Retail stores in California have been plagued by an epidemic of shoplifting ever since the passage of Proposition 47, in 2014. The problem is especially acute the San Joaquin Valley, where police responses can be slow unless lives are in danger. Below, Bruce Frohman describes the problem and some of its effects. Ed. Given the federal government’s proclamation that the U.S. economy is great, the number of recent retail bankruptcies […]
History
Homeless: 20+ years on the streets
Kenneth “Pops” Yarber became homeless in 1995, not long after a brain aneurysm put him in a wheelchair. Suddenly, he was forty years old and on disability. Not long afterward, the bank foreclosed on his house on 4th Street in Modesto, and he began bouncing from the streets to short stays with friends and relatives. A few years later, Pops was convicted of passing bad checks and using stolen credit […]
Homeless: Are Shelters Obsolete?
The rise in numbers of homeless shelters in the United States coincided with deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill in the late 1970s. During the same decade, runaway inflation—especially rising costs of living—left some members of the economy unable to keep up. The result was more homelessness. Over the years, socio-economic factors have continued to contribute to a rise in homelessness and consequent demand for more homeless shelters. Today, it’s clear […]
Homeless: Frank Ploof Reflects on Beard Brook Village
Frank Ploof’s last job before retirement was at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. He was a Computer Scientist by classification but spent most of his career defining and building information systems. Working with scientists got him accustomed to information systems, critical thinking, testing theories, and working with data. For well over the last five years, Ploof has been a key member of Modesto’s Homeless Documentary project. He’s also been a volunteer […]
“Why do we wait for occasions like this?”
An overflow crowd packed Modesto’s Islamic Center Monday night, as speaker after speaker emphasized the need for unity and love in the aftermath of the slaughter of fifty worshippers at a mosque in New Zealand last Friday. Muslim leaders apologized several times for not having a facility big enough to accommodate everyone, and earlier on had placed a plastic covering over the rug inside the mosque so that visitors wouldn’t […]
Steve Ringhoff: “Will the Bee Survive”?
Former journalist and retired attorney Steve Ringhoff has never lost his thirst for the truth nor his dedication to research. Read more of Steve’s work here. Not that long ago, The Modesto Bee arrived with an audible “thump.” Now, the paper, unwrapped, would simply flutter on down like a large leaf. Monday last it was 12 pages, Friday it was 18, not counting “Scene.” We were spoiled. For many years, The […]
Beard Brook Village: The End Game
The last days of Beard Brook Village were like the aftermath of a natural disaster— people pawing through the rubble of discarded clothing, bicycle parts and cooking utensils, a stream of humanity pushing shopping carts, baby strollers, and wheel chairs to and fro, and loose dogs everywhere. The debris-strewn chaos of Beard Brook was in stark contrast to the city’s new encampment, tentatively called Gateway Village, where uniform rows of […]
Leaving Beard Brook Village: The Crucible
Fear, rumors and resistance rippled through Beard Brook Village prior to this week’s scheduled relocation to a site just a few hundred yards away. The wildest rumor was that the new location was actually a FEMA camp. Some villagers had more reasonable concerns, especially about the size and placement of the tents. “Camp Mom” Melanie Slagle posted some reservations that seemed justifiable: “10×10 isn’t big enough for me, my guy, […]
Visions of the Homeless: A Cop’s View
One day a few weeks ago, volunteer homeless worker Jeri Lynn Matoza was watching Modesto Police Sergeant Mike Hammond cruise slowly through Beard Brook Village, Modesto’ s permitted homeless encampment. Every few yards, Hammond had to stop because someone wanted to talk. “Look at that,” said Matoza, “How often do you see homeless people voluntarily approach a cop? That’s the sign of a good cop.” Hammond says he wanted to […]
Faces of the Homeless: Alvaro
“I want to work, but my hands hurt all the time. They hurt real bad,” says Alvaro Gayton, who’s been at Beard Brook Village in Modesto’s Beard Brook Park since last September. Gayton’s last job was at a Modesto Restaurant specializing in barbecue and smoked meats. “I cooked all day and washed dishes at night,” he says. “I was the only one who really knew how to smoke meat the […]