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Pursuing truth toward justice

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Modesto Homelessness

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

Homeless: Taking Back the Parks

August 3, 2021 By Eric Caine 16 Comments

Sherry Lopez June 29 2021

Little Sherry Lopez can’t go to the park. Everyone calls her “Little Sherry” because she’s the smallest Sherry they know. Little Sherry is well short of five feet tall. She’s closer to four feet tall. She’s a few years past forty years old. Little Sherry is developmentally and physically disabled. She walks haltingly and often has difficulty with simple concepts. Other than “little,” the most common word people use to […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Beard Brook Park, Beard Brook Village, California homelessness, Modesto Homelessness, San Joaquin Valley homelessness, Stanislaus County homelessness, Stanislaus County Low Barrier Shelter

Can New Mayor and Council Reverse Modesto’s Decline?

March 5, 2021 By Bruce Frohman 2 Comments

K Street Modesto November 2020

The new Modesto City Council, headed by Mayor Sue Zwahlen, has a lot of work to do. Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, the public has been growing less respectful of the law and of other citizens. Ever since I departed from the Modesto City Council in 2003, I’ve noticed a continuous decline in the quality of life within the community. From my narrow viewpoint, determining how fast problems are growing […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Crime in Modesto, Modesto Homelessness

Homeless: The Harsh Realities of Help

January 17, 2021 By Eric Caine 17 Comments

Salvation Army Berberian Shelter

“We have a disconnect with our citizens about what services are available for homeless people and how easy it is to access them,” said Modesto businessman Steven Finch recently. “People are comforted when they see large buildings and lots of staff workers dealing with homelessness, poverty, and mental illness.  They read about $22,000,000 coming to Stanislaus County for homelessness and they think, ‘That should do it; all fixed.’” In fact, […]

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

Overflow Crowd for Laura’s Law

November 17, 2016 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

“It’s the dollars that get them,” said Douglas Dunn to an overflow crowd at Modesto’s Jana Lynn Room on North Ninth Street Wednesday night. Dunn was explaining how he and other citizen activists convinced Contra Costa County Supervisors to enact Laura’s Law, a policy that enables families to require assistance for mentally ill relatives through a court order. Nearly one-hundred people had come to hear Dunn and Randall Hagar, Director […]

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Laura's Law Stanislaus County, Modesto Homelessness, Stanislaus County homelessness

Faces of the Homeless: Rosario

November 2, 2016 By Eric Caine 5 Comments

“I like being out in the open where everybody can see I’m not doing anything wrong,” says Rosario Quintana. “I don’t do drugs or alcohol and I don’t leave a mess. I keep all my stuff packed up.” Despite her good intentions, Rosario’s presence on public streets in Modesto and Turlock has gotten her arrested at least two or three times a year during the four years she’s been homeless. […]

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Modesto Homelessness, Stanislaus County homelessness

Busting the Homeless: Wasted Dollars?

October 30, 2016 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

Call him Martin. He’s a homeless man and meth user. In the last year, he’s been in jail four times and in the hospital twice. His jail time has ranged from a few days to several weeks. His last hospital stay was almost six weeks. Then there’s the Oakdale man who’s periodically arrested for misdemeanors related to homelessness. He’s often driven to the county jail in Modesto, held a few […]

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Homelessness in Stanislaus County, Modesto homeless, Modesto Homelessness

“Let homeless people camp,” says Councilmember Ah You

October 12, 2016 By Eric Caine 10 Comments

Most everyone was encouraged when the Modesto City Council approved $250,000 toward establishing a services and shelter center for our growing population of homeless people. The first stage will include temporary winter shelters (in the form of modified garden sheds) for forty people as part of Stanislaus County’s Focus on Prevention project to end homelessness. Ultimately, city and county officials intend to establish a one-stop service center where people experiencing […]

Filed Under: Featured, Politics Tagged With: Homelessness in Stanislaus County, Homelessness Modesto, Modesto Homelessness

Homeless: The Cruel Futility of Sweeps

March 12, 2016 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

Most homeless people spend almost all their time in public places. The chief reason is simple: There’s nowhere else to go. Yes, there are shelters at night, but they’re often full in bad weather. Pets and couples aren’t allowed (couples are split up). You take in and out only what you can carry. There’s no privacy. There’s enforced religion. The shelters close during the day. Homeless people in public places […]

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Modesto homeless, Modesto Homelessness

Homelessness: Whose Failure is it?

February 27, 2016 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

As a rule, homeless people fall into three or four broad categories. The three most common, “vagrants, transients, and addicts” are pejorative terms based on the notion that “these people” have brought their troubles on themselves. A fourth category suggests homeless people are “victims” of cruel society that has abandoned its most vulnerable members. All these ways of looking at homelessness contain grains of truth, but none really does much […]

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Homelessness Stanislaus County, Modesto Homelessness

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Off The Wire

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
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Housing advocates are about to deliver a message to the Bay Area: Comply with state…
www.sfchronicle.com
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty 'Law of the River' holds sway
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty ‘Law of the River’ holds sway
At the heart of tensions over water allotments from the Colorado River is a complex set of agreements and decrees known as the ‘Law of the River.’
www.latimes.com
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America's largest rainforest
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America’s largest rainforest
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska, a focus of political battles over old-growth logging and road-building in forests for decades, has received new protection from the Biden administration.
theconversation.com

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