Last Wednesday’s LAFCo decision to require mitigation for encroachment onto ag land met with wide approval, but Scott Calkins has an insider’s view that might temper the celebration. No one denies the decision was a big step forward, but parts of the policy are cause for real concern. Here’s Scott with the inside story. […]
Mike Wade, Executive Director of the Farm Water Coalition, is an outstanding advocate for farmers. He always has a good command of facts and is ever-vigilant for threats to farmers’ water supplies. Recently, however, he’s been too narrowly focused on the needs of a few farmers at the expense of farmers in general, especially […]
Former Modesto City Councilman and longtime farmland preservation activist Denny Jackman was just named President of the Central Valley Farmland Trust (CVFT). Jackman’s long history of activism includes successful implementation of the Stamp Out Sprawl initiative (with Modesto Mayor Garrad Marsh), a long involvement with the Farmland Working Group, and decades of effort to […]
Woody Allen has said, “Paranoia is knowing all the facts,” and the more one knows about the Modesto Irrigation District (MID) water sale to San Francisco, the more likely one is to suffer severe attacks of paranoid dementia. Back in March, we alerted readers to one of the compelling factors behind the water sale—proposed […]
At every LAFCO meeting they put out a stack of pamphlets entitled “What is LAFCO?” Yeah, it’s a good question. LAFCO has three objectives: “To Encourage the Orderly Formation of Local Government Agencies,” “To PreserveAgricultural Land Resources,” and To Discourage Urban Sprawl.” And so, by their own measure, the Stanislaus LAFCO has been a failure. […]
Fresno to fine and jail homeless sleepers Days after Governor Gavin Newsom ordered cities to clear homeless camps, Fresno city officials and Mayor Jerry Dyer have said that homeless campers will be fined and jailed even when no alternative sites are available for sleeping or storing their belongings. Fresno’s decision to criminalize poverty is no […]
Killing a river is the outcome of a systematic process. The key is strict control of public perception throughout the process. The first and most important principle is to omit any mention of the river except when absolutely necessary. This is the single most important and easily overlooked tactic. While it may be necessary to […]
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 […]
If there’s anything each of the members of the Modesto Irrigation District Board of Directors (MID) knows for sure, it’s that voters hate rate increases. This fact was painfully evident May 13, 2010, when an angry crowd packed the MID boardroom to protest a five dollar a month rate increase in their electrical bills. And […]
Still elated after Garrad Marsh’s decisive victory in the Modesto Mayor’s race, Fred Herman is looking forward to another big win for Valley citizens. Remember Richard Pombo? People thought he couldn’t lose, but he did. Now, once invulnerable Jeff Denham faces serious competition from a former astronaut with deep Valley roots—Jose Hernandez (pictured left). Here’s Fred on […]
