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Pursuing truth toward justice

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Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County

Caltrans: Sweeping your Tax Dollars Away

July 31, 2022 By Eric Caine 23 Comments

Caltrans bulldozer Modesto July 2022

We’re still waiting for a report from Caltrans on how much it costs to sweep the average homeless camp along one of California’s freeways. We do know that last November, Caltrans estimated it would spend $36 million on homeless camp cleanups in this year alone. Caltrans workers assigned to the sweeps, highway patrol officers who provide security during the sweeps, and neighboring businesses and residents all know that when homeless […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Beard Brook Park Homeless camp, Caltrans homeless sweeps, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in California, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley

Homeless: Word from the Camps

July 4, 2022 By Eric Caine 8 Comments

Homeless camp near Pecos Modesto

Word from the camps is you can’t get the black* anywhere. It’s fentanyl or nothing. People are dropping almost every day. “You lookin’ for Cash Money? Cash is dead. He overdosed last year. Fentanyl. Yeah, don’t believe Cash was much over 40 years old, maybe younger. People are dropping. Dropping everywhere.” “Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: California homelessness, Fentanyl in the San Joaquin Valley, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley

Valley Heat Batters Homeless People

June 27, 2022 By Eric Caine 4 Comments

Frank Ploof on south 7th Street Modesto 26 June 2022

Frank Ploof didn’t know it at the time, but while he was offloading cases of water at a homeless camp in triple digit heat, Little Sherry Lopez was half a mile away, slowly growing more disoriented as she tried to escape the battering rays of the sun. Ploof, who’s known Sherry since she began camping in Beard Brook Park almost four years ago, had finished distributing cases of bottled water […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Frank Ploof, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in California, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley, Little Sherry Lopez

Stanislaus County: Where Government Fails the People

May 19, 2022 By Eric Caine 5 Comments

Ninth Street Modesto 2021

When incumbent Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow brags about his leadership, he likes to compare the county to the City of Modesto. That’s what he did during an interview with the Modesto Bee when he said, “Look at how the city is doing and ask if you want that kind of leadership for the county.” Withrow is running for office against Tony Madrigal, a current Modesto City Councilmember. Withrow was […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in California, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley, Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow, Terry Withrow, Terry Withrow for Supervisor

Raise Taxes? City Residents are Already Taxed Twice

April 21, 2022 By Bruce Frohman 14 Comments

Tenth Street Place Downtown Modesto

Ever since the Dick Lang administration of the 1990’s, Modesto City Government has been perpetually broke. Subsequent city leaders have had very little discretionary money with which to operate. The present city council is considering whether to ask voters to approve a special sales tax within Modesto to alleviate ongoing budget shortfalls. To decide whether approval of a new sales tax increase is warranted, voters need to understand how Modesto […]

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Modesto, Modesto City Budget, Modesto sales tax, Stanislaus County budget, Stanislaus County budget surplus

Homeless: The Cruel Realities of People in Need

March 26, 2022 By Eric Caine 5 Comments

Cathy Heap Broadway Park Turlock March 2022

When Steve Finch and Frank Ploof founded Stanislaus Homeless Advocacy and Resource Enterprise* (SHARE) early last year, Ploof had already had almost ten years’ experience working to help people experiencing homelessness. Finch was new to the task, but thought his experience with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), an organization that assists abused and needy children, would provide a model he and Ploof could apply to needy homeless people. The CASA […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: California homelessness, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley, Modesto Homeless Documentary Project

Homeless: When False Narratives Fail

March 14, 2022 By Eric Caine 11 Comments

Homeless and mentally ill

For decades, there were a few stock responses to homelessness: “They don’t want help — it’s the drugs — they’re bums” were among the most popular. “They made bad choices” wasn’t far behind. Though none of these explanations holds up to thoughtful reflection, they comprised the largest part of the conventional wisdom about homeless precisely for that reason — they enabled most of us to avoid thinking about a problem […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in California, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley, Homelessness Stanislaus County, Modesto Homelessness

Randy Limburg: Warrior for the Poor and Afflicted

February 3, 2022 By Eric Caine 7 Comments

Randy Limburg and Veda Malon

Randy Limburg has passed. The gentle giant who once raged along Modesto’s mean streets on a bicycle with steers’ horns strapped to the handlebars and then found his way back from the hard ground of homelessness died on February 2 after a long bout with Covid. Randy’s bright smile shone a light wherever he went, but it was especially welcome among the shadows of homeless camps and by people abandoned […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley, Modesto CHAT Team, Randy Limburg

Homeless: The Accountability Papers No. 1

February 1, 2022 By Eric Caine 18 Comments

Willie Green Modesto 2021

Early last year, Stanislaus County officials added accountability to their list of tactics for managing rising numbers of people with nowhere to go. Puzzled by the new standard, volunteer and homeless advocate Frank Ploof asked county management and staff members repeatedly, “Accountable for what?” None ever offered an answer that made sense to people with no means to be accountable. Despite repetitious memes about people “choosing” homelessness and the widespread […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in California, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley

City Needs Money? Tax the Poor!

January 18, 2022 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

Downtown Modesto at McDonalds

According the United Way’s Real Cost Measure, 31% of Stanislaus County families struggle to meet costs for food, rent, and clothing. Like most households throughout the state, the cost of housing is the primary factor in their inability to make ends meet. Research by the United Way reveals that, “Struggling households in California use over half of their income on housing, more than twice as high a share as households […]

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley, Modesto sales tax, Modesto sales tax proposal, Regressive taxation

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Off The Wire

Gimme Shelter: Mayor Karen Bass on homelessness and the California housing crisis
Gimme Shelter: Mayor Karen Bass on homelessness and the California housing crisis
Liam Dillon and Ben Oreskes of the L.A. Times interview Mayor Karen Bass about homelessness and housing problems in California.
calmatters.org
Judge Luttig Has a Warning for America
Judge Luttig Has a Warning for America
Our democracy is “under vicious, unsustainable, and unendurable attack” from within…
morningshots.thebulwark.com
Rupert Murdoch has fuelled polarisation of society, Barack Obama says
Rupert Murdoch has fuelled polarisation of society, Barack Obama says
Former US president tells Sydney audience that media coverage has helped exacerbate divisions and that we no longer have a “shared story”
www.theguardian.com
California faces catastrophic flood dangers ? and a need to invest billions in protection
California faces catastrophic flood dangers and a need to invest billions in protection
A new state plan for the Central Valley calls for spending as much as $30 billion over 30 years to prepare for the dangers.
www.latimes.com
Oakland will get millions for the ?inhumane? crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it?s not enough
Oakland will get millions for the “inhumane” crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it’s not enough
Gavin Newsom’s administration has awarded Oakland a $4.7 million grant to come up with…
www.sfchronicle.com
Alaska?s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Alaska’s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Mary Peltola won her election by campaigning on a platform to save the state’s prized fisheries. A powerful fishing lobby is standing in her way.
www.politico.com
Jimmy Carter's final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
Jimmy Carter’s final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
One of former President Carter’s biggest hopes is wiping out an infectious parasitic disease that’s plagued humans for millennia. How close is he?
www.latimes.com
Climate Extremes Threaten California?s Central Valley Songbirds - Eos
Climate Extremes Threaten California’s Central Valley Songbirds – Eos
A “nestbox highway” in California’s Central Valley is guiding songbirds to safe nesting sites and giving scientists a peek at fledgling success in a changing climate.
eos.org
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Republican David Eastman suggested the death of child abuse victims could be a “cost savings” to wider society.
www.newsweek.com
Editorial: Newsom's drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Editorial: Newsom’s drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Gov. Gavin Newsom has effectively ended environmental regulations protecting California rivers and migratory fish by extending drought-year waivers.
www.latimes.com
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
As of Thursday, just two of the more than 70 residents of McPherson Square had been placed in permanent D.C. housing.
www.washingtonpost.com
More Building Won?t Make Housing Affordable
More Building Won’t Make Housing Affordable
America’s housing crisis has reached unfathomable proportions. But new construction isn’t enough to solve it.
newrepublic.com

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PO Box 156
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PO Box 156
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Email us at:
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Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

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