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Pursuing truth toward justice

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice
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Almond orchards Stanislaus County

The Real Water Grabs

November 14, 2016 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

The signs are up all around Stanislaus County. “Worth your Fight,” they say, and the “o” in “worth” is in the shape of a water drop. Local media and political leaders are shouting, “water grab,” and have plenty of support in their opposition to the state’s proposal to increase flows along Valley rivers. Water, of course, is worth everyone’s fight, and that’s just where the state’s problems begin. King Solomon […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Almond Orchards eastern Stanislaus County, Almond orchards Stanislaus County, water grab

Parting the Waters: No Ag Miracles

November 8, 2016 By Eric Caine 7 Comments

They’re still planting trees. Look anywhere around the northern San Joaquin Valley and you’ll see saplings—mostly almonds—being hurled into the ground like spears. This during the worst drought in memory. Most of the new orchards will have few or no surface water rights. They will be strictly groundwater-dependent. And that’s just one reason opposition to the state’s proposals for increased flows along Valley rivers rings so false. “If you increase […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Almond orchards Stanislaus County, Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, San Joaquin Valley aquifer

Regulate Land, Water, and Crops

April 7, 2015 By Eric Caine 3 Comments

When the Lost Angeles Times’ George Skelton proposed government regulation of crops last month, his column sparked a puzzling response from Modesto Bee editors. In, “Our View: Farmers don’t need help deciding what to plant,” the Bee slammed Skelton, saying, “It [Skelton’s column] could only have been written by someone with virtually no knowledge of actual farming.” Skelton may not be an expert on farming, but that’s irrelevant to his […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Almond orchards Stanislaus County, groundwater Stanislaus County, Jim DeMartini

Will the Kite Survive?

January 30, 2015 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

  In his classic Birds of the Pacific States, Ralph Hoffmann laments the decline of the White-tailed Kite: “The softness of its coloring and the confiding and gentle nature of the White-tailed Kite, so different from the wildness of most birds of prey, make a strong appeal to lovers of nature, but not alas! to the usual run of gunners.” First published in 1927, Hoffmann’s book was reprinted for at […]

Filed Under: Featured, Nature Tagged With: Almond Orchards eastern Stanislaus County, Almond orchards Stanislaus County

Are the People Ready to Take Their Water Back?

March 15, 2014 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

On March 6, in what was called “a victory for environmentalists, sport fishers, Delta farmers and State Water Project taxpayers,” a judge ruled that the state Department of Water Resources provided an insufficient environmental review of impacts of the Kern Water Bank. Though it’s gotten little local attention, the short history of the Kern Water Bank (KWB)  recounts one of the biggest water scandals in recent times. In essence, the KWB […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Almond orchards Stanislaus County, Kern Water Bank, Protect Our Water and Environmental Resources lawsuit, Stanislaus County groundwater, Stewart Resnick

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Off The Wire

Newsom urges SCOTUS to consider encampment ruling that has 'paralyzed' California cities
Newsom urges SCOTUS to consider encampment ruling that has ‘paralyzed’ California cities
The Democratic governor’s intervention lays down a mark in a legal dispute with potentially profound implications for one of California’s most pressing issues.
www.politico.com
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events
Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.
www.propublica.org
How hungry is California? Millions struggle to eat well in an abundant state
How hungry is California? Millions struggle to eat well in an abundant state
How bad is hunger in California? A lot depends on your access to food aid, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic but now is being reduced.
calmatters.org
Sacramento DA sues city over homeless encampments
Sacramento DA sues city over homeless encampments
Sacramento County had nearly 9,300 homeless people in 2022, based on data from the annual Point in Time count. That was up 67% from 2019. Roughly three-quarters of the county’s homeless population….
www.mercurynews.com
At Last, a Real Possibility to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
At Last, a Real Possibility to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
After decades of minimal action, Congress passed the largest and most comprehensive piece of climate legislation in U.S. history. Will we make the most of this opportunity?
www.audubon.org
How the fentanyl crisis' fourth wave has hit every corner of the US
How the fentanyl crisis’ fourth wave has hit every corner of the US
The epidemic’s staggering scale and infiltration of communities is laid bare in a new study.
www.bbc.com
Can licensed tent villages ease California's homelessness epidemic? This nonprofit thinks so
Can licensed tent villages ease California’s homelessness epidemic? This nonprofit thinks so
Taking people off the street and into tents is a new twist on homeless shelter being explored by the San Francisco-based Urban Alchemy in two tent villages operating in Los Angeles and Culver City.
www.latimes.com
Mississippi has problems, but it's handling homelessness better than L.A.
Mississippi has problems, but it’s handling homelessness better than L.A.
The public tends to blame homelessness on poverty, drug use, crime or even warm weather. But other cities don’t have L.A. levels of street homelessness because they have more available housing.
www.latimes.com
Neo-Nazis March Through Florida Park
Neo-Nazis March Through Florida Park
The demonstrators raised “Heil Hitler” salutes and waved flags with swastikas.
www.thedailybeast.com
Families have high hopes for Gavin Newsom's CARE Courts. Providers want to lower expectations
Families have high hopes for Gavin Newsom’s CARE Courts. Providers want to lower expectations
Gov. Gavin Newsom?s experiment to push Californians with mental illness off the streets and into treatment, CARE Court, starts soon.
calmatters.org
Pope says 'backward' U.S. conservatives have replaced faith with ideology
Pope says ‘backward’ U.S. conservatives have replaced faith with ideology
Pope Francis has blasted the “backwardness” of some conservatives in the U.S. Catholic Church. He says they have replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.
apnews.com
The Anti-California
The Anti-California
How Montana performed a housing miracle
www.theatlantic.com

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The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

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The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

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Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

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