Author: John

Longtime critic of the California High-Speed Rail project, Kings County Supervisor Doug Verboon, is reacting to incoming President Trump’s vow to claw back construction money for the costly project although much of the Central Valley infrastructure work is nearing completion.

“I’ve told our fellow Republicans if you wanted to cut off funding, you should’ve done that 14 years ago – not when we have unfinished overpasses and bridges yet to complete.” He said he recently had a conversation with Congressman McClintock.

Verboon spent more than a decade fighting the project in court but now advocates for it to run Amtrak trains when the route is complete in coming years even if some HSR funding stops. Amtrak is less controversial among the GOP and could get regular funding, he figures.

Today Verboon sits on the San Joaquin Valley Rail Board as its Vice Chair and wants to make sure Kings County residents get consistent and faster rail service even though they won’t be traveling at 200mph.

But Supervisor wants the rail alignment, overpasses and bridges and as well as the planned Hanford station to be built eventually for high speed rail but in the meantime for Amtrak train service. The service should be faster and safer for both passengers and motorists since the rail line no longer interfaces with freight trains, car and truck traffic and goes over busy streets.

“”We will still have a station to be located near Lacey Blvd.”But he doubts there will be enough money to electrify the rail line as the Authority wants to do. “It’ll probably still be diesel, but the service should be improved for consumers.”

Verboon says if a private entity like the group that’s building the new high-speed LA to Las Vegas rail line wants to come to the Central Valley, that might work, particularly since the alignment and infrastructure will be mostly in place and environmentally cleared. That entity would still have to connect from Bakersfield to Palmdale.

Despite opposition to high-speed rail, it seems unlikely that anyone would want the 119 mile built-infrastructure in place in the Central Valley to just sit there, mothballed rather than use it after billions of dollars spent by the public.

Advocates still want to electrify the system as they have promised and joint-ventured recently with CalTrain in the Bay Area. The idea has been to replace current San Joaquins service south of Merced.

The Authority says the California High-Speed Rail Authority trains will run on a “blended system” in the area, meaning they will share these electric tracks and their infrastructure. The Authority committed $714 million to Caltrain’s Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project, nearly 40 percent of the total $2 billion cost, as part of its progress toward a fully electric statewide rail network This summer the regional rail system Caltrain transitioned away from old-fashioned diesel service to fully electric lines and high-performance electric cars on the 51-mile route between San Francisco and San Jose.

Both the current Caltrain cars and the future high-speed rail cars will run at speeds of up to 110 miles per hour on the blended tracks, up from the current top speed of 79 miles per hour. Future modernization of the rail corridor will include extending electrification of approximately 30 miles from San José to Gilroy, they predict.

The state wants to electrify the Central Valley rail route and has said they want to build a dedicated solar farm to power the system. In January, the Authority is pressing on with plans to select a train set manufacturer.

New subdivision in Northwest Hanford

Visalia builder San Joaquin Valley Homes is planning a third Hanford subdivision, this time in the northwest corner of the city. The company has filed its first environmental notice called a Notice of Preparation on the 135-acre,615 home subdivision to be built in four phases in the city. Still ahead, the project must undergo a full environmental impact report before it can move forward. Called the Neves Residential Project, the site is currently a fruit orchard.Phase one of the project would construct 140 units and build a 7-acre park.The location is at the northwest corner of Fargo and 12th

Bird Flu impacting milk supply/ More poultry are infected

Governor Gavin Newsom Dec 18, proclaimed a State of Emergency to streamline and expedite the state’s response to Avian influenza A (H5N1), commonly known as “Bird Flu.”

Three more Tulare County poultry ranches were hit by bird flu in the past few days. Meanwhile, USDA reports that the number of California dairies affected by bird flu stands at 645 with 56 of those dairies now having recovered and no longer quarantined. Some 311 California dairies have been infected in the past 30 days, says a December 17 USDA report.

USDA reported Monday December 16 that two more Tulare County poultry ranches have been hit by H5N1 Bird Flu resulting in the destruction of all the birds there. The results were confirmed December 13 and 14. The two unnamed farms include one broiler ranch where 514,0000 birds died and one duck meat farm where 41,000 birds were lost. On December 10 another ranch in the county was hit resulting in the euthanizing of 320,200 broilers.

With these three recent ranches,Tulare County has now seen 9 poultry operations affected by the highly contagious virus with the total number of birds lost adding up to around 1.7 million since late September.

Both nearby Kings and Kern Counties I’ve also suffered the loss of millions of birds from the spread of this strain of bird flu.Kern County has lost 3.2 million egg layers.

Impact on milk supply
A December 9 USDA report says” handlers in California indicate milk production varies from slightly weaker to slightly stronger this week compared to the week prior, but milk output is still down in terms of a year-over-year comparison by a significant percent.” Bird Flu impacts are suspected.In October California milk production was down almost 4% compared to Oct 2023.The virus impacts adds to a downward trend in production in California. If California milk production is lower, Texas is up 9% and South Dakota is up 8%.

Cotton Production in California including acreage, yield and production are all up in 2025 says a new USDA report. Pima Cotton is leading the way with a production estimate of 402,000 bales versus just 230,000 bales in 2023.

Thomas Compost project to be heard by Planning Commission The Kings County Planning Commission will hear a proposal January 6 to build a composting facility at 20th and Excelsior in Kings County.

The applicant is Thomas Compost who is proposing a two phase schedule including building a commercial manure composting facility with a truck scale, office and retention pond. The 63-acre project has drawn some opposition from neighbors. The project will be heard by two new planning commissioner members, Alonso Puga, and Brent Madillo.

Cheer for gas prices this holiday season with a dozen stations in Kings County selling regular for $3.60 down to $3.30 a gallon says GasBuddy. AAA says the Kings County average price this week is $4.11 vs $4.34 this time last year.

Rain for XMAS? NWS Hanford says there is a 20 to 45% probability of any rain accumulating on Saturday through Monday for most of the Valley. Probabilities increase for rain on Tuesday (Christmas Eve). Snowpack is bountiful in the Tahoe area sasy the Sierra Snow lab at 191% of average so far. The state says snow water content in northern California mountains is 205% of average while the southern Sierra stands at a respectable 105% of average. Huntington Lake has 39 inches of snow on the ground this week.

rendering of Hanford rail station

Upscale furniture retailer Living Spaces, based in Mirada California, has leased 40,000sf for a warehouse at 1717 N Shirk in the Visalia Industrial Park.The company has filed job notices online.

Living Spaces recently opened the first Central Valley store in Fresno.The stores are large, ranging from 80,000sf to 320,000sf. The new Fresno store is 105,000sf. They have some 40 locations in the Western states.

The privately-held retailer sells over 35 brands of furniture and offers playrooms for children to play in while their parents shop. It is also one of the only stores that offer same-day delivery in some areas, being the inspiration for its motto: “Buy it today, enjoy it tonight.”

The natural question for Visalians – will the company open a retail location here as well?

Teriyaki Madness restaurant to open at Sequoia Mall

Japanese fast-casual restaurant chain Teriyaki Madness is coming to Visalia, located next to the new Starbucks in the Sequoia Mall just off Caldwell.Construction is underway.

Chicken to go will replace Check ‘N Go on North Dinuba Blvd

National fast food chain WingStop will replace the Check ‘N Go store at 2015 N Dinuba Blvd according to a tenant improvement application filed by the company. WingStop has a restaurant on South Mooney and like many other chains will open twin locations on the northside

Visalia awarded $11.4 mil to complete”elevated “bike trail across the city

At their December 6 meeting the California Transportation Commission awarded the City of Visalia $11.4 million to complete a portion of the Santa Fe Trail that will cross the city.Called Beyond Bike Lanes – Elevating Santa Fe Street the dedicated bike trail allows people to go north/south from Riggin south passed Caldwell on a dedicate paved trail.This newly funded leg of the project proposes to construct a 2-way cycle track along the east side of the Santa Fe St from Tulare Ave to Houston Ave through Downtown. The project will include sidewalk improvements to accommodate pedestrian travel and intersection improvement to increase visibility and safety of all non-motorized road users.

Santa Fe is a former rail line alignment that ran from Calwa in Fresno County to Cutler, Visalia and then Tulare to Corcoran. Both Visalia and Tulare have purchased the right of way to make bike and pedestrian trails in their towns.The long range plan is to connect the trail inter-city.

pic: The bike tail will be elevated away from car traffic

Dec 24: USDA announced that three more California egg ranches have been infected with bird flu and had to destroy their flocks. The latest count includes two very large egg ranches in the state including a 1.1 million bird ranch in Riverside and one in San Joaquin County with 627,000 hens. USDA says a third ranch has not yet reported numbers.

California is the state that has had the most flock and bird losses due to HPAI infections in 2024 sweeping the nation.

The impact on the state egg laying flock has been a near wipe out since September. The count since September adds up to over 8 million egg layers lost in California.Egg prices both nationwide and in California have skyrocketed this fall- from around $1.60 dozen to $7.40 in late December in California.

California once boasted 25 million hens as of 1998.

The monthly USDA poultry report says as of December 2022 California had 13 million egg layers. By December 2023, it was down to 11.3 million and as of December 2024 the number has dropped to 7.5 million hens.

The latest report does not include December losses in California that could mean there may be just a few million egg laying chickens left standing.

California Poultry Federation President Bill Mattos says the dairy industry and poultry industry need to work together. He says that tracing studies of the virus at poultry operations suggest that 70% of the infections are coming from the diaries. “I’m not blaming them, but the two industries must work together to step up biosecurity”

Mattos adds that the California egg industry would welcome a USDA sponsored vaccination plan for their birds, but that the US broiler industry, harvesting both chickens and turkeys, export about 30% of their product and world export rules do not allow those animals to be vaccinated.

December 14 – Raw milk produced and packaged by Valley Milk Simply Bottled of Stanislaus County is the subject of a statewide recall and quarantine order by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). The recall order came following the detection of Influenza-A H5N1 (bird flu) virus in samples taken from a raw milk bulk tank at the Valley Milk Simply Bottled dairy farm.

The order applies to all “Valley Milk Simply Bottled Raw Cow Milk” and “DESI Milk Raw Cow Milk” distributed in quart (32 oz), half-gallon (64 oz), and one-gallon (128 oz) plastic jugs with a code date marked on the container of DEC 23 2024 through Dec 30, 2024.

As of December 24 there have been 233 new bird flu infections on California dairies since December 1.

Too many apples: This year’s large Washington apple crop is depressing prices. Washington had what is believed to be its third largest apple crop ever in 2024-25, but that’s a mixed blessing as oversupply remains a problem.

If there are too many Pacific Northwest apples – turns out there are too few pears. Reports say fresh pears could be harder to find in grocery store aisles nationwide in the coming year. Bad winter weather and a record-setting freeze in January hit hard in Washington and Oregon, damaging much of this year’s expected pear crop. It will be the smallest U.S. pear crop in 40 years, projected Wednesday by the Washington State Tree Fruit Association.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In late December the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced an update to the State Water Project (SWP) allocation forecast for 2025. The allocation has increased to 15 percent of requested supplies, up from the initial allocation forecast of 5 percent announced earlier this month. The SWP provides water to 29 public water agencies that serve 27 million Californians.

Shasta to see more than 7 inches by New Years

Potent storms continue to pound Northern California bringing in 60 ft waves along the coast and partially collapsing the Santa Cruz pier.The parade of storms are adding to the early snowpack totals that feed reservoir storage for the coming year.Forecasts call for 7 inches of precip from Dec 27 to Jan 1 at Shasta Dam.

UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab in Tahoe reported Dec 27, the station set a new December record breaking a 1970 record of 179 inches and expecting more than 200 inches by December 31.

Northern California snowpack is now 171% of normal for the date.

In our region Giant Forest reports about 9 inches of precip so far this water year compared to 3.6 inches at this time in 2023.

Cottage cheese consumption is at its highest in a decade
US PER CAPITA DAIRY CONSUMPTION RISES AGAIN

Propelled by record cheese use and gains in butter, cottage cheese and yogurt, U.S. per capita dairy consumption returned to 1950s levels last year, according to USDA data released just before Thanksgiving.

At 661 pounds per person, the amount of milk Americans consume is back to where it was in 2021, which in turn was on par with the year Buddy Holly died — at least in terms of dairy U.S. dairy consumption.

What’s driving the trend? Think cheese, which has doubled in per capita consumption over the past 50 years even as per capita fluid milk use has declined. Or look at butter, at its highest since the 1960s. And fermented dairy products are having a moment — cottage cheese consumption is at its highest in a decade, and yogurt is also rising.

Cottage Cheese

An essential step in the manufacturing process distinguishing cottage cheese from other fresh cheeses is the addition of a “dressing” to the curd grains, usually cream, which is mainly responsible for the taste of the product. Cottage cheese is not aged.
Cottage cheese can be low in calories compared to other types of cheese — similar to yogurt; this makes it popular among dieters and some health devotees.

The only disappointment? Rounding. If you drill more deeply into the numbers, 2023 didn’t quite match 2021, with consumption at 660.7 pounds, compared to 661.2 two years ago. But with positive signs in sales and the holidays ahead, there’s still a chance for Americans to push 2024 to new heights.

Northern California snowpack 191 Percent

Outlook forecasts wet north and dry Southern California

Gasoline demand for the week ending December 14 is off about 5% from the same time a year ago says oil analyst Tom Kloza.

Kern County’s largest refinery,\ is now owned by Global Clean Energy. In May 2020, Global Clean Energy acquired the refinery off Rosedale Highway. The goal is to convert the refinery to produce renewable biodiesel fuel.

The company makes renewable diesel fuel by refining biofuels from the camelina plant and from used cooking oils.​The he start-up phase of the project began in mid-November​ says a Bakersfield TV-17 report.

Some 1.7 million birds lost

Latest dairy farm numbers reach 645 in California

USDA reported Monday December 16 that two more Tulare County poultry ranches have been hit by H5N1 Bird Flu resulting in the destruction of all the birds there. The results were confirmed December 13 and 14.

The two unnamed farms include one broiler ranch where 514,0000 birds died and one duck meat farm where 41,000 birds were lost.

On December 10 another ranch in the county was hit resulting in the euthanizing of 320,200 broilers.

With these three recent ranches,Tulare County has now seen 9 poultry operations affected by the highly contagious virus with the total number of birds lost adding up to around 1.7 million since late September.

Both nearby Kings and Kern Counties I’ve also suffered the loss of millions of birds from the spread of this strain of bird flu.Kern County has lost 3.2 million egg layers.

Latest dairy numbers

Following an investigation by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and rapid disease detection by California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System (CAHFS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) has confirmed H5N1 Bird Flu in 311 dairies in the last 30 days in California. Since California’s first detection of H5N1 Bird Flu in dairies, there have been a total of 645 infected dairies with 56 of those affected, fully recovered and released from quarantine. All quarantine released dairies will be placed on a surveillance list for weekly testing through creameries to maintain continued monitoring of the virus in California. Data as of Dec 17.