2023 review: Too much water, a boulevard for Chávez, a hospital closure, astronaut in Parlier

Less than a week before we ring in the new year is an appropriate time to see what 2023 events had an impact on the Latino community throughout the San Joaquín Valley.

Vida en el Valle – in consultation with its staff and colleagues at La Abeja – ranked the most relevant stories this year that involved Latinos.

And, we’re off …

Water, water everywhere

Since 1999, with the exception of four years, the state has had to deal with below-average rainfall that has robbed cities of drinking water, crops of needed water, and the environment of a valuable resource.

But that all changed in the blink of an eye when atmospheric rivers drenched the state with rainfall that left record snowpacks in the mountains, flooded portions of the state, and filled out reservoirs.

While the rains were welcome by drought-weary Californians, it did come with a price: flood waters resurrected Tulare Lake and took more than 100,000 acres of farmland out of production; an overflowing Bear Creek flooded the largely farmworker community of Planada in Merced County; and, mountain water runoff flooded Tulare County communities like Farmersville and Cutler.

Tulare Lake did not overflow and cause additional damage to Corcoran and other residential areas, but county officials estimated a $1 billion damage to agriculture caused by the flooded farmland.

Merced County residents have filed claims against the city of Merced, city of Atwater, county of Merced, Merced Irrigation District, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for their negligence in not maintaining the waterways that flooded.

“This was a preventable disaster,” said Shant Karnikian, co-lead plaintiff attorney. “This is something that these government entities should have been prepared for.”

Harvesting the fruit of their labor

Last year, the United Farm Workers marched the 335 miles in 24 days from Delano to Sacramento in support of legislation that would make it easier for farmworkers to vote for a union.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2183, after some negotiations with the union. In November, tomato pickers from Newman-based DMB Packing gathered in Madera to celebrate the first vote authorizing the UFW to negotiate a contract.

Madera Hospital closes its doors

On Jan. 3, days after closing its emergency department, Madera Hospital shut down its entire operation, effectively making health care more difficult for Madera County’s 160,000 residents, many of them low-income Latino farmworkers.

The hospital declared bankruptcy, which dragged on for nine months while creditors waited for their money.

The hospital board of trustees, on Dec. 18, approved a temporary management service agreement with a Modesto-based hospital management company to reopen and operate the hospital. There is no timetable on when that will happen.

Deja vu on Chávez street name

Almost 30 years after César E. Chávez Boulevard was approved, then struck down by the Fresno City Council, supporters of the name change for stretches of Kings Canyon, Ventura and California avenues accepted a 6-1 vote in March for the change.

A lawsuit was filed to stop the change, and the Fresno County Board of Supervisors turned down a request by the city to allow the name change on county portions of those roads, but the signs are expected to be changed sometime in January.

“The frivolous lawsuit is simply a Trump-inspired grift by anti-Latino, anti-union and Republican operatives,” said Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias, who led a Sept. 10 celebration of the name change at the Fresno fairgrounds.

High school graduation en español

About 2,800 spectators filed into the McLane High stadium on June 7 to witness the inaugural Latinx High School Recognition Celebration, in which almost 400 participating graduates from the Fresno Unified School District.

Students led the effort to hold a ceremony in Spanish so that family members could understand the ceremony.

Said district superintendent Bob Nelson: “I’ve been superintendent for seven years, adults tried to make this happen and it took our students to make the Latinx graduation a reality.”

Parlier High students meet astronaut

Former astronaut José Hernández spoke about his life as the son of migrant farmworkers in the Stockton area and his childhood dream to become an astronaut in an Aug. 24 visit to Parlier High School.

He applied 11 times to be an astronaut before NASA relented and accepted him in on his 12th try. He flew on the 2009 Shuttle Discovery. The movie about his life, “A Million Miles Away,” debuted on Amazon Prime on Sept. 15.

“I’m not a genius; I just worked hard,” he told the students. “If you guys are willing to work hard, you too can achieve anything you want in life.”

Stanislaus County farmworker resource center

The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted in March to spend $1 million in COVID relief funds to establish the first farmworker resource center in the ag-rich San Joaquín Valley.

The Central Valley Opportunity Center will hire a staff of eight to open centers in downtown Modesto and Patterson to help documented and undocumented farmworkers with services ranging from legal services to rental assistance.

“This is going to be for undocumented farmworkers, and is an historic step forward and progress for Stanislaus County, said supervisor Channce Condit.

Hurtado survives recount in re-election bid

State Sen. Melissa Hurtado not only had to move from her longtime Sanger home to Bakersfield to be able to run for re-election because of redistricting, but the Democrat survived a recount in the 16th State Senate District.

In the end, Hurtado scored a 13-vote lead in one of the closest elections ever in California history. She was later named to chair the state Senate Committee on Agriculture. Hurtado never led Republican opponent David Shepard until mid December when Kern County votes were finally tabulated.

Mexican doctors visit Valley

In September, doctors from México began practice in Tulare County (Visalia and Tulare) as part of a pilot program that was approved two decades earlier to address the doctor shortage in the Valley.

The pilot program is designed to provide Spanish-speaking, culturally responsive primary care physicians in farming areas with a large immigrant population.

“So, we’re going to do it for 15 more years,” said Arnoldo Torres, who pushed the legislation. “We don’t want to depend on doctors from México. We made an agreement with México that we would not keep the doctors here permanently.”

Fresno gets a new poet laureate

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer appointed Joseph Ríos, author of the 2017 book “Shadowboxing: Poems and Impersonations,” as the city’s sixth poet laureate in April.

The poet laureate, who will serve for two years, grew up in Clovis and Fresno, which provides fodder for his stories. He had wanted to become a news reporter until he discovered the works of local poets while at Fresno City College.

“Those of you that might know my work know that I’m not afraid of saying bad words,” said Ríos at a welcoming reception.

Other stories

Also considered were the unveiling of a $1 million Monument of Freedom in Corcoran; a visit by Mexican presidential candidate Gerardo Fernández Noroña to Calwa; a MacArthur genius award to Valley writer Matthew Muñoz; state gives $7 million for the Dolores Huerta Peace and Justice Cultural Center in Bakersfield; and, President Biden naming César E. Chávez’ granddaughter, Julie Rodríguez Chávez, to direct his re-election campaign.