My apologies for the shortcomings of last week’s trimmed-down edition of the Courier.

I took a much needed vacation, the first weeklong vacation in years which coincided with attending a Celebration of Life for the very dear grandmother of my fiancé. Lillian made it to the age of 98.

A week in Minnesota in May is about the closest thing to heaven next to being in our own Sierra. The flight over both the Sierras and the Rockies proved to me that we have been blessed with a lot of snow which will be running off soon and filling lakes. As our Boeing 747 Max flew from Denver to Oakland, I was able to peer out the window and identify Yosemite in its snow-capped splendor, a close-to-beingfilled Don Pedro Reservoir and the cities of Waterford, Hughson, Ceres and Modesto.

As Sarah’s uncle took us on a pontoon ride in Big Carnelian Lake and dropping our jaws at the collection of million dollar plus homes posted along the shores, I have a profound appreciation of a state far less populated than California and noticeably greener. Minnesota has a population of 5.7 million spread out over 86,935 square miles! Contrast that with California which has 39 million people packed onto 163,696 square miles. Consider that California has a lot of uninhabitable desert too.

During the pontoon ride I received an Facebook IM from former Councilwoman Linda Ryno wondering why the Courier was missing my column and the opinion page. I explained the situation and she vocalized her envy. It’s nice to hear when someone appreciates your efforts, so thanks Linda.

Take a drive anywhere in Minnesota and you’ll see a lake every mile it seems. While Minnesota is known as the State of 10,000 Lakes, there are actually 14,380 bodies of fresh water covering at least 10 acres each. Roughly a third of Minnesota is forested.

Oh and did I mention the clean skies, absent pollutants we in the Central Valley are treated to on a daily basis? And the absence of widespread homelessness? The lack of trash everywhere?

The state is beautiful through and through. But the spoiler is Minnesota winters can be extremely harsh. When Sarah visited Minnesota in 2013 to attend her father’s funeral, it was 20 below. However, the last winter was very mild, with some areas that didn’t receive any snow.

Another detraction is that all of the locals there told me that Minnesota is becoming as insufferable as California as far as politics goes. More than one Minnesotan told me that their state is copying California’s policies. And remember that Democrats there tried defunding police after the George Floyd mayhem erupted in Minneapolis.

* * * * *

Coming back to work from a vacation is a time of high stress because of the catch-up that needs attention. While I enjoyed the peace and quiet of a lakeside Airbnb rental, things seemed to be going nuts back home from what I could tell on social media. The drama never seems to end. Ceres Police shoot and kill a guy. A man sets a dumpster fire that closed down the freeway for a long time due to smoke and visibility. More teen runaways reported missing, etc.

* * * * *

I have little respect for the spin-miesters of the Democrat Party. While I was away, an email came in from the Adam Gray camp seeking donations to defeat John Duarte. The email read: “Well, this is a weird one: Two weeks ago, news broke that MAGA Vice President hopeful, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, shot her 14-month-old puppy. Yes, you read that right.

“Well, as if the story wasn’t weird enough… John Duarte found a way to make it weirder. Duarte just said that he was incredibly excited to hear Kristi Noem speak at the CA GOP convention and called her a “great Republican leader.”

That smacks of spinning a story in desperation.

Kristi Noem, who is on Trump’s veep pick list and who didn’t keep her state in COVID lockdown like a one Gavin Newsom, mentioned shooting her dog in her new book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward.” The dog wasn’t a harmless puppy as Adam Gray’s camp conveniently neglected to report. It was an adult dog that had killed and attacked people. Guess what farmers do with dangerous dogs like that? Quick and painless death by bullet.

It’s strange that the party of supporting the murder of millions of human babies is so concerned about killing a vicious dog.

If anything, Noem’s honest revelation was her way of illustrating that she isn’t afraid to make hard decisions, in this case, eliminating the threat a dog posed to kill or maim animals or people.

The libs in the media weighed in with their dishonesty, with Bloomberg reporting: “It’s hard to imagine what demographic Noem might bring to the ticket now. People who like to burn ants with magnifying glasses?”

No wonder most Americans are fed up with the media.

The Gray email continues with its spin against Duarte: 

“Jeff, when someone tells you who they are: Believe them. Like when John Duarte said he’s “not that far from a lot of these Freedom Caucus guys.” Or when he said he’d support Trump for President, regardless of whether he’s a convicted felon. Or when he said he’s thrilled to welcome a puppy-killing MAGA Republican to California.”

Most Americans are waking up to the fact that Trump would only be a felon – magically during an election year – because of, pardon the pun, trumped up charges.

* * * * *

I used to believe in the old push for kids to go to college but having seen how the UC system is turning kids into mind-numbed liberals, and seeing how you can make six figures doing a trade without a college degree or college debt, college has lost its luster.

So last week regents voted 15-5 to raise tuition 6% annually for the next five years. They say it’s the only way to create enough revenue to educate half-a-million students each year. One regent said this turns California’s “dream engine” into a “nightmare scenario,” but voted for the increases anyway. Next year, tuition will hit $6,084 a year; by 2030 it will be $8,152 – not counting fees, books, dorms, etc. The Sonoma State student body president insists regents see students only as “salary increases.” Chancellor Jolene Koester said such attacks were expected; that it’s a “fantasy” to expect students to ever support a tuition hike.

* * * * *

Pigs will be pigs.

On May 5 someone posted on the Ceres Community/Incident Feed Facebook page photos of trash outside of Ross Dress for Less, wondering if the store manager gives a care about the appearance of his/her store. The poster, Felicia Pulido Jimenez also wrote: “Do us Ceres residents not care and just throw our s--- around? I go to other Ross’s outside of Ceres and they’re not like this!”

Another person posted photos of trash in front of a business next to the trash can.

Damaris Blackwood added: “So much trash everywhere, and it’s just getting worse. At the high schools kids eat their lunches and leave their trash everywhere—-even right by the trash cans! So different from the days of my childhood. I always wonder what these kids’ homes look like!”

This is something I’ve written about for years: Businesses who present horribly as a first impression.

What I often do, even on my runs, is stop and pick up trash I see and carry it to the next can since so many violate the city law and leave their cans out in public view seven days a week.

The pigs need to be cited.

When was the last time the police issued a citation for littering or removing a shopping cart from a store parking lot?

This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation.  How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com