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History

How the Modesto Irrigation District Lost Trust and Credibility

  “I’m not going to give them one damned drop,” said Modesto Irrigation District (MID) Director Paul Warda in October of 2010.Warda’s defiant comment came in response to news that the State Water Resources Control Board had determined that in order to insure the survival of native salmon, there could be a 40 percent reduction […]

Read the Letter the Bee and the MID Don’t Want You to See

  Monday, we broke news that over a month ago the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau (SCFB) sent a letter to the Modesto Irrigation District Board of Directors (MID) informing them of the Farm Bureau’s position that the proposed sale of water to San Francisco is illegal. Apparently, the Modesto Bee received a copy of the […]

Salida Probably Will Not Be Annexed To the City Of Modesto, by Bruce Frohman

  In 2005, this writer ran for a seat on the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors. I lost the race to the incumbent, Jeff Grover. During the race, I talked to voters living in Salida, an area I would have represented had I been elected. Many Salida voters did not want to be annexed into […]

Failure of Crows Landing Industrial Park Good for The Great Valley, by Bruce Frohman

Realtors value real estate based on location, location, location. Economic growth and development is based on land use, land use, land use. Just as a poor location dooms a property to low value, poor land use decisions dooms a region to economic mediocrity. The recently failed Crows Landing Industrial Park (West Park) would have been […]

The Year in Review: Links to Some of The Valley Citizen's Best Stories

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint, The Valley Citizen  launched July 14, 2011. Last week was our biggest week ever, and we’re on our way to our biggest month ever. Thank you to our readers and contributors. Those new to the site may want to read some of our more popular older stories, […]

Purchasing Power of the Great Valley's Low Income Wage Earners Has Eroded, by Bruce Frohman

  In politics, many laws passed by our state government are under constant attack for being anti-business. One of the most criticized laws is the minimum wage. Everyone knows the argument. The minimum wage costs jobs and has created a large class of unemployable people because their services are not worth minimum wage. But if […]

Social Media and the MID Water Sale

It certainly wasn’t the first time the Modesto Bee was late to the party, but it may be the first time so many Valley citizens realized it so clearly. By the time of the Bee’s editorial endorsement of the Modesto Irrigation District (MID) proposed water sale, Valley insiders were far better informed than the Bee […]

Bruce Frohman on Hepatitis C in the Northern San Joaquin Valley

The northern San Joaquin Valley has long been a hot spot for methamphetamine use and addiction, prime risk factors for viral Hepatitis. Nationwide, health experts are increasingly alarmed about what they claim is the hidden epidemic of viral Hepatitis, or Hepatitis C. In Stanislaus County, reports of Hepatitis C fluctuate wildly, from lows of 234 […]

Gerry Kamilos' West Park Starting to Look Like Another Pie in the Sky Scheme

The good news for West Park supporters is that Gerry Kamilos hired the best for his Environmental Impact Review. The bad news is he owes them over a quarter-million dollars. Kamilos’ attorneys, Remy, Thomas, Moose and Manley are the platinum standard of California land-use law firms. They literally write the book on the California Environmental […]

Did the New Editor Admit the Bee Has Been Serving Empty Calories?

Among the most noteworthy items in Joseph Kieta’s April 28 debut column were the new Bee editor’s promises to deliver, “a sharper focus for the printed newspaper. It needs to be more local. And it needs to focus on the ‘why’ and ‘how.’” Kieta also told readers to expect more journalism that doesn’t, “pull punches.” […]