September 2009

 
9-2-09
Merced Sun-Star
Committee formed in another stab at addressing water issues...E.J. SCHULTZ, The Fresno Bee
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/268/v-print/story/1034171.html
SACRAMENTO -- With only 10 days to go in the session, state lawmakers are taking a final stab at solving California's water woes.

 
9-3-09
Merced Sun-Star
Letter: Losing constituents...GARY PARKER, Merced
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/180/v-print/story/1036309.html

 
9-5-09
Merced Sun-Star
Congress to tackle health care
After hearing critics and supporters during recess, it's back to work...MICHAEL DOYLE, Sun-Star Washington Bureau
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/268/v-print/story/1040375.html
WASHINGTON -- San Joaquin Valley lawmakers didn't catch much of a break this August recess, and neither did the health care reform package now awaiting them on Capitol Hill.

 
9-7-09
Modesto Bee
Experts say valley jobs will take years to rebound...Marijke Rowland
http://www.modbee.com/local/v-print/story/844622.html
This Labor Day, while many in the Northern San Joaquin Valley are grateful to have a day off, many others would do anything to have a day of work.

 
9-8-09
Badlands Journal
The price of dirt, Part 1...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-09-07/007400
Part 1.
“Put your faith in the people who have been here from the beginning and have always paid their taxes while others come and go and cost us all money.” – Diana Westmoreland Pedrozo, executive director, Merced County Farm Bureau

 
9-9-09
Badlands Journal
The price of dirt, Part 2...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-09-08/007402

Three-quarters of likely California voters disapprove of their state Legislature this month and think it is run by a few special interests. This is the worst rating the Legislature has received in the 11 years of Public Policy Institute of California polling, the institute reported this week. The names of those interests are FIRE – Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate.
 

Item 22: Health, Reconvening the Beilenson Hearing of Medical Assistance Program
 
Chairwoman Deidre Kelsey: We will reconvene the Beilenson hearing and I’ll have Mr. Volanti get us back on track.
 

 
9-11-09
Merced Sun-Star
Foreclosure wave ebbing in Merced County...SCOTT JASON
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/1050613.html
Merced's foreclosure rate in August slowed from last year, though it remains one of the highest in California, according to data released Thursday by RealtyTrac.

 
9-13-09
Indybay
Steinberg's Water Bill Package Defeated...Dan Bacher...9-12-09
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/09/12/18621685.php
Senate President Pro tem Darrell Steinberg and other Legislators abandoned their attempt to rush the water bond and bill package, a thinly-veiled road map to the peripheral canal, through the Capitol in the final hours of the Legislative Session.

 
9-15-09
Merced Sun-Star
Furor over Atwater city councilman not going away
Calls continue for Frago to resign...JONAH OWEN LAMB
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/1057353.html
ATWATER -- Much of the furor over a series of racist e-mails forwarded by Atwater City Councilman Gary Frago to city staff and a county official may have died down, but those calling for his resignation are staying vigilant.

 
9-16-09
Badlands Journal
The price of dirt, Part 5 -- the Medical Assistance Program, Auditor/Controller Report, and budget passage…Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-09-16/007407
Item 22: Health, Reconvening the Beilenson Hearing of Medical Assistance Program
Chairwoman Deidre Kelsey: We will reconvene the Beilenson hearing and I’ll have Mr. Volanti get us back on track.

 
9-18-09 
Merced Sun-Star
Act of Congress helps college students
Cardoza ensures that local campuses get extra help...DANIELLE GAINES. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/1063971.html
College students in the San Joaquin Valley can expect increased financial aid in the coming years, Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, said Thursday.

 
9-20-09
Counterpunch
Draining the San Joaquin
The Water Privateers...KATHRYN GRAY...8-27-09 
http://www.counterpunch.org/gray08272009.html

 
9-21-09
Badlands Journal
William Trombley, a great journalist – 1929-2009...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-09-20/007421
9-11-09
Los Angeles Times
William Trombley dies at 80; journalist reshaped The Times' coverage of higher education

 
9-22-09
Badlands Journal
What is Cardoza afraid of?...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-09-21/007423

In a February letter to President Obama, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, claimed, as he did in many other venues: "A simple measure that would save up to 80,000 jobs (in the lower San Joaquin Valley) would be to relax restrictions on pumping facilities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Rivers Delta that have caused the regulatory drought that my constituents are experiencing."

 
9-23-09
Badlands Journal
Rodale critique of biotechnology convention...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-09-23/007427

 
9-25-09
Merced Sun-Star
Deep cuts, fee increases spur UC Merced professors, students to stage protest...DANIELLE GAINES. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/1077530.html

 
9-26-09
Badlands Journal
Blue Dog healthcare honcho accused of taking bribes...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-09-25/007431
"You can buy half the town for $420,000," said Adam Guthrie, chairman of the county Board of Equalization and the only licensed real estate appraiser in Prescott. -- Marcus Stern, ProPublica, Sept. 22, 2009

The Merced City Council is to be commended for holding two lengthy public hearings on the WalMart distribution center project including citizens with sharply opposed views on health, human safety and economic growth, who spoke their mind in an orderly, safe process. This begs the lie of Rep. Dennis Cardoza, the Pimlico Kid, that citizens in his district could not meet together in town hall meetings to discuss health care reform. In fact, on another contentious issue, Riverside Motorsports Park, a large number of town hall meetings were held, some by proponents, some by opponents.

 
Merced Sun-Star Executive Editor Mike Tharp flew part of the Westside in a private plane with a realtor/Westside rancher named Gail McCullough and came back with revelations. It reminded him of Iraq, where he seems to need to go, whenever the reality of Merced and the San Joaquin Valley overwhelm him, to find refreshment in the Pentagon propaganda mill. You can sugar-coat failure with belief but it is still failure, out there on the imperial frontier or here at home.