Norquist no-tax pledge. Since then, a growing group of Republican senators and congressman have done the same. Though current political realities likely influenced Olsen’s decision, she didn’t wait until after the election to announce her new outlook. Like others who have seen government’s problems up close, she’s realized absolutist theories aren’t serving her constituents. When she announced her new position, […]
Allen Short’s Golden Parachute
Did Modesto Irrigation District (MID) General Manager Allen Short resign so he could give himself a raise? According to a recent Modesto Bee report, Short could make more money by leaving the MID than he would have had he stayed—and a significant portion of his income will be provided by the MID. Short was appointed General Manager of the San Joaquin Tributaries Authority (SJTA) on May 15. Since then, […]
More Jobs Exit Stanislaus County, by Bruce Frohman
Despite the low wages in the area, jobs continue to leave Stanislaus County. With the real unemployment rate over twenty percent, not many prospects are on the horizon for future job growth. Memorial Medical Center recently announced a reduction of about 114 jobs from skilled nursing to administrative positions. The cuts are attributed to a reduction in patient admissions, possibly due to the opening of Kaiser Hospital. Some of […]
All You Need to Know About Water in California
On page 220 of David Carle’s Introduction to Water in California is a map of California. The map was produced by the California Department of Water Resources in 1998. On the map, California is divided into ten regions. For each region there are two sets of numbers, one blue, one red. The numbers represent projected water shortages for the year 2020. The blue numbers represent an average rainfall year, the […]
Should MID Ratepayers Fund Another Bureaucracy?
When Modesto Irrigation District (MID) General Manager announced his resignation, it was reasonable to conclude he’d be off the payroll. But in an odd twist of circumstances, Short’s new job will in part be funded by the MID. Short was a prime mover in the formation of the San Joaquin Tributary Association, which became the San Joaquin Tributaries Authority (SJTA) on May 15. MID ratepayers have a right to […]
Allen Short: Still Picking the MID Money Tree
Even though departing Modesto Irrigation District (MID) General Manager Allen Short has been Executive Director of the San Joaquin Tributaries Authority (SJTA) since May, the Modesto Bee announced his appointment to the job just last Friday. Short will officially begin the new job January 1, one day after he leaves the MID. The SJTA includes six water districts. It’s essentially a lobbying agency whose joint powers give it more […]
Priceless Valley Farmland is Blowing in the Wind, by Bruce Frohman
Efforts of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to gain control of water used by local farmers captured many recent newspaper headlines, but little attention has been given another insidious problem, the loss of farm land top soil. Some dubious farming practices are a threat to the viability of farming in the San Joaquin Valley. Loss of essential top soil can be as damaging as the inability to secure […]
Has the Modesto Bee Become a Follower of the Valley’s New Media?
To his credit, the Modesto Bee’s Garth Stapley did acknowledge that Emerson Drake provided much of the subject matter of Stapley’s most recent Modesto Irrigation District (MID) report. In fact, Drake, via his Eye on Modesto website, broke the news of MID payouts to “consultants” via the circuitous route of Martino Graphic Design well before the Bee decided to cover the story. Stapley was responsible enough to credit Drake for his […]